Mayor Lori Lightfoot bid farewell to Chicago residents Monday, saying a historic term that at times “brought me to my knees” will be remembered as one of progress for upending tired political norms and forging a more equitable future for Chicago.

“The mandate that I was given four years ago was to break up the status quo that failed our residents for far too long, and to chart a new path,” Lightfoot said. “A new compact between the government and the governed. And that’s what we did.”

The farewell address capstoning Lightfoot’s one and only term in office took place at BUILD, Inc., a violence prevention organization in West Garfield Park where she first unveiled her public safety platform as a candidate more than four years ago.

Lightfoot painted the address as a celebration of a historic term, but also as a reflection on some of the most challenging and darkest moments of the past four years, including her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a spike in violence and the civil unrest after the police murder of George Floyd.

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“There were certainly times when the sheer number of challenges mounted on top of each other brought me to my knees.” Lightfoot said, later adding: “I wrap myself up in resiliency.”

Lightfoot pointed to her administration’s foremost goal as reducing inequity — particularly historical disparities facing Black and brown Chicagoans on the city’s South and West sides — that the pandemic “laid bare… flashing like neon signs.”

She said she views her administration’s mantra as “planting seeds of hope for transforming our future. When we empower the residents who have never had a voice or a seat at the table before and give them an opportunity to grow. These are the kinds of amazing results we get.”

Her sendoff Monday in the 350-seat BUILD gymnasium was packed with supporters, and a cardboard cutout of Lightfoot that became famous during the COVID-19 pandemic greeted attendees, a tangible reminder of the challenges she faced in her tenure. Among those attending included Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, Lightfoot’s cabinet officials, as well as a slew of City Council allies, and the program included a musical performance, as many of Lightfoot’s celebratory announcements have.

A glossy short video featured media-generated headlines of Lightfoot’s achievements in office and testimony from her top deputies, including public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, who was in attendance and later received a standing ovation from the crowd. Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson previously said he would remove Arwady from her post upon taking office, but has since said he will meet with her and other department heads as he transitions to the fifth floor of City Hall.

Lightfoot thanked numerous other cabinet officials, including CEO Jennie Huang Bennett, Chief Equity Officer Candace Moore, Department of Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara and more.

In an opening prayer, West Point Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Bernard Jakes, who previously defended Lightfoot’s pandemic-era restrictions on houses of worship, praised Lightfoot for her commitment to tackling inequality and setting the stage for “a new beginning” for the city.

Craig Chico, Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council’s president and CEO, ticked through some of Lightfoot’s most notable accomplishments: raising the minimum wage to $15, securing a city casino, earning bond rating upgrades and securing the extension of the Red Line on the South Side.

But Lightfoot’s legislative goals at times faced stumbling blocks when met with her tough negotiating style that put her at odds with the City Council members she needed to pass her goals.

Alluding to Lightfoot’s at times brash personality, Chico said to laughter: “I knew this mayor liked me when she yelled at me. Actually, she was hollering at me about someone else. That makes it even more special.”

Lightfoot’s public image was shaped in part by her texts and email exchanges with elected officials revealed by news outlets, a fact she took aim at during her speech repeatedly. One of the first moments that revealed her demeanor with Chicago’s legislative body was when she told the City Council not to come to her “for s***” if they don’t vote in favor of her 2021 budget.

Nodding to that focus on her management style, a clearly miffed Lightfoot said Monday that “lots of time and energy and ink has been spilled by the pundits and the media, obsessing about what four-letter-word the mean-can’t-get-along-with-anyone-mayor allegedly said.”

Lightfoot grew emotional as she said the four-letter-word that helped propel her to continue on and “rise above the noise and despair” was “H-O-P-E.”

“Hope. I saw it,” Lightfoot said. “I felt it in this city, in every neighborhood, in the eyes of children…elders, of workers. Our people who were touched by the work that we did, the details that we sweated, the resources we invested for the betterment of our entire city.”

The address comes a week before Johnson takes office, and marks the first time Lightfoot has publicly reflected on her legacy outside of one-off media interviews with select outlets.

Lightfoot has largely avoided the press since her February defeat, canceling her usual post-City Council press conferences and spending her final weeks in office at events where questions from reporters weren’t permitted. She has used those events to express gratitude and tout accomplishments of her one and only term as mayor.

At the last City Council meeting of the term, after hours of speeches from departing aldermen, Lightfoot adjourned abruptly without saying goodbye.

Lightfoot was swept into office as a political outsider and corruption buster, but she was rejected in February by critics who said she didn’t do enough to tamp down the city’s crime and let a tough negotiating style get in the way of progress.

Recounting the well-known quote, “history is written by the victors,” Lightfoot said it’s the city that has collectively triumphed under her tenure.

“We must continue to carry the baton forward. To all of you: Do continue serving our city and working towards equity, inclusion, safety, fairness and vibrancy in every neighborhood,” Lightfoot said as she closed her speech. “I will be here — as private citizen Lightfoot — continually rooting for you and every resident of our city. My work is not done.”

WBEZ’s Mariah Woelfel and Tessa Weinberg cover city government and politics.