ABOUT
Good Chaos is a project-based studio in Chicago. We incubate creative ideas and community spaces. We bring partners and funding to change entrenched systems.
Our approach is to work deeply with communities, artists, radical doers and thinkers, and people building new models for a more broadly shared future. We're a small, nimble team, guided by our artist founder, and powered by emergent strategy, creativity, and hands-on production.
our team
Asia Jones-Orr
Special Projects + Operations Manager
Asia Jones-Orr Good Chaos’ Office & Events Manager and manages special projects, helping transform ideas into thoughtful, well-executed experiences and systems that support our team. Asia enjoys bringing order to complexity and creating the conditions for great work to happen. Outside of work, Asia is a Chicago native, yoga teacher, occasional poet, and traveler who loves food, farming, fashion, and film. You'll usually find her exploring with her husband and their dog, Pig.
Favorite place in Chicago:
The Good Chaos office
Elizabeth Armour
Managing Director
Elizabeth leads Good Chaos’ work in changing entrenched, often harmful systems through culture, narrative shift, film, and public movements. She also spearheads Good Chaos' democracy work including artist-led movements to inspire possibility and civic action.
Having spent more than 20 years architecting national public education campaigns, she is passionate about creating a future of equality, dignity, and economic security for people who are overlooked or excluded. She loves hanging out with her 3 girls, 2 dogs, and a good book or podcast (current favorite: “The Rest Is History”).
Favorite place in Chicago:
Garfield Park Conservatory — an otherworldly West Side gem.
Allyson Esposito
Managing Director
Allyson Esposito leads cultural strategy, creative placemaking, and national field-building at Good Chaos, where she develops partnerships, advances community-centered initiatives, and cultivates networks across Chicago and beyond to explore new models for creative and civic change. She connects artists, cultural leaders, institutions, and communities to build long-term infrastructure for creativity, belonging, and equitable investment all while maintaining an active career as a choreographer, performer, and arts organizer.
Favorite place in Chicago:
Montrose beach with my daughter
Christy Maclear
President
Christy MacLear is the President of Good Chaos. She leads the project focused teams to align with our principal’s vision in an emergent way – evolving with partners, opportunities which arise from pilots, or bringing great models to bear for each project’s success. She has the nickname “the fog sculptor” from her time building a new city for the Walt Disney Company and has a background in leadership of large scale urban projects and start-up cultural organizations. She’s a mother, a golfer and skier and has “exploring hardware stores” on her bio since 1988.
Favorite place in Chicago:
Farnsworth House
Himal Agarwal
Managing Director
Himal leads all aspects of financial operations and investments for Good Chaos. He oversees asset management, project funding, and a private impact investment portfolio of over 20 direct and fund investments. Himal also leads the broader impact banking effort to increase deposits at community banks and CDFIs across local neighborhoods in Chicago. Himal serves on the boards of Millennium Bank, World Business Chicago, and Uniting Voices. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two children and enjoys singing and cheering on Chicago sports teams.
Favorite place in Chicago:
A boat on the Chicago River
Asia Jones-Orr
Special Projects + Operations Manager
Asia Jones-Orr Good Chaos’ Office & Events Manager and manages special projects, helping transform ideas into thoughtful, well-executed experiences and systems that support our team. Asia enjoys bringing order to complexity and creating the conditions for great work to happen. Outside of work, Asia is a Chicago native, yoga teacher, occasional poet, and traveler who loves food, farming, fashion, and film. You'll usually find her exploring with her husband and their dog, Pig.
Favorite place in Chicago:
The Good Chaos office
Christy Maclear
President
Christy MacLear is the President of Good Chaos. She leads the project focused teams to align with our principal’s vision in an emergent way – evolving with partners, opportunities which arise from pilots, or bringing great models to bear for each project’s success. She has the nickname “the fog sculptor” from her time building a new city for the Walt Disney Company and has a background in leadership of large scale urban projects and start-up cultural organizations. She’s a mother, a golfer and skier and has “exploring hardware stores” on her bio since 1988.
Favorite place in Chicago:
Farnsworth House
Elizabeth Armour
Managing Director
Elizabeth leads Good Chaos’ work in changing entrenched, often harmful systems through culture, narrative shift, film, and public movements. She also spearheads Good Chaos' democracy work including artist-led movements to inspire possibility and civic action.
Having spent more than 20 years architecting national public education campaigns, she is passionate about creating a future of equality, dignity, and economic security for people who are overlooked or excluded. She loves hanging out with her 3 girls, 2 dogs, and a good book or podcast (current favorite: “The Rest Is History”).
Favorite place in Chicago:
Garfield Park Conservatory — an otherworldly West Side gem.
Himal Agarwal
Managing Director
Himal leads all aspects of financial operations and investments for Good Chaos. He oversees asset management, project funding, and a private impact investment portfolio of over 20 direct and fund investments. Himal also leads the broader impact banking effort to increase deposits at community banks and CDFIs across local neighborhoods in Chicago. Himal serves on the boards of Millennium Bank, World Business Chicago, and Uniting Voices. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two children and enjoys singing and cheering on Chicago sports teams.
Favorite place in Chicago:
A boat on the Chicago River
Allyson Esposito
Managing Director
Allyson Esposito leads cultural strategy, creative placemaking, and national field-building at Good Chaos, where she develops partnerships, advances community-centered initiatives, and cultivates networks across Chicago and beyond to explore new models for creative and civic change. She connects artists, cultural leaders, institutions, and communities to build long-term infrastructure for creativity, belonging, and equitable investment all while maintaining an active career as a choreographer, performer, and arts organizer.
Favorite place in Chicago:
Montrose beach with my daughter