About the Owner
Jerald Gary is a proud product of 79th Street on Chicago's South Side. Prior to purchasing the Avalon Regal Theater at age 29, he created a private equity fund to separately invest in real estate, technology, and businesses in the surrounding community. Before that, Jerald held various roles in enterprise technology management at Chicago-based Electronic Knowledge Interchange and at Killerspin, where he focused on software-enabled optimization of business processes. Prior to, he developed, wrote and executed derivative trading strategies. He began his career as a Portfolio Manager at LaSalle Global Securities and Trust Services (a division of LaSalle Bank), where he managed the risk and administration of fixed income derivatives. Jerald completed separate studies in Aviation and Finance at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and subsequently worked in then-Senator Barack Obama’s United States Senate office as an intern.
He is an Associate Board member of Providence St. Mel School, where he was a John Philip Sousa Awardee and Chair of its Symphonic Band’s percussion section, as well as the Merit School of Music, where he was a percussion student in the Saturday Enrichment Program and drummer in the Honors Jazz Ensemble. He was also a percussionist in the Hyde Park Youth Symphony and the City of Chicago’s Gallery 37 Latin Jazz Band and studied percussion in Bangkok, Thailand as a teen. Jerald also participated in programs at eta Creative Arts, Alyo Children's Dance Theater, and the Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center as a child.
Jerald was included in Crain’s Chicago Business’ 2014 “20 in Their 20s” series of upcoming Chicagoans, and was named a 2015 Chicago Defender Man of Excellence, 2016 Chicago Urban League Innovator, 2016 WVON/Ariel Investments 40 Under 40 Game Changer, 2017 Trailblazing Illini, and a 2017 Harold Washington awardee by the Harold Washington Legacy Committee.
He holds a Private Pilot License from the University of Illinois Institute of Aviation and enjoys mentoring students and playing drums at the Regal. Jerald is a Board Member of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce.