Alumni Spotlight: Jorja (Ryan) Simonich ’86
From graphic design to helping map nearly 282,000 parcels across Will County, Jorja (Ryan) Simonich ’86 has built a career that combines creativity, technology and a lifelong fascination with maps.
Jorja currently serves as Mapping Deputy for the Will County Supervisor of Assessments Office, where she and her team oversee parcel maintenance throughout the county using specialized GIS technology. Their work includes everything from new subdivisions and land divisions to parcel consolidations, road widenings, solar farms and the creation of thousands of tax maps each year.
After graduating from Providence Catholic, Jorja attended Illinois State University, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Graphic Design. She began her career with the Will County Land Use & Zoning Department, where she hand-drew maps for zoning, building and land-use hearings. When an opportunity for growth arose, she moved into the Mapping Department – and found a field that was a perfect fit.
“I am personally fascinated with any type of maps, and I love creating layouts,” Jorja said. “The abundance of data in this specific field is infinite. It is challenging, extremely engaging and technologically dynamic.”
One of the proudest accomplishments of her career came when she served as project lead for the massive transition of more than 281,000 parcel records into Esri’s advanced ArcGIS Pro Parcel Fabric system.
The project’s success earned Jorja national recognition. Esri invited her to speak at its 2025 North American User Conference in San Diego about Will County’s transition, and she was later invited to host a webinar in April 2026. This month, she will also present at the Illinois GIS State Conference on the same topic.
For Jorja, however, one of the most rewarding parts of her work is encouraging others to discover the possibilities within GIS.
“The opportunities are endless,” she said. “These programs can be used to solve so many real-world problems – from airport safety and preventing forest fires to monitoring ocean climates and parcel maintenance in local government.”
Outside of work, Jorja is surrounded by a large and growing family. She is blessed with two children and their spouses from her late husband, four bonus children and their significant others through her fiancé, and three grandchildren.
We’re proud to spotlight another Celtic who has taken her talents, curiosity and creativity far beyond the halls of Providence. Congratulations, Jorja, on an incredible career – and thank you for showing our students just how many paths are possible.
