Community engagement specialist and research scholar Dr. Deondré Rutues planted seeds on the West Side over a decade ago. Now, he’s watching them grow.
Rutues, 38, is a longtime West Side resident and has served as District Councilman for the 15th Police District since 2023. He has worked for several Fortune 500 companies, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and as an educator for Chicago Public Schools. Currently, he leads police districts 11, 15, and 25 as a Community Engagement Specialist for New York University’s Policing Project. He also served as Finance Chair of the Bobby E. Wright Behavioral Health Center and sits on multiple boards, including the Northwest Austin Council and Chicago’s Institute of Psychologists. A dedicated advocate for social justice, Rutues organizes with West Side Rising and Black Workers Matter.
Last month, he announced the opening of his own community center, the Rutues Center for Business and People Development, located at 5044 W. Madison.
“The location is intentional,” said Rutues. “It’s really bad over there in that area, and I’m looking to build it up.”
This development marks nearly 20 years since Rutues began grassroots organizing and community building on the West Side, specifically in the Austin neighborhood where he grew up. His vision has always been to create a thriving Austin for its residents.
In July 2023, Rutues earned his doctorate in Business Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, giving him the credentials to work within organizations and improve productivity and efficiency through psychological expertise.
“It’s a very unique skill set. I’m looking forward to using it in the community and in all the work I do,” he said.
Before earning his doctorate, Rutues entered Chicago’s political scene as a candidate for the 37th Ward aldermanic race in 2019, ultimately losing to longtime Alderman Emma Mitts.
He recalled a pivotal moment during his campaign while collecting signatures to get on the ballot. An older man told him seeking change in Austin was a waste of time.
“I would never make another young person from the West Side feel the way that man made me feel that day,” Rutues said.
But politics was just one part of Rutues’ impact. His career has been deeply rooted in community activism, leading multiple development projects, youth-serving initiatives, and public policy discussions.
What sets Rutues apart, many say, is that his political and educational journey remained on the West Side—along with his home. Despite the lack of resources, the piles of trash blowing between blocks, and the looming 290 Expressway, leaving was never in his plans. He has no interest in moving to a suburb or another part of the city. Only extreme circumstances—such as seeking better services for his autistic daughter—would make him consider relocating.
“I think it was the rapper Lady of Rage who coined the term ‘Re-enterfication,’” he said. “She talked about the need for us to become educated in the communities we’re from. A lot of times, you’ll see brothers like myself get highly educated, and we take our talents to build other communities instead of our own.”
Rutues’ journey on the West Side began nearly 30 years ago, when he and his twin brother, Dionté, were relocated from the South Side. Their birth mother decided she was not fit to raise them, setting the stage for a life defined by resilience, commitment, and the pursuit of change.
“We were actually from 119th and Stewart,” Rutues said. “Our mom had us at 17 and had to deal with whatever she was going through—family not supporting her, our father deserting her, and not really having the stability to give us a good life at the time.”
Rutues and his brother were taken in by Annie Jones, the mother of a man their mother was dating.
“She told my mom that she would take care of my brother and me for as long as she needed to get herself together,” Rutues said. “So, our story starts there.”
He remembers spending most of his childhood with Annie Jones and her family. Around third grade, when he was eight years old, he and his brother moved to the West Side. Feeling abandoned by his mother—and by the father who had abandoned her—left Rutues angry. He sought out relationships with numerous women, trying to fill the emptiness inside.
However, growing up on the West Side also exposed him to the pain of broken policies, generational trauma, family abandonment, and cultural failures. He was part of Austin’s history in the 1990s, attending local schools like Douglass Jr. High. Being a fraternal twin also put him under intense peer scrutiny, especially regarding his metrosexual style during his teenage years, which sparked rumors about his sexuality.
“This was around the time B2K was out, and my peers called me ‘Dre-Bug.’ I had the curls, I used to throw the contacts in, I used to do my nails with clear polish," Rutues said. "People talking about me really started to get to me.”
Childhood abuse left Rutues more vulnerable and traumatized to their bullying, leading to depressive episodes in which he contemplated suicide. And, as a coping tool to the emptiness he felt growing up without either of his birth parents, Rutues began using sex to fill the void.
But as the years passed, Rutues made a conscious effort to seek out the wisdom of those he calls his “elders.” In his thirties, he realized that to truly understand the history of the West Side—the stories that came before him—he needed to sit with those who had lived it and could offer guidance.
As time went on, he noticed that fewer and fewer elders remained. This awareness fueled his commitment to mentorship and leadership development, ensuring that the next generation could continue the fight for progress. He credits his own growth to the lessons passed down from figures like Congressman Davis and Bobby E. Wright, two longtime West Siders whose work left a lasting impact.
Rutues knows his neighborhood doesn’t always make things easy—but he remains devoted to it.
“I made the pledge that I would never leave where I’m from because there’s work to be done here. As long as my skill set allows me to do so, I will always remain.”