Matthew R. Pickering
Senior Vice President
Advanced Practical Solutions, LLC

Matt Pickering is a Senior Vice President at Advanced Practical Solutions (APS). He works with various clients, including many in the healthcare industry. Matt has over 10 years of political experience.

Matt began his career in 1995 as an assistant to David Wilhelm, former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, at Kemper Securities, where he also worked as an analyst in the public finance department and served as one of the first volunteers in the Working in the Schools (WITS) corporate mentoring program in the Chicago Public Schools. Kemper was the first corporation to participate in the WITS program by allowing employees to volunteer during the workday.

In 1996, Matt was hired to be the Executive Director of WITS, where his accomplishments included expanding from a retiree volunteer program in five Chicago public schools in the Cabrini Green neighborhood to a diverse, multigenerational program in schools throughout Chicago. Under Matt's leadership, WITS also established a pilot program in the public schools of Denver, Colorado. The program was hailed as a national model by Mayor Richard M. Daley at the U.S. Conference of Mayors and was visited by former General Colin Powell and President William J. Clinton.

While at WITS, Matt also helped to organize the first Principal for a Day Program in Chicago that attracted over 600 business and civic leaders to the Chicago Public Schools. After completing his work for these two programs, he was recognized by the Chicago Sun-Times as one of "30 under 30" working in public service.

Matt also served as a project manager for the Chicago Public Schools and as investment advisor for Edward Jones Investments. He successfully completed the Series 7 and 63 examinations and was registered as a general securities representative with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Prior to joining APS, Matt worked for Wilhelm & Conlon Public Strategies (WCPS), where he was Senior Managing Director. At WCPS, Matt’s client work included: Alexian Brothers Health System, Amtrak, Children's Memorial Hospital, DuPage Medical Group, Edward Hospital, Garcia Medical Centers, Gateway Regional Medical Center, Ingalls Memorial Hospital, Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, Norwegian American Hospital, Rockford Health System, Safer Foundation, and Vanguard Health Systems.

Matt serves on the Board of Directors of the First Friday Club of Chicago and the Taylor Business Institute. He graduated with honors in Political Science from DePaul University of Chicago. He lives in the Chicago suburb of Buffalo Grove with his wife, Nancy, and two children, Madelyn and Evan.