Her foundation has supported major transgender causes in recent years, and now Colonel J.N. Pritzker has publicly indicated that she identifies as transgender.
Pritzker, the founder of the Pritzker Military Library in Chicago and a member of one of the nation's most wealthy families, has legally changed her name to Jennifer Natalya Pritzker and identifies as a woman, a spokesperson for Pritzker confirmed.
Crain's Chicago first broke the news that Pritzker had sent a memo to employees at the library and to Pritzker's Tawani Enterprises informing them of the change.
"This change will reflect the beliefs of her true identity that she has held privately and will now share publicly," read the memo, according to Crain's. "Pritzker now identifies herself as a woman for all business and personal undertakings."
Pritzker lives in Chicago, and she has been active in Chicago's transgender community in recent years, attending LGBT events and donating to transgender causes.
Pritzker's Tawani Foundation partially funded Chicago House's TransLife Project as well as the Gender Center at Lurie Children's. The Legacy Walk also benefitted from the foundation, which sponsored a plaque honoring transgender veteran Christine Jorgensen. The foundation also gave the Palm Center $1.3 million study to determine how the U.S. military could successfully integrate transgender service members.