City Club event description:

The Honorable Valerie Jarrett is Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of The Obama Foundation where she is overseeing the creation of a new world class cultural and civic institution on Chicago’s south side, and the Foundation’s programs that inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world.

Ms. Jarrett is also a Senior Distinguished Fellow at The University of Chicago Law School, and
the author of the New York Times bestselling book Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West
Wing and the Path Forward, published in April 2019.

Jarrett is Board Chairman of Civic Nation and serves on the boards of Walgreens.com, Inc.,
Ralph Lauren Corporation, Ariel Investments, The University of Chicago, and the Sesame Street Workshop. Jarrett also serves on the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women Advisory Board, the Bank of America Enterprise Executive Development Council, and the Microsoft Advisory Council.

Ms. Jarrett was the Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama from 2009-2017, making her the longest serving senior advisor to a president in history. She oversaw the Offices of Public
Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and Chaired the White House Council on Women
and Girls.

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Ms. Jarrett has a background in both the public and private sectors. She served as the Chief
Executive Officer of The Habitat Company. During her tenure Habitat was the largest multi
family housing developer and manager in Chicago. Prior to joining Habitat, Ms. Jarrett was the Commissioner of Planning and Development for the city of Chicago, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. She practiced law for ten years in the private and public sector.

She previously served as the director of numerous corporate and not-for-profit boards, including leadership roles as Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Stock Exchange, Chairman of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board of Trustees, Vice Chairman of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees, Chair of Chicago Transit Board, and Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Ms. Jarrett has also received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including TIME’s 100
Most Influential People Award and Forbes 50 Over 50.

Jarrett received her B.A. from Stanford University in 1978 and her J.D. from the University of
Michigan Law School in 1981.

City Club event description:

Arts, museums, and cultural institutions are among Illinois’ strongest assets—driving tourism, supporting jobs, anchoring neighborhoods, and shaping how Chicago and the state are perceived nationally and globally. Yet outdated narratives too often overshadow the true strength, safety, and cultural vitality of these institutions.

Join museum leaders, artists, educators, legislators, and civic voices to examine how Illinois can reinforce its standing as a world-class cultural hub. Panelists will explore the arts as an economic engine, a catalyst for place-making, and a proactive tool for reshaping perceptions of Chicago and Illinois through investment, partnership, and leadership. Rep. Kimberly DuBuclet will moderate the discussion.

Speakers

James Rondeau

A visionary leader and renowned curator, James has made the museum his professional home for nearly three decades, dedicated to advancing its mission to connect visitors to world-class global collections in fresh, innovative, and relevant ways.Since his appointment in 2016, James has led the museum through periods of tremendous reflection, evolution, and growth. He has supported pivotal acquisitions across all curatorial areas, appointed renowned scholars to lead eight of the eleven curatorial teams, and overseen the transformation of galleries devoted to the arts of the Americas, Egypt, Sub-Saharan Africa, Northern Europe, and South and Southeast Asia. James has also pioneered the museum’s role as a profoundly civic place of gathering and is a dedicated advocate for training and mentorship programs for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in the arts. 

James began his time with the Art Institute of Chicago in 1998 as associate curator of contemporary art. From 2004 through 2016, he served as Dittmer Chair and Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art and defined the museum’s internationally respected collection of global contemporary art—one that continues to grow in size and regard. He led the installation of this collection with the opening of the Modern Wing in 2009, and in 2015 he realized the largest gift of art in the museum’s history, the Edlis | Neeson Collection, a transformative addition of 44 post-war artworks. James has also organized and contributed to a host of critically acclaimed exhibitions and installations and raised the museum’s profile as a leading presenter of emerging and lesser-known artists. 

Kimberly Du Buclet

Illinois State Representative Kimberly Du Buclet is a full-time legislator representing Chicago’s South Side. A former Vice President of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, she serves on multiple Illinois state committees and commissions focused on environmental justice, economic security, equity and inclusion, and the protection of vulnerable populations. In the General Assembly, Rep. Du Buclet is committed to expanding democratic participation, advancing environmental justice, and strengthening opportunity for Illinois families.

City Club video

Dr. Julian Siggers

Dr. Julian Siggers has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Field Museum since September 2020.

Throughout his career, Siggers has championed the importance of communicating science to the public in a way that’s engaging and accessible. He has led countless initiatives to transform museums into vibrant spaces for public education and discovery.

Before joining the Field, Siggers was the director of the Penn Museum in Philadelphia from 2012 to 2020. He oversaw the renovation of many galleries and public spaces, including the Middle East Galleries, Africa Galleries, and Mexico and Central America Gallery. He also established the Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials, guided implementation of new programs that welcomed diverse audiences, and led a $100 million fundraising campaign.

Siggers was previously with the Royal Ontario Museum and the United Kingdom’s National Museum of Science and Industry. He earned his PhD from the University of Toronto, with a focus on prehistoric humans in the Middle East, and his MA and BA from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London.

Siggers is a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) US Board of Directors and of the advisory council for the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC).

Nora Daley

Nora Daley has focused on helping people and tirelessly strengthening communities throughout her life. She was appointed Chair of the Illinois Art Council Agency by Governor JB Pritzker in September 2022 and she continues to work with other agencies throughout the state to partner and provide access and opportunity for the creative sector. She serves as co-chair of the Chicago Architecture Biennial and has been in leadership as chairman of the Board of Trustees and executive committee member of multiple organizations, including Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the Terra Foundation for American Art, After School Matters, Navy Pier, Inc., Frances Xavier Warde School and the Richard J. Daley Global Cities Forum.

Daley has served as an advisor to and active participant in various organizations, including the Illinois Justice Project, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Museum of Science and Industry, Hyde Park Art Center, University of Illinois Chicago and Harris School of Public Policy University of Chicago. From 2011-2019 she chaired the City of Chicago’s Cultural Advisory Council under Mayor Rahm Emanuel. In 2022 Daley established Raven Partners, a strategic advisory firm, to continue to build upon her work with various businesses and organizations. As a former Managing Director of Wonderworks, an immersive experiential art museum that disrupts the traditional nonprofit model, she led the relaunch, rebuild and rebrand of the museum. From 2002-2014 Daley worked as a Senior Advisor and Director of Outreach for Metropolis Strategies, an initiative from the Commercial Club of Chicago that created a civic organization focused on the growth of the regional economy to promote sustainable development and create safer communities throughout the Chicago region. Daley received a BA in Art History from Fairfield University. She lives in Chicago with her husband and three children.

Peter CottonTale

Peter CottonTale is a Grammy-winning Chicago-based producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and cultural entrepreneur whose work bridges artistry and community impact. A key collaborator with Chance the Rapper and The Social Experiment, he helped shape a new wave of independent, Chicago-rooted music blending gospel, jazz, and hip-hop.

He is co-founder of RCM Studios (Record Chicago’s Music), strengthening the city’s creative infrastructure, and released his debut solo album CATCH in 2020. In 2023–24, he served as Artist-in-Residence with the Chicago Sinfonietta, reflecting his continued commitment to artistic innovation and civic engagement.

City Club event description:

Chicagoans need access to good jobs with family-sustaining wages, and employers need to fill critical roles quickly. 

To build these connections, the Pritzker Traubert Foundation launched the Chicago Talent Challenge, a $5 million grant to accelerate the training and hiring of local workers for high-demand jobs. This year’s Challenge focused on filling health care roles like medical assistants, patient care technicians, medical laboratory technicians, and nurses. 

At this program, former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Bryan Traubert, a doctor and University of Illinois trustee, will discuss the inaugural Challenge and why they chose to focus on health care. 

They will also offer an inside look at the open call that drew more than 50 applicant teams representing more than 200 organizations and will celebrate the first Chicago Talent Challenge recipient. 

Join us for a conversation on how workforce development programs can be used to supercharge Chicago’s economy and fill good-paying jobs

Speakers

Penny Pritzker

Penny Pritzker is the founder and Chairman of PSP Partners and its affiliates, Pritzker Realty Group, PSP Capital, and PSP Growth. From June 2013 through January 2017, she served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the Obama Administration.

Ms. Pritzker is an entrepreneur, civic leader, and philanthropist, with more than 30 years of experience in numerous industries. In addition to her work at PSP Partners, Ms. Pritzker launched a number of other businesses over the course of her career, which included founding Vi Senior Living (formerly known as Classic Residence by Hyatt), and co-founding The Parking Spot, Artemis Real Estate Partners, and Inspired Capital Partners. Ms. Pritzker is a member of the boards of Microsoft Corporation, DEPT and Icertis. She is also the former executive chairman of the board of TransUnion and is a past board member of Hyatt
Hotels Corporation, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, Marmon Group, and LaSalle Bank Corporation.

In July of 2022, Ms. Pritzker was elected as the Senior Fellow (chair) of the Harvard Corporation and is the first woman to hold the position. In addition to those roles, Ms. Pritzker is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and Aspen Economic Strategy Group, member of the Obama Foundation Board and cochair of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum Advisory Council.

Ms. Pritzker previously served as President Biden’s Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery, chairman of the board of trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and cofounder and board chair of Chicago-based civic-tech organization P33. She also was formerly a member of the board of the Council on Foreign Relations, the board of trustees of Stanford University, the Harvard University Board of Overseers and founded Skills for America’s Future. Ms. Pritzker also served on President Biden’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, and his Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

Ms. Pritzker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor and Masters of Business Administration from Stanford University. Ms. Pritzker and her husband, Dr. Bryan Traubert, co-founded the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation that works to foster increased economic opportunity for Chicago’s families. To learn more about the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, visit www.ptfound.org

City Club video

Bryan Traubert

Bryan Traubert is Chairman of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation (PTF), which is dedicated to equalizing opportunity in Chicago. He practiced ophthalmology in Chicago for over 30 years after receiving his BS from The Citadel and MD degree from the University of Illinois. 

Dr. Traubert is the former Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Chicago Community Trust. He also serves on the Boards of University of Illinois, Loyola University Chicago, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Steppenwolf Theatre. He previously served on the National Park Foundation board where he was Chairman from 2017-2019. From 2010 – 2016 he served as President of the Chicago Park District Board. 

Dr. Traubert enjoys golfing, cycling, tennis, skiing, gardening, theater, contemporary art and architecture. A longtime resident of Chicago, he is married to Penny Pritzker. They live in Chicago and have two adult children and four grandchildren

City Club event description:

Mayor Brandon Johnson, City of Chicago

Brandon Johnson was sworn in as the 57th Mayor of the City of Chicago on May 15, 2023. Mayor Johnson began his career as a public school teacher, first at Jenner Academy in Cabrini-Green and then at Westinghouse College Prep on the West Side, where he experienced firsthand how school closures, unemployment and gun violence impacted his students and their communities. He then went on to become an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union, where he led multi-racial coalitions to defend neighborhood schools from privatization, reduce high-stakes standardized testing and expand access to state funding. Mayor Johnson was elected Cook County Commissioner of the 1st District in 2018. During his five years on the Cook County Board, he led efforts to pass the Just Housing Ordinance which prohibited housing discrimination against formerly incarcerated people, legislation to secure legal representation for immigrants facing deportation, and coordinated COVID-19 resources for low-income seniors in nursing homes.

City Club video

In 2018, Mayor Johnson was elected Commissioner of the 1st District of Cook County. Here he led the effort to pass the Just Housing Ordinance, which prohibited housing discrimination against formerly incarcerated people. As commissioner, he also collaborated with colleagues to eliminate the gang database, secure legal representation for immigrants facing deportation and advance recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In the wake of civil uprisings in the summer of 2020, he organized the Cook County Board to commit to the “Budget for Black Lives,” bringing new investments in health care, public transportation, internet access, and affordable housing. Mayor Johnson and his wife Stacie live in the Austin community, where they are raising their children Owen, Ethan and Braedyn.

City Club event description:

Michael McMurray serves as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA), one of the world’s largest aviation systems, serving more than 100 million passengers per year. Appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson in 2025, Commissioner McMurray brings more than 25 years of experience, with a with a career-long focus on delivering complex infrastructure projects, expanding economic opportunity, and strengthening the systems that connect communities.

McMurray is an active community member engaging in several civil and charitable organizations, including the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation as a member of the Board of Directors, Chicago Entrepreneurial Center (1871), the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Adler Planetarium. His civic affiliations also include the Economic Club of Chicago and Commercial Club of Chicago, the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials, the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois, and the American Association of Airport Executives.

City Club video

A native of Chicago’s South Side, McMurray earned his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

City Club event description:

Gia Biagi was appointed secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation by Gov. JB Pritzker on Dec. 10, 2024. Biagi brings to the agency decades of experience in urban planning, transportation, public policy, infrastructure and operations. 

Biagi’s career spans both private practice and public service and has established her as a visionary leader in planning, policy and infrastructure management. From 2019 to 2023, she served as commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Transportation, where she delivered hundreds of innovative transportation projects citywide and created a nation-leading strategic plan focused on equitable, safe and sustainable mobility, along with transformational neighborhood investments. 

She has held various other private and public roles across the fields of housing, parks and transportation throughout her career of more than two decades. 

City Club video

Prior to her appointment to IDOT, she provided executive leadership at Studio Gang, an international, award-winning architecture and urban design firm. There, she led a practice that specialized in urban design, land-use planning, community engagement, and implementation strategy for public and private-sector clients across a range of cities and project types, including housing, waterfronts, aviation, parks, roadways, and public and private buildings and sites.

Biagi recently served on the Shared-Use Mobility Center’s board of directors and was previously appointed secretary of the National Association of City Transportation Officials. She served on the Board of Trustees for the Chicago Architecture Center, is a member of the advisory board of the Women’s Transportation Seminar and is a member of Lambda Alpha International, an honorary society for the study of land economics. She was also recently named a visiting fellow at the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas.

Biagi earned her Master of Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan.

City Club event description:

Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle

Toni Preckwinkle is the 35th president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, an office she has held since 2010. She is the first Black woman to be elected to the office. A dedicated and effective public servant, President Preckwinkle has worked to transform County government through increased fiscal responsibility, transparency, and improved services.

Leveraging more than 30 years of political experience and leadership, President Preckwinkle has restored credibility to County government, solving for more than $2.87 billion in budget deficits and providing supplemental pension payments of almost $2 billion above the required contribution since 2016, significantly reducing unfunded pension liabilities. 

As the top executive in Cook County, the nation’s second most populous County, President Preckwinkle oversees one of the nation’s largest public health and hospitals systems and one of the nation’s largest criminal justice systems. 

Under her leadership, Cook County used the Affordable Care Act to create CountyCare, a managed care program for Medicaid-eligible residents. Cook County provides quality care to more than 500,000 individuals through the health system and health plan.

President Preckwinkle has remained committed to reimagining our criminal justice system and taking an approach that also addresses mental health issues, substance abuse and addiction as illnesses to be treated, not crimes to be punished.

City Club video

During President Preckwinkle’s administration, she has worked to expand the scope of the Justice Advisory Council (JAC) to coordinate and implement juvenile justice reform and public safety policy. In coordination with the JAC, President Preckwinkle has worked collaboratively with the County’s public safety stakeholders towards the goals of safely reducing the population of the Cook County Jail and Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center while preserving public safety, reducing recidivism, and promoting fair and equitable access to justice.

Cook County represents the core of the region’s population, jobs, businesses and productivity. The economic footprint of the Chicago region is larger than that of most nations in the world. One of the great strengths of Cook County, and the larger region, is the diversity of the local economy. In 2011, President Preckwinkle created the Bureau of Economic Development to lead and promote equitable economic growth and community development throughout the County. 

Promoting equity, specifically racial equity, has been a central principle of President Preckwinkle’s leadership. In November 2018, the Office of the President released the Cook County Policy Roadmap: Five-Year Strategic Plan for Offices Under the President to guide her administration’s policy and equity work.

President Preckwinkle is also President of the Forest Preserves of Cook County, one of the oldest and largest forest preserve districts in the United States. The district receives an estimated 62 million visits each year, providing residents with outdoor recreation and environmental education opportunities.

Before she was elected Cook County Board President, President Preckwinkle served 19 years as Alderman of the 4th Ward. As Alderman, she oversaw the redevelopment of the Kenwood, Oakland, Douglas, Grand Boulevard and Hyde Park neighborhoods. She established a reputation as a progressive on the City Council and a champion for affordable housing. She was a co-sponsor of the living wage ordinances that passed the City Council in 1998 and 2002.

Prior to holding elected office, President Preckwinkle was a high school history teacher for ten years, before serving as an economic development coordinator for the City of Chicago and the executive director of the Chicago Jobs Council. A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, President Preckwinkle came to Chicago to attend the University of Chicago, from where she holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. She is the proud mother of two and grandmother of three.

City Club event description

City Club video

City Club event description:

Gun violence is the most important challenge facing the city of Chicago. Unfortunately, Chicago—like many U.S. cities—is facing severe budget challenges as a result of continuing downtown struggles on the heels of COVID and the expiration of federal pandemic-relief funding. Can a financially strained city solve its biggest problem? In this talk, University of Chicago economist Jens Ludwig argues that it is eminently possible but only if we develop a clearer understanding of what the gun violence problem actually is.

City Club video

Speaker

Jens Ludwig

Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago and Pritzker director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, which he helped found 15 years ago to work closely with the public sector to help solve major social problems like gun violence. His research has been published in leading peer-reviewed scientific journals and has been cited in national news outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR and PBS News Hour. He is a non-resident senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institute, a member of the National Academy of Science’s Committee on Law and Justice, an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, and author of “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence” (University of Chicago Press, 2025).

City Club event description:

Kristen Reynolds is President and CEO of Choose Chicago, the city’s official destination-marketing organization. Since stepping into the role in May 2025, she has emphasized partnerships across the city’s 77 neighborhoods, elevated the “Never Done. Never Outdone.” brand platform, and leveraged major events and convention growth to amplify Chicago’s global profile. 

Kristen brings deep experience in the tourism industry to her role. She spent nearly a decade as President and CEO of Discover Long Island, where she directed the organization through a transformative rebrand and drove successive record-setting tourism years. Prior to that, she held leadership roles at the Arizona Office of Tourism and the Arizona Lodging & Tourism Association. 

City Club video

Kristen is a Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) and serves on the boards of Destinations International, the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, World Business Chicago, and the Illinois Destinations Association. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University and is passionate about leveraging tourism to fuel equitable economic impact. Kristen lives in downtown Chicago with her husband and two dogs.

City Club event description:

Charles Lee Isbell Jr. became the 11th Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in July 2025. As Chancellor, he leads the state’s flagship land-grant university in its missions of academic excellence, innovation and public engagement. 

Chancellor Isbell is a computationalist, researcher, educator and advocate for the idea that higher education creates opportunity, drives progress and broadens our understanding of the world. His research has focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning, with an emphasis on how those systems interact with humans in responsible and inclusive ways. Isbell’s home as an Illinois faculty member is the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science in The Grainger College of Engineering. 

Through multiple initiatives aimed at increasing participation in higher education, Isbell has become a respected leader in higher education reform. Although he is a computationalist by training, he values the critical thinking demanded of every discipline and considers it central to the purpose of education. He is an award-winning teacher who has been recognized internationally for his work in providing high-quality, accessible education at scale. 

City Club video

He is a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and the Association for Computing Machinery as well as an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has served on a number of advisory boards for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Academies. He was the founding Executive Director for the Constellations Center for Education in Computing at Georgia Tech. 

Isbell received his bachelor of science degree from Georgia Tech and continued his education at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT. After earning his Ph.D. there in 1998, he joined AT&T Labs/Research. He returned to Georgia Tech in 2002 to join the faculty of the College of Computing, becoming dean in 2019. In 2023, he became Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Though born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Isbell’s earliest memory is arriving in Atlanta on a moving truck, so he thinks of himself as being from Atlanta. He and wife, Sheila D. Isbell, are parents to daughter Joni and son Cody.

City Club event description:

Explore how Illinois’ landmark transit law, Senate Bill 2111, turns a looming transit fiscal cliff into a sustainable future for CTA, Metra, and Pace by establishing stable funding and governance reforms grounded in the Plan of Action for Regional Transit (PART). This panel unpacks how the legislation came together in Springfield, why it marks a historic step toward a more connected, reliable, and sustainable system, and what it now sets in motion for investment, service, and riders across northeastern Illinois.

Speakers

Bria Scudder

Bria Scudder currently serves as Deputy Governor for Infrastructure, Public Safety, Environment, and Energy in Illinois, where she manages several state agencies and implements top policy initiatives. 

In this role, Bria led several successful legislative negotiations in addition to NITA, including the SAFE CCS Act, which provides environmental protections for carbon capture while bringing jobs and investment to Illinois; and the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, which invested in new, clean energy resources to address rising electricity bills and maintain Illinois status as a climate leader. She is also spearheading efforts with the Illinois Department of Corrections to modernize and rebuild facilities. 

In her previous role as 1st Assistant Deputy Governor (2019-2022), Bria directed several COVID-19 response efforts. She also played a critical role in the passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which made Illinois a leader in climate change efforts, the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, and Rebuild Illinois, a historic $45 billion capital plan. 

Immediately before her appointment as Deputy Governor, Bria was the Director of State Government Affairs for the Midwest region at AbbVie. She previously served as the Senior Government and Community Liaison at the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. There, she worked on critical issues, including the Chicago consent decree for police reform, and the Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act. Prior to her time at the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, she served as staff member for the Illinois House of Representatives

Tom Kotarec

Tom Kotarac is the Senior Vice President of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago and leads the Civic Committee’s transportation and infrastructure work. He is also a Board Member of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) representing the City of Chicago. 

Before joining the Civic Committee, Tom was Deputy Executive Director of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), the comprehensive planning agency for Northeastern Illinois. Earlier in his career, Tom spent more than 12 years working on Capitol, as senior policy advisor and projects director for U.S. Senator Richard Durbin and senior legislative assistant to U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez. Tom grew up in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood, graduated from the University of Illinois, and has a wonderful family.

City Club video

Eva-Dina Delgado

Eva-Dina Delgado serves as Assistant Majority Leader in the Illinois House of Representatives, proudly representing the 3rd District, which encompasses vibrant and diverse neighborhoods including Wicker Park, Bucktown, Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Hermosa, Belmont Cragin, Montclare, and Dunning.

Since taking office in November 2019, she has championed policies that strengthen
communities, expand access to opportunity, and foster collaboration across diverse
constituencies. With a career that bridges public service, community advocacy, and the private sector, she brings a people-centered approach to her leadership. Her work has earned her a reputation for collaboration and has led to her roles leading working groups and negotiating the state budget on behalf of the House Democrats.

Before her election to the Illinois General Assembly, Eva-Dina built a successful career in the
transportation and energy sectors, developing partnerships that advanced infrastructure
investment, environmental sustainability, and equitable economic growth. In the legislature, she has been a strong advocate for transit equity, energy sustainability, public safety, and initiatives that empower working families.

Eva-Dina earned her degree in International Relations with a focus on Latin America from
Wellesley College and came to Chicago over two decades ago to attend DePaul College of Law. Her love for the city has kept her here ever since. She resides with her family in Logan Square.

Ram Villivalam

State Senator Ram Villivalam was raised on the northwest side of Chicago. He is the son of Indian Immigrants. His parents came here in the 1970s. Though his father and mother were a civil engineer and a teacher in India respectively, they had to work minimum wage jobs, go back to school, and work their way to more than 25 years each of public service.

Senator Villivalam will always remember their struggles and the middle class values he grew up with.

Prior to being sworn into the Illinois General Assembly, Senator Villivalam spent four years advocating on behalf of home care for seniors and people with disabilities, child care for working families, Medicaid for those in need.

Senator Villivalam also worked at the federal level of government for U.S. Congressman Brad Schneider as his Outreach Director. In this role, he was responsible for outreach on a variety of policy issues and had duties that ranged from signing people up for the Affordable Care Act to organizing Job Fairs.

Senator Villivalam is honored to be an effective, proactive, and progressive voice for the people of the 8th District. He has and will continue to be focused on issues such as income equality, reducing gun violence, providing a quality education to children regardless of the zip code they reside in, and advancing immigrant, LGBTQ, and women’s rights.

Additionally, he is incredibly proud to be the first Asian American elected to the Illinois State Senate and the first Indian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly. He is currently the Chair of the Transportation Committee and also sits on the Energy and Public Utilities, Health Care Access and Availability, Human Rights, Licensed Activities and Pensions Committees.

Senator Villivalam serves his community in other roles that include being a past President of the Indo-American Democratic Organization (IADO) and previous Director on the Board of Gun Violence Prevention PAC.

Senator Villivalam lives with his wife, Elizabeth, and his sons, Rohan and Lokesh, in the North Mayfair neighborhood in the City of Chicago.

City Club event description

City Club video

City Club event description:

Democracy Under Siege challenges us to confront the threats facing our election systems while examining the necessity of a transparent and secure voting process. Preserving voting rights means increasing access, combating sophisticated voter suppression, and building a system of voter confidence. This discussion is about immediate action and our shared responsibility to protect the future of democracy.

Speakers

Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon

When she was sworn into office on December 2, 2024, Monica Gordon became the youngest woman and just the third African American to serve as the Clerk of Cook County, one of the largest consolidated Clerk’s offices in the nation. 

As Clerk, Ms. Gordon has many wide-ranging responsibilities, including serving as the Chief Election Authority for suburban Cook County, securing and administering Vital Records, and recording and maintaining land records and other official documents. 

A longtime resident of the Southland, Ms. Gordon served as Cook County Commissioner for the 5th District prior to her election as Clerk. She served as Vice Chair of the Cook County Board’s Transportation Committee and has been active on issues involving health care, violence prevention, and women’s issues. 

Clerk Gordon has a long record of public service, having served as board chair of Prairie State Community College as well as Government Affairs Director for Chicago State University. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation, a statewide advocacy organization. 

Ms. Gordon holds an MA in Communication & Training from Governors State University and a BA in Journalism from Northern Illinois University. She says her birth on Labor Day symbolizes her commitment to improving the lives of working people.

Carolina Lopez

Carolina Lopez is the Executive Director at the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions (PLEJ) and has over two decades in election administration and building coalitions. She spent a decade administering elections in Miami-Dade County, Florida where she optimized operations, transparency, and good governance. Thereafter as a democracy advocate, she leveraged stakeholder relationships and expertise across broad coalitions to guide legislative advocacy, shape clerk engagement and election protection programs, and strengthen national and in-state relationships. Given her unique insight on how elections are run in large jurisdictions and creating strong relationships among national, state, and local coalitions, Carolina understands the pivotal role that PLEJ plays in connecting a through-line across states with peers from similarly-sized jurisdictions. Carolina holds a BBA and an MBA in Business Administration from Florida International University.

City Club video

Karen Freeman-Wilson

The Honorable Karen Freeman-Wilson began serving as President and CEO of the Chicago Urban League in January 2020. She brings a passion for equity and social justice to the organization, which works to achieve equity for Black families and communities through social and economic empowerment. 

Having served in the public arena most of her professional life, Freeman-Wilson has deep experience in addressing issues that impact urban communities. She was mayor of her hometown of Gary, Indiana, from 2012 through 2019. She was the first female to lead the city of Gary and the first African-American female mayor in the state of Indiana. Her mayoral accomplishments included job creation, completion of a $100 million airport runway relocation, and the development of key areas in the city. She also previously served as Indiana Attorney General, Director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission and presiding judge of the Gary City Court. She also served as CEO of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and Executive Director of the National Drug Court Institute. 

Freeman-Wilson is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She is a past President of the National League of Cities and past Chairperson of the Criminal and Social Justice Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. She is a member of Israel C.M.E. Church; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; the Links, Inc.; the NAACP; the Urban League of Northwest Indiana and the Indiana Bar. 

Freeman-Wilson and her husband Carmen Wilson II have a blended family of four children.

Theodis Pace

Theodis Pace, longtime area resident and President of the Kankakee County branch of the NAACP, has been named the President of the statewide chapter. 

Pace was recently appointed President of the Illinois State Conference of the NAACP. 

Pace is actively involved in the community. He serves as a board member for the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County. His experience includes 29 years as the President of the Kankakee County Branch NAACP, Former Exalted Ruler of the Greater Kankakee Elks Lodge #1753, former Board Member of the Illinois Association of Minority in Government, Athletic Director and Coach of the Kankakee Eastside Junior Football League (47 years), Member of Kankakee County Jury Commission, member of the Iroquois-Kankakee Education to Careers Partnership Committee, panel member of Kankakee Area Community Advisory Committee, former Member of the Kankakee Planning Commission, member of Morning Star Baptist Church, former President of the River Valley Special Recreation Association, former Vice-President of the Kankakee Valley Park District Board of Commissioners, Mentor of the Career Health Academy of Medical Profession, member of Citizens for Children Rights Committees, former member of the National Points for Lights Foundation Advisory Board, YMCA Pioneering and Healthy Community Board and Kankakee County Renewed Opportunity Board, Board Member of Kankakee County Chamber of Commerce.

Maurice West

Elected to the Illinois House in November 2018 and sworn in on January 9, 2019, Rep. West now serves his fourth term representing Rockford and surrounding communities. In January 2025, he was appointed by House Speaker Chris Welch as Assistant Majority Leader in the 104th General Assembly and concurrently serves as Chair of the House Ethics & Elections Committee.

 In addition, he has previously held leadership roles such as Chair of the bipartisan Legislative Ethics Commission and Vice Chair of the House Mental Health & Addiction Committee.

Current legislative committee assignments include:

• Ethics & Elections (Chair)

• Restorative Justice & Public Safety (Vice Chair)

• Executive; Appropriations – Pensions & Personnel

• Mental Health & Addiction; Housing; Cities & Villages

Maurice lives in Rockford with his wife, Leslie, and their daughter, Brein McKenzie. His faith as an ordained minister deeply informs his leadership and public service ethos. 

City Club event description:

Over two decades, Little Village has led one of Chicago’s most compelling neighborhood transformations. Guided by three successive Quality of Life Plans, residents, schools, and community partners have expanded educational opportunities, strengthened youth programs, and reduced violence—building a collaboration model that’s inspired the city.

This panel convenes community voices, educators, and partner organizations to trace what worked, share lessons from sustained resident-driven planning and investment, and discuss how to keep momentum and equity at the center. Join us to celebrate progress, honor resilience, and look ahead to the next chapter of Little Village’s collective journey.

Speakers

Benjamin (Benny) Estrada

Benjamin (Benny) Estrada is the Senior Director of Street Outreach at New Life Centers of Chicagoland. For the past 27 years, he has dedicated his life to serving the Little Village community through a combination of street outreach, mentorship, and sports-based youth development. 

Rooted deeply in the neighborhood he serves, Benjamin has built trusted relationships with families, young people, community partners, and local leaders. His work blends safety, healing, and opportunity, using basketball and other athletic programs as tools to create safe spaces, strengthen community pride, and open doors for youth. 

Known for his commitment to peace, collaboration, and consistent presence on the ground, Benjamin continues to help shape Little Village as a place where young people can grow, belong, and thrive.

Ana Herrera, LCSW

Ana B. Herrera-Gonzalez is a Doctor of Social Work (DSW) candidate at Tulane University and is a licensed clinical social worker. She holds a Master of Arts in School Counseling from Concordia University, Chicago and Master in Social Work from the University of Illinois, Chicago and is currently pursuing her DSW with a focus on college enrollment and persistence of Black and Latino males. 

She has been a practicing social worker and school counselor for the last twenty years and is a founding educator at Social Justice High School.  She is a product of Little Village and a proud first generation college graduate and daughter of immigrants.

Katya Nuques

Katya Nuques is the Director of the McCormick Foundation’s Little Village Portfolio. In this role, she designs and leads grantmaking on behalf of the Foundation, manages relationships with grantees in the community, and supports multi-sector and philanthropic strategies to effectively respond to challenges faced by the City and its neighborhoods.  

Katya previously served as Enlace Chicago’s Executive Director and led the organization through a period of unprecedented growth. She also helped steer Enlace to face the incredible challenges of the pandemic, in which Katya and the organization played a critical role advising Chicago’s Mayor and supporting the city’s response to mitigate COVID-19’s public health and economic impacts.

Katya’s career at Enlace began in 2005 as the Director of Community Schools and, over nearly two decades, she demonstrated her commitment to Little Village and the City of Chicago, her strategic abilities, and her thoughtful approach to partnership. Prior to joining Enlace, Katya worked in the international development field at the Adventist Development and Relief Agency in Peru, after interning with the United Nation’s Office for Sustainable Development, in New York. 

She is the Board Chair of the City Colleges of Chicago, and a member of the Board of Directors of Sinai Health System. She is also a member of Chicago Latinos in Philanthropy, the Economic Club of Chicago, and a Leadership Greater Chicago fellow, class of 2016. 

Katya graduated with honors from the Universidad de Guayaquil with a degree in Economic Science and holds an MSA in International and Community Development from Andrews University.

City Club video

Congressman Jesús G. “Chuy” García

U.S. Representative Jesús G. “Chuy” García proudly represents the Fourth Congressional District of Illinois. He was sworn into office on January 3, 2019, during the 116th Congress.

Throughout his career, Congressman García has been a progressive voice fighting to improve the lives of his working-class neighbors, many of whom are immigrants like him. He is a coalition builder committed to empowering youth and expanding access to quality education, affordable housing, and economic opportunity.

He currently serves as a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. He is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), the Congressional Equality Caucus, Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, and New Americans Caucus. He is also the founder the Future of Transportation Caucus. 

Congressman García was born in Los Pinos, a small village in the Mexican state of Durango. He is the youngest of four children raised by his mother while his father worked in the United States, first under the WWII-era bracero program and later at a cold-storage plant in Chicago. In 1965, Congressman García and his family immigrated to the United States with permanent resident status. He still remembers his first American meal: a bologna sandwich from a roadside diner in Texas.

His work experience includes work as the founding executive director of the community development organization Enlace Chicago and service as the founding chair of the board for Latino Policy Forum and as a member of the boards of Woods Fund Chicago and The Center on Leadership Innovation.

Prior to his election to Congress in November of 2018, Congressman García was a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. As Commissioner, he opposed housing discrimination against disadvantaged communities, raised the minimum wage, and mandated that County employees have access to paid sick leave. He also passed an ordinance ending Cook County’s cooperation with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). The measure was the first of its kind in the nation and set an example followed by more than 250 localities.

Congressman García began organizing for workers’ rights and more inclusive city services during his college years at University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC). He first entered political life in 1984, when he was elected Committeeman of the Cook County Democratic Party. He quickly earned recognition as a coalition builder between Chicago’s Latino and African American communities.

Soon afterward, Congressman García was elected to represent Chicago’s 22nd Ward on the City Council. During his time as Alderman, Congressman García prevented non-attorney immigration practitioners from levying unreasonable fees. In 1986, he became the Chairman for the Council’s Committee on Aviation, where he helped implement the Automated Guideway Transit (ATG) at O’Hare International Airport.

Mr. García also served as State Senator of Illinois’ 1st District. In 1993, he passed the Language Assistance Services Act, which requires hospitals and long-term care facilities to provide resources for effective communication with limited-English-speaking and deaf patients.

In 2015, Congressman García became the first Chicago mayoral candidate to push a sitting mayor into a run-off.

Congressman García still lives in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago with his beloved wife Evelyn and has three adult children.

City Club event description:

Eileen O’Neill Burke, Cook County State’s Attorney, joins the City Club to reflect on her first year in office and share perspectives on the year ahead.

City Club video

City Club event description:

Inside the 2026 City of Chicago budget: four aldermen, real tradeoffs, and fresh updates. With a welcome from Alderman Brian Hopkins, this program will include the latest in an ever-changing budget discussion, from closing gaps and funding public safety to pensions, transit, and equitable development across all 77 communities

Speakers

Alderman Samantha Nugent

As Alderman of the 39th Ward and President Pro Tempore of the City Council, Samantha “Sam” Nugent works across all 50 wards to ensure that City government is transparent, efficient, and focused on improving the lives of residents. 

Representing the 39th Ward – which stretches across the Mayfair, Edgebrook, Sauganash, Forest Glen, and North Park neighborhoods – Sam has secured more than $40 million in investments for local schools, parks, and infrastructure – from playground updates and public art installations to large-scale expansion projects. She has strengthened public safety by advocating for more officers and intelligence resources. She’s also led on sustainability by passing legislation to reduce single-use plastics and protect the 155-acre North Park Village campus. 

Sam has taken a consistently proactive and transparent approach to addressing homelessness in the ward, working to coordinate with city departments, outreach organizations, and local residents to connect individuals living in encampments with shelter, housing, and support services while working to ensure public spaces are safe and accessible for all. 

Prior to being elected, Sam served as Chief of Staff for Cook County’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Vice Consul at the British Consulate General, and Director of Executive Engagement at the American Board of Medical Specialties. Her background in law, government, and communications has equipped her to be a trusted problem-solver and consensus-builder. 

Alderman Nugent continues to focus on building safer neighborhoods, stronger schools, thriving small businesses, and a cleaner, greener city for today and the next generation.

Alderman Matt O’Shea

Matthew J. O’Shea serves as the Alderman of the 19th Ward, representing the communities of Beverly, Morgan Park and Mount Greenwood. He is a graduate of Christ the King Grammar School (1983), Mount Carmel High School (1987) and Saint Mary’s University of Winona (1991). 

O’Shea was elected Alderman of the 19th Ward on February 22, 2011 and is serving his fourth term. In the Chicago City Council he serves on several committees: Aviation (Chairman), Budget & Government Operations, Committees & Rules, Education & Child Development, Ethics & Oversight, Finance, License & Consumer Protection and Special Events. As Alderman, he has worked tirelessly to enhance public safety, improve local schools and stimulate economic development. 

O’Shea is a lifelong resident of the 19th Ward community. He and his wife Cara, a Chicago Public School teacher, live in West Beverly and are members of Saint John Fisher Catholic Parish. They have three children, Brigid (23), Patrick (21), and Eileen (19). 

O’Shea is involved with several civic and charitable organizations, serving on the John McNicholas Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (Board Member), Special Children’s Charities (Board Member), and the Chicago Police Chaplain’s Ministry (Board Member). O’Shea serves on the WINGS – Metro Leadership Council, Chicago Police Memorial Foundation (Advisory Board), and Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences (Advisory Board), and Misericordia Home (Advisory Board). He is also President of the 19th Ward Youth & Community Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization that supports and hosts a wide variety of safe, healthy, educational programs for children and seniors. 

O’Shea has been involved with numerous other organizations on the southwest side, volunteering his time with the Maple Morgan Park Food Pantry, Saint Vincent DePaul Society and Ronald McDonald House at Advocate Children’s Hospital.

City Club video

Alderman Jessie Fuentes

Jessie Fuentes, a queer Latina grassroots organizer, educator, and public policy advocate. As the Alderperson of the 26th Ward, she brings over a decade of experience in education, criminal justice reform, affordable housing, community development, and sustainability.

Growing up in Humboldt Park amidst the generational traumas of parental substance use, mental illness, and job instability, Jessie resorted to dealing with her own struggles of resentment and anger with the juvenile justice system, as experienced by far too many young Chicagoans.

Jessie found a home at Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School, an alternative high school in the heart of Humboldt Park. Jessie was politicized by educators who understood her life experiences. She graduated high school, earned a degree from NEIU, and returned home to Humboldt Park to serve as the Dean of Students of both Roberto Clemente Community Academy and her alma mater, ensuring Black and Latine students had the resources to transcend trauma and pursue their aspirations. As Director of Policy and Youth Advocacy at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, she championed community-driven solutions that address violence, housing affordability, and re-entry for returning citizens.

As the proud Alderperson of the 26th Ward, she has led legislative accomplishments, including sponsoring the resolution for the national fight for parole in place for the 11 million undocumented workers in the United States, the One Fair Wage ordinance to eliminate the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers, and, most recently, the Northwest Side Housing Preservation Ordinance to protect communities from gentrification. She is currently working on developing a city-wide youth Peace Commission through the Peace Book Ordinance and establishing stronger networks of support for unhoused residents.

Alderman Jason Ervin

Jason C. Ervin, CPA was appointed Alderman of Chicago’s 28th Ward in January 2011 by then Mayor Richard M. Daley and elected to a full term by the people of the 28th Ward in February of 2011. Alderman Ervin has since been re-elected three times.

Alderman Ervin received his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, a Masters in Public Administration from Governor’s State University, and is a Certified Public Accountant, Real Estate and Insurance Broker, and is completing an internship to become a Funeral Director.

Before serving as Alderman, Ervin served on the Local School Council at Tilton Elementary School and Westinghouse Career Academy. He is committed to improving education and creating stronger schools because a strong foundation in education is essential to providing the best opportunities for people.

Alderman Ervin is dedicated to public service and empowering communities through social change and political organizing. Prior, to becoming Alderman, he served as an Auditor for the public accounting firm of Arthur Andersen, LLP where he learned the fundamentals of business and as City Manager for the Village of Maywood, where he implemented changes that made the government run more efficiently and better for residents. The same type of attitude and thinking has been brought to Chicago’s West Side to make government work for the people. Economic development, safety for children and working families are the top priorities for Alderman Ervin.

Alderman Ervin is the Chairman of the Chicago City Council’s Committee on the Budget & Government Operations, the former Chairman of the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus, and the current Chair of the Black Caucus Foundation, which has provided over 100 $10,000 scholarships to graduating high school students on Chicago’s West and South sides. Alderman Ervin also serves on the Aviation, Contract Compliance & Equity, Police & Fire, Pedestrian & Traffic Safety, and Transportation Committees.

Alderman Ervin attends the Mt. Vernon MB Church and resides in the Garfield Park Community with his wife, Chicago City Treasurer, Melissa Conyears-Ervin, and eight-year-old daughter Jeneva.

City Club event description:

West Side United is a nationally recognized, community-driven hospital collaborative addressing the 20-year life expectancy gap between the Loop and 10 West Side communities. Since 2017, its partners—including RUSH, Lurie Children’s, Cook County Health, Sinai Chicago, UI Health, and local leaders—have invested over $350 million in workforce, local businesses, and community projects like Sankofa Wellness Village, Austin Hope Center, and Ogden Commons. 

Join the founding CEOs and senior leaders as they discuss their ongoing commitment to Chicago’s West Side and their vision for the future.

Speakers

Dr. Ngozi Ezike

Dr. Ngozi Ezike became President and CEO of Sinai Chicago, Illinois’ largest private safety net health system, in June 2022. Previously, she was the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), where she valiantly navigated the state through the most difficult waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.

At Sinai, Dr. Ezike has focused on advancing health equity through innovation and creative collaboration. Under her leadership, Sinai Chicago has expanded community health worker programs and invested in state-of-the-art technology for electronic health records, robotic surgery and 3D imaging services — allowing Sinai caregivers to work better and faster, providing better care and service for the people they serve.

Under her leadership, Sinai Chicago’s commitment to uncompensated charity care has been recognized in the top 10 percentile nationwide of safety net providers offering such care, making Sinai one of the top “fair share” contributors in the U.S. for charity care and community investment. 

Dr. Ezike is a board-certified internist and pediatrician as well as a nationally recognized public health leader. She holds degrees from Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and a business management certificate from Harvard Business School.  She holds honorary doctorates from Dominican University, Knox College, Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine and Southern Illinois University. She is the recipient of dozens of awards including Crain’s Chicago Business 2024 Women of Note, Crain’s Notable Leaders in Healthcare 2023, the Jane Addams Medal of Freedom, and USA Today’s Inaugural Women of the Year Award for the State of Illinois.

City Club video

Dr. Erik Mikaitis

Dr. Erik Mikaitis provides executive leadership to advance the health system’s strategic imperatives and ensure the provision of high-quality care and services, in collaboration with CCH’s medical and business leaders. He was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in October 2024, after serving in the Interim CEO role since November 2023.

Since joining CCH as Chief Quality Officer in 2022, Dr. Mikaitis has served as a champion of quality and compliance, implementing evidence-based processes to improve the delivery of care across the system. He implemented numerous quality initiatives to improve patient outcomes across CCH, including a new multifaceted strategy deployment system that resulted in significant improvement in the system’s sepsis prevention and treatment. Dr. Mikaitis enhanced the system’s quality and safety dashboard and deployed a regulatory readiness program. In this role, he also provided guidance for utilization management, coding and documentation, and hospital throughput.

Dr. Mikaitis previously served as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Franciscan Health Crown Point, where, among other duties, he led the development of safety protocols and processes during the COVID-19 pandemic and developed a new dashboard for communicating quality improvements to the board. Prior to assuming that role, Dr. Mikaitis served as Medical Director of the Franciscan Health Accountable Care Organization in the northern Indiana and south suburban Chicago regions.

A board-certified Internal Medicine Physician, Dr. Mikaitis earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a Master of Business Administration from DePaul University, and a medical degree from Ross University.

Dr. Tom Shanley

Tom Shanley, MD, became President & Chief Executive Officer of Lurie Children’s on December 6, 2019. He is a pediatric intensive care physician and researcher who joined the organization in 2015 as Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and President & Chief Research Officer of the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Lurie Children’s.

Dr. Shanley champions the provision of and accessibility to the highest quality and most advanced pediatric healthcare delivered with respect and compassion. He is dedicated to achieving optimal health outcomes for children by focusing on evidence-based excellent care and further advancing care through discovery, innovation, and community collaboration.

After receiving his medical degree from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Dr. Shanley served as the pediatric chief resident at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He completed his clinical and research fellowship in pediatric critical care under the auspices of the Pediatric Scientist Development Program at the University of Michigan sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation.

As a clinician, Dr. Shanley specializes in the treatment of children with hypoxemic respiratory failure from acute lung injury and severe sepsis triggered by infection. The broad goal of his research, spanning from basic science to translational and clinical work, was to improve understanding of the molecular basis of inflammatory diseases that afflict critically ill young patients.

Dr. Shanley is committed to leading Lurie Children’s toward further growth in scale, scope and scientific discovery in order to transform child health and create a healthier future for every child.

A father of four grown children and husband to Maureen, a pediatric nephrology nurse, Dr. Shanley prioritizes spending time with his family and staying fit running and biking along the Chicago lake shore. He is an avid reader, often enjoying a glass of northern California wine with his book.

Dr. Omar Lateef

Dr. Omar Lateef serves as president and CEO of Rush University System for Health and Rush University Medical Center. Rush has set the nation’s standard in health care quality and safety, modeled excellence in clinical leadership both regionally and nationally, and maintained its deep and long-standing commitment to health equity. Rush believes in serving its patients and communities by addressing the root causes of disease through strong partnerships and innovative research. 

Vizient ranked Rush University Medical Center No. 2 among 107 academic medical centers for quality and accountability in 2024 and has ranked Rush in the Top 5 for 11 consecutive years. The medical center has earned a spot on the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll six consecutive times. 

 Dr. Lateef was appointed president and CEO of Rush University Medical Center in May 2019, took on the role of president of Rush University System for Health in 2021 and became CEO of the system in July 2022.

Robert A. Barish, MD, MBA

A distinguished physician and academic leader, Dr. Robert A. Barish is currently the vice chancellor for health affairs of the University of Illinois Chicago.

In his current role, he oversees the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System (UI Health), which provides comprehensive care, education, and research to train healthcare leaders and foster healthy communities in Illinois and beyond. A part of the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), UI Health comprises a clinical enterprise that includes a 460-bed tertiary care hospital, 40+ care locations, and 11 Mile Square Health Center facilities, which are Federally Qualified Health Centers. With campuses in Chicago, Peoria, Quad Cities, Rockford, Springfield, and Urbana, the health system includes the academic and research activities of UIC’s seven health sciences colleges: Applied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, the School of Public Health, and the Jane Addams College of Social Work. UI Health is dedicated to the pursuit of health equity.

During the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Dr. Barish was named chair of the system-wide COVID-19 Planning and Response Team by the University of Illinois System President. This effort was established to help coordinate the system’s response to the virus among the three universities and the health enterprise. UI Health has been a significant contributor to the discovery, treatment, and care of COVID-19 patients throughout our communities across the state – distributing more than 180,000 vaccinations and providing community testing locations.

In 2019, Dr. Barish received The William Cullen Bryant Award – the highest honor from his alma mater, New York Medical College. He has served as the Chair of the Board of the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC) since 2020. Most recently, in 2022, Dr. Barish was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). In the fall of 2024, Dr. Barish will be recognized by his alma mater, the University of New Hampshire with Award of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement for significant professional accomplishments and public service.

Prior to joining UIC, Dr. Barish served as chancellor of the LSU Health Sciences Center at Shreveport from 2009 to 2015, where he provided leadership for the schools of medicine, allied health, and graduate programs, a major academic medical center, and two affiliated hospitals.

Dr. Barish spent 24 years at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He served as chief of emergency medicine from 1985 to 1996 and built a nationally recognized program. He was named associate dean for clinical affairs in 1998 and eventually became vice dean for clinical affairs in 2005 .That same year, following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, Dr. Barish helped lead a medical regiment dispatched by the state of Maryland to deliver emergency care to more than 6,000 hurricane victims in Jefferson Parish.

After earning his medical degree from New York Medical College in 1979, Dr. Barish interrupted his residency training for one year to provide medical treatment to refugees at camps along the Thai-Cambodian border and in Somalia. He completed an internal medicine residency at New York’s Saint Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center in 1983 and an emergency medicine residency at Georgetown University Medical Center in 1985. Dr. Barish earned an MBA from Loyola College in 1995. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. A former lieutenant colonel and flight surgeon in the Maryland Air National Guard, Barish was among a select group invited to interview to become a NASA astronaut candidate in the early 1990s.

City Club event description:

This conversation with Law And The Fam LLC “LATF” will focus on an emerging statewide model for fighting economic blight through entrepreneurship. LATF will present an economic impact framework with case studies highlighting best practices, followed by a panel discussion. Attendees will gain insights into building bankable pathways for entrepreneurs in blighted communities and creating sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems in struggling corridors—underscoring why investing in Main Street entrepreneurs is key to revitalization.

Speakers

S.L. Owens, esq.

S.L. Owens, esq. is an award-winning attorney, U.S. Fulbright recipient, and small business development practitioner, known for designing and delivering clinical economic development programs for capital disadvantaged entrepreneurs across distressed communities and corridors. S.L. holds a Bachelor of Arts in African American Studies and a Juris Doctorate Degree, both from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Prior to entrepreneurship, S.L. led a career in corporate law, advising global brands on franchise, distribution, licensing, and supply chain law. Now, U.S.-based economic development leaders retain S.L. to execute clinical economic development projects through public, private, and academic partnerships. S.L. is frequently tapped to build new entrepreneurial ecosystems, helping economic developers remove low performing systemic, business, or regulatory barriers.

City Club video

Sam Owens, esq.

Sam Owens, esq. is an esteemed attorney and business banking and compliance practitioner, currently managing over $2.5M in assets under compliance for economic development projects supporting entrepreneurs and small business development in the U.S. Sam’s advocacy focuses on cultivating bankable and capital-ready pathways for underserved entrepreneurs. Under Sam’s management, LATF has created six-and-seven-figure award winning startup enterprises, through the firm’s technical assistance programs. Furthermore, Sam has extensive experience monitoring, managing, and building compliant economic development programs, with diverse partners including county (USA), state (USA) and federal (USA) government agencies, chambers of commerce, economic development corporations, and financial institutions. Sam holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics Degree from the University of Chicago, and a Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Jason Lee Garcia

Jason Lee Garcia, esq. is a distinguished economic development practitioner, civically engaged in community development initiatives, particularly for Chicago’s at-risk youth. Jason is an educator at heart, with prior experience teaching in Chicago’s alternative school system. Lately, Jason is leveraging his socioeconomics background into building entrepreneurial ecosystems for entrepreneurs, protecting family legacies for small business owners, and helping underserved communities lawfully launch into highly regulated business industries. Jason holds a Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies from Northeastern Illinois University, and a Juris Doctorate Degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law. Jason’s public service includes civic initiatives with the Hispanic Lawyers Association and the United Latino Cannabis Industry Alliance.

City Club event description:

Rahm I. Emanuel most recently served as the United States Ambassador to Japan. As Ambassador, Emanuel helped deepen the U.S.-Japan alliance, including support for Japan’s increased defense spending and expanded military cooperation. He promoted Japan’s leadership in Indo-Pacific key security initiatives and participated in the historic trilateral summit at Camp David that reaffirmed that cooperation between the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. 

Previously, Emanuel was the 55th Mayor of the City of Chicago, a position he held until May 2019. During that time, he made the critical choices necessary to secure Chicago’s future as a global capital. As Mayor, Emanuel added four years to a student’s education. He increased the school day by 75 minutes and added more than 200 hours to the school year, marking the largest single increase in educational time by any city and taking Chicago from having the least educational time of any large school district in the country to being on par with its peers. He implemented universal pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten for every Chicago child, and made Chicago the first city in America to provide free community college. The Mayor’s comprehensive public safety strategy focused on expanded prevention programs for at-risk youth, smarter policing strategies, and empowering parents and communities to reduce violence. The Ambassador made it a priority to bring global companies to the city, helping Chicago to lead the U.S. in corporate relocations and foreign direct investment for seven consecutive years. His administration invested in infrastructure, public transportation, open space, and cultural attractions. From the $8.5 billion O’Hare International Airport modernization program that is cementing Chicago’s status as a global leader in travel, tourism, and trade to the development of the iconic 1.25-mile Chicago Riverwalk, the City’s investments are creating thousands of good-paying jobs and making Chicago a better place to live, work, and play. Prior to becoming Mayor, from November 2008 until October 2010, Emanuel served as President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff. In addition to being the President’s top advisor, Emanuel helped the Obama administration secure the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Before serving as Chief of Staff, Emanuel was elected four times as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois’s 5th Congressional District (2002-2008). As Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Emanuel helped pass legislation to raise the minimum wage and authored the Great Lakes Restoration Act. From 1993 to 1998, Ambassador Emanuel was a key member of President Bill Clinton’s administration, rising to serve as Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Politics.

City Club video 

During this time, Emanuel served as a legislative liaison to Congress and spearheaded efforts to pass several of President Clinton’s signature achievements, most notably the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, and the historic Balanced Budget Act, which created the Children’s Health Insurance Program that expanded health care coverage to 10 million children. Emanuel also worked closely with President Joseph R. Biden Jr., then a U.S. Senator, to shepherd the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 through Congress. Emanuel graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981 and received a Master’s Degree in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985. He is married to Amy Rule, and they have three children.

City Club event description:

Should nonprofits and foundations rethink randomized controlled trials and other kinds of evaluation methods to better support Chicago’s communities? This conversation will explore how current approaches to evaluating social service organizations can both illuminate progress and unintentionally undermine the missions they aim to support. Join us for a discussion about what works, what doesn’t, and how philanthropy and the nonprofit sector can move forward toward meaningful, equitable metrics.

This event is part of an ongoing series cohosted by the University of Chicago Crown Family School and the City Club of Chicago, which convenes philanthropic, corporate, and civic leaders to examine critical issues shaping Chicago’s diverse communities.

Speakers

Jennifer E. Mosley, PhD

Jennifer Mosley researches the role of nonprofit organizations as political actors, particularly how human service organizations, community-based nonprofits, and philanthropic foundations advocate for or implement policy change affecting underrepresented populations. She focuses on the relationship between advocacy and democratic representation, and how developments in public administration and nonprofit management—such as collaborative governance, contracting, and evaluation—affect policy outcomes and the roles of nonprofits. Her forthcoming 2025 book with Nicole Marwell, Mismeasuring Impact: How Randomized Controlled Trials Threaten the Nonprofit Sector, examines how the elevation of RCTs as the “gold standard” for nonprofit effectiveness may reduce responsiveness and innovation, potentially weakening the sector in the long run.

Nicole P. Marwell, PhD

Nicole Marwell studies urban governance, focusing on the intersections of nonprofit organizations, government bureaucracies, communities, and politics. Drawing on sociology, organization studies, ethnic studies, political science, and public administration, she examines how organizations mediate key urban processes such as economic production, public goods distribution, community formation, and democratic representation. Using qualitative, quantitative, and historical methods, she investigates how shifts in inter-organizational relations influence urban cohesion, inequality, and exclusion.

City Club video

Daniel O. Ash

Daniel Ash is President of the Field Foundation, a private independent foundation that supports community power building in Chicago through strategic investments in civic infrastructure, the cultural sector, local news outlets, and organizers. The Foundation distributes more than $11 million annually to nonprofits, focusing on the city’s South and West Sides. Before becoming President in 2022, Daniel served as Associate Vice President of Community Impact at The Chicago Community Trust.

Liz Dozier

Liz Dozier is the founder and CEO of Chicago Beyond, a national philanthropic organization committed to addressing systemic inequity by backing solutions led by those closest to the issues. Since 2016, Chicago Beyond has invested over $65 million across justice, health, and other areas, empowering grassroots leaders and influencing systems-level reform. Under Liz’s leadership, the organization has reimagined philanthropy by prioritizing human connection and collective abundance over traditional hierarchies. Current initiatives focus on maternal health, Holistic Safety in corrections, and other innovative approaches to reducing systemic inequities.

City Club event description:

Speakers

Honorable Kimberly A. Lightford

In January 2019, Kimberly A. Lightford made history when she became the first
Black woman to serve as Illinois’ Senate Majority Leader. This 104th General Assembly marks 26 years of her continued dedication to her career of championing her passion for education and youth development. As the youngest person elected to the Illinois Senate in 1998, Lightford emerged as a leading voice in Illinois on education issues that increase access to an excellent education for every child in Illinois.

Leader Lightford has served on the Senate Education Committee for 26 years as either a sitting member, vice chairman, or chairman. She passed notable education reform legislation recognized as a national model. This legislation led to the establishment of more rigorous methods for evaluating teachers and tracking student progress. Leader Lightford started the state’s universal preschool for all program, established no-bullying zones on school playgrounds, and reformed disciplinary practices that were disproportionately affecting at-risk and minority students in 2016. In 2000, Leader Lightford ensured that students had access to breakfast at school by requiring the State Board of Education to establish the School Breakfast Incentive Program. In 2001, Leader Lightford increased the MAP grant for both full-time and part-time undergraduate students, providing aid to underprivileged students. Leader Lightford also helped to re-enroll high school dropouts by establishing the Illinois Hope and Opportunity Pathways through Education Program in 2009. In 2023, Leader Lightford passed legislation to ensure every student in the state has access to full-day kindergarten and implemented proposals brought forth by the Whole Child Task Force to ensure we continue to meet the needs of every child’s development. In late 2023, Senate Bill 2243, known as the State Literacy Plan, was signed into law. This law aims to guarantee that all students receive high-quality reading education. By implementing a comprehensive literacy plan, Illinois reaffirms its commitment to closing the achievement gap and providing every child with the essential tools they need to succeed. In 2024, Leader Lightford also sponsored Senate Bill 1, which aimed to establish the Department of Early Childhood in Illinois, consolidating the administration of early childhood education and care programs and services.

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan hailed the senator’s landmark education reform law, Senate Bill 7, as “a national model” that aimed to boost student performance through accountability for schools, administrators, and teachers. The legislation, approved in 2011, was the most significant education reform in 30 years, with the hope of ensuring every child in Illinois public schools has a quality teacher. Leader Lightford also sponsored Senate Bill 100, which was created to address the issue of Black students being expelled disproportionately more than their peers. Effective in 2016, the bill established a set of criteria that mandates all other appropriate interventions have been exhausted and that out-of-school suspensions lasting longer than three days, expulsions, and disciplinary removals to alternative schools are reserved for situations where a student’s presence poses a safety threat or substantial disruption to the learning environment.

In 2017, a measure aimed at reducing teen suicide and the stigma of mental health issues was signed into law. Leader Lightford led the effort that requires social and emotional screenings for children as a part of their school entry examinations to promote life-altering early detection. And, after finding that cursive was becoming lost in younger generations, Leader Lightford brought back a requirement for students to receive cursive writing instruction in elementary school. Understanding the critical role recreation centers play in communities, Leader Lightford secured nearly $3 million for the project, which was named the Lightford Recreation Center on Dec. 1, 2018, by the Maywood Park District upon its completion. In 2021, Lightford spearheaded the first state-funded network in the nation, establishing the statewide Phillip Jackson Freedom Schools program.

Prioritizing workers, Lightford passed her first piece of legislation in 1999, which provides worker protection and transitional assistance for individuals targeted for layoff. Her support for minority businesses has also led to several legislative changes, starting with another 1999 proposal extending the date of the Business Enterprise Program for Minorities, Females, and Persons with Disabilities Act. Leader Lightford was the lead sponsor in passing legislation that established Illinois’ Equal Pay Act in 2003. Leader Lightford strengthened the act in 2010 by allowing women who have been discriminated against more time to file an action against an employer. In 2018, Lightford passed the African American Equal Pay Act to help combat the wage gap for African Americans. In 2005, 2010, and again in 2019, Leader Lightford fought to reform the Payday Loan industry and is responsible for raising the minimum wage in Illinois three times, including a 2019 measure that gradually increases it to $15 per hour by 2025. In 2023, Leader Lightford sponsored legislation that guarantees paid leave for all Illinois workers, regardless of the size of their business. Effective in 2024, the law requires employers to offer paid time off based on hours worked, without requiring a reason for absences, as long as notice is provided according to reasonable standards. The minimum wage increased to $15, becoming effective on January 1, 2025, to support workers in making ends meet and reflects our commitment to economic justice, ensuring that all full-time workers earn a living wage.

Leader Lightford served as the Joint Chairman of the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus from January 2015 to January 2021. While serving as Joint Chairman, her vision was developed, and she led the effort in crafting the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus’ four-pillar agenda to eliminate systemic racism in Illinois. The passing of this historic legislation created a more equitable Illinois. Criminal Justice Reform, Violence Reduction and Police Accountability, II. Education and Workforce Development (Lightford wants this pillar to indicate she carried this bill), III. Economic Access, Equity, and Opportunity, and IV. Health Care and Human Services. Leader Lightford passed HB2170, School Code Seal of Biliteracy, which created the Education and Workforce Development Pillar.” Leader Lightford continued to strengthen Black history in Illinois by establishing June 19th as a state holiday for Juneteenth National Freedom Day in 2022 and by declaring February 28th as Black Women’s History Day in 2023.

Since 1998, Leader Lightford has represented the 4th Senate District, which includes more than a dozen suburban communities in western Cook County and the Austin community area on Chicago’s West Side. Leader Lightford is committed to community pride. Lightford created the Uplift Our Future youth programs: the KAL Saturday University offers free supplemental services in reading, math, and writing for middle school students, an annual college fair, a back-to-school event, and mentoring for 8th-grade students. She also hosts an annual Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Hall of Fame Award Celebration, We Adore Our Women Breast Cancer Awareness, and We Love Our Men Prostate Awareness Events.

As a life-long resident of her district, Leader Lightford was born in Chicago, raised in Maywood, and resides in Westchester. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Communications from Western Illinois University and a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Illinois at Springfield. She is a Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellow and Erikson Institute Fellow. She gained extensive management experience working at the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, the Illinois Department of Corrections, and the Illinois Secretary of State.

Leader Lightford serves on five statewide Taskforces and Commissions dedicated to improving education, ending poverty, and enhancing the quality of life for Illinois. During the 104th Illinois General Assembly, Leader Lightford serves on the following Committees: Assignments (Chairman), Education, Health and Human Services, Child Welfare, Higher Education, and Executive Committee.

Lightford is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and The Chicago Network. She is on the Board of Directors for Loretto Hospital, Proviso-Leyden Council for Community Action, Inc., The West Cook County Youth Club, Sustaining Our World, and The State Legislative Leaders Foundation.

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Linda Xóchitl Tortolero

Linda Xóchitl Tortolero is the President & CEO of the Latino Policy Forum. Formerly the President & CEO of Mujeres Latinas en Accion (Mujeres), she is a longtime advocate for the Latino community, dedicating much of her professional career to fundraising, building strategic relationships, and organizational and program management in the nonprofit sector. 

As President and CEO of Mujeres, the nation’s longest-standing Latina organization, Linda was responsible for carrying out an ambitious programmatic and advocacy strategy to address the immediate needs of Latinas and their families. 

Under her leadership, Mujeres strengthened and expanded its mission of empowering Latinas via culturally competent services and advocacy on key issues such as gender-based violence, women’s health and economic security, immigration, and reproductive justice. She was instrumental in the development and execution of ¡Actívate!, a community data-driven strategy for Mujeres’ policy work that was pivotal in securing a historic increase of $12 million for sexual assault and rape crisis centers in the Illinois FY25 budget. 

Through fundraising and strategy, Linda led the organization’s annual budget growth to nearly $6.5 million and over 60 employees, the expansion of its second office in North Riverside, and the opening of its third office in Brighton Park with partner Esperanza Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Health Center. During her seven-year tenure, Mujeres became a national Culturally Specific Sexual Assault Center under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and today provides training and technical assistance to Latine communities and organizations across the U.S. 

Linda holds a B.A. from Brown University and J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and serves on the Women’s Advisory Council of the Mayor’s Office for the City of Chicago and on the Board of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. Linda is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants.

Julie Morita, MD

Julie Morita, MD, is President & CEO of The Joyce Foundation, overseeing the charitable distribution of $65 million annually from assets of $1.3 billion. The Joyce Foundation funds policy and other strategies designed to advance racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation in the Great Lakes region.

Before joining The Joyce Foundation, Julie was executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), overseeing programs addressing systemic barriers to racial and health equity.

Prior to her role at RWJF, Julie helped lead the Chicago Department of Public Health for nearly two decades, first as a medical director, then as chief medical officer. In 2015, she was appointed commissioner. In that role, she oversaw the public health needs of nearly 3 million residents in the nation’s third largest cityJulie has also served as an advisor to the White House, U.S. Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

A Chicago native, Julie earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

Dr. Steven Isoye

Dr. Steven Isoye was appointed Chair of the Illinois State Board of Education by Governor JB Pritzker in 2022, with a term through January 2027. He serves as the Central States Region Director and Board member for the National Association of State Boards of Education, and is a delegate for the Education Commission of the States.

A retired educator with 37 years of service in Illinois high schools, Dr. Isoye served as science teacher, department chair, curriculum leader, principal, and superintendent. Most recently, he served from 2016-2022 as superintendent of Niles Township High School District 219, where he oversaw curricular and program innovations, facility upgrades, and major improvements to the district’s technology infrastructure. He previously served as superintendent of Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 from 2010 to 2016. He earned his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Northern Illinois University in 2011.

Dr. Isoye has served on numerous committees throughout his career. Most notably, having served on the Board of Trustees for the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (1998–2021), ISBE’s State Assessment Review Committee, ISBE’s Performance Evaluation Advisory Council, and NASBE’s Principal Collaborative of the States. 

His recognitions include Illinois High School Principal of the Year (2010), Illinois Teacher of the Year (1998), and the Milken Educator Award (1997).

City Club event description

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Speaker

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart

Sheriff Tom Dart has dedicated his career to challenging injustice, fighting the violence plaguing our communities, and bringing new, thoughtful approaches to public service.

After serving as a prosecutor and an Illinois state legislator, Sheriff Dart was elected by the people of Cook County, and has brought his reformative vision, and his commitment to action, to his role as sheriff. Sheriff Dart has rewritten the book on what a sheriff can accomplish, looking inside and outside of the conventions of law enforcement for nuanced and thoughtful solutions to help people.

Sheriff Dart’s skills in management, accountability, and forward-thinking leadership was critical in the success of the Cook County Jail being released from almost 40 years of oversight by the U.S. Department of Justice’s federal consent decree, making it the only large jail to ever complete such a task.

Sheriff Dart has been a leader in reforming the criminal justice system and transforming correctional settings into more humane, trauma-informed environments. Sheriff Dart has developed a framework to identify and engage all persons detained in his custody with in-custody service plans and discharge plans tailored to each person’s unique needs and goals.

Sheriff Dart has instituted extensive programming at the Cook County Jail, seeking to give individuals in custody skills that help to stop the revolving door of incarceration. The Sheriff has sought out creative programming within the jail in the areas of art, chess, construction, cooking, gardening, parenting, and literacy, all of which help foster social and emotional growth for individuals in custody while they await trial.

In addition, after collecting data which showed that much of the population in Cook County Jail needed mental health treatment, Sheriff Dart worked, and continues to work, with Cermak Health Services to provide individuals in custody with mental health treatment plans. Sheriff Dart has implemented Trauma-Informed Training for his staff as a tool to engage with the men and women detained in the Cook County Jail as well as their family members who come to visit at the jail.

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For people outside of the jail, Sheriff Dart created the Cook County Sheriff’s Office’s Community Resource Center (the CRC), which seeks to help fill the large void that was left when mental health facilities around Chicagoland closed by connecting those in need of mental health treatment in the county to available providers. The CRC assists residents of Cook County with finding housing, job opportunities, and other medical care as well.

Sheriff Dart also formed the Cook County Sheriff’s Office’s Treatment Response Team (the TRT) to provide support and assistance (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) for those in the community struggling with substance abuse issues. Offering treatment to those who suffer from mental illness has reduced the jail’s population, including reducing recidivism rates.

Sheriff Dart continually has prioritized reducing violence in Chicago, creating programs that build community and connection between law enforcement personnel and the people they serve. At the jail, the Sheriff’s Anti-Violence Effort (SAVE) program provides intensive therapy and life-skills training for those men between the ages of 18 to 24 years old who are incarcerated from neighborhoods with the most violence in the city. Outside of the jail, the Sheriff’s Chicago Initiatives program uses a community policing model, which works to remove guns from the street while reconnecting law enforcement with communities. Led by Sheriff Dart, Sheriff’s Officers regularly create community events that provide health care and offer other necessities so that the people who live in these underserved communities can have some of their needs met.

Under Sheriff Dart’s administration, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and Cermak Health Services received the 2021 Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties for their collaborative and forward-thinking efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 in Cook County Jail. Sheriff Dart also has received the Community Service Award of the Year from the National Alliance on Mental Illness Southwest for his efforts at providing necessary mental health services for individuals in custody.

Sheriff Dart has been named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME Magazine, and a Public Official of the Year by Governing Magazine. He and his wife, Patricia, live on Chicago’s South Side and are the proud parents of five children.

City Club event description:

Chicago faces a persistent shortage of both market-rate and affordable housing. This panel brings together private developers with local and national experience to explore strategies that have worked in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Washington D.C. We’ll discuss tools used to scale housing, lessons from other regions, and how to overcome barriers unique to Chicago.

Speakers

Leon Walker

Attorney, Leon Walker, CEO of DL3 Realty Advisors, works closely with municipalities, anchor institutions, and Fortune 500 companies to execute projects that are sensitive to a neighborhood’s character while creating economic opportunities for local businesses and residents. DL3’s projects are more than just brick and mortar— they are designed to provide a stimulus that ultimately lifts economic prospects and the quality of life in urban communities. 

DL3 recently celebrated 25 years in business, and in the past five years, DL3’s projects have created over 3,000 jobs on Chicago’s South Side, and the firm is actively pursuing projects that will create over 10,000 new jobs in Chicago’s neighborhoods by the end of the decade. 

DL3 is executing transformative investments at several key transit nodes on the South Side by developing new, luxury affordable, mixed-use anchor housing under the “Thrive” brand that offers both market rate and affordable options for residents. Thrive Exchange and Thrive Englewood are designed to increase walkability and attract additional capital to the surrounding community. 

DL3 is the first Black owned private development firm to successfully win and close a City of Chicago 9% low- income housing tax credit award. Recently, DL3 partnered with Riverside and AmTrust RE to convert a portion of the Field Building on LaSalle Street into approximately 400 apartments and 90,000 SF commercial space as part of the City of Chicago’s LaSalle Street Investment Initiative. 

Prior to taking on the leadership of DL3, Leon worked in corporate real estate services at Jones Lang LaSalle, and in real estate capital markets at Citicorp Securities. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, Booth School of Business, and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Leon is civically engaged and currently serves on the boards of World Business Chicago and University of Michigan Weiser Center for Real Estate, among many others. He is a frequent speaker and student of historic architecture and lives with his wife, Rian, and their two children in a prominent office-to-residential conversion in downtown Chicago.

Matt Fiascone

Matt Fiascone, president of The Habitat Company, has led a full range of real estate development and investment activities for more than 35 years. Since joining The Habitat Company in 2011, Matt has been instrumental in strategizing, executing and managing capital events including development joint ventures, recapitalization of existing ventures and acquisitions. Matt has also established new relationships for both debt and equity, as well as strategic partnerships. 

As President, he leads the day-to-day activities of the company across its business lines and the integration of the strategic vision and cherished culture of Habitat. Under his leadership the company has enhanced its 50+ year history of being a leading provider of housing for residents across the income spectrum while continuously enhancing the experience of its team members, partners and residents. The company has grown both through acquisition of properties and development. 

Previously, Matt served as senior vice president for Inland Real Estate Development Corporation, where he originated and implemented real estate transactions involving assets valued at over $1 billion and negotiated and managed equity joint ventures. 

Matt serves as Chairman of the Board of SolvTrust Financial—the holding company of PanAmerican Bank, and a member of the Bradley University Business and Engineering Advisory Council. He is also a member of the National Multifamily Housing Council Board of Directors. Previously he served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Inland Bank and Trust; as an original member of the Advisory Board for PSP Investments’ Downsview Development in Toronto, Ontario and as a member of the Board of Directors of The Illinois Energy Conservation Authority NFP. Matt has been a frequent speaker and panelist for industry events. In addition, he is a licensed real estate broker in Illinois, Florida, Wisconsin and Missouri. 

Matt has a bachelor’s degree in business and economics from Bradley University.

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Sarah Wick

Sarah Wick is a longtime advocate for affordable housing and currently leads the affordable housing development business at Related Midwest. In her role, Wick has played a pivotal role in preserving and building over 10,000 affordable residences across Chicago and the Midwest. Since joining Related, she has overseen more than $1 billion in investments that create or modernize safe, welcoming, affordable communities that families are proud to call home.

Wick has led several significant projects for Related Midwest, including the transformation of Lathrop, a multiyear, multiphase redevelopment that is revitalizing a historic riverfront site into a vibrant mixed-use, mixed-income community. Under her leadership, Related has delivered 488 units of mixed income rental housing, along with a renovated park and riverwalk. Wick is currently leading the next phase of redevelopment, which includes the renovation of seven historic buildings and construction of a new residential building, bringing an additional 309 mixed-income units to the community. 

In 2021, Wick led Affordable Illinois, an advocacy effort to enact state legislation that offers a reduction in real estate taxes for property owners who provide a set-aside of affordable housing. The change in state legislation has paved the way for the creation of numerous affordable housing units, including 60 at The Row Fulton Market, a 300-unit rental tower Related Midwest completed in 2023 as the first major project in Chicago to utilize the incentive. 

Wick is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), a current board member of the ULI Advisory Council, a former board member of the ULI Chicago Women’s Leadership Initiative, and a past protégé of the ULI Chicago Mentorship Program. Wick has also received a ULI Young Visionary Award, along with a ULI Women’s Leadership Initiative Achievement Award Scholarship. She was named to Crain’s Chicago Business’ 2019 class of 40 Under 40, honoring proven leaders with substantial business and civic contributions. 

Wick holds a master’s degree in regional and urban planning from the Pratt Institute and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

David Doig

A seasoned professional in community development, real estate, finance, and government with over 30 years of experience, Doig serves as president of CNI.

Prior to leading CNI, Doig worked in a variety of capacities within the administration of Mayor Richard M. Daley, including General Superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District and First Deputy in the Department of Planning and Development and initially in the City’s Department of Housing.   

As Park District Superintendent, Doig oversaw a $350 million operating budget and a staff of over 3,000. Under his leadership the Park District’s bond rating improved and the District issued its first revenue bonds. Serving in Planning and Development Doig managed its neighborhood division which operates city programs to spur economic development and job growth in neighborhoods throughout the city. 

In over thirty years of living and working in the city of Chicago, David Doig has become an expert on how cities and neighborhoods work.

City Club event description:

Join us for a compelling conversation between Lee Bey—architecture critic, author, and photographer; Mark Sexton – architect and Chicago Architecture Biennial Board Member; and Florencia Rodríguez, Artistic Director of the 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial. Together, they’ll explore the urgent questions shaping the spaces we inhabit, the role of architecture and design in addressing societal challenges, and the curatorial vision guiding this year’s Biennial. Whether you’re an architect, policymaker, or simply passionate about the future of urban life, this discussion will offer fresh insight at the intersection of design, community, and change.

The sixth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change, opens September 19, 2025 and continues through February 28, 2026.

Speakers

Lee Bey

Lee Bey is architecture critic for the Chicago Sun-Times and ABC7 News Chicago, where he covers everything from the newest buildings to the latest preservation battle — and the complex political, social and racial forces that shape the city’s places and spaces.

He was also a member of the Sun-Times editorial board for six years where he wrote editorials on city governance, neighborhood development, politics and urban planning.

 Bey is the author of the much-praised book Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side (Northwestern University Press, 2019), which showcases his architectural photography and social commentary. 

In addition, he was also the host of Building Blocks: The Architecture of Chicago’s South Side, a documentary based on his book, which aired on WTTW in 2023 and earned a Midwest Emmy nomination. 

Bey is an in-demand speaker and media commentator on the subjects of architecture, urban planning, Chicago history and late 20th century Black history and culture.

He is also a respected architecture photographer who has shot assignments for many of the city’s top architectural firms. His photography has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, as well as international design magazines such as Germany’s Bauwelt and Modulor.

Bey is an adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture.

He is the recipient of the 2021 Julius Shulman Institute Excellence in Photography Award, and the 2019 Distinguished Service Award by the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Bey lives in an 1893 rowhouse in Chicago’s historic Pullman neighborhood. He is currently working on a book that documents the architecture of Chicago’s West Side.

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Florencia Rodriguez

Florencia Rodriguez is founding principal of -NESS, an international cultural platform for architecture. As an editor, writer, and educator, she creates and leads initiatives related to architecture and design that span publishing, exhibitions, and consultancy, and her work is grounded in the belief that architecture is a vital cultural practice. Rodriguez is also Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Architecture (UIC/SoArch), where she was Director between 2022 and 2025. Before coming to UlC, Rodriguez was a lecturer in architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

In 2010, in Buenos Aires, Rodriguez founded PLOT, a publication focused on global architecture and contemporary discourse. She directed it until 2017, when she co-founded -NESS with Pablo Gerson. From that platform, she has edited books and organized events committed to the dissemination of new narratives, the exploration of alternative forms of design criticism, and discussions about the contemporary role of design.

In 2013, Rodriguez was awarded the Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she researched new modes of criticism and the architecture of the Americas. In collaboration with Gerson, Rodriguez created Monte in 2015, an independent space in Buenos Aires, where she curated and promoted an active public program on architecture and related design disciplines. She has lectured, curated exhibitions, served as a juror and organized international symposia in institutions such as the CCEBA (Centro Cultural del España en Buenos Aires), the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the University of Illinois Chicago, and the Torcuato Di Tella University, among others.

Rodriguez has received awards for her editorial work and published several articles in books and specialized media such as Domus, Oris, summa+, Arquine, A+U and Uncube. In 2020, together with Mark Lee, she guest-edited America, the 48th issue of the Harvard Design Magazine. Her most recent book, MCHAP 2 Territory & Expeditions was published in 2022, by IITAC, Actar, and -NESS. Rodriguez is currently editing the book Machado Silvetti / Drawings 1975-1999, to be published by Harvard Design Press, and working on a collection of her writings to be published by Park Books.

Mark Sexton, FAIA LEED AP

Mark is a co-managing partner of Krueck Sexton Partners. Beyond design leadership, chief among his responsibilities is developing and fostering strong relationships with the firm’s clients, collaborators, and the broader community. Whether speaking of the firm’s work on a federal building in the Southeast, an embassy in Africa, or an educational institution a few miles from the firm’s office, Mark points out that successful design does not emerge of its own accord: it is a function of trust that evolves out of engaged and open dialogue with clients and partners throughout the process. 

An impassioned and tenacious problem-solver, Mark sees challenges and obstacles as critical to innovative solutions. The Crown Fountain, in Chicago’s Millennium Park, showcases his passion for material and structural innovation, as well as his ability to transform fragile concepts into powerful experiences. Leading the team that designed the tower’s glass blocks and the structure that supports them, he seamlessly integrated the materials, LED, and water technology to create a welcoming and inspiring space for all to enjoy.

A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Mark graduated from the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1980. He has recently joined the Board of Trustees at IIT and continues his college support, serving on the Board of Advisors Co-Chair for the IIT College of Architecture. He is a member of the GSA Design Excellence Program, National Registry of Peer Professionals, the Chicago Architecture Biennial board. He is an Adjunct Lecturer of Northwestern University, teaching in the Architectural Engineering and Design program at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

​Chicagoan of the Year in 2005, Mark has received recognition for his work over the past four decades.

Mark lectures at diverse venues worldwide, including universities, cultural institutions, conferences, and symposia. He actively seeks out opportunities to engage with the public through open lectures, walk-throughs, and tours, sharing with a wider audience his love of design and his appreciation for both the material and craft of contemporary architecture.

City Club event description:

Immigration is shaping Chicago in profound ways — from the arrival of new migrant populations to the evolving role of city and state policies. This panel offers a timely, fact-based look at immigration as it’s unfolding locally and nationally. Rather than proposing solutions, the discussion will focus on sharing real-time insights, experiences, and the tangible effects on individuals, neighborhoods, and systems across Chicagoland. The goal: to foster understanding through informed dialogue that can help drive solutions as City Club continues to convene key stakeholders and decision makers.

Speakers

Martin Cabrera

Martin Cabrera is the Founder and CEO of Cabrera Capital Markets, a global investment bank and institutional brokerage firm, and a real estate development and investment firm. 

Martin has more than thirty years of experience in the financial services industry. Martin founded Cabrera Capital in 2001 in Chicago, and since then the firm has grown to become a global financial enterprise with 8 offices nationwide and dedicated trading personnel resources in London. Cabrera Capital has issued over $2.3 trillion in debt and equities for municipalities and corporations domestically and internationally. The firm’s taxable fixed income and global equities trading desks transact over $2.2 billion in securities daily. In 2013, the firm added an expansive real estate development and investment side that provides advisory services including development, acquisition, and management. 

Martin serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at St. Ignatius College Prep, and is on the board of World Business Chicago, INTESECT Illinois, and Homeboy Industries among others. He has been featured in news publications that include CNBC, Crain’s Chicago Business, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, and Axios. 

Martin earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Northern Illinois University and studied at the London School of Economics.

Dagmara Avelar

Dagmara Avelar serves as State Representative for Illinois’ 85th District, a community she has proudly called home since emigrating from Quito, Ecuador at the age of 12. A graduate of Bolingbrook High School and Northeastern Illinois University, Rep. Avelar is completing her Master’s in Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

A formerly undocumented DREAMer who became a U.S. citizen in 2016, Rep. Avelar has dedicated over a decade to advocating for working families, immigrants, and historically underserved communities. Before her election in 2020, she was Director of Programs at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, where she led the state’s largest naturalization initiative, partnering with 59 community organizations to expand citizenship access and language equity.

In Springfield, Rep. Avelar serves on the Speaker of the House’s leadership team as Assistant Majority Leader, helping to guide legislative priorities for the Democratic Caucus. She has championed legislation to protect drinking water, expand affordable healthcare, combat the opioid crisis, and invest in affordable housing. She has also secured over $100 million in state funding for education, infrastructure, social services, small businesses, and workforce development in her district.

A lifelong community organizer, Rep. Avelar’s commitment to civic engagement began as a teenager mobilizing disenfranchised voters in the southwest suburbs. She continues to bring that grassroots perspective to her work on key legislative committees and boards, including the Restore, Reinvest, Renew (R3) Board and the Task Force on Foster Youth Transitioning Out of Care.

Guided by her lived experience and deep roots in her community, Rep. Avelar is a tireless advocate for equity, economic opportunity, and a government that works for all.

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Raul Raymundo

Raul I. Raymundo, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of The Resurrection Project has long understood the challenges and strengths of working-class and immigrant families. Mr. Raymundo earned a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College ‘88, Northfield, MN. He returned to the neighborhood where he grew up and co-founded The Resurrection Project (TRP) with seed capital of $30,000 from six Chicago-area parishes in 1990. 

Since its inception, TRP has leveraged this capital into more $847 million in community investment positively impacting thousands of individuals in the region. Guided by his leadership, TRP seamlessly blends asset building, community organizing, direct service, and advocacy to build healthier and more engaged communities. TRP is one of the region’s most creative and effective social impact organizations, working across every area of community life. TRP has built over 800 affordable housing units and created generational wealth for more than 158 first-time buyers from historically marginalized groups. It has developed several community assets such as immigration legal clinics, early childhood centers, senior satellite centers, community resource centers, and a charter school serving thousands of families. 

Beyond TRP, Raymundo engages in additional civic and professional engagement, serving on the board of trustees for his alma mater, Carleton College, and several local and national boards, including Self-Help Credit Union with its multi-state operations, and as a co-founder and board member of American Business Immigrant Coalition (ABIC) with its national policy impact. He is also the most recent former Chair of the National Association of Latino Asset Builders (NALCAB), and a board member of START EARLY, Illinois Justice Project, and UnidosUS, in addition to serving on the leadership team for United Power for Action and Justice. In 2024, Raymundo was inducted into the Order of Lincoln, Illinois’ highest civilian award. 

Raymundo’s financial acumen and leadership were instrumental in helping many to avoid foreclosure during the failure of a financial institution. He remains active on several bank community advisory boards, including BMO, CIBC Bank, and Huntington Bank. 

Mr. Raymundo, his wife MariaLuisa and their son and two daughters are lifelong residents of the Pilsen neighborhood.

City Club event description:

Join the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and The Joint Affinity Group representing philanthropy in Chicago (Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy, Chicago Latines in Philanthropy, and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy) for an afternoon of honest conversation and community connection. As polarization deepens and efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion face new challenges, we’ll explore how racial healing can help bridge divides and foster solidarity.

Kayce Ataiyero, Chief External Affairs Officer of the Joyce Foundation and La June Montgomery Tabron, author (How We Heal: A Journey Toward Truth, Racial Healing, and Community Transformation from the Inside Out) and president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will discuss what it takes to lead with empathy, build trust, and create space for collective healing.

Speakers

La June Montgomery Tabron

La June Montgomery Tabron is the president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) in Battle Creek, Michigan, one of the largest private foundations in the United States. As president and CEO, Tabron leads the Kellogg Foundation in its work to support thriving children, working families and equitable communities.

Before becoming the first African American president and CEO to lead the foundation, she served in various positions throughout the Kellogg Foundation after joining the organization as the controller in 1987. Most recently, she was the executive vice president of operations and treasurer, overseeing all financial plans, policies and relationships within the financial community and WKKF’s Technology, Human Resources and Administration, Finance, Program Services and Quality & Organizational Effectiveness functions. In this role, she was pivotal in connecting and integrating WKKF’s leadership committees: the Executive Council, Program Leadership Council, Talent Board and Organizational Advisory Team, ensuring unified execution of the organization’s mission and strategic framework across all programmatic and priority place areas. She also led WKKF’s place-based grantmaking in Mississippi and New Orleans since 2011, launching a significant effort to help set young males of color on the path to success in 2013.

For more than two decades, Tabron has played an active leadership role in the Kellogg Foundation’s racial equity, diversity and inclusion work – both internally through its work with its board and staff, and externally through its work with grantees, partners and vendors. In 2025, she authored How We Heal and Our Differences Make Us Stronger, books that reflect her lifelong commitment to healing, connection, and community transformation. How We Heal explores how truth-telling and healing can bridge divides and strengthen communities, while Our Differences Make Us Stronger, a children’s book, highlights the importance of empathy and belonging.

Other earlier positions at WKKF included: chief operating officer and treasurer; senior vice president/chief financial officer and treasurer; vice president – finance and treasurer; and assistant vice president for finance and assistant treasurer. Prior to joining WKKF, she wasban auditor for Plante & Moran CPAs.

As a community and civic leader, Tabron is a member of the Kalamazoo Chapter of the Links, Incorporated. She also serves on the boards of Battle Creek Community Health Partners, Bronson Healthcare Group, Kellanova, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), and the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America- College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA). Tabron is also the chair of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust.

Tabron holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and a master’s degree in business administration from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. She received honorary doctorates from Elms College, Grand Valley State University, Ithaca College, Marygrove College and Union Institute & University. She is a certified public accountant. She is also a graduate of the inaugural class of the Council on Foundations’ Career Pathways Program.

An international thought leader, Tabron has spoken at the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Clinton Global Initiative, the ESSENCE Festival of Culture, the Milken Institute Global Conference and the University of Oxford.

In 2020, Tabron was named the recipient of the Bynum Tudor Fellowship at Kellogg College in Oxford, England. The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies awarded Tabron the Louis E. Martin Great American Award, the organization’s highest honor, in 2022. In 2023, Inside Philanthropy included Tabron on its list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in U.S. Philanthropy, the New York Times named her a Groundbreaker at its annual Dealbook Summit and, in March 2024, Worth Magazine named her to its list of 100 Groundbreaking Women. In 2025, Tabron was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in philanthropy.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.

The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special attention is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan,Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti.

City Club video

Kayce Ataiyero

Kayce Ataiyero is the Chief External Affairs Officer at the Joyce Foundation, where she oversees the Foundation’s strategic communications, the Journalism Program and the Lend A Hand community grants fund. She is also a member of the Foundation’s leadership team.

Kayce has extensive experience in communications, journalism and politics. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2018, she served as director of external affairs for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, where she led communications and community engagement. She has also led communications for U.S. Congresswoman Robin Kelly, the Illinois Governor’s Office and the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office.

As an award-winning journalist, Kayce previously worked as a staff writer for the Chicago Tribune, The Raleigh News and Observer, Philadelphia Inquirer and Washington Post.

Kayce has a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland College Park. She is board chair of Media Impact Funders, a national organization that advances the work of a broad range of funders committed to supporting media in the public interest. She also serves on the board of Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, an organization committed to the unfinished business of our nation’s civil rights movement.

She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow, was named a Top 10 Empowering Women Leaders to Follow by CIO Views Magazine, a Chicago Titan 100, one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of Illinois by Women We Admire, a Notable Black Leader and Executive by Crain’s Chicago Business and one of Chicago’s most influential Black leaders by The Chicago Tribune. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. She also at one time was general manager of the Chicago Steam, a minor-league basketball team.

City Club event description:

Join the Cancer Center Directors of the member hospitals of the Chicago Breast Cancer Research Consortium—a groundbreaking collaboration between University of Chicago Medicine, Lurie Cancer Center at Northwestern Medicine, and Rush MD Anderson Cancer Center—for a powerful conversation on how Chicago is redefining breast cancer research. Convened and funded by the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation, this first-of-its-kind partnership is bringing innovative, community-based clinical trials to patients across the region. Learn how this model is advancing equity, accelerating scientific breakthroughs, and putting lifesaving treatment within reach for more Chicagoans.

Speakers

Amina Ahmed MD
Amina Ahmed, MD, is the director of the RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center. In this role, she continues to build on the success of the highly respected RUSH cancer program and help shape the future of the cancer service line as an integrated effort across the RUSH system. The RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center will provide patients in the region with access to cancer treatments that are among the most advanced in the nation.

Dr. Ahmed was named interim director of the Cancer Center in 2021 and has been director of the cancer service line at RUSH University Medical Center since 2020. In her new role, Dr. Ahmed oversees all cancer-related efforts at RUSH, crossing over 20 departments, divisions and sections; inpatient and outpatient areas; professional clinical activities and the colleges of RUSH University. She leads RUSH in its commitment to stay abreast of the rapid evolution of cancer care to offer the most advanced care possible for patients and their families.

Dr. Ahmed has already distinguished herself as an advocate for the RUSH tradition of multidisciplinary cancer care, launching several programs to help patients with cancer navigate the complexities of their disease. These include a cancer survivorship program that brings together services from primary care, oncology and supportive oncology for patients who have a cancer diagnosis and their caregivers. She is also developing a geriatric oncology program, in collaboration with colleagues in geriatric medicine, to improve care and outcomes for older patients with cancer. Working closely with cancer leaders across RUSH, she has been a champion for safety and quality improvements, clinical innovation and a strengthened research infrastructure. Dr. Ahmed also has worked diligently to grow RUSH market presence in gynecologic oncology, expanding services to several communities in the greater Chicago area.

A board-certified specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Ahmed received her MD degree from RUSH Medical College. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology and a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. She joined the faculty in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at RUSH University Medical Center in 2015. From 2016 through 2020, she served as division chief for gynecologic oncology. Before coming to RUSH, she held clinical and faculty roles at Lutheran General Hospital, Rosalind Franklin University and the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. Recognized nationally for her expertise in gynecologic oncology, she has authored book chapters and articles for peer-reviewed journals in her field, with a special focus on gynecological cancer in women over the age of 65.

Kirstin Chernawsky
Kirstin Chernawsky is an accomplished nonprofit and civic leader, currently serving as the Executive Director of the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Foundation—one of the nation’s leading organizations dedicated to eradicating breast cancer through research and education. A breast cancer survivor herself, Chernawsky brings both lived experience and professional expertise to the role, guiding the Foundation’s investments in early-career scientists, groundbreaking clinical trials, and collaborative research initiatives.

Under her leadership, the Foundation is building on nearly 40 years of impact—having raised over $50 million to advance breast cancer prevention, detection, and treatment. Chernawsky is driving a strategic evolution of the organization, strengthening internal systems, and overseeing initiatives like the Chicago Breast Cancer Research Consortium, the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium, and a growing portfolio of grants, fellowships, and scholar awards. She is spearheading efforts to grow the Foundation’s annual funding and cement its position as a catalyst for transformative science and equitable care.

Prior to joining Lynn Sage, Chernawsky held senior roles at the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), where she oversaw a $13 billion budget and led programs spanning early childhood, mental health, and recovery services. As Assistant Secretary of Programs, she guided strategic alignment across six divisions to strengthen the state’s social safety net. She also served as the inaugural Director of the Division of Early Childhood, leading the design of Smart Start Illinois—a $400 million initiative to improve child care workforce compensation—and managed over $2.9 billion in combined state and federal funding. In response to the humanitarian crisis at the Texas border, she coordinated Illinois’ New Arrivals strategy, helping to welcome over 40,000 asylum seekers and integrate services through the statewide One System Initiative.

Before her state government service, Chernawsky was Executive Director of Erie Neighborhood House, where she expanded services for immigrant and low-income families, including early childhood education, school age programming, mental health services, adult education, workforce development, and legal services.

Under her leadership, Erie House grew from a $7.5 million to $12 million organization and received several notable awards, including the UnidosUS Midwest Affiliate of the Year award, Chicago Run’s Go the Distance award, and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s Chicago Social Impact Leaders award. Chernawsky was personally recognized with the Executive Service Corps’ Executive Director of the Year award, the Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management’s 20 Years & 20 Leaders award, and was named one of Crain’s Business Chicago’s 40 Under 40.

Chernawsky holds a B.A. in Sociology and M.S. in Public Service Management from DePaul University, as well as certificates in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management from Harvard Business School and Human-Centered Design from +Acumen.

In addition to her professional roles, Chernawsky actively volunteers with numerous organizations. She has served on the Executive Committee of the American Public Human Services Association’s National Association of State Child Care Administrators, as Board Treasurer for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, and as Chair of the Board Development Committee for Susan G. Komen Chicago.

Her extensive experience and dedication to public service continue to drive her contributions to the nonprofit sector and her commitment to social impact.

City Club video

Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD
Dr. Kunle Odunsi is a gynecologic oncologist who specializes in the treatment of ovarian cancer. As the director of University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Dean for Oncology of the University’s Biological Sciences Division, Dr. Odunsi oversees all programmatic aspects of cancer at the University of Chicago including the three primary missions of research, patient care, and education. He sets the strategic direction of UCCCC, which emphasizes basic, translational, and clinical research efforts; collaborative cancer discovery and care; outreach to and engagement of the catchment area; and expansion of development opportunities for early career and promising cancer researchers. Dr. Odunsi also continues to treat patients and mentor physicians in the clinic.

As a nationally recognized expert in immunotherapy and vaccine therapy for cancer, Dr. Odunsi’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of immune recognition and tolerance in ovarian cancer and translating these findings to immunotherapy clinical trials. He pioneered the development of antigen-specific vaccine therapy and “next generation” adoptive T-cell immunotherapies to prolong remission rates in women with ovarian cancer. His research in tumor immunology and immunotherapy focuses on mechanisms of immune recognition in human ovarian cancer and the pre-clinical and clinical development of tumor antigen-targeted therapies. Currently he is co-principal investigator on the Roswell Park–University of Chicago Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in ovarian cancer.

Dr. Odunsi has received many honors and awards for his work, including election to the National Academy of Medicine in 2018 and the Rosalind Franklin Excellence in Ovarian Cancer Research Award in 2019. He has authored or co-authored more than 360 publications and contributed to several books and book chapters. His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Cancer Research Institute, and the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation Alliance, among others. He serves or has served on 10 editorial boards and multiple NIH study sections and held numerous visiting professorships and guest lectureships. He also holds leadership positions in several national organizations, such as co-chair of the NCI Cancer Moonshot Immuno-Oncology Translational Network and chairperson-elect of the American Association for Cancer Research’s Cancer Immunology Working Group.

Leonidas Platanias, MD, PhD
Leonidas C. Platanias, MD, PhD, is Director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and the Jesse, Sara, Andrew, Abigail, Benjamin and Elizabeth Lurie Professor of Oncology in the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. He also serves as associate vice president for Cancer Programs in Northwestern’s Office for Research. Prior to his appointment as Director in 2014, Dr. Platanias served as the cancer center’s first Deputy Director from 2002 to 2013.

He earned his medical degree and PhD from the University of Patras Medical School in Greece, and began his research career at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, and a fellowship in hematology-oncology at the University of Chicago Hospitals.

Dr. Platanias’s research focuses on cytokine signaling pathways in malignant cells and developing therapies that that target those pathways. He has published more than 370 papers, and his work has been continuously funded by the NCI for almost 30 years. He is the recipient of R01, U54, T32, and P30 awards from the NCI, and VA I01 Merit Review support.

Among his many career honors, Dr. Platanias received the Seymour and Vivian Milstein Award for Excellence in Inteferon and Cytokine Research. A member of various scientific societies, he served as President of the International Society of Interferon and Cytokine Research and in other national leadership positions. He is an associate editor and editorial board member for several scientific journals, serves on the NCI’s Subcommittee A for Cancer Centers, and has been a chair or member of many review panels, study sections, and site visit teams for the NIH, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense.

Since Dr. Platanias became Director in 2014, the Lurie Cancer Center has experienced dynamic growth in NCI funding, publications, and the number of patients enrolled in early-phase clinical trials, as well as the recruitment of more than 140 new faculty members. Under his leadership, the Lurie Cancer Center received the highest rating in its history from the NCI, an overall exceptional with a near-perfect impact score of 12, on the competitive renewal of its Cancer Center Support Grant in 2018.

Dr. Platanias has been a member of the Association of American Cancer Institutes’ (AACI) Board of Directors since 2018. He co-chairs the AACI’s Conflict of Interest Task Force and has served on the association’s Annual Meeting program committee. Dr. Platanias is also an elected member of the Association of American Physicians.

Congressman Mike Quigley, Illinois’ 5th District

City Club event description:

Mike Quigley has proudly represented Illinois’ 5th District for more than 16 years. Since being elected to Congress in 2009, Mike has been devoted to fighting for our environment, small businesses, the LGBTQ community, healthcare access, and ending gun violence.

Mike’s passion for public service can be traced back more than four decades. From 1998 to 2009, he served as a Cook County Commissioner where he worked to increase transparency within the Cook County Board of Commissioners.

Mike currently serves on the influential House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. This role has provided Mike with a unique understanding of the national security threats we face as a nation and has also informed his role as co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. His position on the Committee also placed him at the center of the years-long Russia investigation and the first impeachment of President Donald Trump.

He also currently serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development. Mike has utilized his position on the Committee to bring investment back to his district. Most recently, he secured over $15 million for projects within the community that will do everything from enhancing public health opportunities to improving our city’s infrastructure.

City Club video

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mike has been an important voice in the effort to protect Ukraine and its democracy from destruction. He has tirelessly advocated to his colleagues and the world on the appropriate steps the West must take in this fight.

Ensuring Americans know how their government is working for them is one of Mike’s highest priorities. He founded the bipartisan Congressional Transparency Caucus to bring members of Congress together in this effort and has introduced landmark legislation to significantly strengthen oversight of all branches of the federal government. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed his transparency legislation, the Congressional Budget Justification Act, into law.

Mike has established himself as a leader on many of our nation’s most challenging and significant issues. He continues to fight for a woman’s right to choose, commonsense gun law reforms that will make our communities safer, and for full LGBTQIA+ equality as Vice-Chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus.

Safety and public health are key priorities for Mike—and that includes his work to help end ALS. In 2020, Mike introduced ACT for ALS to create a new pathway to deliver treatment for neurodegenerative diseases. This bill received overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed into law by President Biden in December 2021. Mike is hopeful this legislation will provide those suffering from this and other neurodegenerative diseases with the hope that a cure can be found.

Mike grew up in Carol Stream, IL, and worked his way through college—first Roosevelt University, then the University of Chicago, and Loyola University Chicago. In his free time, Mike plays hockey every weekend and teaches a course on intelligence and national security at the University of Chicago. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Barb, and their two dogs, Maisy and Finneas.

City Club event description:

Speaker

Inspector General Deborah Witzburg
Deborah Witzburg serves as Inspector General for the City of Chicago, having been appointed to her first term in April 2022. Previously, she served as the City’s Deputy Inspector General for Public Safety, overseeing independent, objective evaluations and reviews of Chicago’s police and police accountability agencies, with the goal of enhancing public safety, protecting civil liberties and civil rights, and improving the relationship between the police and the communities they serve. She also served as OIG’s Chief Investigator for the Public Safety section, leading efforts to screen and review closed police disciplinary cases, as well as OIG’s Associate General Counsel for Public Safety, advising on legal and constitutional matters. Witzburg first joined OIG in 2016 as an Assistant Inspector General, providing legal and strategic counsel for investigations of misconduct by City of Chicago employees.

City Club video

Witzburg previously worked as an Assistant State’s Attorney in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted a wide range of misdemeanor and felony cases. She served in the State’s Attorney’s Community Justice Center, focusing on the vertical prosecution of cases of greatest concern in Chicago’s 11th and 12th police districts. There she helped develop and institute crime prevention programs in partnership with schools, community groups, and neighborhood organizations.

She is a Certified Inspector General by the Association of Inspectors General and a Certified Practitioner of Oversight by the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. Witzburg earned a BA in Anthropology from Brown University and a JD from Northwestern University School of Law.

City Club event description

Following a summer of exceptional, global visibility for Chicago in the realms of sustainability, tourism, conservation and innovation, join us for a discussion with Dr. Bridget Coughlin, president and CEO of Shedd Aquarium on what this international interest signals for our city’s bright blue future. Dr. Coughlin will highlight Chicago’s opportunity to achieve economic prosperity while simultaneously safeguarding our vital natural resources, including the freshwater of Lake Michigan. Sharing examples from Shedd’s own strategic plan – its Centennial Commitment – Dr. Coughlin will underscore our collective need for data-driven hope and how the aquarium is leading by example (and seeing the payoff) as it invests and prepares for its next 100 years of service. Be sure not to miss this engaging discussion that will bookend a remarkable summer of high-profile discussions around sustainability happening right here in Chicago!

Speaker

Dr. Bridget Coughlin
Bridget C. Coughlin, PhD serves as President & CEO of Shedd Aquarium, providing strategic vision, oversight and direction to all activities and initiatives for the world-class institution. Her experience is dedicated to stewarding the legacy of the historic aquarium while accelerating its mission to meet the needs of today’s world.

Upon joining the aquarium, Dr. Coughlin led the organization through a strategic planning effort, launching Shedd’s Centennial Commitment in 2022 to evolve and modernize the aquarium experience while simultaneously investing in more conservation science, environmental education programs and community partnerships. This strategic plan will take the aquarium to its centennial year in 2030 and prepare Shedd for the next 100 years of mission impact. Her strong passion for conservation of the animal world coupled with her business acumen and running $500M of endowment investments helped Shedd Aquarium establish an ESG investment private equity portfolio dedicated to environmental companies.

Dr. Coughlin is a deeply respected voice in Chicago’s civic, cultural and business communities. She is a member of the Chicago Commercial Club, the Executives Club of Chicago and the Chicago Club and serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Economic Club. She serves on the Advisory Board for After School Matters and has been recognized for her leadership with several accolades, including Crain’s Chicago Business’s “Who’s Who” list and “Women of Note” distinctions.

City Club video

Dr. Coughlin is also sought out as a leader in the conservation community. This includes serving on the Board of Directors for organizations like Alaska Sea Life Center, visiting legislators in Washington D.C. to advise on conservation policy needs and keynoting internationally recognized conferences like Aspen Ideas: Climate, alongside Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. She has worked on large science policy reports while at the National Academy of Sciences and held research grants from the National Institutes of Health.

Both professionally and personally, Dr. Coughlin is passionate about the need to encourage greater representation in leadership and in STEM careers. This led her to become an ambassador through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) IF/THEN program, where she has been a mentor for young people to envision themselves as future leaders and scientists. Her involvement in this mentorship program has led to several exciting and highly visible moments including a feature in Marie Claire Magazine and a life-size 3-D printed sculpture of Dr. Coughlin being installed alongside others at the Smithsonian Museum to honor Women’s History Month.

Dr. Coughlin holds a Bachelor of Arts from Knox College, and a doctorate in biochemistry and infectious diseases from the University of Iowa where she was a Howard Hughes Medical fellow. She enjoys all types of outdoor activities, clocks lots of vertical feet skiing, and hiking and relaxes but looking at life beneath the water line while floating and snorkeling. She, her husband and three boys own dozens of board games and play them regularly with a healthy dose of loving competition.

City Club event description:

As the City of Chicago heads into a new budget season, conversations about revenue, spending, and long-term financial sustainability are once again front and center. This City Club program offers a timely opportunity to level-set: What powers does the City actually have? What constraints does state law impose? And where are the real opportunities for change?

Speakers

Annette Guzman
Annette Guzman serves as the City of Chicago’s Budget Director and heads the Office of Budget and Management. In this role, she is responsible for setting fiscal policies and directing the development and management of the City’s budget.

Since her appointment in May 2023, Annette has been instrumental in closing critical budget gaps – most notably, eliminating a $982.4 million deficit in the FY2025 budget, which paved the way for a balanced $17.1 billion budget. Previously, as Budget Director for Cook County, she demonstrated exceptional leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic by overseeing the distribution of vital financial aid, including $428 million in CARES funding, over $200 million in FEMA aid, and $1 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

Guzman’s public service career includes roles as Deputy Assessor in the Office of the Cook County Assessor, and Deputy Chief Administrator and Chief of Staff for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Prior to her public sector transition, she served as legal counsel to banking institutions and corporations at Sidley Austin LLP, holding a Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Chicago Law School and a bachelor’s degree in English and Economics from Emory University. Guzman’s multifaceted expertise and commitment to fiscal responsibility and operations optimization make her an asset in shaping governmental financial and operations strategies.

When she is not navigating the complex fiscal landscape of the City of Chicago, Guzman dedicates her time to a rich tapestry of personal and community interests. Her commitment to the arts and civic engagement shines through her involvement on the Board of the Auditorium Theater, where she plays a vital role in shaping the cultural scene. Likewise, her dedication to creating a more equitable society is evident from her impactful contributions to the boards of Impact for Equity and Care for Friends, organizations that strive to make a difference in the lives of those they serve.

City Club video

Jill Jaworski
Jill Jaworski is the current Chief Financial Officer at the City of Chicago. Prior to her role with the City, she accumulated 25 years of experience in the realm of public finance,working as an investment banker, financial advisor, and consultant at PFM Financial Advisors, where she was a Managing Director and Partner. During her tenure at PFM,she established their Chicago financial advisory office in 2010, successfully expanding it from a solo operation to a fully staffed practice providing financial guidance to the City and its major sister agencies. Jill co-led the firm’s transit practice and with the Chicago team specialized in assisting transit agencies nationwide in securing grant funding and financing for large-scale projects.

Jill is also a dedicated board member of the Chicago Summer Business Institute (CSBI),an active member of the Society of Municipal Analysts, and has previously served as a board member on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB).

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois’ 8th District, in Conversation with City Club CEO Dan Gibbons

City Club event description:

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi was elected to Congress in 2016 and is now in his fifth term representing Illinois’ 8th District, which includes Chicago’s west and northwest suburbs as well as the 41st ward of the city. He serves as Ranking Member of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, making him the first South Asian American in history to lead a Congressional Committee. He also serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services. The Congressman is a Vice-Chair of the Equality Caucus and Co-Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Immigration Task Force. In addition, he is the founder and Chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus to End Youth Vaping and the bipartisan Solar Caucus.

Representative Krishnamoorthi is the child of immigrants and was raised in Peoria, Illinois. He attended public schools in Peoria and was a valedictorian of his high school class. Scholarships and student loans allowed him to graduate summa cum laude from Princeton University with a degree in mechanical engineering and a certificate from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. He then graduated with honors from Harvard Law School and clerked for a federal judge before practicing law in Chicago.

City Club video

Representative Krishnamoorthi pursued public service while practicing law and was appointed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan as a Special Assistant Attorney General to help start the state’s Public Integrity Unit created to root out corruption in Illinois. As a member of the Illinois Housing Development Authority, the Congressman chaired the Audit Committee, helping to provide thousands of low and moderate-income families across the state with affordable housing. Congressman Krishnamoorthi also served as Illinois Deputy Treasurer, where he oversaw the state’s technology venture capital fund and helped make programs such as the state’s unclaimed property program leaner and more efficient.

After his time in the Illinois Treasurer’s Office, Representative Krishnamoorthi returned to the private sector, serving as president of research-oriented small businesses developing technology in the national security and renewable energy industries. Representative Krishnamoorthi also served as the Vice-Chair of the Illinois Innovation Council and co-founded InSPIRE, a non-profit that provides inner-city students and veterans with training in solar technology.

The Congressman resides with his wife Priya, a physician, and 3 children in Schaumburg, Illinois.

City Club event description:

Speaker
Dr. Michael J. Adkesson
Dr. Mike Adkesson is a renowned leader in wildlife conservation and the professional care of animals. He is a passionate advocate on the importance of modern zoos and aquariums as a means for inspiring societal compassion and concern for wildlife and nature.

As President & CEO of Brookfield Zoo Chicago, Dr. Adkesson is building upon the rich history of one of the world’s preeminent zoos. The zoo’s Next Century Plan, developed under Dr. Adkesson’s leadership, lays out a bold vision for the zoo’s future that is already coming to life with the innovative $66 million Tropical Forests project opening in 2025, as well as other ongoing major investments in zoo’s campus. With an average of 2 million annual guests, Brookfield Zoo supports thousands of jobs and generates over $153 million in annual economic activity. Dr. Adkesson champions educational programs, such as the zoo’s King Conservation Leadership Academy, that inspire communities and people of all backgrounds to connect with nature.

Since first joining the zoo in 2008 as a clinical veterinarian, Dr. Adkesson has made significant strides in advancing the zoo’s animal care and conservation programs. A recognized leader within the zoo and aquarium community, Dr. Adkesson is known for groundbreaking veterinary programs that push boundaries and elevate the standards of care for zoo patients. As a diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine and the European College of Zoological Medicine, Dr. Adkesson is one of a few veterinarians who are board-certified specialists in the veterinary care of zoo animals and wildlife. For almost twenty years, Dr. Adkesson has also led conservation programs in Peru focusing on endangered marine species like the Humboldt penguin, Peruvian fur seal, and South American sea lion. His focus on conservation and engaging Zoo guests in that mission is a driving force as he leads Brookfield Zoo Chicago on a bold journey into the future.

City Club video

A past-president of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians and a professional fellow of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Dr. Adkesson is also actively involved in many other professional organizations at both a local level serving on the board of the Forest Preserve Foundation and at an international level serving on the board of Species360. Dr. Adkesson has trained hundreds of veterinary and graduate students throughout his career as an adjunct professor with the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and an associate researcher with Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, Peru. An accomplished researcher and clinician, Dr. Adkesson is also the author of over a hundred peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings.

Dr. Adkesson (or Dr. Mike as he is known at the zoo) is an Illinois native who grew up in Decatur. He received his Bachelor’s and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine with honors degrees from the University of Illinois, later returning to the University’s Gies College of Business to also complete a Master’s in Business Administration degree. Following a post-graduate clinical internship year in medicine and surgery, Dr. Adkesson completed a three year residency program in zoological medicine at the University of Missouri and Saint Louis Zoo. He lives in Lemont with his wife Adriane, also a veterinarian, and their three children, two dogs, and a pair of tortoises.

Revitalizing Historically Disinvested Communities
United Way and BMO

City Club event description:

Chicago’s Austin neighborhood is a compelling example of how a coordinated public-private investment strategy can positively impact the lives and livelihoods of local residents. In this historically disinvested community on the West Side, nonprofit, community, public and private organizations have worked alongside residents to design and leverage investments that are creating new economic opportunities and systematically transforming the neighborhood—like the Aspire Center, which is set to open June 19. 

United Way of Metro Chicago is working in 17 Chicago neighborhoods and suburban communities, including Austin, Auburn Gresham and Elgin, to help bring community vision to life and make catalytic investments with some of Chicago’s most stalwart corporate partners like BMO. 

City Club video

Join Darrel Hackett (U.S. CEO, BMO), Darnell Shields (Executive Director, Austin Coming Together) and Dr. Kimberlee Guenther (Chief Impact Officer, United Way of Metro Chicago) to learn more about how United Way’s Neighborhood Network Initiative has created a blueprint of intentional cross-sector collaboration that can revitalize disinvested communities across the Chicago region.

City Club event description:

The Clerk of the Circuit Court is the front door to the criminal justice system, and Clerk Mariyana Spyropoulos has pledged to keep that door open to all by ensuring the office’s services are transparent, accountable and accessible.

Upon taking office in December of 2024, Clerk Spyropoulos began her work to increase access to every community, to institute the highest ethical and professional standards and to improve service by expanding technology. As the daughter of immigrants, Clerk Spyropoulos strongly believes in supporting diverse and underserved populations navigating the justice system.

Clerk Spyropoulos grew up on Chicago’s South Side, attended Chicago Public School and took an early interest in public service. She earned a law degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Master of Business Administration from Loyola University Chicago. She is a former Cook County assistant state’s attorney.

City Club video

Clerk Spyropoulos’ passion for reforming government led her to win the election in 2010 as a commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, a $1.7-billion-dollar agency responsible for protecting our water environment through the collection and treatment of waste and stormwater throughout the region. She was first elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2016 and 2022. She served as board president from 2015 to 2019.

While overseeing the district, Clerk Spyropoulos advanced cutting edge green technologies, transparency and fiscal responsibility. She was also a strong supporter of labor and veterans’ initiatives.

Clerk Spyropoulos maintained the district’s impressive AAA bond rating and introduced independent inspector general oversight while live-streaming board meetings to the public. Her work was recognized in 2017 with the Illinois Water Environment Association Public Official Award, in 2021 with the Public Service Award from the Water Environment Federation and in 2022 with the Alumni Public Service Award from the University of Illinois School of Law.

Ciere Boatright, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Planning & Development, in conversation with Dan Gibbons, CEO, City Club Chicago

City Club event description:

Ciere Boatright, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Planning & Development, in conversation with Dan Gibbons, CEO, City Club Chicago

Ciere Boatright was appointed commissioner of the Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) in November 2023 by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

An experienced real estate and economic development executive, Boatright is responsible for leading DPD’s economic development, planning and zoning functions while promoting inclusive, equitable growth across the city.

In her previous capacity as vice president of real estate and community development at Chicago-based real estate firm CRG, Boatright was responsible for overseeing some of the company’s highest-impact real estate projects, collaborating with government officials, engaging with community organizations and securing public and private financing. Boatright also launched the company’s philanthropic arm and a mentoring program to support commercial developers of color.

City Club video

Boatright was formerly the vice president of real estate and inclusion for Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, where she managed the planning and development of new projects on the South and West Side, including more than $450 million in new investment involving the 180-acre, mixed-use Pullman Park project.

Local business publications have named her among Notable Women in Commercial Real Estate, 40 under 40, Notable Black Leaders and Executives, and Notable Executives of Color in Construction and Commercial Real Estate.

Boatright holds a master’s degree of urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a bachelor’s in psychology from Hamilton College.

A Chicago native, Boatright resides on the South Side with her husband and two children.

This program is presented in partnership with World Business Chicago.

City Club event description:

Stacy Davis Gates took office as President of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) in July of 2022 and is a national leader in the labor movement and progressive political organizing efforts.

President Davis Gates taught high school social studies in Chicago Public Schools before joining the CTU staff, politicized and spurred to union activity by the 2008 closing of Englewood High School, her workplace on Chicago’s South Side. Late CTU President Karen Lewis recognized Davis Gates bold strategic vision and political savvy, tapping her to become the union’s Political and Legislative Director in 2011. In that position, she built coalitions and spearheaded legislative campaigns that established an elected school board for Chicago, the most substantial charter school accountability measures in the country, restoration of bargaining rights denied to Chicago educators for nearly three decades, and securing hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding for Chicago Public Schools. Her leadership greatly expanded the union’s political vision, building political organizations like United Working Families and raising millions to elect progressive community leaders from Chicago to city, county, and state governments and the U.S. Congress, culminating with the election of CTU organizer and middle school teacher Brandon Johnson as Mayor of Chicago in 2023.

City Club video

As CTU Vice President, Davis Gates helped lead a successful 15-day strike in the fall of 2019. That strike united CTU with SEIU Local 73 members at CPS and allowed the negotiation of a historic contract providing smaller class sizes, a nurse and social worker in every Chicago public school, sanctuary protections for immigrant families, and support students and families experiencing homelessness.

Davis Gates’ focus on community outreach and CTU’s outspokenness about racism, privatization, democracy, women’s rights and other causes under her leadership have gained a national audience and made her a regular target of right-wing media, conservative activists and corporate lobbyists. In addition to her leadership at CTU, President Davis Gates also serves as the Executive Vice President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers, Party Chair of United Working Families, and board member of the Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE). She lives on the South Side of Chicago with her husband and three children.

City Club event description:

Chicago area transit agencies face a $770 million fiscal cliff after lawmakers ended the spring session without a funding solution. With major service cuts on the table and structural reform proposals still in flux, the future of public transit hangs in the balance. Join leading voices for a candid discussion on what’s next for funding, governance, and the riders who depend on these systems every day.

Speakers

Donald P. DeWitte
Donald P. DeWitte is an Illinois State Senator for the 33rd Senate District. He has served in this role since his appointment in September 2018, and subsequent election in November 2018.

He currently serves as the Minority Spokesperson for the Senate Transportation and Senate Revenue Committees, and as a member of the Appropriations, Education, Environment & Conservation, Labor, and State Government Committees. He also serves on the bipartisan Joint Commission on Administrative Rules (JCAR).

Don served as an Alderman for the City of St. Charles from 1993 thru 2005.

In 2005 he was elected Mayor, re-elected in 2009, and stepped down in 2013. Prior to his appointment to the IL Senate, Don was appointed to serve as a Director on the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Board in Chicago representing Kane County from 2013 thru August of 2018.

Jacky Grimshaw
Jacky joined CNT in 1992, and has since developed its capacity to engage in public policy advocacy and transportation planning, transportation research, environmental justice, public participation tool development, GIS mapping, community economic development and air quality. Jacky advocates for and provides expertise to increase transit in the Chicago region. She created and led CNT’s transportation and air quality programs and led CNT’s Transit Future campaign in the fight for mass transit reform and dedicated funding in the Chicago region. Since 2005, she has led CNT’s policy efforts at all levels of government.

Jacky has served on numerous boards, including: Chicago Transit Authority, National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board’s Environmental Justice and Public Involvement Committees. She has just completed terms on the Women’s Issues in Transportation Committee. 

Prior to CNT, Jacky spent time as a researcher in hematology and gastroenterology, in both state and federal government, in the Chicago Public School district and served in numerous other capacities, including political advisor for the late Mayor Harold Washington and Director of the Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Jacky has completed the Master of Arts in Public Policy requirements at Governors State University and holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Marquette University in Milwaukee.

City Club video

State Rep. Kam Buckner
Kam Buckner serves as Speaker Pro Tempore of the Illinois House of Representatives and is a key budget negotiator for the Illinois House, helping shape the state’s $55 billion budget. A proud native of Chicago’s South Side, he is the son of a law enforcement officer and a Chicago Public Schools teacher.

Since 2019, Kam has had the honor of representing the 26th Legislative District, which spans some of Chicago’s most iconic neighborhoods, including South Shore, Hyde Park, Bronzeville, Downtown, River North, and the Gold Coast. Over the course of his tenure, he has taken on leadership roles as House Black Caucus Chair, Majority Whip, Assistant Majority Leader, and now Speaker Pro Tempore.

Kam serves on several key committees, including Judiciary and Revenue, and is the founding Chair of the Lakeshore Caucus, a bipartisan, bicameral group focused on protecting Lake Michigan and tackling critical environmental issues. He played a pivotal role in securing an elected representative school board for Chicago and was a chief negotiator on the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act—one of the most ambitious clean energy laws in U.S. history. Kam also made history as the first legislator in the Midwest to pass a law banning untraceable ghost guns.

Beyond the legislature, Kam has dedicated his career to public service and community impact. He previously led World Sport Chicago, serving more than 20,000 young people across the city, and worked in Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs front office. His experience spans government at multiple levels, having served on the staffs of New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin.

A passionate advocate for education, Kam has taught Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He holds a B.A. from the University of Illinois and a J.D. from DePaul University. Today, he lives in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood with his wife and children, continuing to fight for a stronger, more equitable future.

David Greising
David Greising is the president and chief executive of the Better Government Association, joining the BGA in 2018. For 100 years, the BGA has fought for honest, equitable and effective government through investigative journalism and policy advocacy. Under Greising’s leadership,  the BGA won its first Pulitzer Prize, for local reporting, in 2022.

Greising’s career started at the City News Bureau of Chicago, with stops at the Chicago Sun-Times, Business Week magazine, the Chicago Tribune and Reuters, where he was Midwest bureau chief. He was a co-founder of the Chicago News Cooperative and worked briefly as a consultant to World Business Chicago. A former business columnist for the Tribune, Greising today writes on government issues in regular opinion columns for the paper.

Greising has fostered transformative change at the BGA. In 2022, the organization launched an innovative strategy including a major commitment to solutions-focused reporting, establishment of a statewide network of investigative and solutions reporters and the launch of two new websites: Illinois Answers Project and BGA Policy.

The BGA won its Pulitzer for reporting about City of Chicago negligence that led to 61 fire deaths over a five-year period. The BGA’s policy team in 2022 drafted a Chicago ethics reform program that was passed into law and is a leader of the pension reform effort in Illinois.

A graduate of DePauw University, Greising with his wife Cynthia Hedges Greising are parents to three adult children and residents of Evanston, Illinois.

City Club event description:

On September 29, 2021, Pedro Martinez, who has more than 30 years of experience in the private, nonprofit, and public education sectors, began serving as CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

Born in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Mr. Martinez came to Chicago with his family at the age of 5 in search of a better life. The oldest of 12 children, his CPS journey began as a student on Chicago’s west side, and he credits the education he received in our district’s schools with changing the trajectory of his life.

A proud graduate of Benito Juarez in the Pilsen community, CEO Martinez was the first in his family to graduate from high school and college, and he chose to dedicate his life to education, eventually returning to the school system of his youth as CPS’ Chief Financial Officer from 2003 – 2009.

He is a nationally recognized superintendent with a track record of creating comprehensive, multi-year solutions that advance racial equity and economic mobility. He has spent more than two decades in systems leadership, including 12 years as a superintendent.

Under his leadership, CPS has seen dramatic gains in student achievement and staff morale. Students have achieved record-high graduation rates, scholarships earned, and college credits obtained in high school. CPS is also developing comprehensive, nationally recognized partnerships with philanthropic organizations, higher education institutions, trade unions, and businesses to create transformational opportunities and outcomes for students.

Prior to joining CPS, CEO Martinez served as the Superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD), where he increased San Antonio ISD’s district grade from an “F” to a “B,” receiving statewide recognition from the Governor and Commissioner of Education as the fastest improving large district in Texas in 2018, 2019, and 2021.

Before joining SAISD, Mr. Martinez served as Superintendent in Residence for the Nevada Department of Education, where he was responsible for advising the Governor’s office and the State Superintendent of Instruction on education policy decisions. And, before that, he served as Superintendent for the Washoe County School District in Reno, Nevada.

As a data-driven leader with in-depth knowledge of academic reform strategies, he firmly believes that with the right supports, students can and will rise to any challenge, and that by setting the bar high, many more young people will demonstrate the aptitude and aspiration to perform at higher levels and be well-prepared for success in college, career, and civic life. CEO Martinez earned his M.B.A. from DePaul University in Chicago and his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Illinois. He has also obtained his Illinois Superintendent Endorsement and Texas Superintendent Certificate.

City Club video

Speaker
Pedro Martinez

Pedro Martinez is CEO of Chicago Public Schools. With more than 30 years of experience in the private, nonprofit, and public education sectors, Pedro Martinez is a data-driven, results-oriented leader with a strong record of improving student outcomes in school districts around the country.

Mr. Martinez began his tenure as CEO of Chicago Public Schools in late 2021 — his third position leading a major urban school district, and his second time in a leadership role at CPS. As a nationally recognized leader with in-depth knowledge of academic reform strategies, CEO Martinez has achieved success by focusing on academic excellence, talent recruitment, culture shift, stakeholder engagement, and strong fiscal management. Read more about CEO Martinez’s vision for the district in CPS’ Three-Year Blueprint, which details the steps CPS is taking to help students recover from the pandemic and reimagine a better, more equitable District for Chicago’s children.

Born in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Mr. Martinez came to Chicago with his family at the age of five in search of a better life. His CPS journey began as a student on Chicago’s west side, and he credits the education he received in the District’s schools with changing the trajectory of his life and inspiring him to dedicate his career to education.

Mr. Martinez earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Illinois. And his M.B.A. from DePaul University. He is also a graduate of the Broad Superintendent Academy and completed a Superintendent Certification Program at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He holds both a Texas Superintendent Certificate and a Professional Education License in Illinois with a Superintendent Endorsement.

City Club event description:

Hear how four community leaders plan to use the $10 million Chicago Prize to advance economic opportunity in their neighborhoods: Bronzeville, North Lawndale, Back of the Yards, Chicago Lawn, Roseland and Pullman.

The Cottage Grove Corridor Collective aims to bring commercial activity to the growing Bronzeville neighborhood. Reclaiming Chicago wants to build 2,000 homes across four neighborhoods. In North Lawndale, they are focusing on increasing social and entrepreneurship opportunities that will encourage residents and visitors to spend money in the community. Renaissance 95 is building on a comprehensive community  plan that includes a thin-tech manufacturing facility, affordable homes, a health center, and a hotel.

The Chicago Prize was founded on the belief that community leaders on Chicago’s South and West sides are best positioned to envision and build positive change in their communities. Each of the projects is eligible for the full $10 million Chicago Prize  award or a $650,000 matching fund grant to advance their development.

City Club video

Featuring:
Juan Salgado, City Colleges of Chicago Chancellor
Ayesha Jaco, Executive Director, West Side United
Kareeshma Ali, Director of Community Investment, Pritzker Traubert Foundation

The Four Chicago Prize Finalists:

• The Cottage Grove Corridor Collective\
• Renaissance 95
• Reclaiming Chicago Initiative
• Energizing an Ecosystem for North Lawndale

Commissioner Lissette Castañeda, Chicago Department of Housing

City Club event description:

Lissette Castañeda comes to the role of DOH commissioner with two decades of experience in affordable housing development, housing services, and organizational leadership. Castañeda is tasked with streamlining the affordable housing development process as per Mayor Brandon Johnson’s recent executive order and expanding homeownership to Chicagoans in historically disinvested communities.

Castañeda has served as the Executive Director for LUCHA, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved housing counseling agency as well as a Community Housing Development Organization since 2019, overseeing its affordable real estate portfolio and leading implementation of its strategic plan.

City Club video

Prior to serving at LUCHA, Castañeda served as the Interim Executive Director and the Director of Community Engagement for the Center for Changing Lives, where she worked to expand economic opportunities and revitalize neighborhoods across Chicago.

Castañeda has served on a number of boards including Palenque LSNA, Chicago Housing Trust, Illinois Housing Council and the Chicago Rehab Network.

For Castañeda, stable, affordable housing is a cornerstone of community safety, economic development and mental health. She is honored to serve in this role where she can spearhead new housing developments while ensuring Chicagoans have the services they need to stay in their homes for the long term.

City Club event description:

Congresswoman Robin Kelly has dedicated her career to public service as an advocate for Illinois families. Since being elected to serve the 2nd Congressional District in 2013, she has worked to expand economic opportunity, community wellness, and public safety across the state, championing numerous initiatives to generate job growth, reduce health disparities, and end gun violence.

Congresswoman Kelly is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee (the main policy-writing body of the House) and serves on the Health, Communications and Technology, and Innovation, Data, and Commerce subcommittees. Her Energy and Commerce work is focused on expanding access to healthcare, consumer protection for American families, and economic development.

She is also a member of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which sets the policy direction of the Democratic Caucus.

A staunch champion of common sense gun reforms and responsible community policing, Representative Kelly is a Co-Chair of the Congressional Gun Violence Prevention Taskforce and is the author of The 2014 Kelly Report on Gun Violence in America, the first-ever Congressional analysis of the nation’s gun violence epidemic that offers a blueprint for ending the crisis.

City Club video

Committed to improving the health and wellness of vulnerable communities across the country, the Congresswoman serves as Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust, and Co-Chairs the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls. She also Co-Chairs the House Democratic Policy Group and House Tech Accountability Caucus.

Prior to her election to Congress, Kelly was a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, served as Chief Administrative Officer of Cook County (the second largest county in the United States) and was Chief of Staff to Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias – becoming the first African American woman to serve as Chief of Staff to an elected constitutional statewide officeholder.

The daughter of a small business owner and postal worker, Congresswoman Kelly moved to Illinois to attend Bradley University in Peoria, where she earned her B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in counseling. She later received a Ph.D. in political science from Northern Illinois University. She is also an active member of Sigma Gamma Rho, a historically Black sorority. She lives in the south suburbs of Chicago and has two adult children.

City Club video

City Club event description:

Carlos Ramirez-Rosa is the General Superintendent and Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Park District, overseeing the nation’s third-largest park system, which includes more than 8,800 acres of green space, over 600 parks, 230 fieldhouses, and 26 miles of lakefront. He will take on the role of park CEO April 1, 2025. Carlos is dedicated to protecting and advancing Chicago’s public parks for the benefit of all 2.7 million Chicagoans and the city’s 77 communities.

Elected three times to represent Chicago’s 35th Ward, Carlos brings a decade of leadership and a proven track record of building coalitions to deliver significant public policy and community infrastructure wins. As a member of the Chicago City Council, he co-led the successful effort to increase Chicago’s Open Space Impact Fee, securing essential funding for park improvements and parkland acquisition. He spearheaded the $27 million Milwaukee Avenue and Logan Square Redesign project, which expanded green space and created new urban outdoor recreation areas. He also passed legislation strengthening protections for immigrants, the LGBTQIA+ community, women, and workers—advancing equity and justice throughout Chicago.

City Club video

A proud lifelong Chicagoan and product of the Chicago Public Schools, Carlos holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as a ‘20 in Their 20s’ in 2016 and a ‘40 Under 40’ in 2023. He lives in Avondale with his husband, Bryan, and their rescue pit mix, Itztli. Outside of work, Carlos enjoys hiking, kayaking, and exploring Chicago’s rich cultural landscape.

City Club event description:

Black men in Illinois face a persistent workforce crisis, with Chicago ranking lowest among major U.S. cities in labor force participation. In response, Equity & Transformation (EAT) and Fathers, Families & Healthy Communities (FFHC) conducted in-depth research to understand the barriers Black men and fathers face in securing stable employment. Their findings, to be released in the upcoming report, Breaking the Chains: Reclaiming Wealth, Power, and Dignity for Black Men, outline urgent, actionable solutions—including targeted guaranteed income, job training with wraparound support, fatherhood and mentorship programs, and investment in Black-owned businesses. This initiative aims to drive systemic change, ensuring Black men have access to opportunities that strengthen families and Chicago’s economy.

In partnership with the Field Foundation.

Speakers

Daniel O. Ash
Daniel Ash is president of the Field Foundation, a private and independent foundation that invests in civic infrastructure, the cultural sector, local news outlets, and organizers to support power building in Chicago. Alongside its strategic partners, the Field Foundation distributes more than $10 million annually to nonprofit organizations and leaders, focusing primarily on the city’s South and West Sides.

Prior to his current role, Daniel was associate vice president of Community Impact for The Chicago Community Trust, and he previously served as the Trust’s chief marketing officer. Before that, Daniel spent ten years as vice president of Chicago Public Media.

Daniel earned his M.P.P. from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Economics from Oberlin College. He completed a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship at Princeton University.

Daniel was selected as a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow in 2023, and he has been recognized as a Crain’s Chicago Notable Leader in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Deon Hodrick
Deon Hodrick is a lifelong Austin resident, entrepreneur, father, and community advocate. Since participating in the Chicago Future Fund, Deon has become an active member of Equity and Transformation, speaking at City Hall events, attending guaranteed income conferences, and building local power in his community.

City Club video

Dr. Clinton Boyd, Jr.
Dr. Clinton Boyd, Jr. is a visionary leader and advocate for resilient families, whose work bridges research, advocacy, and community action. Since 2021, he has served as Executive Director of Fathers, Families, & Healthy Communities (FFHC) and as a Researcher at Chapin Hall. In these roles, Dr. Boyd draws on his lived and academic experiences to champion policies and programs that empower resilient fathers, strengthen families, and address systemic inequities. His work reimagines justice systems and uplifts communities through transformative, equity-focused initiatives.

Dr. Boyd’s professional achievements are driven by a personal mission to speak truth to power. He has authored numerous articles, book chapters, and policy reports exploring father engagement, family resilience, and racial justice at the intersections of early childhood development and youth programming. At FFHC, he has spearheaded innovative programs to elevate the voices of resilient fathers, while his work at Chapin Hall employs participatory action research to drive systemic reforms in juvenile justice and community violence prevention.

A proud first-generation college graduate, Dr. Boyd earned a Bachelor of Arts from Concordia University Chicago, a Master of Arts from DePaul University, and a Ph.D. from Georgia State University. He also completed postdoctoral training at Duke University’s Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity. A Prevent Child Abuse America National Board Member and ZERO TO THREE Academy Fellow, he champions initiatives that improve outcomes for families and advance racial equity.

Dr. Boyd’s leadership and impact have earned him national recognition, including the 2024 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellowship and the 2024 Chicago Changemaker of the Year award from DePaul University. Balancing his professional accomplishments with his most cherished role as a father of two, Dr. Boyd exemplifies his belief that Black fathers are essential assets to their families and communities.

Richard Wallace
Richard Wallace is an author, organizer, and the Founding Executive Director of Equity and Transformation (EAT), an organization dedicated to advancing social and economic equity for Black informal workers. Under his leadership, EAT launched the Chicago Future Fund in 2021, a groundbreaking Guaranteed Income pilot for formerly incarcerated individuals.

A Roosevelt University graduate and recipient of their prestigious Matthew Freeman Social Justice Award, Wallace has published over a dozen writings in prominent outlets, including The Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post. His contributions to social justice have earned him numerous distinctions, including the Atlantic Fellowship for Racial Equity, Soros Justice Fellowship, Margaret Burroughs Fellowship at UIC, Galaxy Leaders Fellowship, and Voqal Fellowship—recognitions that highlight his unwavering commitment to racial and economic justice.

Reducing Gun Violence: How the Community and Police are Working Together – Moderated by: Steve Perkins, MPI Director of Field Instruction – Panelists: Jalon Arthur, Director of Strategic Initiatives, CRED; Glen Brooks, Jr., Director of Community Policing, Chicago Police Department; Elvis Ortega, Lead Liaison for Street Outreach at the City of Chicago (Mayor’s Office of Community Safety, Community Safety Coordination Center and The Chicago Department of Public Health) and moderator Steve Perkins, Director of Field Instruction at the Metropolitan Peace Initiatives.

City Club event description:

The Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI), a division of Metropolitan Family Services, convenes Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P), a unique network of 15 community-based organizations focused on reducing gun violence in 28 of Chicago’s highest-risk neighborhoods.

The Chicago Police Department and Community Violence Intervention (CVI) outreach professionals are developing a professional understanding with each other, outlining the complementary but independent roles and rules of engagement between the two parties.

Speakers

Elvis Ortega
Elvis Ortega is a dedicated professional with a proven track record in social services and K-16 education. With a strong foundation in violence prevention, community engagement, and leadership, Elvis has successfully implemented programs and initiatives that have positively impacted numerous communities.

Elvis has extensive experience working in various roles, including as a Director of Community Engagement, Senior Anti-Violence Policy Analyst, and Family and Community Engagement Manager. He is currently the Lead Liaison for Street Outreach at the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office Of Community Safety, Community Safety Coordination Center and The Chicago Department of Public Health. His ability to build strong relationships with stakeholders at all levels has been instrumental in his success.

Throughout his career, Elvis has demonstrated a commitment to social justice and equity. His work has focused on addressing the needs of at-risk youth, Violence prevention, and promoting community safety. With his strong leadership skills and passion for making a difference, Elvis is a valuable asset to any organization.

Glen Brooks
Glen Brooks is the Director of Community Policing for the Chicago Police Department. A proven community leader and organizer with twenty years’ experience serving the residents of the city of Chicago, he began his career in the department as a volunteer beat facilitator in the CAPS initiative and subsequently served as volunteer Chairman of the District Advisory Council. In 2003 Director Brooks joined the Chicago Police Department as an Area Coordinator. In this role he was principally responsible for managing a team of community organizers, youth service coordinators and city service representatives that serviced five police districts. During his tenure as Area Coordinator, Director Brooks developed and implemented the nation’s most successful gun turn in and violence prevention strategy, the “Don’t Kill A Dream, Save A Life” program. Through his efforts, the Chicago gun turn in program generated the largest collection of voluntarily surrendered firearms in the United States, with over 29,000 firearms collected since 2006. He also lobbied legislative offices on behalf of gun control issues.

In his current role, Director Brooks is responsible for all operational aspects of the Department’s community engagement strategy. Drawing upon his experience as a grassroots organizer and his expertise in violence prevention, Director Brooks leads strategic initiatives to improve civic engagement, ensure the safety of Chicagoans, and enhance community relations. As the principal liaison to community members, he designs and manages initiatives to address gang/gun violence, ex-offender re-entry, youth development and other programs that increase community access to city services and programs.

Since 2016, as the national debate about policing and justice system reform has unfolded, Director Brooks has been a key leader in developing and implementing the Department’s Community Policing reforms under the Consent Decree. Transforming the CAPS program into a foundational philosophy – “Every Officer is a Community Policing Officer”, Director Brooks also works to build authentic trusting relationships with community members, to address concerns about police-involved shootings. Serving as the Department’s principal liaison with activists and demonstrators, he has successfully deescalated protests while preserving participants’ first amendment rights and ensuring their safety. Director Brooks attended Duke University (Trinity ‘95) and is a former member of the U.S. Army Reserve.

City Club video

Jalon Arthur, MS
Jalon Arthur joined Chicago CRED in March of 2018, and currently serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives. This position focuses on development of innovative violence-reduction strategies for implementation by citywide street outreach partners. Mr. Arthur supports city and state government efforts to include facilitation of Regional Coordination meetings which convene diverse community stakeholders to coordinate on-the-ground violence reduction efforts, and conducts comprehensive city gap analysis to inform street outreach investments. He also provides support to CRED’s citywide outreach investments, including CP4P (Communities Partnering 4 Peace), READI, and outreach implementation in the Roseland and North Lawndale communities.

Mr. Arthur has dedicated 17 years of service committed to reducing violence. Prior to joining CRED, he worked at the University of Illinois with the Cure Violence program as director of innovation and development. During his 15 year tenure, Mr. Arthur worked with acutely at-risk youth to interrupt violence and provide case management support; set up international violence reduction programs in Puerto Rico, South Africa, Trinidad and Morocco; provided training and program support to a network of international partners; implemented innovative strategies to address multiple forms of violence; and developed a phone app in partnership with DePaul University to empower street outreach workers to utilize mobile app technology to enhance violence-reduction capacity.

Mr. Arthur holds a Bachelor’s Degree with a concentration in Psychology, and a Master’s of Science Degree in Human Services.

Steven Perkins
Increasing public safety and helping the most disenfranchised residents, primarily the formerly incarcerated and those most prone to gun violence are passions of Steven Perkins, Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P) Director of Field Instruction, with Metropolitan Family Service. In that capacity, Steven is responsible for managing the Field Managers, who provide technical support and assistance in street-outreach to over 20 community areas/sites.

Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side and a graduate of National-Louis University with a BA in Applied Behavioral Science, Steven understands the effect and plight growing up in Chicago’s most dangerous communities. His close encounters with gang-activity, gun violence and witnessing many close friends going to the penitentiary or the grave led him to become a change agent and advocate for community justice and equity.

Steven has over 19 years working in the field of public safety mainly in the areas of reentry and violence prevention. He has been Director of Reentry of CSAC (Community Support Advisory Council), a state-funded Illinois Department of Corrections re-entry program, building relationships with inmates at the Sheridan Correctional and provide support and services once released. He was part of the Cook County State’s Attorney Steering Committee, a role that ties neatly with his involvement with the Chicago Police Department and the John Jay Violence Prevention Strategy (VPS). In that capacity, he conducted call-in and custom notifications with the Chicago Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, and state attorney prosecutors. This initiative seeks to reduce gun violence by identifying those “highrisk” youth and young adults who are gang affiliated through alternative resources.

Steven has received acknowledgements and rewards from community organizations and several legislators including State Rep. Camille Lily of the 78th House District; State Sen. Kimberly Lightford of the 4th District, as well as Marcus King, former community outreach administrator for the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). The department cited Steve with an Excellence in Leadership award.

Today, his work entails supervising and managing the day-to-day activities that includes overseeing the CP4P Field Managers and working with the Director of The Metropolitan Peace Academy. The Metropolitan Peace Academy, aka MPA, provides a multi-disciplinary training approach to train and develop street-outreach workers to become leaders and practitioners through research and evidence-based best practices in violence production. The goal of the MPA is to standardize and professionalize the field of outreach. Steven is most proud of establishing meaningful and fruitful relationships over these many years, from those in “high-ranking positions” to those “dudes on the block.” He believes in the power and strength of relationships by means of building character, having unwavering commitment and gaining trust.

Strategies to Alleviate Poverty in Cook County and Beyond – The University Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice

City Club event description:

The City Club of Chicago and the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice are partnering on an ongoing event series that explores the many ways that local leaders are partnering with researchers to advance evidence-based policies that strengthen Chicago’s diverse communities.

Speakers

Dr. Maggie Thomas
Margaret (Maggie) Thomas is an Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Her scholarship and teaching emphasize structural sources of oppression and privilege, grounded in her practice experiences working with children, youth, and families facing social and economic marginalization.

Dr. Thomas’s research focuses on the wellbeing of economically marginalized individuals and families through the lens of policy causes and solutions to material hardship and poverty. She conducts two primary streams of research. First, she examines material hardship and its consequences for other domains of wellbeing, such as child protective services involvement (CPS) and health and mental health outcomes. Second, she analyzes policy impacts on poverty and hardship, such as Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) consequences for material hardship experiences. Some of Dr. Thomas’s current research projects include a multi-year, randomized controlled trial testing the effects of guaranteed income receipt on material hardship and other domains of wellbeing; a study of the structure and systemic causes of the relationships between food insecurity and mental health; and work examining the relative roles of material hardship and income poverty in shaping child and family wellbeing. Throughout her research, Dr. Thomas prioritizes engaging and training student research collaborators, responding to community members’ needs for and interest in research engagement, and sharing research findings in accessible ways. Dr. Thomas’s work has been supported by the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy, the Society for Social Work and Research, the UCLA Council on Research, and the County of Los Angeles

Dr. Thomas teaches courses in social welfare policy, quantitative methods, and poverty and hardship. Her teaching emphasizes social and policy systems, attends to structural forces that create marginalization and opportunity, and supports students’ development of meaningful, relevant knowledge and skills.

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Toni Preckwinkle
Toni Preckwinkle is the 35th president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, an office she has held since 2010. She is the first Black woman to be elected to the office. A dedicated and effective public servant, President Preckwinkle has worked to transform County government through increased fiscal responsibility, transparency, and improved services.

Leveraging more than 30 years of political experience and leadership, President Preckwinkle has restored credibility to County government, solving for more than $2.87 billion in budget deficits and providing supplemental pension payments of almost $2 billion above the required contribution since 2016, significantly reducing unfunded pension liabilities.

As the top executive in Cook County, the nation’s second most populous County, President Preckwinkle oversees one of the nation’s largest public health and hospitals systems and one of the nation’s largest criminal justice systems.

During President Preckwinkle’s administration, she has worked to expand the scope of the Justice Advisory Council (JAC) to coordinate and implement juvenile justice reform and public safety policy. In coordination with the JAC, President Preckwinkle has worked collaboratively with the County’s public safety stakeholders towards the goals of safely reducing the population of the Cook County Jail and Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center while preserving public safety, reducing recidivism, and promoting fair and equitable access to justice.

Promoting equity, specifically racial equity, has been a central principle of President Preckwinkle’s leadership. In November 2018, the Office of the President released the Cook County Policy Roadmap: Five-Year Strategic Plan for Offices Under the President to guide her administration’s policy and equity work.

Before she was elected Cook County Board President, President Preckwinkle served 19 years as Alderman of the 4th Ward. As Alderman, she oversaw the redevelopment of the Kenwood, Oakland, Douglas, Grand Boulevard and Hyde Park neighborhoods. She established a reputation as a progressive on the City Council and a champion for affordable housing. She was a co-sponsor of the living wage ordinances that passed the City Council in 1998 and 2002.

Prior to holding elected office, President Preckwinkle was a high school history teacher for ten years, before serving as an economic development coordinator for the City of Chicago and the executive director of the Chicago Jobs Council. A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, President Preckwinkle came to Chicago to attend the University of Chicago, from where she holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. She is the proud mother of two and grandmother of three.

Michael Tubbs
At the age of 26, Michael D. Tubbs became the youngest Mayor of any major city in American history. As Mayor, Tubbs was lauded for his leadership and innovation. Under his stewardship, Stockton was named an “All-America City” in 2017 and 2018, saw a 40% drop in homicides in 2018 and 2019, led the state of California in the decline of officer involved shootings in 2019, was named the second most fiscally healthy city in California and one of the top most fiscally healthy cities in the nation and was featured in an HBO documentary film, Stockton on My Mind.

Tubbs raised over $20 million dollars to create the Stockton Scholars, a universal scholarship and mentorship program for Stockton students. He is the Founder and Chair of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. Tubbs has been named a fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics and The MIT Media Lab, a member of Fortune’s Top 40 under 40, a Forbes 30 under 30 All-star Alumni, the “Most Valuable Mayor” by The Nation, the 2021 Civic Leadership Award winner from The King Center, and 2019 New Frontier Award Winner from the JFK Library. Before taking the helm as Mayor, Tubbs served as a Councilmember for the City of Stockton District 6, was a high school educator, and a fellow for the Stanford Design School and the Emerson Collective.

The author of the memoir The Deeper the Roots, Tubbs currently serves as the Special Advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom for Economic Mobility and is the founder of End Poverty in California (EPIC).

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Speaker
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, born in Chicago to Haitian immigrants, brings a lifetime of legal experience and advocacy to the office. Attorney General Raoul launched his legal career as a Cook County prosecutor. Thereafter, he successively opened a general law practice, served as a higher education attorney for City Colleges of Chicago, and became a partner at two national corporate law firms.

In 2019, Raoul was sworn in as Illinois’ 42nd Attorney General. He took the oath to serve a second term as the state’s chief legal officer in January 2023. His office works to prevent consumer fraud, contend with crime and corruption, safeguard children, preserve the environment, defend the rights of individuals, and ultimately protect the interests of the State of Illinois and its residents.

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Attorney General Raoul has combatted the scourge of gun violence in Illinois by prosecuting gun trafficking cases, developing a crime-gun-tracing database, defending the assault weapons ban, and successfully advancing legislation to hold accountable bad actors in the gun industry. Moreover, his office routinely trains law enforcement entities and constituents on the Illinois Firearms Restraining Order Act, conducts threat assessment trainings on targeted violence, and fights to enact and uphold legislation that promotes community safety.

Equally unceasing has been Attorney General Raoul’s advocacy of policies that protect and provide for survivors of gun violence. His office administers numerous programs on behalf of survivors, such as the Crime Victims Compensation Program and the Violent Crime Victims Assistance Grant.

City Club event description:

Join us for a discussion with City of Chicago Clerk Anna M. Valencia, who has led one of the city’s largest offices since 2017, serving over 1.2 million residents and generating $130 million annually. Valencia has focused on making government more accessible through innovative initiatives like the $3.5 million City Council Modernization effort and the CityKey program, which has provided IDs to over 80,000 residents.

With a track record of spearheading major reforms in government and public policy, including police accountability and the creation of Chicago’s first legal protection fund, Valencia will share her vision for an inclusive, transparent, and responsive city.

Speaker
Anna Valencia
Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia is a first-generation college graduate a with a focus on accessibility, transparency and equity in government. First sworn into office in January 2017, she oversees one of the largest offices in the City, serving 1.2 million Chicagoans and generating more than $130 million annually. Under Valencia’s leadership, the Office of the City Clerk prioritizes finding new and innovative ways to bring services directly to residents, improve inefficiencies, and collaborate across government in the private and public sectors.

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Under her leadership, Chicago launched its municipal ID program, known as CityKey, and expanded its access by building an online appointment and application platform. Available to all Chicago residents, this government-issued identification combines access to government, city, and private sector services into one card.

Currently, Valencia is leading a first-of-its-kind City Council Modernization effort. The plan includes an e-voting system for the Chicago City Council, the first major U.S. city to implement e-voting, increasing transparency in government and holding public officials accountable. Continuing the trend of modernizing government, the City Clerk’s Office updated its e-commerce platform, EzBuy. As Clerk, Valencia also serves as a Trustee on the Chicago Fire Pension Board and Chairs the “Chicago With You” taskforce. Clerk Valencia also created the Chicago Status of Women and Girls Working Group, began Fines and Fees reform, and launched the Next Gen City Council youth civic engagement program.

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For more than a decade, the Cook County Land Bank has transformed vacant properties into vibrant community assets. By clearing red tape and tapping into the talents and local knowledge of small developers, the Land Bank has rehabbed over 2,000 properties and generated $1.8 billion in economic impact – all while building a thriving private market in communities across the County. This panel of Chicagoans – leaders in the public and private sectors, will reflect on the home-grown solutions and successes to create economic growth and insure everyone in Chicago loves where they live.

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Panelists include: Walter Burnett Jr., 27th Ward Alderman, Vice Mayor, City of Chicago; Jessica Caffrey, Executive Director, Cook County Land Bank Authority; Luis Castro, Owner, L&MC Investments; Bridget Gainer, 10th District Cook County Commissioner, Founder & Board Chair of Cook County Land Bank Authority; and Jim Reynolds, Jr., Founder, Chairman & CEO of Loop Capital, Executive Committee Member of the Chicago Community Trust.

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Rugby is gaining momentum nationwide, and Chicago has been at the forefront of that growth, hosting some of the most pivotal and influential events in North American rugby history. In 2014, the All Blacks faced off against the USA Eagles in a sold-out match at Soldier Field, setting the stage for rugby’s explosive growth in the U.S. Two years later, history was made when Ireland secured a landmark victory over the All Blacks—their first in 111 years—right here in Chicago.

This program brings together players and executives from these storied national teams for a one-of-a-kind conversation on the sport’s growing presence in North America. Chicago has emerged as a key player in rugby’s expansion, and this panel will explore how the city is shaping the future of the game. Hear firsthand from Ireland captain Rory Best and All Blacks legend Dane Coles, who battled in that unforgettable 2016 match, along with industry leaders Padraig Power (IRFU) and Cameron Good (New Zealand Rugby). Moderated by Kara Bachman (Chicago Sports Commission), this discussion is a must for rugby fans and newcomers alike.

Speakers

Kara Bachman
Kara Bachman is the Executive Director of the Chicago Sports Commission (CSC), a part of Choose Chicago, the official destination marketing organization for the city of Chicago. As Executive Director, she’s responsible for leading Chicago’s efforts in recruiting high-profile, major sporting events that help create visitor demand, drive significant economic impact, create jobs and generate positive media exposure for Chicago.

Joining CSC in January 2012, Bachman was promoted to Executive Director in April 2014. Under her leadership, Chicago has won highly sought-after business with national and international appeal, such as: 2015 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final, the 2015 & 2016 NFL Draft, 2016 Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series, multiple Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournaments, multiple NCAA Championships, including the 2017 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship, 2018 Laver Cup, 2020 NBA All Star, the first-ever NASCAR Chicago Street Race (2023), among others.

Bachman’s influential network extends globally and includes major professional leagues with the MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL and WNBA to some of the highest regarded international federations and national governing bodies, such as FIBA, FIVB, USA Basketball, USA Hockey, USA Rugby, USA Volleyball, World Rugby, etc. Bachman was responsible for bringing the NFL Draft to Chicago in 2015, for the first time in 51 years it was hosted outside of New York City; she’s also lured international brands like the New Zealand All Blacks to the Chicago market, driving record-breaking attendance and occupancy rates that benefit locals and visitors alike – including the 2016 test between NZRU and IRFU resulting in the Irish defeating New Zealand at Soldier Field for the first time in 111 years.

A native Chicagoan and life-long athlete, Bachman started her career in sports as part of the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Committee. Bachman’s passion for her city and commitment to Chicago’s future is evidenced by her dedication to leadership and the praise of her peers. She was named to Crain’s 40 under 40 Class of 2016, where she was recognized as one of Chicago’s most influential leaders. In 2017, she was named to the Class of 2017 for Leaders Under 40 Awards, a global search for the best talent in the business of sport under the age of 40; and most recently, recognized by Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association (IHLA) with the 2023 Ambassador of Hospitality Award. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame (since 2017). She’s a member of the City Club of Chicago and the Economic Club of Chicago.

Bachman is a graduate of the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University of Chicago and holds her M.B.A. in International Business and Finance. She earned her B.A. in International Relations from Colgate University and was a member of Colgate’s Division I Women’s Ice Hockey team.

Rory Best
Rory Best OBE is a rugby union player from Northern Ireland and is currently the captain of the Ireland national team. He plays hooker for Ulster and is registered for Banbridge RFC. With over 100 caps for Ireland since making his international debut in 2005, Best is one of the most capped rugby players of all time. Best also toured with the British and Irish Lions side in 2013 and 2017, although he never played a test match for the Lions.

Best returned home to join Belfast Harlequins in 2002 where he captained the team and gained his first Ulster contract in 2004. He made his debut for Ulster as a replacement at home to Munster in the 2005 Celtic League. He replaced his brother (now retired Ireland and Ulster prop Simon) as Ulster captain for the 2007/08 season and continues to hold the position. He is renowned for his abilities as a scrummager. Best scored two tries in 2011/12 and 2010/11 for Ulster. He was part of the Ulster side that was defeated by Leinster in The Heineken Cup final in 2012.

Best made his international debut for Ireland as a replacement against the All Blacks at Lansdowne Road in November 2005 and made his first start against the Springboks in 2006. He has been involved with the national team ever since, initially sharing the number 2 shirt with Jerry Flannery. He was a member of the Irish teams that won the 2007 Triple Crown and was in the Irish squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup as well as the 2009 Six Nations Championship which completed the Grand Slam. He captained the Ireland team that toured North America in 2009, while many of his Ireland teammates were on the British and Irish Lions team that began their tour of South Africa at the same time. He became the first-choice hooker at the 2011 Rugby World Cup after an injury to Jerry Flannery. Best also played his 50th test for Ireland during the World Cup, scoring a try as Ireland beat the United States during the pool stages. He was chosen to captain Ireland again, during the 2012 Six Nations Championship, after Paul O’Connell was injured.

City Club video

Dane Coles
Dane Coles is a formidable hooker who is a true giant of the modern game. He’s spent his entire senior career with Wellington and the Hurricanes and has also made more than 70 appearances for the All Blacks.

Born 10 December 1986, Dane Coles signed for Wellington in 2007. Due to his impressive performances in the Mitre 10 Cup (now the Bunnings NPC), he was then also signed to play for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby in 2009. Ever since, he has firmly remained a one club man and he’s spent his entire domestic career representing the sides.

However, although he’s enjoyed a glittering domestic career in New Zealand, Dane Coles is undoubtedly best known for his career as an All Black. Since 2012, he’s made more than 70 appearances for the national side, and he’s captured a host of honours during this time.

In his All Blacks career, his greatest moment arguably came in 2015, when he helped the side capture the Rugby World Cup. However, although he’s captured almost every trophy available at international level, Dane Coles has also achieved a number of personal accolades. For example, in 2016, he was named as the Māori rugby player of the year and was nominated for New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year and World Rugby Player of the Year.

Cameron Good
Cameron Good manages commercial aspects for major rugby events like the World Cup and other large projects. His CA designation allows him to work in a job that aligns with his passion for sports.

Padraig Power
Padraig Power is the Chief Commercial Officer of the Irish Rugby Football Union.

Padraig joined the IRFU as Marketing Manager in 2000 and was promoted to Commercial & Marketing Director in 2008. During his tenure he has developed and manages, on behalf of the IRFU, one of the largest sponsorship portfolios in Irish Sport which includes partnerships with Vodafone, Canterbury, Guinness, Aviva and Aer Lingus.

In addition to all commercial and sponsorship contracts, his new remit will encompass responsibility for the management of the IRFU brand and the development of revenue streams from fresh sources in the digital arena including broadcast, gaming and licensing, ticketing and major event operations.

City Club event description:

Join us for a panel discussion that will explore the impact of President Trump’s executive orders on key areas including LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, and environmental issues. Experts will analyze how these actions are affecting local residents, communities, and businesses, offering insights into the evolving legal, economic, and social implications. This panel will address the immediate and long-term effects of these policies.

Speakers

Brian C. Johnson
Brian C. Johnson has served as the CEO of Equality Illinois, the statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, since 2016.  In this role, he leads efforts to build a better Illinois by advancing equal treatment & full acceptance of the LGBTQ community.

As CEO, Brian oversees the three non-profit entities that make up the organization, each with its own board of directors: Equality Illinois Institute, the 501 (c)(3) arm that focuses on education of the public, media and policy makers on LGBT issues; Equality Illinois, the 501 (c)(4) entity that advocates for the adoption of particular policies aimed at making Illinois a more equal and accepting place for the LGBTQ community; and the Equality Illinois Political Action Committee (PAC), which endorses and supports political candidates on the state and local levels who will champion a more equitable future for Illinois.

Prior to his time at Equality Illinois, Brian spent nearly two decades as a leader in social justice.  His passion for fighting for equity was catalyzed by having served as a first-grade teacher, and Teach For America corps member, in Baton Rouge, LA.  Seeing first-hand how systemic injustice impacted the lives of passionate and capable children, Brian committed his career to fighting to make sure America lived up to its promise as a fair and equitable country.

Brian came to Equality Illinois from Leadership For Educational Equity (LEE), where he served as the Vice President of Regional Impact.  In this role, he helped lead the nationwide efforts to recruit nearly 300 teachers and former teachers to become candidates for public office while simultaneously launching community led organizing efforts in a dozen cities across the country including Chicago, New York, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Brian has served in a variety of leadership roles in non-profits throughout the country.  He served as the Executive Director of Teach For America in Los Angeles where he led the efforts to place and support nearly 800 effective teachers in public schools throughout Los Angeles.  He also headed up the Larchmont Schools, two racially and socio-economically diverse public schools in central Los Angeles.  Under his leadership, both schools were recognized as among the academically highest performing schools in the state of California.

Brian earned his AB, magna cum laude, from Princeton University, his JD from Stanford Law School, and his MBA, as an Arjay Miller Scholar, from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  He is also Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 2020.  He lives with his husband Toby and their daughter Josephine in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago.

Jennifer Walling
Jen Walling has served as the Executive Director for the Illinois Environmental Council since January 2011, where she oversees the strategic direction and management of the organization and lobbies decision-makers on environmental issues. Jen is dedicated to building the power of Illinois’ environmental community to secure policy outcomes that protect the environment.

Over the last decade, Jen has worked to grow IEC staffing fivefold and increase the budget and number of member affiliates, all with a focus on serving and representing IEC’s affiliated organizations. With the board of directors, Jen worked to secure IEC’s partnership with the League of Conservation Voters in 2018, a national organization that has helped IEC network and build on a national level.

Jen has drafted, negotiated, lobbied, and passed hundreds of bills in Springfield while working to build the power, expertise, and relationships of the entire environmental community.

As a leader in climate policy, Jen has been at the frontline of lobbying and passing bills that will advance renewable energy and carbon emissions reduction, including the Future Energy Jobs Act in 2016, the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in 2021, and laws to simplify local siting of utility solar and wind projects in 2023.

Jen has been a statewide leader in composting policy since 2009 when she worked to pass the first commercial composting law in Illinois. She has fought to protect state parks and natural areas by increasing funding to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, increasing recreation liability protections, and funding stewardship through the Natural Areas Stewardship Act.

In 2022, Jen was recognized by Crain’s Chicago 40 under 40. She is also a two-time winner of the Capitol Fax Golden Horseshoe, once in 2023 for best in-house lobbyist and again in 2014 for best do-gooder lobbyist. She is also an Edgar Fellow (2018), New Leaders’ Council Fellow (2011), and Truman National Security Project (2012).

Jen holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also received a juris doctorate from the University of Illinois College of Law and is an attorney licensed to practice law in Illinois.

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Sylvia I. Garcia
Sylvia I. Garcia serves as Chief Operating Officer for The Chicago Community Trust, the region’s community foundation, which is committed to building a Chicago region where equity is central, and opportunity and prosperity are in reach for all. Sylvia brings to this role two decades of experience at the local, state, and national levels working to increase access to economic opportunity in a diverse range of industries, including housing, transportation, education, and workforce development.

Before joining the Trust, Sylvia served as the Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), where she led the state’s economic development arm investing in people, communities, and businesses to expand inclusive economic growth across Illinois. Prior to DCEO, Sylvia led WSP USA’s national planning strategy and grants consulting team working with clients to identify and secure resources for important projects across the country. She also previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), managing the day-to-day operations of the country’s second-largest transit agency.

Before joining CTA, Sylvia spent nearly a decade working in Washington, DC. During her tenure, she worked her way up from serving as a budget analyst at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to being nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as Chief Financial Officer at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Sylvia also worked for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations.

Sylvia has a bachelor’s degree in social science with a minor in Spanish from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in public service management and public policy from DePaul University.

Mary Meg McCarthy
Mary Meg McCarthy is the Executive Director of the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), one of the nation’s preeminent immigrant and human rights advocacy organizations. Under Ms. McCarthy’s leadership, NIJC has developed a unique approach: integrating advocacy, impact litigation, legal counsel and public education, to make NIJC an effective advocate for immigrants and a resource for lawyers, legislators and community leaders.

Over the course of her 25-year career, Ms. McCarthy has grown NIJC from a $1M to a $16.4M organization with more than 160 professionals and a network of 2,200 pro bono attorneys, who are essential to providing legal counsel to approximately 10,000 low-income immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers each year.

A nationally and internationally recognized immigration law expert, Ms. McCarthy has testified before Congress and at the United Nations, and is frequently quoted in major news outlets, including MSNBC, The New York Times, and the Chicago Tribune. An active member of the American Bar Association, Ms. McCarthy chaired its Commission on Immigration. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Chicago Bar Association.

Ms. McCarthy has presented at the Strategic Litigation for Change Conference in Belfast and in 2017 delivered the commencement address at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. She served as a trustee for the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL. Earlier in her career, Ms. McCarthy worked in Chile as a Holy Cross Associate to help safeguard human rights under the Pinochet dictatorship. She received her bachelor of business administration in finance from the University of Notre Dame and her doctor of law from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Her honors have included the Justice John Paul Stevens Award from the Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Inn of Court 2015 Don Hubert Public Service Award, the American Constitution Society Chicago Lawyer Chapter Ruth Goldman Award, the Elmer Gertz Award for Human Rights from the Illinois State Bar Association, the Pax Christi 2013 Teacher of Peace Award, and the Damen Award from Loyola University Chicago and the Dr. Thomas J. Dooley Award from the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association. In June 2018, she received an honorary degree in law from Knox College (Galesburg, IL).

Timothy Killeen – President of the University of Illinois System

City Club event description:

Join University of Illinois President Timothy Killeen as he shares the University’s 2025 priorities, laying the groundwork for its role as host of the global Sustainable Research Innovation (SRI) Congress in June. President Killeen will discuss key initiatives that align with the University’s commitment to addressing critical challenges through cutting-edge research, academic excellence, and community engagement.

Speaker
Timothy Killeen
Timothy L. Killeen is the 20th president of the University of Illinois System, which includes universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield. He took office in May 2015 and received a new contract in 2024 that extends his term through June 2027.

Since taking office, Killeen has helped lead a surge of growth across the state’s flagship university system. Enrollment is at record highs, including increases among in-state and underrepresented students. Student costs have been held in check by affordability initiatives that include a number of yearly tuition freezes for new students from Illinois and substantial increases in institutional financial aid.

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A leading researcher in geophysics and space sciences, Killeen champions efforts to expand research discovery that drives progress and job creation. That includes helping lead the creation of two pioneering initiatives – the Discovery Partners Institute, a world-class research, technology talent development, and business-building center in downtown Chicago, and the Illinois Innovation Network, a system of satellite hubs that combine research, public-private partnerships, entrepreneurship, and workforce training to spur inclusive economic development.

Previously, Killeen served as vice chancellor for research and president of the Research Foundation at the State University of New York. He also served as assistant director for geosciences at the National Science Foundation, as the Lyall Research Professor at the University of Colorado, and as director and senior scientist for the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Additionally, Killeen spent more than 20 years as a faculty member and researcher at the University of Michigan, where he also served as associate vice president for research.

He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2007 and is a member and past president of the American Geophysical Union. A native of Wales and a U.S. citizen, Killeen received his bachelor’s degree in physics and astronomy at University College London, where he also earned his doctoral degree in atomic and molecular physics.

Kirk Dillard – Chairman – Regional Transportation Authority

City Club event description:

Join Kirk Dillard, Chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), as he shares the agency’s vision for a fully funded, seamless, and accountable transit system that serves all riders with more frequent and reliable service. As the Illinois General Assembly prepares for a busy session, including debates on addressing transit’s looming “fiscal cliff,” Dillard, a former State Senator, will discuss strategies to achieve the system our region deserves—and the consequences of inaction. Don’t miss this important conversation about the path forward for Chicago’s transit system.

Speaker
Kirk Dillard
Kirk Dillard has served as the chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Board of Directors since June 2014. Chairman Dillard is a lifelong resident of the region and has been a rider of public transportation for more than 50 years, riding CTA buses and trains since early childhood, and now is a regular rider of Metra. Chairman Dillard most recently oversaw the development and adoption of Transit is the Answer, the regional transit strategic plan that puts forward an Action and Advocacy Agenda that offers improvements to the system and options to ensure sustainable funding. Dillard also played an important role in regional advocacy efforts that culminated with the 2019 passage of Rebuild Illinois, the largest capital bill in Illinois history.

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Dillard served as a Republican senator from Chicago’s western suburbs in the Illinois State Senate for nearly 20 years. Prior to serving as senator, he served with distinction as Chief of Staff to former Governor Jim Edgar and as Legislative Director to former Governor James Thompson. He is a partner at Troutman Pepper Locke law firm.

City Club event description:

Join the members of “Team Culture,” a group of civic, business, and community leaders, as they present a plan to reimagine Chicago by harnessing the power of arts and culture. This plan envisions and redefines the urban landscape to create a downtown that is vibrant, dynamic, and inclusive for all.

City Club video

Team culture panel participants:

Lou Raizin – Broadway in Chicago President and CEO

Chris Jones – Chicago Tribune editorial page editor and chief theatre critic

Michelle Boone – Poetry Foundation President and CEO; former Chicago Commissioner of Cultural Affairs

Greg Cameron – Joffrey Ballet President and CEO

Joe Ferguson – Civic Federation President

Juan Gabriel Moreno – JGMA Architects President & Founder

Panelists: Senyo Ador (Eco Solutions Enterprise), Dr. Anne Evens (Elevate), Michelle Carr (Evergreen Climate Innovations) and Brenda Palms (North Lawndale Employment Network). Moderated by Andrew (Andy) Beideman (Pritzker Traubert Foundation)

City Club event description:

Join us for an insightful panel discussion on advancing the green economy. The long-term work to advance the green economy began well before the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and will continue through efforts like the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). The transition to a sustainable future creates opportunities for workers, homeowners, entrepreneurs, and business leaders alike. Regardless of future developments, the IRA has generated momentum that, through collaboration, can drive lasting progress.

Speakers

Senyo Ador
Senyo Ador is an energy sector professional with experience in the United States and Global markets. In his 17 years in the industry, he has worked closely with reputable international development firms in promoting rural electricity access and clean energy projects in Sub Saharan Africa.

Leveraging his background in distributed energy solution design, development, and integration Senyo brings fresh perspectives to back to his native Illinois in the form of his company Sesenergi Eco Solutions Enterprise LLC based in North Lawndale on Chicago’s west side. Sesenergi supports projects and workforce development in a suite of end to end energy efficiency, solar energy, solar street lighting, agrivoltaics and hybrid system solutions for the residential, commercial-industrial and government markets.

Michelle Carr
Michelle Carr is the Chief Executive Officer of Evergreen Climate Innovations which finds, funds and grows early-stage climate technology companies in the Greater Midwest, contributing to local economic development and job creation. Evergreen pioneered the 501vc® Investment Fund model to align philanthropic and corporate contributions to deliver environmental, economic and social impact in tackling the climate crises.

Prior to leading Evergreen, Michelle was the Illinois Director for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a global science-based conservation organization with operations in all 50 states and 70 countries. While at TNC, Carr bridged the gap between conservation and economic decisions to influence solutions at a regional and global scale. Prior to TNC, Michelle was an advisor at Goldman Sachs for 16 years where her clients included entrepreneurs, chief executive officers, families, foundations and endowments.

Carr graduated from St. Louis University with a B.A. in history and economics and holds an MBA from Vanderbilt University. From 2008 through 2012, she was a member of President Obama’s National Finance Committee and she currently serves on the boards of Northwestern University’s Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy and the Cook County Land Bank. Carr is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and lives in Chicago with her husband and three children.

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Anne Evens
Anne Evens, M.Sc., Ph.D., is the Chief Executive Officer of Elevate, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago. Elevate works to promote equitable access to clean, healthy, safe, and affordable heat, power, and water for people in their homes and communities — no matter who they are, or where they live. Elevate designs and implements housing upgrade programs that reduce costs, protect people from the health effects of climate change, and ensure that the benefits of clean and efficient energy use reach those who are most in need. In doing this work, we create revenue for diverse small businesses and jobs for people in their communities.

Brenda Palms
Brenda Palms, President and CEO of the North Lawndale Employment Network, an urban workforce development agency, and founding social entrepreneur and CEO of Sweet Beginnings, LLC, a social enterprise using urban beekeeping to create jobs for those with significant barriers to employment, has served as President and CEO of NLEN since its founding in 1999. She launched NLEN’s wholly owned subsidiary social enterprise, Sweet Beginnings, in 2004 to ensure justice-impacted job seekers could secure upskill and secure good jobs and a pathway to long-term sustainability. Under Brenda’s leadership, NLEN has grown from two to 59 employees and generates an annual budget in excess of $7.2 million.

Today, NLEN serves more than 1,200 people per year. Sweet Beginnings has expanded from a cottage industry to distribution at more than 43 Mariano stores, both O’Hare and Midway airports, and has been awarded and retired one of the first Benefit Chicago social impact investment loans. NLEN has received numerous awards, including one of the first MacArthur Foundation Awards for Creative and Effective Institutions (2006) and the prestigious Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Award (2015), the 2023 and 2018 Citi Foundation Community Progress Makers, 2019 Google Impact Challenge award, and the 2021 American Banker Association Equity Leadership Award in partnership with Wintrust Bank. Brenda has raised the national profile of NLEN, Sweet Beginnings, and the plight of people with barriers to employment through extensive media coverage, including CNN, the NBC Today Show, CBS Evening News, American Express, a TEDWomen Documentary, and Lifetime. Brenda has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Chronicle in Philanthropy, and in JPMC’s stakeholders Letter by Jaime Dimon in 2018, appeared on ABC7 Windy City Live as a 4-Star Chicagoan.

In recognition of her innovation and commitment to helping those in need, Congressman Danny Davis awarded Brenda the Cardiss Collins Trailblazer Award (2013). Brenda is a graduate of Harvard’s Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management program and the Chicago Urban League’s Next One entrepreneurship program, which included classes at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. She holds a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from the Spertus Institute in Chicago.

Andrew Beideman
Andy is Chief Strategy Officer for the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, where he leads the Foundation’s workforce strategy and supports a wide range of investments focused on building economic opportunity in Chicago. Andy joined the Foundation as a Program Officer in 2018 and led design and launch of the Chicago Prize, a $45 million commitment to support impactful community-led development activities on the city’s south and west sides. Prior to joining the Foundation, Andy was a Manager at RW Ventures LLC, a Chicago-based firm focused on innovative inclusive growth projects. Before coming to Chicago, Andy worked on large federal research grantmaking programs with Booz Allen Hamilton and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC. Andy co-chairs the Board of Directors for One Million Degrees, a non-profit supporting community college students on their paths to degrees and careers. He received his BA from American University and MPP from the College of William & Mary. He was accepted as a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow in 2021. Originally from the Philadelphia area, Andy lives in Chicago with his wife and two children.

Mayor Brandon Johnson – City of Chicago

City Club event description:

Mayor Brandon Johnson
Brandon Johnson was sworn in as the 57th Mayor of the City of Chicago on May 15, 2023. Mayor Johnson began his career as a public school teacher, first at Jenner Academy in Cabrini-Green and then at Westinghouse College Prep on the West Side, where he experienced firsthand how school closures, unemployment and gun violence impacted his students and their communities. He then went on to become an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union, where he led multi-racial coalitions to defend neighborhood schools from privatization, reduce high-stakes standardized testing and expand access to state funding. Mayor Johnson was elected Cook County Commissioner of the 1st District in 2018. During his five years on the Cook County Board, he led efforts to pass the Just Housing Ordinance which prohibited housing discrimination against formerly incarcerated people, legislation to secure legal representation for immigrants facing deportation, and coordinated COVID-19 resources for low-income seniors in nursing homes.

City Club video

In 2018, Mayor Johnson was elected Commissioner of the 1st District of Cook County. Here he led the effort to pass the Just Housing Ordinance, which prohibited housing discrimination against formerly incarcerated people. As commissioner, he also collaborated with colleagues to eliminate the gang database, secure legal representation for immigrants facing deportation and advance recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In the wake of civil uprisings in the summer of 2020, he organized the Cook County Board to commit to the “Budget for Black Lives,” bringing new investments in health care, public transportation, internet access, and affordable housing. Mayor Johnson and his wife Stacie live in the Austin community, where they are raising their children Owen, Ethan and Braedyn.

Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton – State of Illinois

City Club event description:

Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton
Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton proudly represents all 13 million Illinois residents with compassion and empathy. She actively brings people together and takes a community-centered approach to solving problems. She firmly believes that the solutions to Illinois’ most pressing challenges can be found by tapping into the wisdom that already exists in our communities.

City Club video

The Lieutenant Governor is a highly qualified, experienced advocate for women’s rights, civil rights, and restorative justice. Her career is dedicated to making Illinois the best state to call home, especially for those who have been historically left out or behind. With any initiative or policy proposal, her focus is on uplifting every resident and ensuring they have the resources to thrive.

Lieutenant Governor Stratton’s joyful approach to leadership has made her a recognizable voice across the state. Above all, she is committed to making Illinois a safe, vibrant, and empowering place for many generations to come.

Election ’24 Results: The Known and Unknown – Dive into the preliminary election outcomes and what they mean for Chicago and the region – Featuring: Anne Caprara, Greg Hart, Christian Perry, and Paris Schutz

City Club event description:

Featuring Anne Caprara, Chief of Staff to Governor J.B. Pritzker, Greg Hart, Former DuPage County Board Member, Christian Perry, Political Director to Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Paris Schutz, Political Correspondent for Fox Chicago, this dynamic conversation will explore the path forward, focusing on how innovative partnerships and collaborations can continue to strengthen our communities.

Speakers

Anne Caprara
Anne Caprara is the Chief of Staff to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. Anne Caprara has managed and consulted with candidates and elected officials at every level of state and federal government. Caprara was also the campaign manager for Pritzker’s successful gubernatorial campaign in 2018 where he defeated the Republican incumbent by almost 16 points. Before that, Caprara served as the Executive Director for Priorities USA Action, the main SuperPAC supporting Hillary Clinton for President in 2016.

In 2014, she was political director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, helping to oversee Senate races in 33 states. In 2011 and 2012, Caprara served as the DSCC’s Deputy Political Director, covering all Senate races east of Wisconsin. In 2008, she was the campaign manager for Betsy Markey, a first-time candidate running against a 3-term Republican Congresswoman in Colorado’s 4th congressional district. Markey won by the race by 12 points and over 41,000 votes in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats by 45,000 voters. Caprara subsequently served as Markey’s Chief of Staff from 2008 until 2010. She has also worked as Chief of Staff for Ohio Congresswoman Betty Sutton and as the Deputy Research Director at EMILY’s List.

Caprara obtained her Master’s degree from George Washington University and her undergraduate degree from American University.

Greg Hart
Greg Hart is a management consultant and former DuPage County Board Member who represented nearly 1 million residents in the western suburbs of Chicago from 2017-2023.

Greg was appointed to the DuPage County Board in 2017 by Chairman Dan Cronin and was subsequently elected to a full, four-year term in 2018 at the age of 30 – becoming the first millennial of his party to serve on the board of Illinois’ second largest county.

During his time on the County Board, Greg led DuPage’s response to the opioid epidemic as Co-Chair of the Heroin-Opioid Prevention & Education (HOPE) Taskforce. His leadership of the HOPE Taskforce won DuPage County two national achievement awards from the National Association of Counties for innovation. During the final year of Greg’s tenure as Co-Chair, opioid overdoses in DuPage decreased by 9%, outperforming state and national averages. As a result, he is widely credited with helping establish DuPage as a national leader in fighting substance use disorder.

Greg also served as Chairman of DuPage County’s Technology and Human Services Committees, where he respectively led the largest investment in IT infrastructure in the last quarter century and saved taxpayers one million dollars annually by implementing operational efficiency practices. Greg also spearheaded a “first of its kind” initiative to for new business enterprise programs for minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned firms in DuPage County. Greg was consistently regarded as the most bipartisan member of the DuPage County Board.

Outside of politics, Greg serves as a Senior Managing Consultant and Owner at Point B, Inc., where he advises Fortune 100 clients on how to implement organizational change during mergers, acquisitions, and enterprise-wide technology transformations. Prior to joining Point B in 2018, he served in management roles at Deloitte Consulting and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Greg graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Greg is philanthropically active in Chicagoland, serving on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the Boy Scouts of America Three Fires Council, Path to Recovery Foundation, and the Selection Committee for the Edgar Fellows Program at the University of Illinois. He lives in Hinsdale with his wife Alexandra and his three young children Madeleine, George, and Catherine.

City Club video

Christian Perry
Christian Perry is the Political Director for Mayor Brandon Johnson. Christian is a Political Scientist, Community Organizer and Civic Innovator from the Southside of Chicago. Christian is a proud Navy Veteran, Board of Trustee Member at Trinity Christian College, and serves on the Board of Directors for the South Suburban Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. He is the Co-Founder of Black Millennial Renaissance, a network of Black Millennials and their allies fighting to end systemic racism. In the summer of 2020 BMR executed The Right To Breathe March & Rally leading over 500 people in Palos Heights as they honored the lives of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, they called for justice, equity and active Allyship. Christian is an MPA candidate at Northern Illinois University, he was the inaugural Director of Community Development for the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and served as Deputy Political Director for Governor JB Pritzker’s re-election campaign.

Paris Schutz
Paris Schutz is Political Correspondent for Fox Chicago.

Schutz comes to Fox after 19 years at WTTW Chicago, most recently as investigative reporter and anchor of the nightly “Chicago Tonight” program and moderator of “The Week in Review.”

Before that, he was the station’s chief political correspondent, covering multiple political conventions, elections, and corruption investigations.

Schutz has earned two Midwest Emmy’s and 8 Peter Lisagor Awards, three of them for “Best TV reporter,” and one for a documentary he produced and reported about the candidacy of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.

Schutz is a native of River Forest, Ill., a graduate of St. Ignatius College Prep, and a keyboardist and singer-songwriter in his spare time.

Collaborating for Economic Opportunity: Chicago Prize, Community, and Civic Leaders – Moderated by Kareeshma Ali (Pritzker Traubert Foundation) – Panelists: Deputy Mayor Kenya Merritt (City of Chicago), Cindy Moelis (Pritzker Traubert Foundation), Carlos Nelson (Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation), Marshall Hatch Jr (MAAFA Redemption Project)

City Club event description:

Building new assets in neighborhoods on the South and West sides requires these three things, among others: the support of City government, private funding and bold ideas.

And those ideas should come from the people who know their communities best. 

That’s why the Pritzker Traubert Foundation (PTF) launched the Chicago Prize in 2020 and has committed $40 million to support bold plans. Cindy Moelis and Kareeshma Ali from PTF will offer insights from the Chicago Prize and announce a new opportunity to apply for the next Prize.  

At the luncheon, we will hear from Chicago Deputy Mayor Kenya Merritt, as well as two community leaders who have received the Chicago Prize — Carlos Nelson in Auburn Gresham and Marshall Hatch, Jr. In West Garfield Park.

Their stories are inspiring and show the tangible impact of public-private partnerships driven by a community’s vision. Join us.

Speakers

Kenya Merritt
Kenya Merritt is the Deputy Mayor of Business and Neighborhood Development. Deputy Mayor Merritt brings over 20 years of experience to the role as a public service executive and expertise with developing and leading large-scale neighborhood and economic development initiatives. Merritt comes to the role after serving as Program Officer for the Pritzker Traubert Foundation. Previously she has served as the Chief Small Business Officer and First Deputy Commissioner for the City of Chicago’s Business Affairs and Consumer Protection and Chief Financial Officer and Interim Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Service Management from DePaul University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Cindy Moelis
Cindy S. Moelis is President of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation. Pritzker Traubert Foundation is primarily focused on making investments that increase economic mobility and opportunity in Chicago. The Foundation’s two main strategic areas focus on increasing equitable investment in Chicago’s west and south sides and investing in scalable workforce solutions throughout the city.

Throughout Cindy’s career in government and philanthropy, she has worked to promote social justice, youth development, and economic mobility. Prior to leading the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Cindy served in D.C. for five years as the Director of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, appointed by President Obama. Prior to her time in DC, she worked as an Assistant to Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daley for social policy, at the MacArthur Foundation for President Adele Simmons, and as a Program Officer at the Steans Family Foundation.

Cindy currently serves on the Boards of the Crown Family Philanthropies, the Civic Consulting Alliance, Leadership Greater Chicago, and Tenement Museum. She is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago, The Chicago Network, and an LGC Burnham Fellow (Class of 2019).

Cindy earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Robert Rivkin. She is extremely proud of her three adult children, two of which live and work in Chicago

City Club video

Carlos Nelson
Carlos Nelson is the CEO of the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation a position he has held since 2003. Since then, Carlos has grown the organization from a one-person operation to a staff of forty full-time and part-time associates; with over 100 volunteers helping the organization carry out its mission of using comprehensive community development strategies to improve the quality of life of the residents and revitalize the underserved southside communities that make up greater Auburn Gresham.

Prior to his work on the south side of Chicago, Carlos used his technical talents as a mechanical engineer with Whirlpool Corporation in Tennessee. He then returned home to Chicago’s Auburn Gresham community where his grandparents settled in the 1960s and lead telecommunications design and development work for Andrew Corporation throughout North and South America.

As an engineer, to satisfy his urge to help communities and families in need, Carlos tutored for several years with the Cabrini Green Tutoring Program. In April 2002 he started volunteering for a small, upstart not-for-profit organization around the corner from his house. When the founding executive director left the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation in December 2002, Carlos was offered and accepted the position of Executive Director in January 2003, leaving corporate America behind. Under Carlos’ leadership, his organization designed innovative development strategies and won the Pritzker Traubert Foundation’s $10MM Chicago Prize competition in 2020.

Carlos holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

Carlos serves on several boards, committees, and advisory councils including the board of directors of Chicagoland Habitat for Humanity, MAPSCorps, Inc.,; Greater Chatham Initiative and New Pisgah Community Service Organization; Local School Council for Richard J. Oglesby Elementary School, and Advisory Board of the Chicago Development Fund. Carlos also co-chairs the 006th Police District’s Business Subcommittee and is a former recipient of the Norm Bobbins Emerging Leaders Award. Carlos was the recipient of the first Chicago Prize award from the Pritzker Traubert Foundation.

Marshall Hatch Jr.
Marshall Hatch Jr. is the cofounder and executive director of the ​MAAFA Redemption Project​, a faith-based residential institute for Black and Brown young men who are furthest from opportunity. The project provides them with housing, job skills development, educational opportunities, and wrap-around social services. These supports are supplemented with programming that focuses on the arts, cultural identity development, spiritual enrichment, transformative travel, civic empowerment, and insistent life coaching and mentoring.

Kareeshma Ali
Kareeshma Ali is the Director of Community Investments at the Pritzker Traubert Foundation. She is committed to equitable community development and the design of human-centered tools, programs, services, and experiences through active listening and engagement, empathy and intersectionality. Prior to joining the Foundation, Kareeshma was the Director of Design Strategy at Greater Good Studio, and worked exclusively with non-profits, foundations, and public agencies on projects such as improving street design to reduce traffic fatalities, building child-centered communities, increasing access to sustainable open spaces, increasing homeownership for Black and Latinx households, and improving quality of life for older adults and people with disabilities.

Kareeshma holds a Masters in Architecture and Urban & Regional Planning, and a Post-Professional Certificate in Social and Environmental Design from Archeworks.

When she is not working or spending time with her husband and two young girls, she is an avid student of eastern healing philosophies, and you can often find her eagerly learning about sustainability, health and wellness, and in movement through dance and yoga.

Promoting Equitable Cancer Care and Research in Chicago’s Communities of Color in support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society – Proceeds from this event will directly support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s vital work funding lifesaving blood cancer research to find a cure and improve the quality of life of patients and their families – Commissioner Dr. Olusimbo (Simbo) Ige, UIC Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda, Dr. Edwin McDonald IV, Tawa Mitchell and Adrian Talbott

City Club event description:

While cancer affects all of us, due to systemic social, environmental, and economic disadvantages, African American and LatinX communities bear a disproportionate burden. Communities of color, including those on the South and West Sides of Chicago, face greater obstacles to cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and survival. This reality results in significantly higher death rates and substantially shorter survival rates for most cancers—a stark and unjust inequality that demands our attention. However, this disparity is not insurmountable.

Join Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Simbo Ige, University of Illinois Chicago Chancellor Marie Lynn Miranda, Assistant Professor at University of Chicago Medicine Dr. Edwin McDonald, Member of the Board of Trustees, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Tawa Mitchell and cancer survivor and advocate Adrian Talbott for a meaningful conversation on how we can work to close this gap and promote equitable cancer care.

Speakers

Mayor Brandon Johnson
Brandon Johnson was sworn in as the 57th Mayor of the City of Chicago on May 15, 2023. Mayor Johnson began his career as a public school teacher, first at Jenner Academy in Cabrini-Green and then at Westinghouse College Prep on the West Side, where he experienced firsthand how school closures, unemployment and gun violence impacted his students and their communities. He then went on to become an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union, where he led multi-racial coalitions to defend neighborhood schools from privatization, reduce high-stakes standardized testing and expand access to state funding. Mayor Johnson was elected Cook County Commissioner of the 1st District in 2018. During his five years on the Cook County Board, he led efforts to pass the Just Housing Ordinance which prohibited housing discrimination against formerly incarcerated people, legislation to secure legal representation for immigrants facing deportation, and coordinated COVID-19 resources for low-income seniors in nursing homes. In 2018, Mayor Johnson was elected Commissioner of the 1st District of Cook County. Here he led the effort to pass the Just Housing Ordinance, which prohibited housing discrimination against formerly incarcerated people. As commissioner, he also collaborated with colleagues to eliminate the gang database, secure legal representation for immigrants facing deportation and advance recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In the wake of civil uprisings in the summer of 2020, he organized the Cook County Board to commit to the “Budget for Black Lives,” bringing new investments in health care, public transportation, internet access, and affordable housing. Mayor Johnson and his wife Stacie live in the Austin community, where they are raising their children Owen, Ethan and Braedyn.

Marie Lynn Miranda
Marie Lynn Miranda, a nationally renowned leader in higher education and geospatial health informatics, became the 10th chancellor of the University of Illinois Chicago in July 2023. She also serves as a faculty member in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science. Chancellor Miranda brings a focus on access and excellence at scale across UIC’s educational, research, and clinical enterprises. She champions a vision that prioritizes the success of students and seeks to enhance faculty scholarship and UIC’s $500 million research profile.

As chancellor of UIC, Miranda has introduced five strategic priorities essential to UIC’s continued success as Chicago’s only public research university. These priorities reaffirm UIC’s commitment to student success; expand the research profile to position the university at the forefront of innovation and Chicago’s knowledge economy; engage with the region’s communities with a focus on educational and health equity; forge productive partnerships with businesses, nonprofits, and the government sector to create opportunities for faculty and student engagement; and elevate UIC as a destination to recruit and retain world-class faculty and staff. These priorities are advancing the university’s equity-focused mission to provide the broadest access to the highest levels of educational, research, and clinical excellence.

Miranda is also director of the Children’s Environmental Health Initiative (CEHI), a research, education, and outreach organization committed to fostering environments where all people can prosper. The initiative is best known for its work on childhood lead exposure — contributing to the CDC’s decision to set a more protective standard for childhood blood lead levels, developing strategies for combating lead in drinking water, and identifying lead in aviation gasoline as a contributor to elevated blood lead levels. CEHI’s most recent work focuses on racial residential segregation and how segregated neighborhoods experience greater exposure to social and environmental stressors, which drive health and educational disparities. CEHI now calls UIC and Chicago home.

Miranda’s tenure at UIC is also marked by her active involvement in Chicago’s civic life. She serves on the Board of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and The Chicago Network. She also serves on several national boards, including the Doris Duke Foundation, the Environmental Defense Fund, the National Institute for Nursing Research, the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, and the Executive Committee of the Board of Hispanic Serving Research Universities.

Before joining UIC, Miranda held leadership roles at several prominent institutions. She served as provost at Notre Dame, where she led the academic response to the COVID-19 pandemic and launched diversity initiatives. At Rice University, as provost she implemented $230 million in strategic investments centered around molecular nanotechnology, data sciences, neuroengineering, inequities and inequalities, and general research competitiveness. At the University of Michigan, she restructured the doctoral program and enhanced alumni relations as dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Miranda started her academic career at Duke University, where she was a faculty member for 21 years and served as director of undergraduate programs for the Nicholas School of the Environment.

Miranda is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of Duke University, where she earned a bachelor’s in mathematics and economics and was named a Truman Scholar. She has a PhD and master’s from Harvard University, where she held a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Miranda is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Miranda and her husband, Christopher Geron, are the proud parents of three children, two English Setters, and roughly 500,000 honeybees.

City Club video

Dr. Olusimbo (Simbo) Ige
Dr. Olusimbo (Simbo) Ige’s public health career spans nearly two decades. Before her appointment as the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, she served as the Managing Director of Programs at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Ige oversaw partnerships with health organizations nationwide working towards making public health and health care systems accountable and equitable. She also previously served as the Assistant Commissioner for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she provided oversight to a wide range of programs, including the city’s pandemic response, food security programs, housing and health initiatives, mental health programs, violence prevention, and the Public Health Corps initiative.

Dr. Ige received her Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and her Master of Science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. She received her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Edwin McDonald
Edwin K. McDonald IV, MD, is dedicated to improving the health of individuals and communities through nutrition education. Dr. McDonald is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago. He works with patients with small bowel diseases, obesity and other conditions affecting the digestive system. His work also focuses on health care disparities and colon cancer prevention.

Dr. McDonald’s interest in the effects of nutrition on health and disease stem from his experience with Project Brotherhood — an innovative clinic dedicated to providing accessible, affordable care for black men on Chicago’s South Side. While training barbers to serve as health educators, he became keenly aware of the impact of social determinants of health, including the role of nutrition. In 2012, Dr. McDonald received a certificate in professional cookery from Kendall College School of Culinary Arts.

Dr. McDonald also is an active researcher. He recently investigated the effects of vitamin deficiency in patients requiring parenteral nutrition (intravenous feeding) and studied the usefulness of fecal calprotectin in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. He also created a web-based mobile program to assess the utility of applications in managing inpatient hepatology patients. Dr. McDonald’s work has been funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

Tawa Mitchell
Tawa became involved with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) after her husband, Mark, was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) in 2011. LLS has been a consistent source of reliable information and support for the Mitchell family for over a decade and the Mitchells have attempted to reciprocate with a deep commitment to the organization and its initiatives.

Over the years, the Mitchell family has enthusiastically created teams and solicited financial support for several LLS campaigns including the now-defunct Blood, Sweat, and Tears cycling event, the Leukemia Cup Regatta, Light the Night, Student Visionaries of the Year, Visionaries of the Year (formally, Man/Woman of the Year), and Scenic Shore. In 2015, Tawa served as an inaugural member of the LLS Illinois African American Advisory Committee and was honored to attend the 2017 LLS Volunteer Leadership Conference in Washington, DC where she amplified Mark’s story and joined others in lobbying members of congress for additional resources to support vital cancer research efforts. Tawa joined the LLS Illinois Region Board of Directors in 2018 and she served as Vice Chair at the conclusion of her term in 2024.

Tawa is a Senior Program Officer at the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation where she has responsibility for grantmaking in the Chicago Commitment program. Prior to joining MacArthur, Tawa spent thirteen years in a variety of education policy and program roles in city government, including the Offices of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Mayor Richard M. Daley, the City Colleges of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools.

Tawa holds an M.A. from the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and a B.A. from Spelman College. In addition to LLS, Tawa currently serves on the Board of Directors for Illinois Humanities, the Parks Foundation of Oak Park, and Oak Park – River Forest Community Foundation. Tawa is a Class of 2018 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, the region’s premier civic leadership development program and is also a member of the Theta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and the Lake Shore (IL) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated, organizations dedicated to community service and advocacy.

Adrian Talbott
Adrian Talbott is participating in this event in a personal capacity, as a cancer survivor and advocate. He also serves as the Associate Dean for Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. In this role, he develops strategic partnerships with elected officials, community organizations, and other civic leaders that leverage the University’s strengths in research and teaching to collaboratively address pressing social issues impacting communities across Chicago. Prior to joining the University, he co-founded and ran Generation Engage, a nonpartisan youth civic engagement initiative and directed CGI Lead, the Clinton Global Initiative’s program for emerging global leaders. Adrian chairs the board of Sunshine Enterprises, a Woodlawn-based nonprofit that develops community entrepreneurs. Adrian earned a B.A. from Amherst College and an M.A. from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Adrian is a 2022 USA Justice Eisenhower Fellow.

Teens, Social Media, and Reducing Gun Violence: A Roadmap – Moderated by WTTW’s Chicago Tonight: Latino Voices Host Joanna Hernandez – Nina Vinik (Project Unloaded), Jadine Chou (CPS), Dr. Selwyn Rogers (UChicago Medicine), Olivia Brown (Project Unloaded), Laia McClain (Whitney Young High School)

City Club event description:

The Joyce Foundation is hosting a three-part series, Ending Gun Violence in Chicago: Connecting Policy, Practice and Community, in partnership with the City Club of Chicago and WTTW’s Firsthand Initiative & WTTW News, join us for the final program in collaboration with Project Unloaded.

In Chicago and beyond, there’s no shortage of concern for how social media platforms are impacting today’s teens. From mental health worries to online arguments spilling into offline conflicts, the conversation on how social media can be a problem is vast. But what if teens on social media could also help solve a pressing public health problem?

That’s the idea that’s brought together leaders from Chicago Public Schools, University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center, After School Matters and the teen-powered gun violence prevention group Project Unloaded. In light of a WBEZ report finding over half of Chicago’s mass shootings involve victims under 20, teens must be part of the solution to Chicago’s gun violence problem. Project Unloaded works to reach teens through social media campaigns and community partnerships and shares with them the facts on how having a gun makes them less safe. In the last year, Project Unloaded reached more than 150,000 Chicago teens through social media campaigns and hundreds more through offline partnerships.

Join us as Chicago leaders delve into strategies to reduce violence that put young people in the driver’s seat of making change.

Speakers

Nina Vinik
Nina Vinik is the founder and executive director of Project Unloaded, an organization working to inspire the next generation to decide against having guns through teen-facing cultural campaigns and community partnerships. Prior to founding Project Unloaded in 2022, Vinik spent two decades working in gun violence prevention. At the Joyce Foundation, Vinik oversaw the distribution of more than $50 million in grant funds to support evidence-backed gun violence prevention work.

Before her role at Joyce, Nina had a successful career as a civil rights attorney with the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc., and the ACLU Foundation of Florida. She also served as Legal Director of Legal Community Against Violence (now Giffords Law Center), and Director of the American Bar Association’s Litigation Assistance Partnership Project.

She chaired the board of directors of the March For Our Lives Action Fund until 2021. Vinik also created the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence, the Fund for a Safer Future, and the Toward a Fair and Just Response to Gun Violence cohort. Nina serves on multiple professional boards, as an Advisory Board member of the NYU Policing Project; an Advisor to the American Law Institute, Principles of the Law-Police Investigations; a Member of the Council on Criminal Justice; and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Nina earned her law degree from the University of Chicago and her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. She lives in Chicago.

Olivia Brown
Olivia Brown, MPH, CHES is a public health professional who works to prioritize what she calls “people-powered, joy-centered, cultural and systems change.” At Project Unloaded, Olivia combines her industry expertise, art activism, and community engagement experience, leading community programming engagements that educate and empower teens to be part of the gun violence solution.

Olivia brings to her work the lived experience of a Gen Z Black woman raised in an under-resourced community. As a teen, she organized her community to address underage drug use. Before joining Project Unloaded, Olivia worked on environmental justice campaigns for a national organization in Manhattan. Her love for people and community building inspired her to incubate and lead two of her own nonprofit organizations that focus on arts in the Black community in Gainesville, Florida and climate resilience in Miami. Most recently, Olivia worked for a community foundation in Miami to bring together nonprofit organizations to strategize around economic development.

Olivia holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Florida and a master’s in public health from Columbia University.

City Club video

Dr. Selwyn Rogers, Jr.
Selwyn O. Rogers Jr., MD, MPH, FACS, is a widely respected surgeon and public health expert. As founding director of the University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center, Dr. Rogers is building an interdisciplinary team of specialists to treat patients who suffer injury from life-threatening events, such as car crashes, serious falls, and gun violence. His team works with leaders in the city’s trauma network to expand trauma care on the South Side.

Dr. Rogers has served in leadership capacities at health centers across the country, including most recently as vice president and chief medical officer for the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Dr. Rogers has also served as the chair of surgery at Temple University School of Medicine and as the division chief of trauma, burns, and surgical critical care at Harvard Medical School. While at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), he helped launch the Center for Surgery and Public Health to understand the nature, quality and utilization of surgical care nationally and internationally.

Additionally, as executive vice president for community health engagement, Dr. Rogers works with faculty across the University of Chicago as well as members of the community to develop a multidisciplinary approach to trauma care and health disparities. His work will help enhance the understanding of social factors that affect victims of violence and underserved populations, in addition to identifying approaches necessary to achieving better outcomes for trauma victims.

Dr. Rogers sits on Project Unloaded’s Board of Directors. He received his MD from Harvard Medical School and holds a master’s degree in public health from Vanderbilt University.

Jadine Chou
As the district’s chief of safety and security, Jadine Chou helps schools maximize student achievement by promoting safe and calm environments and building relationships with students. Jadine oversees the safety operations for more than 380,000 students in more than 640 schools, and is responsible for supporting school administrators in their efforts to provide a safe and welcoming learning environment for all students and staff.

Under Jadine’s leadership, the CPS Office of Safety and Security helps district schools plan and implement proactive practices to encourage calmer school climates and positive student behaviors. These efforts ultimately result in significantly fewer incidents of misconduct, out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and police notifications.

Prior to joining CPS, Jadine worked for the Chicago Housing Authority, where she was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the agency’s operations, including safety and security, for over 18,000 traditional public housing units across the city.

Jadine holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern University and a master’s of business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Laia McClain
Laia McClain is a 16-year-old Project Unloaded Youth Council member. Laia first connected with Project Unloaded this past spring through Project Unloaded’s community partnership with After School Matters. In the program, she learned how to leverage social media to spread the information on risks of guns and created content for the Guns Change the Story campaign.

Laia now serves on the Project Unloaded Youth Council, advising national social media campaigns and projects. Her perspective is shaped by several personal experiences with gun violence.

Laia is currently a sophomore at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago.

Joanna Hernandez
Joanna Hernandez is a on-air reporter and host of Latino Voices at WTTW/Chicago PBS. Joanna grew up in Rogers Park and graduated from Columbia College. Before joining WTTW in 2021, Joanna spent 5 years as a journalist in New York City. While in New York, Joanna worked as bilingual morning reporter and assignment editor or News 12 Networks in Brooklyn and the Bronx. She also served as a freelance assignment editor for Univision NY.

Investing in Illinois Innovation – Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs and RockCreek Founder & CEO Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss

City Club event description:

Join Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs and RockCreek Founder & CEO Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss for a conversation about the FIRST Fund, the Illinois Growth and Opportunity Fund (ILGIF), and the importance of investing in infrastructure and the tech ecosystem.

Speakers

State Treasurer Michael Frerichs
Michael Frerichs was first elected Illinois State Treasurer in November 2014. He has been re-elected twice and started his third term in January 2023. Frerichs is the 74th person to serve in this role.

In Illinois, the Treasurer is the state’s Chief Investment and Banking Officer. The office invests money on behalf of the state and local units of government. Frerichs also believes in providing individuals with financial tools so they can invest in themselves.

He does this by encouraging savings plans for college and trade school, increasing financial education among all ages, removing barriers to a secure retirement, and reuniting Illinois residents with their unclaimed property.

The Treasurer’s Office actively manages approximately $56 billion. The investment approach is cautious to ensure the preservation of principal, but the investment returns are significant. Under Frerichs’ tenure, the office has earned more than $2 billion for taxpayers through safe, smart investing.

Since taking office, Treasurer Frerichs has made significant strides in the fight for consumers by making sure Illinois residents get what is owed to them through the Unclaimed Property Program. A record- breaking $2 billion in forgotten cash and stock has been returned to individuals, employers, and nonprofit organizations under his watch.

Treasurer Frerichs also has worked to make college more affordable for families saving for their children’s future. He made changes to the Bright Start college savings program, taking it from worst to among the nation’s best. Independent analyst Morningstar awarded Bright Start their top Gold rating five years in a row. The treasurer lowered fees and provided more investment options for families.

In November 2018, Treasurer Frerichs launched Illinois Secure Choice, a retirement savings program that will help an estimated 1.2 million private-sector workers who do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan retire with dignity.

Treasurer Frerichs was born and raised in the small, downstate farming community of Gifford, Illinois. He graduated from Yale University and spent two years in Taiwan, where he taught English to young students and learned to speak Chinese. He returned to Champaign County and launched his own technology business. He served as a volunteer firefighter. He was elected to the Champaign County Board and elected Champaign County Auditor, where he became a Certified Public Finance Officer.

In 2006, Frerichs was elected Illinois State Senator representing east-central Illinois. As chairman of the Higher Education Committee, he championed efforts to make college more affordable. He also served as chairman of the Agriculture and Conservation Committee.

Frerichs was unanimously elected president of the bipartisan National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers in 2022. He also was unanimously elected by his bipartisan peers to serve as president of the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) in 2023. Among his numerous honors, the College Savings Plans Network presented Frerichs with its Distinguished Service Award in 2022. He was awarded the ESGR Patriot Award in 2020 for his commitment to Illinois veterans. He also serves as vice chair of the Illinois State Board of Investment which manages over $26 billion in pension assets for state employees.

Treasurer Frerichs is married to Erica. He has a daughter, Ella, and two sons, Max, and Theo.

City Club video

Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss
Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss is Founder and CEO of RockCreek, one of the largest diverse firms in the US with groups investing in impactful early and growth stage companies. Previously, she was Managing Director and partner at the Carlyle Group. As the World Bank’s Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer, she led the Bank’s investments, balance sheet management, ratings, borrowings, and innovations in financial products. Prior to this, she led the World Bank’s investments and policy work for renewable energy, power, and infrastructure, as well as pioneering investments in wind and solar energy. Previously, she worked in corporate finance at JP Morgan.

Afsaneh has advised governments, central banks, and regulatory agencies on financial policy and energy policy. She serves on the board of trustees of the Council on Foreign Relations, Georgetown University, as well as the Rockefeller Foundation, and National Geographic, where she chairs their Investment Committees, and chairs the PBS Foundation.

She was recognized by Carnegie Corporation in their “Great Immigrants, Great Americans 2020” list, received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award and the Institutional Investor Lifetime Achievement Award, and been listed among the “Most Powerful Women in Banking” by American Banker. She is the co-author of The Economics of Natural Gas (Oxford University Press) and author of numerous journal articles on innovations in finance, energy economics, and renewable energy investing. Afsaneh holds an MPhil (Honors) in Economics from the University of Oxford, where she taught international trade and economic development.

Rachel Arfa – Commissioner – Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities

City Club event description:

Commissioner Rachel Arfa

Rachel Arfa serves as the Commissioner of the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD). Commissioner Arfa is a visionary and transformative leader, and was the first deaf person to serve as a member of a Mayor’s Cabinet nationwide. Under her leadership, Commissioner Arfa has modernized MOPD to increase services to Chicago’s disability community and leads inter-agency collaboration with fellow City departments and sister agencies to advance accessibility.

Recognizing the need for advances in disability employment, Commissioner Arfa launched the MOPD Career Center, which serves job seekers with disabilities and also partners with businesses on increasing inclusive hiring practices. With MOPD support, job seekers with disabilities obtain employment on an average of 81 days, far ahead of the national rate of six months. Commissioner Arfa also launched the Access Officer program, an inter-agency collaboration that designates a member of each Commissioner/Department Head’s leadership team as a point person on accessibility for their department, and provides subject matter trainings and individual consultation on best practices. As another important step towards increasing accessibility of City services, MOPD hired four American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters on staff, who provide communication access at Mayoral events, press conferences and for City services.  MOPD also works with departments to increase digital accessibility, use of social stories and other access needs.

City Club video

Commissioner Arfa utilizes an equity framework in evaluating MOPD services and removes barriers to services. She eliminated the hourly rate that participants in MOPD’s Personal Assistance program were previously required to pay in order to obtain services. MOPD’s Home Modification program previously only served individuals with disabilities up to age 59; due to consolidation of services from Department of Housing to MOPD, individuals of any age with disabilities can now apply for Home Modification services. The Accessibility Compliance Unit has also expanded its capacity and resources, which allows for increased ability to survey accessibility of city-wide buildings, conduct pre-permit and permit reviews, and provide technical assistance to stakeholders.

Arfa comes to this role with over 15 years as a disability and civil rights attorney, and has held numerous civic and leadership roles advocating for meaningful disability access. Arfa is a 2016 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow and a 2013 New Leaders Council Fellow. Arfa is a graduate of the University of Michigan (B.A. American Culture) and the University of Wisconsin School of Law (J.D.)

Dorval R. Carter, Jr. – President – Chicago Transit Authority

City Club event description:

Dorval R. Carter, Jr.
As President of the CTA, Dorval R. Carter, Jr. oversees more than 10,000 employees and helps ensure that everyone works together in adhering to the agency’s mission of delivering quality, affordable transit services that link people, jobs and communities.

Appointed as CTA President in 2015, Mr. Carter has led the way for unprecedented investment in CTA. Under Mayors Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot, Mr. Carter has overseen more than $8 billion of projects completed, begun or announced—including the largest construction project in CTA history (the Red and Purple Modernization), the largest railcar order in the agency’s history, and the reconstruction/rehabilitation of more than 40 rail stations.

Prior to becoming CTA President, Mr. Carter served as the Acting Chief of Staff to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, managing a department with more than 55,000 employees and a $70 billion budget that oversees air, maritime and surface transportation.

City Club video

Prior to that, Mr. Carter served as Acting Deputy Administrator for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) as well as FTA’s Chief Counsel, where he provided support to the Department of Transportation’s General Counsel on legal matters concerning the federal transit program.

Mr. Carter is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the 2019 Motorola Foundation Excellence in Public Service Award from the Civic Federation of Chicago; the Transportation Research Board’s 2021 Thomas B. Deen Distinguished Lectureship; and most recently the American Public Transportation Association’s (APTA) 2021 Outstanding Public Transportation Manager Award, the same year the CTA was named APTA’s Outstanding Public Transportation System.

A graduate of Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he is Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Carter also holds a Juris Doctor degree from Howard University School of Law. He is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., as well as the Illinois and Federal bar associations.

Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch – Illinois House of Representatives

City Club event description:

Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch
Emanuel “Chris” Welch was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 2013.  In January 2021, He became the first Black lawmaker to be elected House Speaker.

Since joining the House, he has focused on improving the state’s fiscal health, creating more equity in Black and brown communities, delivering more funds for classroom education, and creating opportunity for all.

City Club video

In 2022, he led the effort to secure the largest Democratic majority in modern Illinois history.  This supermajority, known as the Great 78, is one of the most diverse state legislatures in the nation and has championed legislation that has made Illinois a leader in clean energy, reproductive freedom, and gun violence prevention.

Rosa Escareño – General Superintendent and CEO – Chicago Park District

City Club event description:

Rosa Escareño
As the General Superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District, Rosa Escareño manages one of the largest park systems in the country. The $475M system has nearly 9,000 acres of parkland, more than 600 parks, 26 miles of lakefront, 16 historic lagoons, 11 museums, 8 golf-courses, 7 harbors, two world-class conservatories and one sports stadium.  During Escareño’s three-year tenure, she has strengthened community vibrancy through renewed equitable sustainable efforts; and has led the District through transformational change building on inclusion and improving the lives of families, Chicagoans and visitors who rely on recreational programs and special events. 

City Club video

Escareño is a lifelong public servant with 30 years of government experience and is considered a reformer and strategist, leading large-scale agency reforms that support working class families, strengthen communities, build economic and income equity, and grow small business opportunities under three Chicago Mayors. Prior to her appointment at the Park District, Escareño served as the Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection where she championed shared economy licensing reforms, established the Office of Labor Standards and expanded small business economies.

Ms. Escareño holds a Master of Science in Communications from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola University Chicago. Born in Zacatecas, Mexico, she is a lifelong Chicagoan who resides on Chicago’s northwest side.

Kari K. Steele – President – Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

City Club event description:

Kari K. Steele
Kari K. Steele was elected November 6, 2012, to her first term as a Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) and re-elected in 2018 for a second term. In January 2019, she became the first African American woman in the more than 130-year history of the MWRD to be elected by the Board of Commissioners to serve as President. She is currently serving her third term. President Steele currently serves as the Chairman for the Affirmative Action and Maintenance & Operations committees. She is Vice Chairman of the Federal Legislation; Pension, Human Resources & Civil Service; and Industrial Waste & Water Pollution committees. In 2023, she was selected to serve as a board member on the Public Building Commission of Chicago.

City Club video

President Steele is a chemist, environmentalist, licensed real estate broker, and a community leader. She has more than 11 years of experience working as a chemist. She started her career at MWRD as an intern, working as a water sampler and lab technician. She also has experience working as a water chemist for the City of Chicago Department of Water Management’s

Jardine Water Purification Plant. This background makes President Steele uniquely qualified to discuss and analyze proposed operational changes and operational efficiencies. She is the first and only chemist serving on the MWRD Board of Commissioners. President Steele was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business in the 2023 Notable Women in STEM feature.

President Kari K. Steele earned a Pre-Medicine Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Xavier University of Louisiana. She has successfully completed the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership Training Academy (2007); the University of Illinois Institute for Government and Politics Edgar Fellows Program (2014); and the Metropolitan Leadership Institute (2016).

Crime, Guns & Solutions: What Are We Doing to Stop the Flow of Illegal Guns in Illinois?
Moderated by WTTW’s Chicago Tonight Host Brandis Friedman
Christopher Amon – Special Agent in Charge, ATF Chicago Field Division, Brendan Kelly – Director, Illinois State Police, Kim Smith – Director of Programs UChicago Crime Lab and Education Lab

City Club event description:

The Joyce Foundation is hosting a three-part series, Ending Gun Violence in Chicago: Connecting Policy, Practice and Community, in partnership with the City Club of Chicago and in collaboration with WTTW’s Firsthand Initiative & WTTW News, join us at the second program.

Today, in Chicago there is a strong correlation between the flood of illegal guns — almost more than anywhere in the nation — and the volume of gun violence in our communities.

While the Chicago Police Department have made progress in getting guns off the streets — in 2023 CPD recovered more than 12,000 guns for the third consecutive year — that is a drop in the bucket and the flow of illegal guns continues.

Please join Christopher Amon, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Chicago Field Division, Brendan Kelly, Director of the Illinois State Police, and Kim Smith, Director of Programs for the University of Chicago Crime Lab and Education Lab to discuss the source of illegal guns coming into our region, and what can be done to eliminate them from our communities. This panel will be moderated by WTTW’s Chicago Tonight Host Brandis Friedman.

At the conclusion of these three forums, a white paper of the key takeaways and recommendations from the discussions will be developed and shared with policy makers and civic leaders in the region.

Speakers

Special Agent in Charge Christopher Amon
Christopher Amon was appointed as the Special Agent in Charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Chicago Field Division in March of 2023. As the Special Agent in Charge, Mr. Amon has responsibility over ATF operations in the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois, The Eastern District of Wisconsin, and the Northern District of Indiana.

Before arriving in Chicago, SAC Amon served as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge in the Washington Field Division since August 2020. In this role, Special Agent Amon supervised all ATF criminal enforcement operations in Washington, D.C.

Prior to this assignment, SAC Amon served as Chief of the Firearms Operation Division at ATF Headquarters, managing the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN), the NIBIN National Correlation and Training Center (NNCTC), and ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Programs. He was also the Chairman of the National Crime Gun Intelligence Governing Board consisting of Chiefs of Police, United States Attorneys, District Attorneys, and Laboratory Directors from major cities nationwide.

SAC Amon began his career as a Special Agent in the Denver Field Division in 2005. He investigated violent crime and firearms trafficking organizations and was a crisis negotiator of ATF’s Los Angeles Special Response Team. Prior to joining ATF, SAC Amon worked for a member of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A Brooklyn native, SAC Amon holds a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University in the Bronx, New York, and a master’s degree in professional studies from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is married with four children.

City Club video

Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly
Brendan F. Kelly was appointed by Governor JB Pritzker and confirmed unanimously by the Illinois Senate to serve as the eighth Director of the Illinois State Police in 2019. As Director, Kelly leads a public safety agency of nearly 3,000 employees and seven unique divisions, including the Divisions of Criminal Investigation, Patrol, Forensic Services, Justice Services, Academy and Training, Statewide 911, and Internal Investigation.

Director Kelly oversees the operations of statewide criminal investigations of violent crime, drug, gun and human trafficking; public corruption; and child exploitation; as well as special operations including SWAT, air operations, federal task force officers, and Illinois’ criminal intelligence fusion center. Additionally, Director Kelly oversees criminal interdiction and traffic patrol functions, statewide crime scene investigations and forensic laboratories, and 22 trafficking enforcement task forces, among other areas. Director Kelly serves on the Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, the board of Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), the Illinois Drug Enforcement Officers Association, and the Illinois Homeland Security Advisory Council. Director Kelly chaired the Firearms Restraining Order Task Force.

Director Kelly has sworn in more than 500 new troopers, initiated long needed changes to the firearms background check process and enforcement of firearms safety laws, and slashed forensic testing backlogs. Working with federal, state, and local law enforcement, and homeland security partners, Director Kelly has led the statewide law enforcement response to COVID-19, 2020 civil unrest, and preparations for the DNC. Director Kelly is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Saint Louis University School of Law, FBI National Executive Institute Class #44, and the Illinois State Police New Agent School, and has a certificate in International Law from Saint Louis University and Cybersecurity from Harvard University.

Kelly was a prosecutor and an elected State’s Attorney for 12 years, prosecuting every level of crime from gun and drug trafficking to crimes against children and heinous murders. Kelly is a veteran of the United State Navy. He has been married to an oncology nurse for 20 years and they have two sons.

Kim Smith
Kim Smith is the Director of Programs at the University of Chicago Crime Lab where she works across a portfolio of research projects in close partnership with government agencies and local nonprofits. She has worked extensively on the Crime Lab’s efforts to make data more accessible to the public, most recently by supporting the development and release of the Chicago Violence Reduction Dashboard, a tool for non-profit organizations, the media, and the general public, which provides near-real-time data and visualizations of violence trends. Prior to joining the Crime Lab, she worked at Innovations for Poverty Action, a research organization dedicated to discovering and advancing what works to improve the lives of people living in poverty. Kim was one of Crain’s Chicago Business’ 40 Under 40 in 2022, and a fellow in the 2023 class of Leadership Greater Chicago. Kim holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Economics from McGill University.

Dr. Mark C. Reed, President, Loyola University Chicago in conversation with Omar Brown, Senior Vice President, Community and Impact, The Big Ten Conference

City Club event description:

Dr. Mark Reed
Mark C. Reed is the 25th president of Loyola University Chicago. One of the world’s leading Jesuit research universities, Loyola is also among the largest and most complex, with nearly 17,000 students, 13 colleges and schools, and four campuses in the greater Chicago area and one in Rome, Italy.

Prior to Loyola, Dr. Reed served for seven years as the first lay president of Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA. Before that, he served for fifteen years in multiple senior leadership roles, including senior vice president for administration and chief of staff, at Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT, where he was also honored with the Distinguished Faculty-Administrator Award.

Dr. Reed’s career has focused on strengthening the institutions he has served, particularly in the areas of expanded academic programs, academic excellence and impactful research, strategic partnerships, university finances and endowment, student formation, and advancement of the Jesuit, Catholic mission. Additionally, he has regularly taught undergraduate and graduate courses in calculus and statistics.

Dr. Reed has been engaged in addressing broader issues in education. He currently serves as a member of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and its Finance Committee. He is a board member of the American Council on Education (ACE), the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU), Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU), Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL. He is past chair of the Council of Presidents for the Atlantic 10 Conference and past chair of the Board of Trustees for St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia.

A lifelong product of Jesuit education, Dr. Reed earned a high school diploma from St. Joseph’s Prep, a BS in mathematics and MBA from Fairfield University, a MEd in secondary educational administration from Boston College, and an EdD in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.

City Club video

Omar Brown
Omar Brown currently serves as senior vice president, community and impact. In this role, he drives diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives throughout the conference. Among those initiatives are the Big Ten Equality Coalition – which engages, empowers, and educates student-athletes, administrators, partners, and alumni – and landmark events such as the historic Big Life Series trip to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama.

Brown oversees additional diversity initiatives including the Big Ten Advisory Commission and the Big Ten DEI Roundtable. In June 2022, he led the formation of LGBTQ+ Working Group to further elevate and amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ community across the Big Ten Conference.

He joined the conference in 2020 as vice president, people & culture, where he oversaw both DEI and HR efforts within the conference.

Prior to joining the Big Ten, Brown was an organizational transformation leader in Deloitte’s Human Capital Consulting practice, specializing in helping companies navigate through the complex people and process issues associated with business transformation.

From 2012 to 2015, Brown was part of the leadership team at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), where he spent more than two years as vice president of human resources (HR). It was in that role that he was responsible for keeping Chicago buses and trains moving by transforming HR’s focus to be “the heart” of the organization with a proactive customer-centric strategy to drive cultural change and support the CTA’s core values.

Throughout his career, Brown applied his experience in benefits consulting, finance, and diversity to counsel the City of Chicago, University of Illinois System, Illinois Housing Development Authority, General Board of Pension, and Aon Hewitt.

Brown is an adjunct professor at the Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business in its Baumhart Scholars program, where he lectures on managing and motivating in the workplace. He also serves on the boards of the NorthShore University HealthSystem and the McGaw YMCA of Evanston. Additionally, he is the president of the Fellowship of Afro-American Men (F.A.A.M.) basketball league, which supports middle school aged boys and girls in Evanston, Ill. He holds a master’s degree in public policy from Northwestern University, a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northeastern Illinois University.

Tackling the Chicago Reassessment – Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi and Northern Trust Executive Vice President and CFO Jason Tyler

City Club event description:

In 2024, the Cook County Assessor’s Office is conducting its triennial reassessment of property values in the City of Chicago. These valuations determine how the tax burden gets divided up among property owners, and have far-reaching implications for equity and economic development across the city. Join Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi and Jason Tyler, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Northern Trust, for a conversation about the reassessment and the outlook for commercial real estate in Chicago.

Speakers

Assessor Fritz Kaegi
Fritz Kaegi is the Cook County Assessor.

Prior to beginning his career in Cook County government, Fritz spent more than 20 years valuing assets as a mutual fund portfolio manager and analyst. In his 13 years at Columbia Wanger Asset Management, Fritz served as a financial steward, helping average families save for retirement and focusing on small companies operating around the world. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Illinois Assessment Officer designations. He is also a member of the IAAO, the International Association of Assessing Officers.

Since assuming office in 2018, Fritz has brought fairness, ethics and transparency to the Cook County Assessor’s Office with a vision focused on operational changes, technological upgrades, and the elimination of favoritism. These changes have increased predictability in the assessment system and spurred investment in Chicago and Cook County.

Fritz was born and raised in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago and still maintains close ties to the community. He attended Hyde Park’s Kenwood Academy for high school, completed his undergraduate studies at Haverford College, and received his MBA from Stanford University.

In 2020 Fritz received the A. Philip Randolph Change Agent Award from the National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum and in 2021 the Adlai Stevenson Award for Public Service from the Chicago chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.

Fritz’s wife Rebecca is a teacher; they live in Oak Park, with their three children, where Fritz is a member of First United Methodist Church of Oak Park.

City Club video

Jason Tyler
Jason Tyler is Chief Financial Officer of Northern Trust, a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families, and individuals.

Born and raised in Chicago, Jason attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools where he developed a deep commitment to the city of Chicago, as well as independent thinking and leadership. Jason then attended Princeton University, majoring in Politics.

After ten years in banking, at what is now part of JP Morgan, Jason joined Ariel Investments, serving as Senior Vice President, Director of Research Operations and a member of the firm’s Investment Committee.

Jason also returned to the University of Chicago where he earned an MBA. Jason is a Trustee of the University of Chicago, Board Chair at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, a Director of TreeHouse Foods (NYSE:THS), Advance Illinois, Northwestern Memorial Healthcare Foundation, the Becker Friedman Institute, and the Joffrey Ballet where he formerly served as Chairman.

Jason devotes significant time to supporting the city of Chicago, the Lab Schools, and Princeton University. Those passions extend through his family. Both of Jason and Yolanda’s children (Ethan Tyler ’22 and Sydney Tyler ’27) graduated from Lab Schools before attending Princeton.

Superintendent Larry B. Snelling – Chicago Police Department

City Club event description:

Superintendent Larry B. Snelling
Larry B. Snelling is Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. Superintendent Snelling joined CPD in 1992 as a patrol officer in his home community of Englewood. This type of community-based policing experience remained core to his values and his experience as he ascended through the department

After serving as a patrol officer in the 7th (Englewood) District, Superintendent Snelling was promoted to sergeant, serving in the 22nd (Morgan Park) District and Physical Skills and Operations sections for recruit training at the Police Academy. He returned to the 7th District as watch operations lieutenant before being promoted to commander, and later, deputy chief of Area 2.

City Club video

In 2022, Superintendent Snelling was promoted to Chief of the Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism, which coordinates with the Office of Emergency Management and Communication and other city agencies, as well as other local, county, state and federal emergency responders, to respond to city emergencies. 

Superintendent Snelling redesigned the Department’s current force training model around national best practices and constitutional policing and has testified as an expert in federal use of force cases. Additionally, he was a lead trainer for field force training for the 2012 Chicago NATO Summit.

Superintendent Snelling was raised on the South Side of Chicago. He is a product of Chicago Public Schools, graduating from Englewood High School, and holds a bachelor’s degree in adult education from DePaul University.

Moderated by WTTW’s Chicago Tonight Host, Brandis Friedman – Panelists: Pamela Montgomery-Bosley (Purpose Over Pain of St. Sabina), Tim Daly (The Joyce Foundation), Dr. Rebecca Neusteter (UChicago Health Lab), Lorne Runnels (BlackRoots Alliance) and Eric Smith (BMO Bank / Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago)

City Club event description:

The Joyce Foundation is hosting a three-part series, Ending Gun Violence in Chicago: Connecting Policy, Practice and Community, in partnership with the City Club of Chicago.

In collaboration with BlackRoots Alliance and WTTW’s Firsthand Initiative & WTTW News, join us at the first event to engage with community advocates and business, civic and political leaders to discuss a range of solutions to address gun violence in our city.

At the conclusion of these three forums, a white paper of the key takeaways and recommendations from the discussions will be developed and shared with policy makers and civic leaders in the region.

Speakers

Pamela Bosley
Pamela Bosley was born and raised in the City of Chicago, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Olivet University in Illinois with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Trauma Informed Leadership from Dominique University. She spent more than 20 years in the banking industry. However, after one of her sons, Terrell Bosley at the age of 18 was shot and killed on the grounds of a church in 2006, she changed directions to make a difference in the lives of youth and parents whose children’s lives were taken by violence.

As St. Sabina’s Violence Prevention Executive Director, Pam oversees Purpose Over Pain where she advocates for common sense gun measures while designing creative support services that support survivor families on their journeys of transforming their pain into their new norm and purpose. Also, she has empowered young people to be leaders and self-advocates, guiding them to discover their own voices and abilities to bring change to their communities. As the Founder and CEO of the Terrell Bosley Association, the goal is to strengthen and heal communities.

Pam has been featured in several PSAs and magazines, a novel entitled How Long Will I Cry, and documentaries entitled “Under the Gun” and “Making A Killing.” She has also participated on may panels and spoken on the local and state levels against senseless gun violence in Illinois and elsewhere.

Pam believes that because her son Terrell can no longer speak, she must continue to be his voice for change. She says, “we can change the narrative of our youth and our communities by ending senseless gun violence together.”

Pam Bosley continues to reside in Chicago, Illinois with her husband and is the mother of 3 sons. It is her greatest wish to live and be happy without the element of senseless violence.

City Club video

Tim Daly
Tim Daly is Director of the Foundation’s Gun Violence Prevention & Justice Reform Program, focused on building safe and just communities in the Great Lakes region. Tim manages the Foundation’s grantmaking focused on policies and practices that reduce easy accessibility of guns to those at risk of violence; gun violence-related research and data infrastructure; litigation strategies; and education campaigns focused on the risks of gun ownership. Tim also co-directs the Foundation’s political violence pilot project, designed to respond to the threat of armed extremism, and to mitigate its impact on our democracy and democratic institutions.

Additionally, Tim serves as chair of the Fund for a Safer Future, a collaborative of 30 foundations and donors supporting efforts to prevent gun violence nationwide. He also co-chairs the gun policy action committee of the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, a donor collaborative focused on reducing gun violence in Chicago.

Prior to joining the Foundation in 2019, Tim served as chief of staff for former U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty, and from 2014-2016, was managing director for the Guns and Crime policy section at the Center for American Progress (CAP). From 2010–2014, Tim also served as interim chief of staff and legislative director for U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), where he was responsible for establishing and directing the House Democratic Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, which Thompson continues to chair.

Tim also previously served as a fellow in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia from 2009 to 2010; campaign manager and finance director for the Peter Franchot for Maryland state comptroller campaign; and communications director for U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) from 2004 to 2006.

Originally from Albany, New York, Tim graduated with honors and a degree in government and politics and economics from the University of Maryland in 2004. He also graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2010 and is admitted to the bar in New York State and the District of Columbia.

Dr. Rebecca Neusteter
Dr. S. Rebecca Neusteter is the Executive Director of the University of Chicago Health Lab. Dr. Neusteter has dedicated her career to advancing equity in the criminal justice and health care systems. Her work spans the country. She is focused on reducing justice system contact, disparities, and collateral consequences. She works to enhance public safety, civic participation, and opportunities to support health and vitality. Rebecca previously served as the Vera Institute of Justice’s founding Policing Program Director. Prior to that position, she served as Director of Research, Policy, and Planning for the NYPD. Rebecca has also served as Director of Criminal Justice for the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, Research Associate for the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center, Director of Criminal Justice Programs for The Doe Fund, Senior Analyst for the NYC Office of Management and Budget, and Deputy Director of Planning for the Center for Employment Opportunities.

Rebecca holds several appointments, including trustee of Friends of Island Academy, a nonprofit organization that supports and brings opportunity to youth during and after their time in New York City jails; Research Advisory Board member of the Police Executive Research Forum; and Research Advisory Committee member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Rebecca holds a PhD in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of the Graduate Center, City University of New York, an MS in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from the Milano Graduate School of the New School University, and a BA in Sociology from Chapman University

Lorne Runnels
Lorne Runnels is the Director of Organizing for BlackRoots Alliance. Lorne is a seasoned political organizer after spending much of his career in mortgage financing he returned to the work that was most important to him, providing equitable access to the Black community. His most recent role was as a State Director for one of the largest national coalitions of labor unions that supported his goals in mentoring future leaders.
Lorne has built his career of Black outreach and the understanding and adoption of holistic organizing to realize the necessity of a dynamic change. Lorne has spearheaded components of elections in not only local elections but statewide elections. He has worked in roles on electoral and advocacy and issue-based campaigns in Washington, DC, and Philadelphia. Lorne has also served as a organizer and director, overseeing outreach efforts, and coordinated with local leadership to build relationships within communities and increase member engagement, mobilization and victories. His passion for organizing and campaigns led him back to Chicago where he is excited to return to the work. He is dedicated to the efforts required for the Black liberation in his own backyard of Chicago, Illinois.

Eric Smith
Eric Smith is the Vice Chairman of BMO Bank. In this role, Eric is responsible for working with the Commercial Banking team and across other lines of business to develop the bank’s strategy and product capabilities as well as key client relationships. Eric is also an integral senior leader responsible for executing the successful integration of BMO’s recent $16 billion acquisition of Bank of the West. As an ambassador for the bank, Eric leads several firmwide initiatives including regulatory affairs, community affairs, and diversity and inclusion.

Eric joined BMO in January 2020 from Fifth Third Bank, where he served as the Regional President responsible for the growth and strategic alignment of the Commercial Banking, Wealth & Asset Management and Consumer businesses across the Chicagoland market. Prior to assuming that role in 2016, Eric served as Chief Financial Officer of Middle Market Banking for JPMorgan Chase for several years following his leadership role as a Managing Director in the Investment Bank responsible for advising Fortune 500 consumer product companies on mergers and acquisitions as well as debt and equity underwritings.

Eric has more than 25 years of banking experience, and he began his career with Merrill Lynch as a Financial Analyst in Public Finance. Eric has a long history of commitment to the non-profit and civic community as reflected through his board service and volunteerism. He is the Immediate Past Board Chairman of the Chicago Urban League; Chairman of the Board for the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital Foundation; Vice Chairman of the Board of Lyric Opera of Chicago; and Treasurer of the Economic Club of Chicago. Likewise, Eric is an active Board Member of the Chicago Public Education Fund, Commercial Club of Chicago, Navy Pier, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Ravinia. Eric is also a member of the Executives Club of Chicago, and the Executive Leadership Council.

Eric earned his Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Howard University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He and his wife Kimberly Taylor-Smith have two daughters and they reside in Evanston, IL.

Brandis Friedman
Brandis Friedman is a co-anchor and correspondent for Chicago Tonight, and the host of Chicago Tonight: Black Voices, both on Chicago’s PBS affiliate, WTTW. Her reporting on education and criminal justice has appeared on PBS’ NewsHour and NPR’s The Takeaway. Before joining Chicago Tonight, Brandis worked as a reporter and anchor for WBBM Newsradio 780, and as a producer/reporter for WJLA-TV/ABC-7 in Washington, DC. In addition to earning multiple regional Emmy Awards for her work, she has earned multiple Peter Lisagor Awards, recognizing excellence in journalism, from the Chicago Headline Club.

Originally from Mississippi, Brandis’ work has taken her to numerous cities including Kansas City, Missouri, Little Rock, Arkansas and Wichita Falls, Texas. She has served on the board of the Chicago Headline Club, which is the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and is a member of the Education Writers Association and National Association of Black Journalists. Brandis is a graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans, where she earned a degree in Mass Communications, and Columbia University in New York City, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Journalism. Brandis lives in Evanston with her husband and two sons.

From Legislation to Action: The Impact of Gun Safety Laws in Illinois – Moderated by G-PAC’s President & CEO Kathleen Sances – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Senate President Don Harmon, Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly

City Club event description:

Since 2017, Illinois has ushered in five significant gun safety laws, thanks to the relentless commitment of survivors, advocates, and state leaders. These new laws were the first major strides of a concerted effort to challenge the state’s gun lobby and address the devastating impact of firearms on families and communities. During the summer months, historically associated with increased rates of gun violence, it is critical to reflect on the impact of these laws with state leaders and explore the next challenges in the mission to end gun violence in Illinois.

Speakers

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, born in Chicago to Haitian immigrants, brings a lifetime of legal experience and advocacy to the office. Attorney General Raoul launched his legal career as a Cook County prosecutor. Thereafter, he successively opened a general law practice, served as a higher education attorney for City Colleges of Chicago, and became a partner at two national corporate law firms.

In 2019, Raoul was sworn in as Illinois’ 42nd Attorney General. He took the oath to serve a second term as the state’s chief legal officer in January 2023. His office works to prevent consumer fraud, contend with crime and corruption, safeguard children, preserve the environment, defend the rights of individuals, and ultimately protect the interests of the State of Illinois and its residents.

Attorney General Raoul has combatted the scourge of gun violence in Illinois by prosecuting gun trafficking cases, developing a crime-gun-tracing database, defending the assault weapons ban, and successfully advancing legislation to hold accountable bad actors in the gun industry. Moreover, his office routinely trains law enforcement entities and constituents on the Illinois Firearms Restraining Order Act, conducts threat assessment trainings on targeted violence, and fights to enact and uphold legislation that promotes community safety.

Equally unceasing has been Attorney General Raoul’s advocacy of policies that protect and provide for survivors of gun violence. His office administers numerous programs on behalf of survivors, such as the Crime Victims Compensation Program and the Violent Crime Victims Assistance Grant.

City Club video

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon
In January 2020, Don Harmon was first elected by his colleagues to serve as the 39th President of the Illinois Senate, vowing to lead a new era of ethical progress as the Senate works to rebuild trust in public service and rationalize state tax policy.

Harmon was almost immediately tasked with guiding the Senate through a global pandemic. He took steps to keep members, staff and their families safe, and he oversaw rule changes to ensure the Senate could convene remotely, allowing vital business to continue.

Harmon, an Oak Park native, was first elected to the Illinois Senate in the fall of 2002. He represents the 39th Senate District, which consists of Oak Park, parts of the city of Chicago, and other suburbs, including Addison, Bensenville and Franklin Park.

During his time in the General Assembly, he championed early childhood education, ethics reform, curbing gun violence, protecting civil rights and expanding voter access.

He also worked to protect Illinois’ natural resources, promote renewable energy and enhancing economic opportunity for all.

Harmon has an undergraduate degree in English and economics from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and a law degree and MBA from the University of Chicago.

Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly
Brendan F. Kelly was appointed by Governor JB Pritzker and confirmed unanimously by the Illinois Senate to serve as the eighth Director of the Illinois State Police in 2019. As Director, Kelly leads a public safety agency of nearly 3,000 employees and seven unique divisions, including the Divisions of Criminal Investigation, Patrol, Forensic Services, Justice Services, Academy and Training, Statewide 911, and Internal Investigation.

Director Kelly oversees the operations of statewide criminal investigations of violent crime, drug, gun and human trafficking; public corruption; and child exploitation; as well as special operations including SWAT, air operations, federal task force officers, and Illinois’ criminal intelligence fusion center. Additionally, Director Kelly oversees criminal interdiction and traffic patrol functions, statewide crime scene investigations and forensic laboratories, and 22 trafficking enforcement task forces, among other areas. Director Kelly serves on the Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, the board of Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), the Illinois Drug Enforcement Officers Association, and the Illinois Homeland Security Advisory Council. Director Kelly chaired the Firearms Restraining Order Task Force.

Director Kelly has sworn in more than 500 new troopers, initiated long needed changes to the firearms background check process and enforcement of firearms safety laws, and slashed forensic testing backlogs. Working with federal, state, and local law enforcement, and homeland security partners, Director Kelly has led the statewide law enforcement response to COVID-19, 2020 civil unrest, and preparations for the DNC. Director Kelly is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and Saint Louis University School of Law, FBI National Executive Institute Class #44, and the Illinois State Police New Agent School, and has a certificate in International Law from Saint Louis University and Cybersecurity from Harvard University.

Kelly was a prosecutor and an elected State’s Attorney for 12 years, prosecuting every level of crime from gun and drug trafficking to crimes against children and heinous murders. Kelly is a veteran of the United State Navy. He has been married to an oncology nurse for 20 years and they have two sons.

Kathleen Sances
Kathleen Sances is the President and CEO of the Gun Violence Prevention PAC and the Gun Violence Prevention Action Committee. Founded in 2013 by survivors of gun violence, G-PAC was created to counter the influence of the gun lobby in Illinois to enact meaningful legislation to protect communities impacted by gun violence. Since its founding, Kathleen has worked alongside state lawmakers, committed advocates and dedicated survivors to pass several significant laws, including the ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines, to make Illinois a national leader in gun safety.

Kathleen is also Policy Advisor to One Aim Illinois, which works in concert to educate elected officials and communities about evidence-based, life-saving policies, advocate for gun reform legislation, and support a gun safety majority in the Illinois General Assembly.

Kathleen also serves as a Board Member to LIVEFREE Illinois, an organization dedicated to the transformative mission of rebuilding black communities through the influential platform of the Black Church. She previously worked on political and issue campaigns, leading and consulting on nearly 100 campaigns since 2005, and also served as the Wheeling Township Democratic Committeeman.

Countdown to the DNC – Christy George (Executive Director, DNC Host Committee), Alex Hornbrook (Executive Director, DNC Committee) and John Roberson (City of Chicago, Chief Operating Officer)

City Club event description:

Join leaders Christy George, Executive Director of the DNC Host Committee, Alex Hornbrook, Executive Director of the Democratic National Convention Committee, and John Roberson, City of Chicago Chief Operating Officer, as they share the latest updates on plans to welcome the Convention and showcase the city.  Learn how you can play a role in one of the most important civic events of the decade.

Speakers

Christy George
Christy George currently serves as Executive Director to the Chicago DNC Host Committee. She is a dedicated public servant and problem solver. She joined Governor JB Pritzker’s Office in 2021 as First Assistant Deputy Governor for Budget & Economy leading the Governor’s business attraction and engagement efforts, workforce development priorities, crafting the Reimagining Energy & Vehicles (REV) Act, and overseeing the operations of multiple state agencies, boards and commissions. Before joining the Governor’s Office, George served as the Executive Director of the Illinois Commerce Commission where she managed 200+ employees, the agency’s budget and operations, and the implementation of COVID-19 relief for utility ratepayers. Before that, George served in several roles at the City of Chicago including Deputy Budget Director for Public Safety, Assistant Commissioner at the Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection, and Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Department of Law. George obtained her J.D. at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Ohio Wesleyan University. She currently lives in the Beverly-Morgan Park neighborhood of Chicago with her husband and daughters.

City Club video

Alex Hornbrook
Alex Hornbrook led the DNC’s 2024 convention site selection process and currently serves as Executive Director of the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC). Before the Convention, he was DNC’s Director of Debate Planning in addition to the Director of Scheduling and Advance for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and Director of Scheduling to then-Vice President Biden. Alex grew up in Boston, MA before relocating to DC for college at George Washington University. Though he considers himself a proud Washingtonian, he has also lived in New York City and now Chicago.

John Roberson
John Roberson currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer for the City of Chicago. In this role, Roberson oversees the day-to-day operations of 37 departments with an annual budget of $16.2B. Prior to this role, Roberson served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle where he managed Government and Legislative Affairs and strategic operational departments and initiatives.

Roberson has had a long career in both the public and private sector. He has served as Chief of Staff to 17th Ward Alderman David Moore, Managing Principal with Electronic Knowledge Interchange (EKI), a Chicago based technology company as well as VP for Strategic Partnerships with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

Roberson’s career also includes serving in several senior executive roles under former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Under Mayor Daley, Roberson served as Commissioner of the Department of Aviation, Commissioner of Buildings, Commissioner of Sewers, Chief of Development for CHA and the first Executive Director of the Department of Construction and Permits.

Roberson is an Air Force Veteran who received commendations for his service during the Persian Gulf War. Roberson has received several awards and recognitions including Crain’ Chicago 40 Under 40, Xi Nu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Statesman of the Year and the national Young Public Administrator of the Year of NFBPA.

His community service includes serving as the Chairman of the Local School Council of Lindblom Math and Science Academy, a nationally ranked selective enrollment junior/senior high school located on Chicago’s South Side.

He is a graduate of Roosevelt University and a proud and enthusiastic member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated. Roberson is the father of three children: John(28), Jasmine(25) and Joelle(18).

Patrick J. Kennedy: Profiles in Mental Health Courage – Join us for a compelling conversation about the bravery and resilience of those living with mental illnesses and addictions.

City Club event description:

Patrick J. Kennedy
During his 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving Rhode Island’s First Congressional District, Patrick J. Kennedy fought to end discrimination against those with mental illness, addiction, and other brain diseases. He is best known as the lead sponsor of the landmark Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Federal Parity Law), which was passed with bi-partisan support and signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008. The Federal Parity Law provides millions of Americans, previously denied care, with access to mental health and addiction treatment by requiring insurance companies to cover treatment for mental health and substance use disorders no more restrictively than treatment for illnesses of the body, such as diabetes and cancer.

In addition to the Federal Parity Law, Kennedy authored and co-sponsored dozens of bills during his time in Congress to increase the understanding and treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders, including the Positive Aging Act; Foundations for Learning Act; National Neurotechnology Initiative Act; Genomics and Personalized Medicine Act; COMBAT PTSD Act; Nurse-Family Partnership Act; Alzheimer’s Treatment and Caregiver Support Act; and Ready, Willing, and Able Act, which called on the Department of Homeland Security to deploy a civilian response system to blunt the psychological impact of terrorism. He served on various committees and subcommittees, including the House Appropriations Committee; the Subcommittee on Health, Education and Welfare; the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; and the Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs.

City Club video

In 2013, he founded The Kennedy Forum, a non-profit organization whose mission is to lead a national dialogue on transforming mental health and addiction care delivery by uniting mental health advocates, business leaders, and government agencies around a common set of principles, including full implementation of the Federal Parity Law. The Forum aims to achieve health equity by advancing evidence-based practices, policies, political will, and programming in mental health and addiction treatment.

In 2023, Patrick Kennedy and The Kennedy Forum launched the Alignment for Progress, a National Strategy for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders, which is a dynamic resource for federal policymakers that lays the groundwork for a community system of care and defines a shared path forward toward better mental health and substance use care for all. At the Alignment for Progress conference, Kennedy called for “90/90/90 by 2023!” A goal to have 90% of all individuals screened for mental and substance use disorders, 90% of those in need able to receive evidence-based treatment, and 90% of those receiving treatment able to manage their symptoms in recovery.

On April 30, 2024, Patrick Kennedy’s second book with co-author, Stephen Fried, was released, “Profiles in Mental Health Courage.” Profiles in Mental Health Courage portrays the dramatic journeys of a diverse group of Americans who have struggled with their mental health. This book offers deeply compelling stories about the bravery and resilience of those living with a variety of mental illnesses and addictions. When Kennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, published his classic book Profiles in Courage, he hoped to inspire “political courage” by telling the stories of brave U.S. senators who changed America. In Profiles in Mental Health Courage, former Congressman Kennedy adapts his uncle’s idea to inspire the “mental health courage” it takes for those with these conditions to treat their illnesses, and risk telling their stories to help America face its crisis in our families, our workplaces, our jails, and on our streets. The resounding silence surrounding these illnesses remains persistent, and this book takes an unflinching look at the experience of mental illness and addiction that inspires profound connection, empathy, and action.

Amid countless recognitions, meaningful partnerships, and political affiliations, Kennedy’s most important achievement continues to be leveraging his family legacy in the arenas of civil rights, mental health, and intellectual disabilities to advance the cause of social justice and health equity for all people. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Amy, and their children.

Illinois’ Abortion Reality: Serving as a National Access Point and Model for Patient-Centered Care – moderated by State Senator Lakesia Collins – Panelists: Sarah Garza Resnick (Personal PAC), Megan Jeyifo (Chicago Abortion Fund), Chelsea Souder (Hope Clinic), Dr. Jonah Fleisher (UIHealth)

City Club event description:

Ahead of the second anniversary of Dobbs v. Jackson Whole Women’s Health Organization, the case that eliminated the federal right to abortion, hear from Illinois abortion advocates, providers, and funds about Illinois as a national access point for abortion care, and how they’re managing this ongoing public health crisis.

Speakers
State Senator Lakesia Collins
Lakesia Collins is a State Elected Official hailing from Chicago, with a dedication to public service and advocacy. As a devoted mother of three and a former nursing home worker, she brings a wealth of experience to her role. Notably, Lakesia served as a spokesperson for the “Fight for 15” campaign for Healthcare Workers, demonstrating her commitment to fair labor practices.

Currently representing the 5th Senate District after previously serving as the representative for the 9th House District, Lakesia has been instrumental in passing significant legislation to address various societal needs. As a freshman legislator, she successfully championed bills aimed at restoring childcare services, providing free dental care for low-income families and veterans, safeguarding reproductive rights, and reforming the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).

In her capacity as a legislator, Lakesia remains actively engaged in the legislative process, serving on multiple committees such as Early Childhood Education, Financial Institutions, Human Rights, Public Health, and Revenue. Additionally, she holds the position of Vice-Chair for Child Care Access and Early Childhood, highlighting her dedication to early childhood development and accessibility.

Driven by a vision of development without displacement, Lakesia remains steadfast in her pursuit of creating more opportunities for families and individuals across the 5th Senate District.

Dr. Jonah Fleisher
Jonah Fleisher is the medical director for the Center for Reproductive Health at UI Health. In this role, he provides comprehensive reproductive healthcare including abortion to people from Illinois and across the country. Dr. Fleisher is the Co-Director of the CARLA program, a statewide navigation center that helps patients with complex medical needs access hospital-based abortion care. He received his medical degree from Northwestern University, completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University, and his fellowship in Complex Family Planning at New York University and Bellevue Hospital. He completed a Masters in Public Health from New York University.

City Club video

Sarah Garza Resnick
Sarah Garza Resnick (she/her) is the President and CEO of Personal PAC. Prior to this role she was the Chief Deputy Assessor for Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi, the Chief of Staff to Cook County Clerk David Orr, and a Cook County Public Defender. Sarah Garza Resnick graduated from Cardozo School of Law, where she worked at the Innocence Project. She received her undergraduate degree in Political Science and Economics from Brandeis University and her master’s degree in Political Sociology from the London School of Economics. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow (2023), an Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership Fellow (2018), and serves on the board of Mishkan.

Megan Jeyifo
Megan Jeyifo (she/her) is a mama who has had abortions and the Executive Director of the Chicago Abortion Fund (CAF). She is an expert in navigating onerous restrictions and barriers to abortion care across the country– informed by conversations with thousands of CAF callers and her own experiences obtaining care– and supports people with tenacity and softness. Under her leadership, CAF has experienced exponential growth in size, staffing, budget, scope and impact. This growth has enabled the fund to support every single person they reach on their hotline; no one has been turned away for assistance in close to five years despite exponential increases in case volume, complexity, and cost as thousands of people across the South and Midwest are forced to travel for abortion care. Megan was named a 2022 Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine and is a 2023 mayoral appointee to the City of Chicago’s Advisory Council for Women.

Chelsea Souder
Chelsea Souder, MPH (she/her) is motivated to help create a world where all people can plan their families as they see fit, and to parent the children they do have in safe and healthy environments. Chelsea is the Co-owner of Hope Clinic in Granite City, IL and currently working to open a second location specializing in abortion care later in pregnancy in Chicago, IL. She has a Master’s in Public Health, specializing in Maternal and Child Health, with professional and academic experience in delivery of reproductive healthcare and advocating for survivors of violence. Chelsea has sat on boards for abortion and LGBTQ+ healthcare and she has contributed to multiple publications on abortion access and delivery of care. She is currently a member of the Abortion Care Network’s Racial Justice and Equity committee as well as the Women’s Fund of Omaha Circles Leadership Class 12. She is the Founder and Director of Nebraska Abortion Resources (NEAR), Nebraska’s only state wide abortion fund. She has four wild children who keep her busy and tired.

Ellen Alberding – President & CEO, The Joyce Foundation – In conversation with Laura Washington

City Club event description:

Ellen Alberding
As president & CEO and board member of the Joyce Foundation, Ellen oversees the charitable distribution of $65 million annually from assets of $1.3 billion. Under her leadership, Joyce has gained national prominence with a grant portfolio rooted in the core belief that communities are stronger when they share benefits broadly. The Joyce Foundation funds the development and advancement of policy reforms to address racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation. It invests heavily in research to gather facts and data so that proposed policy solutions are based on solid evidence.

As chief executive of Joyce, Ellen is active in the regional and national policy arena. She is one of the founders of the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities (PSPC), a funder collaborative investing in community-based strategies to reduce gun violence in Chicago. Ellen serves as an independent director of the PGIM Mutual Fund’s Board of Directors, a member of the Loyola University Board of Trustees, a member of the Chicago Public Education Fund’s Board of Directors, and is a founding board member of Advance Illinois, which advocates for public education reform. She was also a founding board member of Skills for America’s Future, which works to meet the needs of business and improve employment opportunities for community college students.

Ellen also serves on the National Park Foundation’s National Council, having been a former board member of NPF, and has served as Vice Chair of City Colleges of Chicago. From 2010 to 2016, Ellen was a board member of the Economic Club of Chicago. She is frequently invited to speak on a range of issues, from the impact of public policy, the role of foundations in addressing the nation’s challenges, and philanthropic accountability and governance.

Ellen holds a bachelor’s degree in English with honors from Brown University, and an MBA from Northwestern University.

City Club video

Laura Washington
Laura S. Washington is a contributing columnist for the Chicago Tribune and political analyst at ABC-7, Chicago’s ABC-owned station. Before moving to the Tribune, she served as a longtime contributing columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.

In 2015 and 2019 she served as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.

Washington brings more than two award-winning decades of experience as a non-profit professional and multi-media journalist. She specializes in African American affairs, local and national politics, race and racism, and social justice. From 2003 to 2009 she served as the Ida B. Wells-Barnett University Professor at DePaul University and fellow at the DePaul Humanities Center.

Washington earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from The Medill School at Northwestern University, where she has also taught and lectured.

Her work has been honored with dozens of local and national awards, including two Chicago Emmys, the Peter Lisagor Award, the Studs Terkel Award for Community Journalism and the Racial Justice Award from the YWCA. Washington is a founding inductee to the Medill School of Journalism Hall of Achievement. The Chicago Community Trust awarded her a Community Service Fellowship, for “exemplary service, commitment and leadership in individuals from the nonprofit sector.” In 2018, she was named an inaugural inductee to the Chicago Women’s Journalism Hall of Fame.

Her civic activities include serving on the boards of The Field Museum, The Arts Club of Chicago, Block Club Chicago, Global Girl Media-Chicago, the Chicago Headline Club Foundation, and the Investigative Project on Race and Equity.

Featuring remarks from The Chicago Community Trust President and CEO Andrea Sáenz and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation President John Palfrey – Panelists: Sarah Conway (City Bureau), Jacqueline Serrato (South Side Weekly), Trina Reynolds-Tyler (Invisible Institute) & Mackenzie Warren (Medill Local News Accelerator). Moderated by Olivia Obineme (Public Narrative)

City Club event description:

Chicago is home to nearly 80 independent news outlets, many of which have garnered national attention and acclaim. Our city is an epicenter for experimentation, innovation, and collaboration. However, beneath this exterior lies a challenge—many Chicago news organizations, despite their excellence, are undercapitalized.

By making philanthropic investments in a diverse range of news outlets, Press Forward Chicago aims to ensure residents have access to relevant, credible, and trusted information.

Join us at the Experimental Station for a reception and conversation about transforming support for local news in Chicago and its impact in our community. Hear from philanthropic leaders, media experts, and local journalists, including two recent Chicago journalists who won the Pulitzer Prize winners for Local News for their cross-newsroom collaboration.

Speakers
Sarah Conway
Sarah Conway is a senior reporter at City Bureau and writes stories rooted in records and data about Chicago’s deeply marginalized and overlooked people.

In 2024, Sarah won the Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting for Missing in Chicago, a seven-part investigative series with City Bureau and the Invisible Institute that exposed systemic patterns of mismanagement in Chicago police’s handling of missing persons cases — which disproportionately affect Black women and girls. Published with the Chicago Reader, South Side Weekly, The TRiiBE, and Word in Black (a groundbreaking collaboration of 10 legendary Black news publishers), the investigation came at a critical moment in Illinois as elected officials work to address Chicago’s missing persons crisis.

Sarah was a Social Justice News Nexus fellow at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and an International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) reporting grantee in 2019. There, Sarah designed and wrote Asylum City, a year-long look into the stories of asylum seekers in Chicago that culminated in a 10-part project that included first-person narratives, reported features, and a nonfiction graphic novel. IWMF named Sarah one of 19 women changing journalism in 2019 who “against all odds are turning the tide with reporting that challenges traditional narratives and brings new stories to light.”

Sarah is a New York University’s Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism graduate. Before Sarah’s career in journalism, she was a public survey project manager and researcher focused on civic engagement in Iraq. Sarah lived and worked in Ghana, Madagascar, Niger, and Iraq.

Jacqueline Serrato
Jacqueline Serrato has been the editor-in-chief of South Side Weekly since 2020. Previously, she worked as a contributor to The Chicago Reporter in 2019 and Multimedia Producer at Hoy Media from 2017 to 2019. She has also worked as a Production Assistant at WTTW/Chicago PBS from 2016 to 2017 and an editor at Pilsen Portal (Chicago Voz) from 2015 to 2016. In 2015 she was a WBEZ Community Reporting Fellow at Chicago Public Media. She has received multiple awards, including the 2022 Studs Terkel Award, Public Narrative’s 2022 Community Media Award, and the 2022 Peter Lisagor Award.

City Club video

Trina Reynolds-Tyler
Trina Reynolds-Tyler is the Data Director at the Invisible Institute, a journalist, and a native of the South Side Chicago. She leads Beneath the Surface, a project employing machine learning to identify gender based violence at the hands of Chicago police. Trina works to document how communities unable to depend on the police are forced to create safety and accountability outside of the carceral state. As a data scientist, she centers the practice of narrative justice in her inquiries.

Trina won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting for the investigative series Missing in Chicago.

Trina is an abolitionist and trained restorative justice practitioner, an organizer with Not Me We, and is serving on a University of Chicago council attempting to measure the institution’s impact on local residents of the South Side. She developed the skills to use data science for real world problems as a Pozen Center for Human Rights intern with the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG), and was a Pearson Institute Fellow. Trina holds a masters degree in public policy from the University of Chicago.

She has spoken at the Yale Access and Accountability Conference (2022), Stanford Women in Data Science (2023), and gave the Community Keynote at the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (ACM FAccT) (2023)

Mackenzie Warren
Mackenzie Warren directs Northwestern Medill’s Local News Accelerator. He specializes in transforming organizations through research and insights, content strategy, business strategy, new product development and executive leadership development. Before coming to Northwestern, he held a number of executive roles at the USA TODAY Network/Gannett, the largest publisher in the United States. As senior director of news strategy, he guided large Pulitzer Prize-winning titles like USA TODAY, the Detroit Free Press, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Arizona Republic, Cincinnati Enquirer, The Courier Journal in Louisville, The Tennessean in Nashville and others through their transition to consumer-supported businesses.

Olivia Obineme
Olivia Obineme is a content and people strategist and visual journalist based in Chicago, Illinois. She is currently the director of journalism and media engagement at Public Narrative, a nonprofit organization in Chicago that focuses on narrative change through community bridge-building, workshops, and programming. She is also a coach for the 2024 Local News Accelerator program at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, leveraging her expertise to foster growth and innovation in journalism among various communities.

A proud first-generation Nigerian-American and Baltimore native, Obineme holds a master’s degree in media innovation and entrepreneurship (now known as media innovation and content strategy) from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Her work has been featured in various publications, and she has received recognition for her contributions to journalism projects, including the Peter Lisagor Award and the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Editorial Award. Additionally, she has been involved in various journalism programs and organizations, including the Chicago Headline Club, where she served as the 2023 VP of FOIA Fest, leading its fully hybrid version and bringing it back to in-person engagement since the height of the pandemic.

Chicago on a Global Stage: How NASCAR Chicago Drives Tourism – Moderated by NBC Chicago 5’s Leila Rahimi – Julie Giese (Chicago Street Race), Jeff Behnke (Motorsports, NBC Sports Group), Marty Snider (Pit Reporter, NBC Sports) and Kara Bachman (Chicago Sports Commission)

City Club event description:

Speakers

Kara Bachman
Kara Bachman is the Executive Director of the Chicago Sports Commission (CSC), a part of Choose Chicago, the official destination marketing organization for the city of Chicago. As Executive Director, she’s responsible for leading Chicago’s efforts in recruiting high-profile, major sporting events that help create visitor demand, drive significant economic impact, create jobs and generate positive media exposure for Chicago.

Joining CSC in January 2012, Bachman was promoted to Executive Director in April 2014. Under her leadership, Chicago has won highly sought-after business with national and international appeal, such as: 2015 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final, the 2015 & 2016 NFL Draft, 2016 Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series, multiple Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournaments, multiple NCAA Championships, including the 2017 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship, 2018 Laver Cup, 2020 NBA All Star, the first-ever NASCAR Chicago Street Race (2023), among others.

Bachman’s influential network extends globally and includes major professional leagues with the MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL and WNBA to some of the highest regarded international federations and national governing bodies, such as FIBA, FIVB, USA Basketball, USA Hockey, USA Rugby, USA Volleyball, World Rugby, etc. Bachman was responsible for bringing the NFL Draft to Chicago in 2015, for the first time in 51 years it was hosted outside of New York City; she’s also lured international brands like the New Zealand All Blacks to the Chicago market, driving record-breaking attendance and occupancy rates that benefit locals and visitors alike – including the 2016 test between NZRU and IRFU resulting in the Irish defeating New Zealand at Soldier Field for the first time in 111 years.

A native Chicagoan and life-long athlete, Bachman started her career in sports as part of the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Committee. Bachman’s passion for her city and commitment to Chicago’s future is evidenced by her dedication to leadership and the praise of her peers. She was named to Crain’s 40 under 40 Class of 2016, where she was recognized as one of Chicago’s most influential leaders. In 2017, she was named to the Class of 2017 for Leaders Under 40 Awards, a global search for the best talent in the business of sport under the age of 40; and most recently, recognized by Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association (IHLA) with the 2023 Ambassador of Hospitality Award. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame (since 2017). She’s a member of the City Club of Chicago and the Economic Club of Chicago.

Bachman is a graduate of the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University of Chicago and holds her M.B.A. in International Business and Finance. She earned her B.A. in International Relations from Colgate University and was a member of Colgate’s Division I Women’ Ice Hockey team.

Jeff Behnke
An 11- time Emmy Award-winning sports television producer and executive, Jeff Behnke joined NBC Sports in January of 2013, as Vice President of NASCAR Production. Operating out of Charlotte, N.C., Behnke serves as the day-to-day leader in all areas of NBC Sports’ NASCAR production efforts.

In addition to overseeing production planning and editorial content for NBC Sports’ NASCAR coverage, Behnke also oversees production planning for NBC Sports’ coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, SuperMotocross, and IMSA.

City Club video

Julie Giese
Julie Giese is President of the Chicago Street Course, leading the bold initiative to bring NASCAR racing to city streets for the first time in the organization’s 75-year history. Under Giese’s stewardship, the inaugural NASCAR Chicago Street Race Weekend drew visitors from all 50 states and 15 countries to Chicago and resulted in more than $108 million in economic impact for the city. Named “Best New Event of 2023” by Sports Business Journal, the 2023 Chicago Street Race was the most-watched Cup Series race on NBC in six years and NBC’s most-streamed NASCAR race ever.

From 2018-2022, she served as President of Phoenix Raceway, overseeing the promotion and operation of the top motorsports and entertainment destination in the Phoenix market. While leading Phoenix Raceway, Giese also oversaw the marketing efforts for NASCAR’s 13 national series track properties in her role as NASCAR’s Vice President, Track Marketing. Prior to those roles, she served as the Managing Director of Business Operations for International Speedway Corporation’s (ISC) Design & Development, leading the coordination between ISC’s 13 race tracks, internal corporate departments and the Design & Development team on the company’s significant capital investment and redevelopment projects, including the $178 million modernization project at Phoenix Raceway.

Joining ISC in 2001, Giese has taken on roles with increasing responsibility, from Director of Public Relations at Watkins Glen International to Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Daytona International Speedway, where she spent 12 years overseeing all aspects of consumer marketing, branding, creative, advertising, digital, public relations and event entertainment at the “World Center of Racing.” Giese played a leading role in the redevelopment of the Daytona International Speedway, managing the marketing and branding of the project as well its opening in 2016.

Giese has been recognized as one of Forbes’ “Women in Sports to Watch,” Sports Business Journal’s “Game Changers,” AZ Business Magazine’s “Most Influential Women in Arizona,” Cynopsis’ “Top Woman in Sports,” and Axios Chicago’s “Power Players.”

Giese, a native of Wisconsin, is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Marty Snider
Marty Snider serves as a pit reporter for NBC Sports’ NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series and INDYCAR coverage. Snider is also the pre and post-race host for NASCAR studio coverage and regularly contributes to NBC Sports’ fan-favorite NASCAR call-in show NASCAR America Motormouths.

Snider previously worked with NBC Sports as a NASCAR pit reporter from 1999 until 2006, and on assignments for Football Night in America and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In addition, Snider has covered Professional Bull Riding, off-road racing and open wheel racing for NBC Sports.

Leila Rahimi
Leila Rahimi is the main sports anchor at NBC 5 Chicago, anchoring weeknight sportscasts, and “Sports Sunday,” the weekly in-depth sports program. She joined NBC 5 in November 2021. She joined NBC Sports Chicago in 2015, where she served as a pregame and postgame host for both the White Sox and Cubs, and also was a sideline reporter for the Chicago Bulls, along with hosting and anchoring various sports shows for the network, covering Chicago area sports.

Additionally, Rahimi has worked for NBC Sports national broadcasts, including two Olympic Games—in South Korea in 2018, and Beijing in 2022, serving as the rinkside reporter for the men’s and women’s hockey tournaments. Rahimi also hosts on 670 “The Score” weekly on the “Bernstein and Holmes” show, along with filling in regularly for both hosts. In 2021, when she was named a full-time cohost there, she was the first woman in station history to co-host a regular weekday show, as half of “Bernstein and Rahimi.”

Water Innovation: Turning Waste into Health and Wealth – moderated by Michael Hawthorne of the Chicago Tribune – Alaina Harkness (Executive Director of Current and CEO and principal investigator (PI) of Great Lakes ReNEW) and Junhong Chen (Crown Family Professor of Molecular Engineering in the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and Lead Water Strategist at Argonne National Laboratory)

City Club event description:

The Midwest has a moonshot moment for climate leadership – and to realize it, we need to accelerate the pace of water innovation. Home to one-fifth of the world’s fresh water, the Great Lakes region has the opportunity to lead the world in solving water challenges, from PFAS contamination to recovering nutrients, critical materials, and energy. Great Lakes ReNEW – a six-state, bipartisan coalition based in Chicago – has won a historic investment of up to $160M over the next 10 years from the National Science Foundation to turn water “waste into wealth.”

Join Alaina Harkness, executive director of Chicago-based Current and CEO and principal investigator (PI) of Great Lakes ReNEW and Junhong Chen, co-PI, Crown Family Professor of Molecular Engineering in the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and Lead Water Strategist at Argonne National Laboratory, for a discussion on the future of water innovation. Their conversation will be moderated by Michael Hawthorne of the Chicago Tribune.

Speakers

Alaina Harkness
Alaina Harkness is the Executive Director of Current, a Chicago-based water innovation hub, and the CEO for Great Lakes ReNEW, a National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine focused on resource recovery and the circular blue economy. Under her tenure, Current has attracted over $30M in federal and state investments for water innovation and economic development, launched the first ever real-time water quality monitoring platform in a US urban waterway (Chicago and Calumet Rivers), and supported the commercialization of more than a dozen water startups.

Prior to Current, Alaina held impactful roles at economic development firm RW Ventures, the Brookings Institution, the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Chicago Community Trust. She has published research for the Brookings Institution, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Crain’s Chicago Business, the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, and CityLab. She holds a B.A. in political science and art history from the University of Rochester, and masters degrees in Public Policy and Latin American Studies from the University of Chicago. Alaina currently serves on the Illinois Workforce Investment Board and the board of Urban Initiatives.

City Club video

Junhong Chen
Junhong Chen is currently a Crown Family Professor of Molecular Engineering at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and lead water strategist at Argonne National Laboratory.

Prior to coming to Chicago, Prof. Chen served as a program director for the Engineering Research Centers (ERC) program of the US National Science Foundation (NSF).  He also served as a co-chair of the NSF-wide ERC Working Group to design the ERC Planning Grants program and the Gen-4 ERC program.  In addition, Chen was a representative from the Engineering Directorate serving on the NSF-wide Working Groups for NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) and NSF Research Traineeship (NRT).

Prior to joining NSF in May 2017, he was a regent scholar of the University of Wisconsin System, a Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering and an Excellence in Engineering Faculty Fellow in Nanotechnology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). He served as the director of NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) on Water Equipment & Policy (WEP) for six years.  He founded NanoAffix Science LLC to commercialize real-time water sensors based on 2D nanomaterials.

Chen received his PhD in mechanical engineering from University of Minnesota in 2002 and was a postdoctoral scholar in chemical engineering at California Institute of Technology from 2002 to 2003.  Chen is an elected fellow of National Academy of Inventors and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He is a recipient of the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) Medal.  His start-up company, NanoAffix, is a recipient of the 2016 Wisconsin Innovation Award.

Michael Hawthorne
Michael Hawthorne is a Pulitzer-finalist investigative reporter who focuses on the environment and public health for the Chicago Tribune. He has written extensively about the Great Lakes and Chicago River, the dangers of toxic chemicals in household products and the lingering hazards of brain-damaging lead in homes and drinking water. Hawthorne covered state government and the environment for newspapers in Florida, Illinois and Ohio before joining the Tribune in 2004.

Elevation of the Conversation with Governor J.B. Pritzker – This event promises to be an evening of inspiration and insight as we delve into the Governor’s “why” and explore ways to elevate the conversation in our civic community, all while enjoying drinks, hors d’oeuvres and amazing views from Chicago Cut’s brand-new Private Dining Room

City Club event description:

Governor JB Pritzker
Governor JB Pritzker was sworn in as the 43rd Governor of Illinois on Jan. 14, 2019. Since taking office, he has accomplished one of the most ambitious and consequential policy agendas in state history.

The governor won bipartisan passage for Rebuild Illinois, the largest investment in state history to upgrade roads, bridges, rail, broadband, and schools. He overcame years of fiscal mismanagement in Illinois by proposing and passing a balanced budget every year, eliminating the state’s multi-billion dollar bill backlog, reducing the state’s pension liability, and achieving six credit upgrades from rating agencies. He took bold action to put state government back on the side of working families by creating jobs, raising the minimum wage to a living wage, protecting reproductive rights, making university and community college education more affordable, and advancing equal pay for women.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Pritzker saved lives and livelihoods by prioritizing the health and safety of Illinois residents while supporting families and businesses through the COVID-induced recession. To protect hardworking families from additional hardship, one of the defining features of the governor’s response to the COVID financial crisis was launching the nation’s largest pandemic relief grant program for small businesses and the nation’s largest housing assistance program.

City Club video

In 2021, Governor Pritzker proposed and signed a comprehensive clean energy bill, making Illinois a national leader on climate action and the first state in the Midwest to pass a law phasing out fossil fuels.

Before becoming governor, Pritzker founded 1871, the non-profit small business incubator in Chicago. Since its creation, Chicago has been named one of the top ten technology startup hubs in the world, and 1871 was named the best incubator in the world. As governor, he continues to expand support for new business creation throughout the state and cut taxes for hundreds of thousands of small businesses while incentivizing job creation. Since 2019, annual new business startups in Illinois have grown by nearly 70%. Illinois now has the largest growth in small business creation among the largest states in the nation, beating states like California, Texas, Florida and New York.

Governor Pritzker and his wife, MK, have been married for more than 25 years, and they are the proud parents of daughter, Teddi, and son, Don.

Joseph Kennedy III – Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs – U.S. Department of State

City Club event description:

Joseph Kennedy III
Joseph Kennedy III currently serves as the Special Envoy to Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs.

Over four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, Mr. Kennedy built an impressive legislative record around economic policy, health care, and civil rights.  Representing a district that spanned from the suburbs of Boston to the proud post-industrial communities along Massachusetts’ South Coast, Mr. Kennedy sat on the House Energy & Commerce committee and spearheaded bipartisan efforts to extend mental health coverage, support the domestic manufacturing industry, protect consumer voices online, make hearing aids more affordable, and defend access to legal assistance for struggling families.

City Club video

Today, Mr. Kennedy also serves as President at Citizens Energy, a non-profit energy company founded to help low-income families meet their basic energy needs.  Through innovative programming, Citizens has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to benefit millions of families across the United States.  He is the founder of Groundwork Project, an advocacy organization dedicated to supporting local community organizing efforts in under-resourced and historically disenfranchised communities.  He also serves on the boards of the Woodwell Climate Research Center, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.

He is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School and spent two years in the United States Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic.  He is married to Lauren Birchfield Kennedy and they have two young children, Eleanor and James, and a rescue dog, Banjo.

Building Equity: Strategies for Addressing the Racial Wealth Gap Through Housing Policies
Moderated by WBEZ’s Erin Allen
Panelists: UChicago’s Dr. Robert J. Chaskin, Housing Commissioner Lissette Castañeda, Chicago Community Trust’s Marisa Novara

City Club event description:

Homeownership remains the principal way most families build wealth in this country. Despite this, the gap in homeownership rates between households of color and white households in the US is bigger today than it was when it was legal to refuse to sell someone a home because of the color of their skin. Changing the course of this entrenched problem requires intentional, evidence-based policymaking. Join us for this conversation about strategies that our city might consider to help close the growing racial homeownership gap and improve wealth equity for marginalized communities—especially families of color—thereby strengthening Chicago communities.

City Club of Chicago and the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice are partnering on an ongoing event series that explores the many ways that local leaders are partnering with researchers to advance evidence-based policies that strengthen Chicago’s diverse communities.

Speakers

Dr. Robert Chaskin
Professor Chaskin’s work focuses on the conceptual foundations and principal strategies of social policy and community intervention in the context of urban poverty. He has written widely on the topics of neighborhood intervention, community capacity building, and the dynamics of participatory planning and neighborhood governance, among other topics. His research focuses on social policy and community practice in two principal ways: through grounded investigations of particular interventions and through synthetic, cross-intervention analyses. To date, Professor Chaskin’s work has evolved along three major lines. The first is concerned with theories of community and social policy responses to urban poverty, the second focuses strategies of community change with a particular focus on participatory planning and democratic governance at the neighborhood level, and the third is concerned with the application of knowledge to inform community practice and policy.

Among other projects, he has recently completed work on a multi-year, multi-site study of public housing reform in Chicago, with a particular focus on the emerging mixed-income developments being built in several Chicago neighborhoods on the footprint of former public housing developments. This project culminated in the book Integrating the Inner City: The Promise and Perils of Mixed-Income Public Housing Transformation (with Mark Joseph, The University of Chicago Press, 2015), which received the Honorable Mention for the Best Book in Urban Affairs Award from the Urban Affairs Association. His latest book (edited with Bong Joo Lee and Surinder Jaswal), Social Exclusion in Cross-National Perspective: Actors, Actions, and Impacts from Above and Below, was published by Oxford University Press in 2019.

Professor Chaskin was inducted into the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare in 2020. He received his A.M. in Anthropology and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago.

City Club video

Commissioner Lissette Castañeda
Lissette Castañeda comes to the role of Department of Housing Commissioner with two decades of experience in affordable housing development, housing services, and organizational leadership.

Commissioner Castañeda is tasked with streamlining the affordable housing development process as per Mayor Brandon Johnson’s recent executive order and expanding homeownership to Chicagoans in historically disinvested communities.

Castañeda has served as the Executive Director for LUCHA, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved housing counseling agency as well as a Community Housing Development Organization since 2019, overseeing its affordable real estate portfolio and leading implementation of its strategic plan.

Prior to serving at LUCHA, Castañeda served as the Interim Executive Director and the Director of Community Engagement for the Center for Changing Lives, where she worked to expand economic opportunities and revitalize neighborhoods across Chicago. Castañeda has served on a number of boards including Palenque LSNA, Chicago Housing Trust, Illinois Housing Council and the Chicago Rehab Network.

For Castañeda, stable, affordable housing is a cornerstone of community safety, economic development and mental health. She is honored to serve in this role where she can spearhead new housing developments while ensuring Chicagoans have the services theyneed to stay in their homes for the long term.

Marisa Novara
As the Vice President of Community Impact for The Chicago Community Trust, Marisa Novara leads the team that oversees the development and implementation of the Trust’s strategic initiatives, its policy agenda, and grant making to reduce the racial and ethnic wealth gap in the Chicago region. She has more than 25 years of experience engaging with communities to create innovative programs that respond to their needs and drive policy change. Most recently, Marisa served as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Housing. She led the passage of nine bills in four years, conducted the country’s first Racial Equity Impact Assessment on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and in 2021 invested a record $1 billion in affordable housing.

Before joining the City, Novara was vice president of the Metropolitan Planning Council, where she designed and managed the Cost of Segregation project, which concluded how decades-old racial and economic segregation patterns cost the Chicago region an estimated $4.4 billion in additional income each year. She also led the subsequent creation of the region’s first comprehensive guide to a more racially equitable future. Before that, Novara directed affordable rental and for-sale housing development for Lawndale Christian Development Corp. in the North Lawndale community, where she lived and worked for more than a decade.

Novara has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in sociology, master’s degree from the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice, certificate in affordable housing finance, development, and management from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and master’s in urban planning from the Istituto Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy. 

Erin Allen
Erin Allen is the host and producer of WBEZ’s “The Rundown” podcast. Erin an artist and communicator, driven by her curiosity about the stories of people. She has a dynamic background in audio, from producing multimedia work at Michigan Radio and WDET to co-hosting Radio Campfire, a live, listening event series. Her passion for social justice and art with her skills in marketing and communications have led her to spaces like Stone Soup Housing Cooperative and Allied Media Projects. Erin holds a BA in psychology from Grand Valley State University. With spare time, she dances her heart out at music festivals and binges science fiction media of the Octavia Butler persuasion.

Next Stop Chicago: Promoting Investments in Infrastructure Beyond the DNC
Abby Pucker, Anton Seals Jr., Devon van Houten Maldonado

City Club event description:

Join Abby Pucker (Gertie), Anton Seals Jr. (Grow Greater Englewood) and Devon VanHouten-Maldonado (SkyART) for a conversation on the intersection of culture and infrastructure. Next Stop: Chicago is a campaign dedicated to creating a unified initiative that showcases and invites people to explore the diverse cultural spaces in Chicago. By utilizing the CTA’s Green Line, Next Stop: Chicago highlights neighborhoods whose development must continue to be bolstered by essential infrastructure to stimulate economic growth and vitality. The Democratic National Convention offers a pivotal moment for Chicago to activate and shape a new narrative, presenting a cohesive vision for the city’s future.

Speakers

Abby Pucker
Abby is an entrepreneur and cultural producer who is involved in initiatives sitting at the nexus of the creative economy and civic engagement. She is interested in leveraging the collective power and resources of this next generation of business and civic leaders along with creative talent to catalyze economic development through the lens of the creative economy. Abby is particularly focused on Chicago and founded two Chicago based companies – Gertie and Art in Common. Gertie is a cultural agency that aims to bring the next generation of civic and business leaders together through the lens of arts and culture. Art in Common is a non profit organization that produces large scale exhibitions that put emerging and established talent in the same context and conversation around socially relevant themes. ‘

Abby was appointed as one of the co-chairs of the Arts & Culture transition team for the Johnson administration and has continued to build fruitful relationships between the public and private sectors through Gertie as a continuation of the work on this committee.

Additionally, Abby is very involved with her family foundation, The Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation and has been working to create and execute on a Creative Economy strategy in Chicago over the past 2 years. Abby is a board member of The Marshall Project, Pioneer Works, Ghetto Film School, and the progressive American political organization, Run for Something.

City Club video

Anton Seals Jr.
Anton Seals Jr. is a South Shore Chicago native. Anton is a multidimensional servant leader, organizer, entrepreneur, educator, community connector and Impact producer.

Anton is the Lead Steward (Executive Director) of Grow Greater Englewood (GGE). GGE transforms vacant city lots into farm businesses, via a network of Black and brown urban farmers. GGE is a social enterprise focusing on building an equitable and resilient local food system that fosters protections of vacant land in divested communities and focuses on connecting those residents with community wealth building opportunities.

Blending his varied interest Seals has consulted with philanthropic, political leadership, corporate, and community based organizations to focus on authentic “equity in action” via community engagement, advocacy/policy and social enterprise development. Seals also works in the arts and cultural space, producing campaigns for nationally broadcasted documentaries.

Anton is a 2018 Next City Vanguard Fellow and 2010 German Marshall Fellow. Anton is Board Chair of the Woods Fund of Chicago and also serves on the board of Chicago Food Policy Action Council, Friends of the Park, and is Chair The South Shore Works Planning Preservation Coalition.

Devon van Houten Maldonado
Devon VanHouten-Maldonado is the Executive Director of SkyART, a nonprofit that provides free art programs and creative therapies for young people in Chicago’s most marginalized communities. Since 2001, SkyART has served thousands of youth and children every year in their studio spaces, in schools and in youth detention centers. VH Maldonado first began working with incarcerated young people as an undergraduate student at the Pacific NW College of Art in Portland, Ore. and continues to teach and mentor youth directly impacted by the justice system as part of his role at SkyART. He holds an MA in Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management from the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, and has written hundreds of articles for international publications like the BBC, Hyperallergic, Frieze Magazine and many others.

Decriminalizing Adult Consensual Sex Work: Ensuring Safety, Rights, and Dignity
Moderated by Senator Celina Villanueva
Panelists: Brian C. Johnson (Equality Illinois) and Reyna Ortiz (TaskForce / SWAG)

City Club event description:

In light of increasing violence against sex workers, Equality Illinois and the Sex Worker Advisory Group (SWAG) have united to launch a campaign to keep adult consensual sex workers safe by decriminalizing sex work. Two-thirds of trans people killed in the past decade were sex workers and three-quarters of all sex workers will experience violence in their careers.

Join Brian C. Johnson, CEO of Equality Illinois, Reyna Ortiz, Chair of the Sex Worker Advisory Group, and Illinois State Senator Celina Villanueva to learn more about why this issue matters to many groups including those who care about bodily autonomy and the LGBTQ+ community.

Speakers

Brian C. Johnson
Brian C. Johnson has served as the CEO of Equality Illinois, the statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, since 2016.  In this role, he leads efforts to build a better Illinois by advancing equal treatment & full acceptance of the LGBTQ community.

As CEO, Brian oversees the three non-profit entities that make up the organization, each with its own board of directors: Equality Illinois Institute, the 501 (c)(3) arm that focuses on education of the public, media and policy makers on LGBT issues; Equality Illinois, the 501 (c)(4) entity that advocates for the adoption of particular policies aimed at making Illinois a more equal and accepting place for the LGBTQ community; and the Equality Illinois Political Action Committee (PAC), which endorses and supports political candidates on the state and local levels who will champion a more equitable future for Illinois.

Prior to his time at Equality Illinois, Brian spent nearly two decades as a leader in social justice.  His passion for fighting for equity was catalyzed by having served as a first-grade teacher, and Teach For America corps member, in Baton Rouge, LA.  Seeing first-hand how systemic injustice impacted the lives of passionate and capable children, Brian committed his career to fighting to make sure America lived up to its promise as a fair and equitable country.

Brian came to Equality Illinois from Leadership For Educational Equity (LEE), where he served as the Vice President of Regional Impact.  In this role, he helped lead the nationwide efforts to recruit nearly 300 teachers and former teachers to become candidates for public office while simultaneously launching community led organizing efforts in a dozen cities across the country including Chicago, New York, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Brian has served in a variety of leadership roles in non-profits throughout the country.  He served as the Executive Director of Teach For America in Los Angeles where he led the efforts to place and support nearly 800 effective teachers in public schools throughout Los Angeles.  He also headed up the Larchmont Schools, two racially and socio-economically diverse public schools in central Los Angeles.  Under his leadership, both schools were recognized as among the academically highest performing schools in the state of California.

Brian earned his AB, magna cum laude, from Princeton University, his JD from Stanford Law School, and his MBA, as an Arjay Miller Scholar, from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  He is also Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 2020.  He lives with his husband Toby and their daughter Josephine in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago.

City Club video

Reyna Ortiz
Reyna Ortiz is the Program Director with TaskForce Prevention & Community Services. Founded in 1990, TaskForce Prevention & Community Services (TaskForce) is located on the west side of Chicago, in the heart of the Austin community. TaskForce is a grassroots organization committed to improving the sexual health and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ youth of color in Chicago by providing a safe space for fellowship, HIV/STI screening and education, and on-site referrals to medical, housing, and other social services.

Reyna is a Chair of the Sex Worker Advisory Group. Reyna is also a board member of Equality Illinois and Equality Illinois Institute.

Senator Celina Villanueva
Born in Chicago and raised in Little Village, Celina Villanueva is currently the State Senator for Illinois’ 12th District. Celina began organizing and advocating for her community as a teenager, and is committed to building immigrant power, developing young leaders, expanding voting rights and engaging immigrant communities and allies.

During her time at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Celina organized her community to pressure lawmakers to pass online, same-day and automatic voter registration – all of which are now law. There, Celina also ran the largest immigrant civic engagement program in the state, registering over 200,000 new American voters. Prior to joining ICIRR, Celina served as the Director of Organizing at Chicago Votes where she engaged young voters in democracy.

When Celina was appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives in 2018, she brought the voices of her community with her to continue the work they had started. In the House, Celina led the effort to include strong social equity measures in the state’s cannabis laws so that communities harmed by failed drug policies would not be abandoned. Celina also worked with immigrant advocates to pass the Keep Illinois Families Together Act, prohibiting law enforcement from working with ICE.

Celina was first sworn into the Illinois Senate in 2020 and currently sits on the Senate Special Committee on Criminal Law and Public Safety, Appropriations, Higher Education, Labor, Revenue (Chair), Transportation, Chicago Elected Representative School Board,  Committees. Senator Villanueva remains a community organizer at heart and will continue to uplift marginalized voices in Springfield. When she’s not busy trying to change the world Celina is an avid reader, lover of musicals, shopping, dancing and a great brunch.

Collaborating for Equitable Development in Chicago
Featuring remarks from the Chicago Community President & CEO Andrea Sáenz
Panelists: Kendra Freeman (MPC), Kevin Goldsmith (JPMorgan Chase), Christen Wiggins (We Rise Together), Andraya Yousfi (By The Hand) / moderated by Brandis Freidman (WTTW, Chicago Tonight)

City Club event description:

Too many of our communities on the city’s South and West Sides wait years for amenities like a community center or sit-down restaurant. However, 13 new projects have opened their doors and more are on the way in Chicago’s Black and Latinx neighborhoods, with support from We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just Recovery. These projects are bringing new jobs, amenities and services to communities and anchoring opportunities that are strengthening local employment and small businesses. With evaluation partner Mastercard Data Services, We Rise Together also been able to track millions of dollars of increased consumer spending in the areas around some of the recently opened developments.

Join us April 23 for a panel discussion on the challenges to equitable economic development, what’s working, and how the corporate, philanthropic, and government sectors can collaborate to support thriving local economies across Chicago.

Speakers

Andrea Sáenz
Andrea Sáenz (pronounced Ahn-dray-a Sigh-enz) is the president and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust. The Trust, one of the nation’s largest and oldest community foundations, is committed to a vision of equity, opportunity, and prosperity for the entire Chicago region. The Trust’s work is both professionally fulfilling and deeply personal for Sáenz. As an immigrant from Ecuador who came to Chicago as an adult, she is energized by the strength, creativity, connection, and cultural vibrancy that exists across the region. However, she has also experienced the obstacles too many Chicagoans still face as they strive to build financial stability and prosperity.

Before being named president and CEO in 2022, Sáenz served as the Trust’s chief operating officer, overseeing information technology, learning and impact, and talent. In this role, she applied professional and personal insights to improve systems that affect people still left out of decision-making. 

As First Deputy Commissioner for Chicago Public Library, a system of more than 80 neighborhood branches, Sáenz led efforts to reimagine the role libraries can play in improving community wellbeing. Her team pioneered a human-centered approach to designing library services that prioritize the lives and goals of community residents. 

Before joining the Library, Sáenz was chief of staff to the Chicago Public Schools CEO, policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Education Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education, and executive director of HACE, a national nonprofit working to increase Latinx entry and success in professional careers. She began her social sector career leading community-based adult education and workforce development services at Congreso de Latinos Unidos in Philadelphia. In each of these roles, she seized every opportunity to reimagine civic institutions to engage and serve people impacted by poverty.

In 2019, Crain’s Chicago Business recognized Sáenz as one of Chicago’s 25 Most Powerful Latinos. Her extensive board service includes the Economic Club of Chicago, National Louis University, American Civil Liberties Union, Albert Pick Jr. Fund, Chicago Learning Exchange, Chicago Public Education Fund, Chicago Public Library Foundation, and Chicago United. She is a member of Leadership Greater Chicago and received an honorary doctorate from Dominican University. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies from Scripps College.

City Club video

Kendra Freeman
Kendra Freeman is the Vice President of Programs and Strategic Impact at the Metropolitan Planning Council. Kendra provides strategic leadership, management, and guidance to the MPC’s policy and systems change initiatives through collaborative research and advocacy, meaningful community/stakeholder engagement and intentional technical assistance to support policy implementation.

With more than 20 years of experience in program development and operations, Freeman has held leadership positions in the private and nonprofit sectors with a focus on equitable development and capacity building. Prior to MPC, Kendra worked in affordable housing development and management, where she invested in people to improve the quality of life in their communities. As executive director of Holsten Human Capital Development, NFP, she oversaw the nonprofit’s daily operations, including an annual budget of more than $1.5 million and 25 staff serving more than 1,200 households living in subsidized housing.

Kendra is a Chicago native and licensed real estate broker. She holds a bachelor’s in sociology and a master’s in public administration from DePaul University.  She serves on the steering committee  of Elevated Chicago, is on the advisory committee for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Greater Chicago, and as Chair of the Board of Directors for Storycatchers Theatre.

Kevin Goldsmith
Kevin Goldsmith is the Managing Director for Community Development Tax Credits (CDTC) and Intermediaries Lending at Chase. In his role, Kevin oversees a national team that originates and structures NMTC and HTC equity investments and debt facilities for CDFIs. Kevin’s team works with industry partners and business units throughout Chase to identify, screen and underwrite community development projects.

Christen Wiggins
Christen Wiggins is the program director of We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just Recovery. In her role, Christen oversees strategy, grantmaking, and partnerships toward the goal of building thriving neighborhoods for a stronger Chicago. She joined the initiative in 2021 with more than 20 years of experience working with and for non-profits in the fields of community development and affordable housing. She began her career on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee and worked on policy and advocacy for Habitat for Humanity International and Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago. She ran an independent consulting firm dedicated to helping non-profits translate their vision for change into actionable plans for over a decade. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago.

Andraya Yousfi
Andraya Yousfi is the Chief of Partnership and Development for By the Hand Club for Kids. Andraya works to expand the mission of By The Hand by supporting the development of new construction, programs and partnerships to reach more children and their families—mind, body and soul.

Founded in 2001, By The Hand Club partners with local schools to support students who are not meeting reading standards. By The Hand serves nearly 1,800 children across Chicago, providing transportation, meals, reading intervention, mentorship, eye care, dental care, mental health counseling and enrichment activities such as art, dance, STEM, sports and field trips.

As Chief of Partnerships and Development,  Andraya acted as a key member on the development team for the North Austin Community Center, specifically supporting community engagement, fundraising, and compliance. Prior to joining By The Hand, Andraya served as chief of staff at an education policy organization, working towards educational equity throughout Chicago. She leverages over a decade of experience in policy creation, project management, community outreach, education and equity-based urban development. She began her career teaching high school special education and has dedicated her life to ensuring that all barriers are removed so that the brilliant children of Chicago have a clear path to achieve their God-given callings.

Andraya has a Bachelor of Arts from Wheaton College in psychology with a certificate in Urban Studies and her teaching certificate with a Learning Behavior Specialist endorsement from National Louis University.

Brandis Friedman
Brandis Friedman is a co-anchor and correspondent for Chicago Tonight, and the host of Chicago Tonight: Black Voices, both on Chicago’s PBS affiliate, WTTW. Her reporting on education and criminal justice has appeared on PBS’ NewsHour and NPR’s The Takeaway. Before joining Chicago Tonight, Brandis worked as a reporter and anchor for WBBM Newsradio 780, and as a producer/reporter for WJLA-TV/ABC-7 in Washington, DC. In addition to earning multiple regional Emmy Awards for her work, she has earned multiple Peter Lisagor Awards, recognizing excellence in journalism, from the Chicago Headline Club. Originally from Mississippi, Brandis’ work has taken her to numerous cities including Kansas City, Missouri, Little Rock, Arkansas and Wichita Falls, Texas. She has served on the board of the Chicago Headline Club, which is the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and is a member of the Education Writers Association and National Association of Black Journalists. Brandis is a graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans, where she earned a degree in Mass Communications, and Columbia University in New York City, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Journalism. Brandis lives in Evanston with her husband and two sons.

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

City Club event description:

Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords
Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords understands what it’s like to face overwhelming barriers. Today she leads Giffords, the gun violence prevention organization she co-founded. Giffords is a nonprofit organization that shifts culture, changes policies, and challenges injustice, inspiring Americans across the country to fight gun violence.

As the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate and a trailblazer in other offices, Gabby represented her community in the Arizona legislature from 2000 to 2005, and then in Congress from 2006 to 2012.

On January 8, 2011, at a “Congress On Your Corner” constituent event in Tucson, Gabby was shot in the head by a gunman who killed six people and injured 12 others. Gabby stepped down from Congress in January 2012 to focus on her recovery. As the nation’s eyes were upon her, Gabby embarked on a path to regain her ability to speak and walk, inspiring the country with her resilience and optimistic spirit.

In 2013, after the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, Gabby co-founded the organization today known as Giffords. Over the past several years, the organization has been a leader in the national gun safety movement, making gun safety a kitchen table issue for voters. Giffords has helped gun safety champions win up and down the ballot in local, state, and federal races and worked hard to pass lifesaving legislation in states across the country and at the federal level.

City Club video

In July 2022, Gabby was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, a documentary from the filmmakers behind RBG, premiered the same month. 

As she leads Giffords, Gabby continues to make remarkable progress in her recovery. She helps raise awareness about aphasia, the language impairment she has suffered from since her shooting. She enjoys spending her free time playing the French horn, biking, practicing yoga, and learning Spanish.

That spirit of resiliency, perseverance, and courage is one that resonates around the world. It helped her overcome tragedy, work tirelessly to recover when the odds were stacked against her, and become the nation’s most renowned leader in the movement to end gun violence.