Lester Coney serves as an executive vice president in Mesirow Financial’s Office of the Chairman. He is responsible for originating and nurturing new business opportunities, working with key external stakeholders while expanding and maintaining client relationships across the firm’s business lines.

Les has more than 35 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Mesirow Financial in 2006, he served as Aon’s national sales director. Les’ passion for connecting and serving others blends into his role as a civic leader. He was the first African American chairman of the Goodman Theatre’s board and named a life trustee. Additionally, he is proud to serve as a trustee for the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. Appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, his passion for the arts and civic betterment has led him to serve as the founding chairman of the Congo Square Theatre Company and, currently, as the Board Secretary of Wade’s World Foundation. He is a board member of the Lookingglass Theatre and Cinema/Chicago, serves on the board of governors of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and sits on the Brain Trust Committee. He’s honored to have served in Chicago United’s original business leaders of color class. Les was most recently featured in Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 List as a “Titan of Industry.”

Les earned a BS from George Williams University.