Meet Our Board Members: Bill Pragalz

January 6, 2020

Ambassadors of Mercy
Born: Glenview, IL

College and major: College of the Holy Cross, political science

Position: CEO of 360 Benefits

“We’re a benefits consulting firm, and I worked with a larger consulting firm before for four or five years and just kind of thought to myself, ‘we’re a big company and there’s probably a better way to do this, a better way to serve our clients with their employer health care – better than what’s going on today.’”

Passions outside of work:

“The first thing that comes to my mind is my three kids. I have twins, so my kids are eight, eight, and six, and I do a lot of coaching: fall baseball, flag football, and we have activities five days a week and I love it. That’s kind of my hobby – when I’m not working, I’m usually coaching or playing catch or some sort of sports with my kids. I’m also running my fourth marathon for Mercy Home, so I’m fired up about that.”

Favorite travel destination:

“It doesn’t sound too exotic, but one of my favorite places to go to is Vail, CO – I just love it. I love snow skiing and I love eating good food, and I call Vail Disneyland for adults because it has great restaurants, breweries and craft beer, and really good skiing.”

Finding Mercy Home:

“I was looking to expand my network of friends, people I interact with, and colleagues – and looking to do some good along the way. I started considering getting involved with a nonprofit organization, and it so happened that I live in the West Loop, and in 2012 I walked over to Mercy Home and introduced myself. I met a couple folks there, took a tour; they told me I could get involved in something simple and I ended up joining the Associate Board, and it was like meeting one great person after another.”

Favorite part about Mercy Home’s mission:

“Everyone deserves a chance to have a bright future. I was lucky because of the opportunities that were given to me, and kids can’t control that. It’s important to be able to create opportunities for less privileged and less fortunate kids and give them the opportunity to create the future that they want.”

Mercy Home legacy:

“If I were to have a legacy at Mercy Home, I feel like I would want someone to know me or refer to me as someone who was really willing to help out, to care for others, and maybe go a little bit above and beyond the norm to do so.”