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Sonya Anderson
Vice President, National Affairs
Ounce of Prevention Fund
Sonya supports the development of early childhood education programs and policies for the Ounce of Prevention Fund. She previously worked for the Oprah Winfrey Foundations, overseeing their domestic and international work in education. She is on the Chicago Local Advisory Board of New Leaders for New Schools. She earned a B.A. from Yale University, an M.A. in international affairs from the University of Ghana, and an Ed.M. and an Ed.D. from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. |
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Paul Bauerschmidt
Director, OTC Product Solutions
CME Group
Paul leads new growth initiatives in OTC markets at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He has been with the CME Group since 2002 and previously worked on the development of a joint-venture with Reuters called FXMarketSpace. He served as the chair of venture capital relations of the Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club at the Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management and holds multiple patents. He earned a B.S.E. in computer engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University. |
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Craig Bennett
Vice President, Associate General Counsel
Recycled Energy Development, LLC
Craig provides strategic direction on operations and legal issues at Recycled Energy Development, which develops and operates waste recovery projects for industrial companies. He has worked for over 10 years in the energy sector. He is a Brigadier General, serves as the Commander of the New Hampshire Army National Guard, and is a decorated veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He received a B.S. in business administration from Bryant University in Rhode Island, a J.D. from Widener University School of Law, and a M.S.S. from the U.S. Army War College. |
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Daniel Bryant
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Sheridan Road Holdings, LLC
Daniel founded Sheridan Road Holdings in 2004, a family of financial service companies that provides investment management and strategic advisory services to middle market companies. Prior to that, he worked for a number of investment banks including Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and Robertson Stephens. He is a member of the auxiliary board of the Art Institute of Chicago and a founding member of the Council on Africa at the Field Museum. He earned a B.A. in government from Dartmouth College and a M.M. in accounting and finance from the Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. |
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Jason S. Carter
Associate General Counsel & Head Legal Latin America
Novartis Consumer Health, Inc.
At Novartis Consumer Health, Jason provides strategic counseling and advises the consumer health division with respect to a broad range of domestic and international matters, including corporate governance, business development, sales and marketing compliance issues, and government affairs strategies, and represents the company before federal regulatory authorities. A seasoned counselor to regulated industry, he previously served as counsel to several Fortune 500 companies, including Baxter International, Inc. While in law school, he studied in Singapore and China and was an Advanced Opportunity Fellow, earning a full-tuition merit-based academic fellowship. He earned his B.A. from Temple University with honors and his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. |
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Joyce Coffee
Director of Project Development - Policy and Research
Department of Environment, City of Chicago
Joyce has served in the Department of Environment since 2004, where she currently directs the Chicago Climate Action Plan and manages environmental codes and water and air resources. She has worked as an urban environmental consultant with the World Bank and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s U.S.-Asia Environmental Partnership. She is a board member of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and was a Great Lakes delegate to the Brookings International Young Leaders Climate Change Summit. She received a dual B.S. degree in biology and environmental studies from Tufts University and a M.C.P. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |
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Titi Cole
Senior Vice President, Checking Executive
Bank of America
Titi is senior vice president, checking executive, at Bank of America. Titi most recently spent six years at Harris Bank, where she was senior vice president, head of retail banking product management, strategy, and operations. She previously worked at McKinsey & Company, Northern Trust, and in banks in Nigeria. She received a B.S. in economics at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and was awarded the “Best Graduating Female Student" by the faculty. She also has an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. |
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Eliot Dam
Director of Location Technology
NAVTEQ
Eliot currently directs location technology platforms for NAVTEQ, a subsidiary of Nokia. Prior to this position, he was responsible for NAVTEQ’s product strategy in Central and South America and launched the company’s first pedestrian navigation products worldwide. He has been working in the wireless technology arena since 1996, during which time he launched a wireless networking and services company which was subsequently acquired by Chicago based PCTEL. Eliot earned a B.A. in sociology and anthropology from Kenyon College in Ohio and a M.B.A. with a concentration in marketing and strategy from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. |
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Gillian Darlow
Principal
Civic Consulting Alliance
At the Civic Consulting Alliance, Gillian has led numerous economic growth initiatives for the city, managed Governor Quinn’s Taxpayer Action Board and Mayor Daley’s 21st Century Commission, and led the creation of a green business strategy for the Chicago Department of Environment. Previously, she has worked for the Redmoon Theater, the Field Museum, and the International Development Exchange, in addition to serving as an independent consultant to many nonprofits and foundations, including the MacArthur Foundation. She earned a B.A. in psychology from Harvard University and did her graduate work at Stanford University, earning an M.A. from the School of Education and an M.B.A. from the Graduate School of Business. |
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J. P. Fairbank
Cofounder and Managing Director
Sigvion Capital
J. P. is the cofounder of three companies working on medical innovations. He cofounded Sigvion Capital, a life sciences venture capital fund, in 2004. He also serves as the president and chairman of Nymirum, which uses RNA technology in the search for cures to genetic-related diseases. He earned a B.A. in political science and economics from Connecticut College and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, where he focused in private equity and international finance. |
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Scott Fehlan
Senior Counsel
Department of Law, City of Chicago
Scott has served the City of Chicago since 2004, advising on finance and economic development programs. Previously, he worked for Shefsky & Froelich, Universal Access Global Holdings, Kirkland & Ellis, and Sidley Austin Brown & Wood. He is an associate board member of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the president and founder of Public Pride Alliance, and a board member of the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago. He obtained a B.A. in government and chemistry from Oberlin College with high honors, was a Rotary scholar at Trinity College in Dublin, and earned a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was the business editor of The Yale Journal of International Law. |
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Mark Hoyt
Senior Vice President, Global Financial Operations
Groupon
Mark is currently driving Groupon's market-leading growth overseas. Prior to this position, he was the vice president of international finance for CareerBuilder and he worked for Motorola in over 20 countries while based in London. He is a member of the board of the Field Museum's President’s Leadership Council and was honored as a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow in 2007. He graduated with a B.S. in accountancy from Miami University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago’s Booth Graduate School of Business. |
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Lila Leff
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Umoja Student Development Corporation
In 1997, Lila founded Umoja Student Development Corporation, which uses a school community partnership model she developed to work with Chicago’s most challenged high schools. Previously, she cofounded and directed Illinois’ first federally funded School-to-Work Initiative, EDGE/UP, to assist high poverty students to succeed in high school and effectively transition to post secondary training and education. She was a Leadership Greater Chicago fellow in 2001 and currently serves on the steering committee of the Consortium on Chicago School Research. She graduated with high honors from the State University of New York with a B.A. in liberal studies and a focus in English, theater, and psychology. In 2008, Lila was nominated and received a full scholarship from the HBS Club of Chicago to attend Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management course. |
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Nicole Loftus
President and Chief Executive Officer
Zorch International Inc.
Nicole founded in 2002 Zorch International, a branded merchandise company with an innovative supply chain model serving Fortune 200’s globally. Nicole has extensive experience in corporate branding. Nicole also founded Hit Big Sports, a brand agency specializing in sporting events. In 2008, Crain’s Chicago Business honored her in their “40 Under 40” list and ranked her as #1 on their “Fast 50” list. In 2007 and 2008, Inc. magazine recognized Zorch as the fastest growing woman-led business in the country, and in 2008, Zorch was ranked the eighth fastest growing business overall. She attended Illinois State University, Université de Grenoble in France, and Roosevelt University. |
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Eileen McCarthy
Assistant Vice President for Global Initiatives
The University of Chicago
Eileen oversees the development and management of University centers in China and India and other University-wide global initiatives. Prior to this position, she served as the director of strategic initiatives and planning in the Office of the President and directed the Center for Policy Practice at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University. Eileen previously worked in the private and public sectors, at H&R Block and Deloitte Consulting, and at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Park District, in budgeting and strategic planning. She graduated cum laude from Duke University where she studied a semester at l’Université de Grenoble in France, earned an M.P.P. from the Harris School at The University of Chicago, and graduated from the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at Harvard University. |
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Jason Palmquist
Executive Director
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Jason joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2007, having spent his early career in Washington, D.C. working for the Washington Ballet and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He has experience with local, national, and international arts communities, serving as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and as a board member of the Arts Alliance of Illinois and the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. He earned a B.A. in theater from the University of Northern Iowa. |
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Lisa Reategui
Partner
Sidley Austin LLP
Lisa joined Sidley Austin in 1995 and, as partner, she practices in the corporate group focusing on corporate governance, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. Previously, she worked as a community development specialist in Peru and a microenterprise development specialist for the U.S. Agency for International Development. She serves as a member of the executive committee of the board of Women Employed, was named in the “40 Under 40” list by Crain’s Chicago Business, and was honored as a Leadership Greater Chicago fellow in 2005. She earned a B.A. in public policy from Princeton University, a M.A. in Latin American Studies from Stanford University, and a J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law. |
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Ryan Ruskin
President and Chief Operating Officer
The Ruskin Group
Ryan serves as president and chief operating officer of the Ruskin Group, a 105-year-old family packaging company and an industry leader in sustainability. He previously worked as a consultant with A.T. Kearney, working on supply chain and manufacturing strategies with several Fortune 50 companies. He currently serves on the President’s Leadership Council of the Field Museum and is the vice president of the Princeton Club of Chicago. He earned a B.A. in history from Princeton, an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and an M.E.M. from its McCormick School of Engineering. |
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Jason Schmitt
Fund Manager, Cleantech Venture Fund
ArcelorMittal
Jason launched and manages the ArcelorMittal Clean Technology Fund, which has invested in technologies like solar power and energy efficiency software. He previously was responsible for strategic planning at Mattel, the world’s largest toy company. In 2009, Crain’s Chicago Business named him on the “40 Under 40” list, and he was a nominee for the Catto Fellowship at the Aspen Institute. He received an A.B. in social studies from Harvard College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. |
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Michael Scudder, Jr.
Partner
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Prior to his current position, Michael worked in the White House from 2007 to 2009 as general counsel to the National Security Council and senior associate counsel to the President. In these roles, he was responsible for advising senior administration officials, including the President, on issues such as defense, intelligence, and litigation. He also worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York, and Jones Day. He earned a B.B.A. in accounting from Saint Joseph’s College and a J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law. |
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Maggie Westdale
Chief Financial Officer
Aon Benfield
Maggie oversees the financial activity for Aon Benfield, and during the creation of the company, she played a key role in the merger of two major market players. Prior to this position, she worked as a senior vice president at CNA, leading the corporate financial planning and analysis team and serving as the internal CFO for the property casualty division. She was recognized by Business Insurance, a trade journal, as a “Rising Star” in 2002 for her work at CNA. She earned her B.A. and M.B.A. with concentrations in finance and corporate strategy from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. |
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Kevin Willer
Head of Industry, Technologies
Google Inc.
Kevin joined Google as one of its first 200 employees in 2000 and cofounded its Chicago office. While at Google, he developed many community partnerships, including work with nonprofit organizations, school systems, and the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid. He was appointed to Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Council of Technology Advisors, and is on the board of directors of the Illinois Technology Association and on the board of trustees of the Chicago Architecture Foundation. He earned a B.S. in marketing and international business from Boston College, where he studied a semester at the London School of Economics, and earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. |
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