Joan Walls was appointed to serve as Champaign’s City Manager in December 2024. Ms. Walls acts as the City’s Chief Executive Officer and serves at the pleasure of the Mayor and City Council, providing organizational leadership and administering the ongoing operation of the City organization. Ms. Walls provides professional assistance to the Council in formulating public policy, oversees the implementation of Council policy directions, maintains open communications with City Council Members, supervises the City’s Department Heads, and ensures that the City’s residents are well served, consistent with the City’s values and the community’s expectations.

Prior to being appointed City Manager, Ms. Walls served as Deputy City Manager (2013-2024), Deputy City Manager for Community Relations (2006-2013), and Assistant to the Chief of Police for Community Services/Public Information Officer (2000-2006).

In addition to the responsibilities listed above, Ms. Walls is also the City’s liaison to other local and state governmental agencies and officials, the University of Illinois, Parkland College, and numerous private-public groups. She is the City’s representative to the Metropolitan Intergovernmental Council and the Executive Committee of the Champaign County Community Coalition.Ms. Walls holds a Master of Science in Educational Psychology from Eastern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Science in Administration of Justice from Southern Illinois University.

She is a member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), Illinois City/County Management Association (ILCMA), and the Big 10 Cities Network. She earned ICMA Credentialed Manager status in 2019. She has served on the ILCMA Board of Directors since 2022, and is the Chair of ILCMA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.

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Nancy L. Rabel aids in overseeing these City Departments: City Manager’s Office, Equity and Engagement, Finance, Fire, Human Resources, Information Technologies, Legal, METCAD, Neighborhood Services, Planning and Development, Police, and Public Works.

Ms. Rabel has served the City of Champaign since 2021. Prior to her appointment to Deputy City Manager in 2024, she served as the City’s Assistant Director of Human Resources and as an Assistant City Attorney. Before joining the City, she worked for several private law firms, served as the City Administrator/General Counsel for the City of Canton, Illinois, and was an Administrative Law Judge for the Illinois Labor Relations Board.

Rabel holds a Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago (now the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law), a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and an Associate of Arts degree from Spoon River College in Canton.

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