Anna Valencia and Paola Meinzer on Faith, Focus, and Local Power

A statewide loss could have ended a public career. Instead, it clarified one. In 2022, after years of momentum and marquee endorsements, Anna ran for Illinois Secretary of State—and lost. “When you fail publicly, that can really set you back,” she says. “I was embarrassed. I didn’t want to face the people who believed in me.” What came next was not retreat, but reset.

Who is Anna? Chicago’s City Clerk since 2017, elected to full terms in 2019 and 2023. She oversees an office that serves 1.2 million people and moves major revenue for the city. Before Clerk, she helped pass police accountability measures, stabilized pension funds, and launched “Chicago is With You,” the city’s first legal protection fund for immigrants and refugees. The resume is long. The through-line is service.

The turning point wasn’t only political. It was personal. She had a baby in April 2020—at the height of the shutdown—then jumped into a statewide race when her daughter was nine months old. “I put so much time and energy… and I thought, okay, I’m going to win. Well, I lost.” That sting pushed her closer to faith and discipline. “My friends and family put a mirror in front of me,” she says. “Then I really had to get back into my prayer and worship time.”

Her daily framework is simple and repeatable. “I journal three things of gratitude every morning,” Anna says. She protects sleep—seven to eight hours, non-negotiable. She puts her phone in another room at night. “I’ve done this for two and a half years now… I try in the morning not to check my emails first thing. I get a workout in, then ease in.” It’s not productivity theater. It’s guardrails for a high-stakes job.

On work and family, Anna rejects a split she considers unrealistic. “I don’t believe in work-life balance… I believe in work-life integration,” a principle a mentor passed on. That can look like bringing her daughter to community events and making it a “mommy and daughter day.” It can also look like planning joy with the same rigor she schedules meetings. “You have to plan for it like you plan to see the doctor,” she says. Coffee with friends. A service on Sunday. A Friday afternoon hang. The point is to put joy on the calendar, not hope it appears.

Tactics you can use this week: set a five-minute gratitude practice; move the phone out of the bedroom; protect one night for real rest; and schedule one small joy block. If you manage a team, normalize these moves. Ask for one joy plan in one-on-one check-ins. Treat recovery like revenue—because it protects your voice, your decisions, and your energy.

The public results are tangible. As Clerk, Anna leads City Council modernization, including e-voting, to increase transparency and speed. She built CityKey, a municipal ID that has served tens of thousands of residents. She launched Next Gen City Council, where high school students from across neighborhoods write and debate ordinances; the top vote-getter is introduced to the real council. She also convened a Status of Women and Girls working group that issued 22 recommendations—“the Pink New Deal”—with half implemented so far, from better responses to gender-based violence to age-appropriate education on safety and consent.

But the deeper result sits inside her decision to stay. After wrestling with whether to leave public life, the answer she heard in prayer was one word: stay. “Lead where you are right now,” she says. “Find a problem… and tackle it.” That’s a cue for anyone in growth mode. You don’t need a title to make change. Start with the block you live on, the team you run, the clients you serve. Local action compounds.

How to transfer her playbook to your work: define a two-line morning routine you can do every day; turn one recurring task into a teachable moment for the next generation; and ship one concrete improvement to how your team makes decisions (fewer...