Ricardo Vilchez

Ricardo Vilchez, Vice President of Information Technology, has twenty years of experience at The Chicago Lighthouse. He is passionate about combining his educational expertise with his extensive technology background to promote inclusion by creating awareness and making technology accessible. Ricardo believes that every business needs to include accessibility in their DNA to become stronger. Through the contributions of Ricardo and his team, The Chicago Lighthouse has embedded accessibility throughout the organization, creating an inclusive workplace environment where everyone has the necessary tools to work at their fullest potential. Ricardo and his staff are responsible for all network management and communications systems across all Chicago Lighthouse facilities.

Throughout his time at The Lighthouse, Ricardo has built data centers from the ground up and managed teams of system administrators, database architects, network engineers and end-user support specialists. He has worked with customized adaptive technology for many years, and maintains current knowledge of available technologies and their successful integration with commercial software/hardware. Ricardo also performs evaluations and trainings for other worksites so that they can use these technologies productively and efficiently. He has consulted with many companies on compliance issues including: Allstate, CHASE, Chicago Public Schools, DeVry University, Discovery, and MasterCard. Ricardo has also taught computer and IT courses at DeVry University. He holds a MA degree in Network Communication Management from Keller Graduate School of Management and a BA degree in Computer Information Systems from DeVry University.