Raised in the Bronzeville community in Chicago, Mae Whiteside is the President & CEO of CKL Engineers, LLC. Whiteside graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology having pursued a bachelor’s of science in civil engineering. She started her engineering career two blocks north of campus in the Dearborn Holmes Housing projects as a math tutor for Silas Purnell, a well known educator and proponent of African American students attending HBCUs.
In 2009 she founded CKL Engineers, LLC, a civil engineering firm with offices in Chicago and Atlanta. She is a notable figure in Chicago’s business community and influencer of women in the STEM fields and in civic engagement. She is licensed to practice in Georgia and Illinois.
She is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Council of Engineering Companies, Airport Consultants Council, Inc., Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Society of American Military Engineers – Chicago & Phoenix posts, WTS Atlanta, & Chicago, and a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated.
