Leadership – Samreen Khan

Samreen Khan is an accomplished public official and policy strategist with more than 25 years of experience in government affairs, international relations, public health administration, and large-scale program leadership. She currently serves as an elected Board Member for Illinois School District U-46, representing 37,000 students, 55 schools, and overseeing a $750 million annual budget. She is the founder and CEO of the Illinois Association for Global Trade, a 501 c(6) organization. Her leadership focuses on effective governance, strategic communication, and community-centered policy development.

Samreen’s career includes extensive service within the State of Illinois, where she played a key role in shaping state policy, advancing international engagement, and building cross-sector partnerships. As a Senior Policy Advisor to the Illinois Governor, she directed major legislative and outreach initiatives across economic development, diversity, immigrant integration, and global diplomacy. She represented the Governor in diplomatic settings, speaking to audiences of up to 2,000 people, and served as liaison to Asian and Muslim American communities statewide.

She led and managed statewide interagency initiatives, including the New Americans Integration Task Force, the Asian-American Employment Plan, and the State Poverty Commission. Her work resulted in major policy outcomes, including legislation, executive directives, and long-term institutional programs.

Samreen also coordinated Illinois’ international affairs portfolio—working closely with foreign consulates, trade offices, and global partners to strengthen investment and diplomatic ties. She played a central role in Illinois’ participation in the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago, managing messaging strategy and facilitating diplomatic engagement between the Governor, the Turkish Prime Minister, and international delegations.

In addition to her government leadership, Samreen brings extensive experience in public health and program management. She managed housing and logistics for the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, coordinating accommodations for more than 230 labor, allied, and elected groups across 45 hotels. In this role, she built strong stakeholder relationships and developed tracking systems to manage complex operations, demonstrating exceptional organization, communication, and problem-solving skills. She also served at the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, where she oversaw statewide Medicaid policy implementation for the Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) model, including vendor contracts, federal reporting, and compliance. She worked closely with the state’s vendor’s, Lurie Children’s Hospital and the Egyptian Department of Health. Earlier, she worked at the Illinois Department of Public Health where she supported and managed the State of Illinois’s COVID-19 response through grant monitoring and statewide technical assistance.

As founder of SK Global Consulting, Samreen advised healthcare and IT companies on policy compliance, procurement, and public-private partnerships, including developing COVID-19 testing protocols for the Chicago Department of Aviation and supporting minority- and women-owned business certification efforts.

Samreen holds a Master’s in International Studies from the University of Denver and a Bachelor’s in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has presented internationally, including at high-level conferences in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, on global leadership, transportation, and women’s health.