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by Ellen Shubart, Class of 2006

He’s a traveler, a guy with many places on his bucket list.  This despite having already visited much of Europe during his university days And he’s just returned from South Korea, a trip with friends that included CAC’s Madeline Sneed. 

Quite a life for a man just starting his career! But Jared Miller, the new Manager of Volunteer Engagement, hit the ground running as soon as he arrived at CAC. With the planning and execution of DAN and our new programming and information scheduling programs, Better Impact, Miller is keeping busy. 

Jared came to Chicago from Oregon, Ohio, a suburb of Toledo. In high school he was active in theater and band, and he still plays the saxophone. He also set up student-led productions, using a program he devised to track volunteers’ time, setting the stage for his work now. This year he went back to his high school and worked as a dramaturg for the same summer production. His ties to Ohio are deep – his twin brother and an older brother both live there, the former in Toledo with Miller’s mom, and the latter in Cleveland. 

He graduated from Kent State University with a degree in hospitality management, with a focus on the business side–management, procurement, catering, law, and ethics.  The program included a class on casino management and, of course, a trip to Las Vegas. 

Jared spent a semester in Florence, which provided opportunities for weekend trips around the continent. He visited Portugal — “I ate a lot of fish there” — Iceland, France, and Amsterdam, among others. His three favorites are Prague, Florence, and Split, Croatia – “so beautiful.” And he has plans to go to Mexico next year.

Our world traveler calls Chicago “the perfect city” for him. It’s close to his native home while offering many opportunities here. An earlier job, running a shared work space in the John Hancock Building, facilitates his ability to work with so many docent/volunteers.

“I love the river cruise,” he admits, having taken about 17 of them before taking the CAC job, and four more since! “I love the differences in the tours, that there are so many different docents. One talks about the flag, another doesn’t.”

Miller lives in Uptown, a terrific location for him. He loves Art Deco, from Pendry Hotel to the Uptown Theatre – a place he would love to explore.

Miller is prepping the new system, Better Impact, for its testing phase. He will be the staff liaison to the Communications Committee and will likely attend Tour Committees meetings, together with Madeline Sneed, Director of Tour Operations. 

But he is smiling about his work. “I love saying where I work,” he admits.  

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