A champion of environmental, sustainability, and resiliency initiatives, Hopkins serves on the Lakeshore Planning Committee, a group of civic leaders advocating a bold plan to add more green space and public parkland to Chicago's Lakefront. Today, Alderman Hopkins continues his work to deliver open, green, and recreational space for Chicagoans, and fights to protect constituents from health risks associated with environmental contamination at former industrial sites.  

Representing a diverse ward that includes neighborhoods spanning from Streeterville, the Gold Coast to Old Town, and Lincoln Park. Alderman Hopkins has shepherded some of Chicago’s most important and impactful projects to completion.
 
In 2017, Alderman Hopkins conducted a public review process and secured unanimous community support for One Chicago Square, a high-rise mixed-use development in the Gold Coast generating over $50 million in annual city tax revenues and over 1,400 new, full-time jobs.
 
In 2018, after almost two years of public meetings and negotiation, Alderman Hopkins delivered Lincoln Yards, a project that will create over 24,000 citywide jobs, new infrastructure grids, 22 acres of parks and green space, and the most affordable housing ever created on-site from a Chicago development.
 
Along with major economic development projects, Alderman Hopkins has introduced and delivered some of the Council’s most forward-thinking legislation, including Chicago’s first mural art registry, condo-privacy protections, and collaborative policing strategies between CPD and private and institutional security.

Since 2020, Alderman Hopkins has hosted vaccination clinics for over 7,000 residents who received their initial COVID doses and subsequent boosters.

In 2023, Alderman Hopkins was appointed as Chairman of the Committee on Public Safety for the 2023-2027 term.

Alderman Hopkins, throughout his entire tenure, has opposed and voted against every city budget that contained a property tax increase.  He has also, at the request of police, used discretionary funds on Police Observation Devices and License Plate Readers throughout the 2nd Ward.  Moreover, he advocated for the opening of two new Sheriff’s offices in River North to assist the Chicago Police Department on major crime issues like vehicular hijacking.

In May 2022, per legally mandated process, the City Council passed a new ward map in conjunction with 2020 Census data.  Alderman Hopkins supported a more open and independent process for redistricting, sponsored legislation calling for the process to be reformed, and, because it was designed to protect incumbent members of City Council instead of neighborhoods, voted against the gerrymandered map that did ultimately pass.  In the new map, due to the addition of nearly 8,000 residents within the current boundaries, the 2nd Ward loses territory and moves entirely east of the river.  Alderman Hopkins will continue to represent all residents of the current 2nd Ward until May 2023 and looks forward to then serving many of the same residents and new residents alike in Lincoln Park, Old Town, Gold Coast, River North, and Streeterville.
 
Alderman Hopkins earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois-Springfield (Sangamon State). He is an avid Blackhawks fan who enjoys spending time with friends and experiencing all that Chicago has to offer with his wife, Colleen, and son, Ryan.