About Cassaundra Rouse

Cassaundra Rouse attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in management with a concentration in accounting. She has an impressive background and significant experience with top-tier firms like Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen, including her current role as the Illinois Tollway Executive Director.

She was named the Illinois Tollway Executive Director by the Illinois Tollway Board of Directors in August 2022 for the state’s 294-mile Tollway system supporting five roadways across 12 counties in Northern Illinois.  As executive director, Rouse reports to the Tollway Board Chair and is responsible for day-to-day management and oversight of nearly 1,400 employees in providing a safe, effective, and efficient toll highway system and ensuring the highest possible level of customer service for the Tollway’s more than 1.5 million daily drivers. In addition, Rouse oversees the Tollway’s 15-year, $14 billion Move Illinois capital program, now in its 12th year.

She has over a decade of experience at the Illinois Tollway, assuming progressively greater responsibilities among the agency’s leadership ranks. Before being named the executive director, she served as the Tollway’s Chief of the Internal Audit Department, Chief of the Administration Department, Chief Strategy and Implementation Officer, and Chief Operating Officer.

In 2016, she received the IIA’s William C. Anderson Award, recognizing an individual who had made the most outstanding contribution to the chapter that year. In 2017, Rouse was named one of the Chicago Defender’s “Women of Excellence” for her demonstrated excellence on the job and in her community. She also served as a board member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), serving as treasurer and vice president of education. She was one of the co-founding members of the Government Advisory Committee to the IIA Board.

She is a member of the South Suburban Chapter of Jack and Jill of America Inc., a national organization of mothers dedicated to nurturing future African American leaders, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., the oldest Greek-letter organization established in America by African American college women.