Chicago wealth summit costs taxpayers more than $220K, records show

CHICAGO - It's an annual financial empowerment summit for Chicago that promises to help people grow their jobs, bank accounts and homeownership. But it's also costing Chicago taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, including VIP treatment of guest celebrities, some of whom are paid tens of thousands of dollars in appearance fees.

FOX Chicago's Unit 32 is taking a closer look at those expenditures, which are being approved by the Chicago city treasurer, who is now running for Congress.

What we know:

For the past five years, Melissa Conyears-Ervin has presided over an annual financial seminar called "Building Wealth Today for Tomorrow." It's held every October at the UIC Forum, drawing thousands of participants and dozens of celebrity speakers.

It's also a star vehicle for the Chicago treasurer herself, who's now one of many running for Congress in the 7th District.

Conyears-Ervin is featured prominently in promotions for the event, and she shares the stage with the celebrity speakers. So how much does all this cost, and who's paying for it?

Well, that's where it gets murky. We filed multiple Freedom of Information requests with the treasurer's office to try to figure it out and have been provided some, but not all of what we requested.

Based on that partial records response, here's what we do know. While corporate sponsors pay for some of the event, Chicago taxpayers are also footing much of the bill.

By the numbers:

At the 2022 event, all the speakers were paid out of City of Chicago funds, including $55,000 for "Shark Tank" star Daymond John to perform his "standard lecture and presentation," according to his contract with the city.

Celebrity financial coach Dr. Lynn Richardson and rapper MC Lyte were paid a total of $20,000 "to speak together for 45 minutes," and Chicago "Apprentice" star Bill Rancic earned $8,000 for the keynote speech.

In all, seven speakers were paid a total of $100,000 by taxpayers.

In 2023, featured speaker Earvin "Magic" Johnson was paid $75,000 for his appearance, but according to the contract, his fee was paid not out of taxpayer funds, but by the Chicago Urban League.

The treasurer's office says since that time, speakers fees "have been covered through corporate sponsorships and nonprofit partnerships," including $35,000 for actor Larenz Tate and $52,000 for Chicago rapper and activist Common.

We asked to see the contracts, but never got them.

Records show the corporate sponsorships amount to about $240,000 each year, but the treasurer acknowledges that's not nearly enough to cover the entire cost: "There are still some public funds dispensed for these events, but we're working to make them as small as possible while ensuring they are successful."

So how much money are we talking about?

At last October's "Building Wealth" event, documents show the treasurer's office paid $271,000 to a media services company for promotion; $36,000 for rental of the UIC Forum; and $144,000 to a staging company, including $2,300 for fake plants, $2,500 for fresh flowers and $5,100 for VIP room furniture.

Based on the records we were provided, it appears the total cost of the 2025 show was about $451,000.

When you deduct the $231,000 in corporate sponsorship, that means taxpayers are still on the hook for more than $220,000.

What they're saying:

Conyears-Ervin defends the cost, writing in a statement: "The annual expense pales in comparison to the $1.5 billion in investment earnings our office has delivered on behalf of Chicago taxpayers... I strongly believe in the safety and security that comes with financial empowerment, and these seminars are what I can do as an elected leader to build good financial habits in my community."

That $1.5 billion she mentions is Chicago's money that is handled by the treasurer's office as prescribed by law.

For the record, we filed our Freedom of Information request for records in October and still have not received some of the documents we requested to account for the full cost of the financial summit.