Mario Treto, Jr.

Mario Treto, Jr. was appointed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to serve as the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation on April 1, 2021.  In this role, he leads and oversees the State of Illinois’ lead regulatory agency with a budget of $190 million charged with strengthening consumer protections through the licensing of over 1.2 million licensed professionals and the regulation of banking and financial services.  Under his stewardship, IDFPR has streamlined operations, modernized regulatory frameworks, dismantled unnecessary licensure barriers, enhanced license portability for veterans and their spouses, and advanced equity initiatives to ensure all Illinoisans can participate fully in the professional economy.

A committed civic leader, Treto serves on the Board of Directors of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Professional Responsibility, the Poetry Foundation Board of Trustees, and the Indiana University Maurer School of Law Alumni Board. He previously served as Board Chair of Howard Brown Health, represented Illinois on the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials Board of Directors, and contributed as an Obama Foundation Scholars strategist at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. His work has earned recognition from the International Municipal Lawyers Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the National LGBT Bar; leadership honors from Crain’s Chicago Business, Business Equality Magazine, Chicago Scholars, and Negocios Now; as well as the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Humanitarian Award (2018), the Illinois REALTORS® Presidential Medallion (2020), the Hispanic Lawyers Association Government Lawyer of the Year Award (2022), and the SAFER Foundation Justice Award (2024).

Treto holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, and an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, an Edgar Fellow at the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs, and a David Bohnett Leaders Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, and was inducted into the Leyden Township High School Alumni Hall of Fame.