Jennel Hooper is just six months at her job as executive director of the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce, but she’s already setting the course for new endeavors and outreach.
Hooper’s goal for 2026 is to connect communities with the 370 businesses that are currently members, grow the membership and “be active in parts of the region where we haven’t been as active.” That endeavor comes with a challenge considering the chamber’s boundaries are Valparaiso, Indiana, on the east; the Grundy County line on the west; Kankakee on the south; and Interstate-55 on the north.
Hooper anticipates her 2026 calendar will have an event every week. Those don’t all need to be big events, like the business-after-hours events at the Wind Creek Southland casino or at Credit Union 1 Amphitheater in Tinley Park hosted by Live Nation, although Hooper would like to do those again.
Even small events like business-before-hours or community conversations can keep people involved, she said. Signature events, such as the Connecting the Dots: Social Determinants of Health Conference at Moraine Valley Community College on Oct. 17, will be learning events drawing business experts together.
Hooper had been a consultant with the chamber working alongside former director Terri Winfree before she applied for the position in January. Her background gives a glimpse into why she met the business organization’s leadership criteria.
Hooper married at 17 and was a mother at 19 while in college in Iowa. She came back to Matteson to be near family and started working. Among her job titles was police dispatcher, an AmeriCorps staffer and insurance salesperson. She was making gift baskets as a hobby but turned that into a business “and it turned into other business services.”
Hooper next started a freelance court reporter business.
“And next thing I know, it’s just growing. I started getting into real estate dealing with tax lien foreclosures and one thing led to another and before you know it, I had a corporation that was the headquarters for everything,” she said.
Along the way, Hooper joined the Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce in 2007. She enjoyed the networking, but time constraints limited her involvement. Then in 2019 she found herself serving as a “behind the scenes” consultant to the chamber helping with special programs.
She also joined a Cook County team working on digital equity, and during COVID she brought that effort to the chamber when consultants found several communities in the South Suburbs lacked internet connectivity. Through the chamber Hooper was able to use libraries as places where residents of Harvey, Robbins, Phoenix and Ford Heights could begin to access internet services and devices. Hooper had to end the program when Congress ended the funding in 2024.
Hooper credited her parents with instilling the need to reach out to others. Her efforts were recognized in 2024 when President Joe Biden presented her with a Lifetime Service Award at a ceremony in Washington.
“I didn’t know my life was leading to that. It’s amazing where you’ll end up. You don’t know where you’ll end up, you think you’re just living life and then it all comes together and Wow! It’s all connected,” she said.
About that time, Winfree encouraged Hooper to apply for the executive director’s position. She interviewed and got the job.
“I’m glad to be here. I didn’t see myself as in this role but it has been like coming back home. It’s amazing how things happen,” Hooper said.
