Former Crain’s publisher to run employment nonprofit

David Snyder

Former Crain’s Chicago Business publisher David Snyder, who spent 33 years building his personal equity with the city’s business community, is setting his sights on the challenge of reducing violence and unemployment in Chicago.

Snyder, 55, has been named chief operating officer of Chicago CRED (Creating Real Economic Destiny), a nonprofit initiative launched by Emerson Collective and headed by Arne Duncan, the former U.S. Secretary of Education and former Chicago Public Schools chief.

The program is committed to "lifting up young, at-risk men by preparing them to enter the workforce and matching them with real job opportunities." As COO Snyder will work with business leaders to provide jobs, invest in the community and support entrepreneurs, according to a statement released Wednesday.

“I’ve spent over 30 years observing this fantastic city and I’m eager to do this work because the troubling spike in gun violence is not only a humanitarian crisis, but an economic one as well,” Snyder said. “It overshadows all that is great and special about Chicago.”

Snyder, who rose from researcher to reporter to editor and eventually to publisher of Crain’s Chicago Business, resigned after 33 years at the end of 2016. Pressures for higher profits demanded by KC Crain, scion of Detroit-based Crain Communications, were believed to have led to Snyder’s surprise departure.