Enza Raineri was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and is daughter of immigrant parents from Sicily. Raineri graduated from Roosevelt University, School of Journalism with a B.A. in Public Relations.  Raineri worked at several public relations agencies in Chicago and suburbs before moving into Cook County government joining the administration of Aurelia Pucinski who had been elected in 1988.  Pucinski having been elected to office to restore public confidence after the Operation Greylord investigations which prompted convictions of those guilty of bribing members of the court system to curry favor.  Raineri along with her colleagues were charged with working to restore the public trust and develop programs to assist residents of Cook County who come in contact with the court system.

Raineri spear-headed the development of the first-ever community outreach and public information program for Child Support Enforcement.  Raineri then moved into operations management where she was in charge of the Juvenile Division, Civil Division and managing various office projects.  After Clerk Aurelia Pucinski left office, Raineri remained under the administration of Clerk Dorothy Brown, where Raineri was promoted to Associate Clerk of the Court for Public Policy and Public Information where she managed the daily activities of the Public Information staff and Press Secretary.  Raineri then moved back into operations where she had oversight of the Criminal Bureau and then the Suburban Bureau which consisted of all the suburban courthouses throughout Cook County.  Raineri retired after 30 years from the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office as the Associate Clerk of the Suburban Bureau in 2019.

Most recently, Raineri, served as the immediate past President of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, the umbrella organization for over 40 affiliate organizations, that acts the voice of the Italian community.  Raineri’s focus as President was to re-ignite Italian American interested in community issues by providing committees and leadership positions so people felt like had a stake in the future of the Italian community and culture in Chicago.  In recent years along with other community leaders, Raineri worked on the Balbo monument and Balbo Drive preservation project along-side legendary leader of the Italian community Dominic Di Frisco.   In June of 2019, Raineri was bestowed the title of Cavaliere from the Italian government via the Ministry office in Rome Italy. The award was presented to her by Consul General Giuseppe Finocchiaro at the annual Festa Della Republica on June 1, 2019.   A cavaliere is the equivalent of a knighthood.   Raineri received the honors for her years of work in the Italian community and the fight to preserve the Italian culture in the City of Chicago.

Raineri has been honored by several Italian-American organizations, including the Order of Sons of Italy, the Women’s Division of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans with the IMPRESA Award, and most recently received the Leonardo DaVinci Award for Community Service from the Orders of the Sons of Italy.  Raineri is also past Chair of the Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Humanitarian Award Dinner.