The City Club has boasted such prominent members as Jane Addams, Ruth Hanna McCormick, Louise DeKoven Bowen, Richard J. Daley, Henry Horner, George Herbert Mead, Charles Edward Merriam, Harold Ickes, and Louis Sullivan.

The City Club took a leadership role in initiating political change in Chicago by establishing committees to investigate and report on aspects of local government and public policy.

While times have changed and issues have morphed since its inception, the City Club is still committed to addressing the problems of the Chicago metropolitan area and engaging in productive dialogue with its constituents.

Corrine Wood, DuPage County Board Chairman Daniel Cronin, Vice President Mike Pence, and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan.

Speakers include Rick Bayless, Mike Ditka, Tom Ricketts, Anne Pramaggiore, Wick Moorman, Dr. John Jay Shannon, Karen Lewis, and Howard Tullman.

From panels explicating federal legislation and analyzing national sociocultural trends to the events on the local Chicago Architectural Biennial, the City Club endeavors to present a wide variety of themes and issues apart from those purely political.