PAST SPEAKERS OF CHICAGO INNOVATION

PAST SPEAKERS

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Renetta McCann

Publicis Groupe

Chief Inclusion Experiences Officer

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Andrew Mason

Groupon

Founder & CEO

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Bela Fleck

10-Time Grammy Winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer

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Buddy Guy

6-Time Grammy Winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer

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Casey Cowell

US Robotics

Co-Founder & Chairman

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Chris Gladwin

Cleversafe & Ocient

Founder

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Christie Hefner

Playboy Enterprises

Former Chairman & CEO

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Greg Brown

Motorola Solutions

Chairman & CEO

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Jim Belushi

Belushi Farms

Actor & Entrepreneur

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Joe Mansueto

Morningstar

Founder

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Kevin Boehm

Boka Restaurant Group

Owner & Co-Founder

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Margo Georgiadis

Ancestry.com

CEO

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Marty Cooper

Motorola

Inventor of the Cell Phone

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Howard Tullman

1871 & Kaplan Institute

Former CEO at 1871 and Former Executive Director at Kaplan Institute

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Mike Gamson

Relativity

CEO

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Phillip Kotler

Kellogg School of Management

Distinguished Professor of International Marketing

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Rahm Emanuel

City of Chicago

Former Mayor

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Richard Daley

City of Chicago

Former Mayor

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Rick Bayless

Celebrity Chef

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Stephanie Izard

Girl and the Goat

James Beard Award-winning Chef

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Ed Wehmer

Wintrust

Founder & CEO

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Terry Savage

Syndicated Financial Columnist

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Allison Rosati

NBC 5

News Anchor

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Toni Preckwinkle

Cook County

President

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JB Pritzker

State of Illinois

Governor

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Desiree Rogers

Black Opal Cosmetics

CEO

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Steven Galanis

Cameo

Founder & CEO

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Amy Francetic

Energize Ventures

Managing Director

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Karthik Krishnan

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Global CEO

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Ron Gleason

WBBM Newsradio

Director of News & Programming

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Adam Hecktman

Microsoft

Director of Technology & Civic Innovation

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Robert Pasin

Radio Flyer

Chief Wagon Officer

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Jeff Aronin

Paragon Biosciences

Chairman & CEO

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Adam Hughes

Avant

President

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Amanda Lannert

Jellyvision

CEO

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Ana Dutra

The Exectuives' Club of Chicago

Former CEO

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Ann Dwyer

Crain's Chicago Business

Managing Editor

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Barbara Gaines

Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Founder & Artistic Director

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Brenna Berman

City Tech Collaborative

CEO

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Brian Bannon

Chicago Public Library

Former Commissioner & CEO

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Charles Adler

Kickstarter

Co-Founder

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David Kalt

Reverb

Founder & CEO

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Dorri McWhorter

YMCA Metropolitan Chicago

CEO

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Eric Lunt

Signal

Co-Founder

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Eva Maddox

Eva Maddox Design Strategies

Consulting Principal

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Gerould Kern

Chicago Tribune

Former SVP & Editor

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Hardik Bhatt

Amazon Web Services

GM of Digital Governance, VCs and Startups

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Jessica Droste Yagan

Impact Engine

CEO

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John Flavin

Portal Innovations

Founder & CEO

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Kate Bensen

The Chicago Network

President

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Tom Kuczmarski

Chicago Innovation & Kuczmarski Innovation

Co-Founder of Chicago Innovation & President of Kuczmarski Innovation

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Matt Matros

Protein Bar and LIMITLESS Coffee & Tea

Founder

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Matt McCall

Pritzker Group Venture Capital

Partner

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Michelle Larson

Adler Planetarium

CEO

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Paula Fasseas

PAWS

Founder

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Pete Kadens

Kadens Family Foundation

Chairman

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Peter Kilpatrick

IIT

Provost & SVP for Academic Affairs

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Phyllis Lockett

LEAP Innovations

CEO

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Robert Blackwell

SMS Consulting

Managing Partner

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Ross Manire

ExteNet Systems

Former President & CEO

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Rudy Krolopp

Motorola

Inventor of the cell phone

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Sandee Kastrul

i.c. stars

CEO

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Tim Kazurinsky

Second City Works, Saturday Night Live

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Tim McEnery

Coopers Hawk Winery

Founder & CEO

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Troy Henikoff

Techstars

Former Managing Director

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Wendy Lewis

McDonalds

Global Chief Diversity Officer

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Kevin Willer

Chicago Ventures

Co-Founder and Partner

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Dr. Mary Ellen Weber

Stellar Strategies

Founder & Former NASA Astronaut

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Kristi Ross

tastytrade

Co-founder, Co-CEO & President

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Ashley Wheater

Joffrey Ballet

Artistic Director

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Tawfik Sharkasi

Wrigley

Former Chief Scientific Officer

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Noelle O'Mara

Tyson Foods

VP Emerging Brands Innovation

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Maria Wynne

Leadership Greater Chicago

CEO

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Stephanie Neely

Allstate

VP & Assistant Treasurer

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Andrea Zopp

Cleveland Avenue

Managing Partner

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Betsy Ziegler

1871

CEO

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Sam Yagan

ShopRunner

CEO

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Harper Reed

Threadless and Obama for America

Former CTO

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Pat Quinn

State of Illinois

Former Governor

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Hedy Ratner

Women's Business Development Center

Co-Founder & Co-President Emeritus

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Harry Kraemer

Kellogg School of Management

Clinical Professor of Leadership

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Jai Shekhawat

Fieldglass

Founder

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John Rogers

Ariel Investments

Chairman & Co-CEO

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Alpana Singh

Check, Please!

Host

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Steven Collens

MATTER

CEO

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Sarah Spain

ESPN

Anchor

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Crane Kenney

Chicago Cubs

President of Business Operations

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Jaime Faulkner

Chicago Blackhawks

President of Business Operations

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Kevin Warren

Big Ten Conference

Commissioner

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Alex Pissios

Cinespace Chicago Film Studios

President & CEO

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Jackie Taylor

Black Ensemble Theater

Founder & CEO

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Ilze Melngailis

United Nations

Senior Director of Global Partnerships & The Business Council

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Luke Saunders

Farmer's Fridge

CEO

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David Hiller

Former President & CEO, Robert R. McCormick Foundation; former Publisher & CEO, Los Angeles Times; former Publisher & CEO, Chicago Tribune

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Glen Tullman

Transcarent

CEO

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Marc Shiffman

SMS Assist

President and CEO

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Thomas Jonas

Nature’s Fynd

CEO & Co-founder

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Greg Cameron

President and CEO

Joffrey Ballet

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Israel Idonije

Impact House, former Chicago Bear

serial entrepreneur and Founder

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Kevin Cross

NBC Sports Chicago, NBC 5 & Telemundo Chicago

President and GM

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Nancy Ruscheinski

Chief Operating Officer

Zeno Group

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Marc Shiffman

SMS Assist

President & CEO

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Leslie Vickrey

ClearEdge Marketing

Founder & CEO

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Julie Winkler

CME Group

Chief Commercial Officer

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Kelly Leonard

The Second City

Executive Director of Insights & Applied Improvisation

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Aimee Daniels

Vistage Worldwide

Group Chair

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Andrea Hanis

Blue Sky Innovation

Editor

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Angelo Bufalino

Vedder Price

Patent Attorney

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Antonio Guillen

Wintrust

SVP of Commercial Lending

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Blair Lock

Coapt

CEO & Co-Founder

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Brian Friedman

First Analysis

Managing Director

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Brian Hoff

Exelon

Director of Corporate Innovation

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Brian Krause

Molex

Vice President of Global Marketing and Communications

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Bruce Leon

TandemHR

President

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Charlie Baggs

Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations

President & Executive Chef

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Brad Henderson

P33

CEO

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Criss Henderson

Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Executive Director

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Danielle DuMerer

Department of Innovation and Technology

Acting Commisioner & CIO

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Darcy Evon

The Village Chicago

CEO

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Darren Guccione

Keeper

Co-Founder & CEO

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Dave Linder

Brinks

IP Attorney

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David Gustafson

Mattersight

COO

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Denise Chase

The Mom Project

Chief Community Officer

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Dianne Campbell

Lincoln Park Village

Founding Executive Director

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Ellen Barry

EBarry Group

Principal

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Emile Cambry

Blue1647

Founder & CEO

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Fritz Golman

Illinois Business This Week

Host & Executive Director

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Holly Copeland

Horizon Pharma

Director of Public Affairs & CSR

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James Conley

Kellogg School of Management

Clinical Professor of Technology

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Jay Dirkmaat

Comcast Business

VP of Greater Chicago Region

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Jeff James

Disney Institute

VP & General Manager

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Jennifer Fried

ExplORer Surgical

Co-Founder & CEO

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Jim Alvarez

Gesture

Founder & CEO

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John Barron

Chicago Sun-Times

Former Publisher

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John Figiel

Tandem HR

Sr. Director of HR

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John Lyell Clarke

Clarke

President & CEO

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Joe Brantuk

Nasdaq OMX

Vice President

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Judy Bross

Classic Chicago

Co-Founder & Editor

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Julie Bombacino

Real Food Blends

Co-Founder

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Julie Friedman Steele

World Future Society

Chairman & CEO

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Justin Massa

Food Genius

Founder & CEO

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Katy Lynch

Codeverse

CEO

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Keith Anderson

Profitero

SVP Strategy & Insight

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Krishna Erramilli

IIT Stuart School of Business

Associate Dean and Professor of Marketing

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Kris Hammond

Narrative Science

Co-Founder

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Kristi Lafleur

Illinois Tollway

Executive Director

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Kristin Fox

FinFoundHer

Co-Founder

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Leo Bottary

Vistage Worldwide

VP, Peer Influence

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Maeve Lucas

Accenture

Managing Director of Talent Strategy

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Marc Bushala

MAB Capital Management

Managing Partner

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Maria Kim

Cara

President & CEO

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Mark Harris

Illinois Science and Technology Coalition

President & CEO

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Marley Kayden

NBC

TV Personality

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Matt Doubleday

Wintrust

SVP & Chief Marketing Officer

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Melissa Ballate

Blue Daring

Founder & President

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Michael Arndt

Edelman

Executive Editor

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Mike Cherry

Myron M. Cherry and Associates

Managing Partner

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Mitch Carrel

Proxfinity

CEO

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Nena Ivon

Saks Fifth Avenue

Former Special Events/Publicity/Fashion Director

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Pam Buchanan

Nasdaq

Managing Director

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Paul Larson

Blue Plate Catering

Executive Chef

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Paul Lipinski

PwC

Midwest People and Change Lead

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Ray Genellie

Questek Innovations

Co-Founder

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Rhon Daguro

Nervana

Founder & CEO

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Rob Malin

NASDAQ Private Market

Founding Member

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Steve Edwards

Jing Mei Industrial

General Manager

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Steven Casey

Fresh Moves

Co-Founder

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Talia Mashiach

Eved

Founder & CEO

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Terri Lonier

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Former Dean

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Tim Jahnke

Elkay

CEO

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Tony Bombacino

Real Food Blends

Co-Founder

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Linda Mallers

Farmlogix

Founder & CEO

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Vicki Escarra

My Next Season

Senior Advisor

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Victor Chang

Dell Ventures

Investment Director

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Bailey Moore

Wintrust Ventures

Vice President

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Rohit Pasam

Xaptum

Co-Founder & CEO

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Peggy Smedley

Connected World Magazine

Editorial Director

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Desiree Vargas Wrigley

Pearachute

Founder & CEO

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Corbett Kull

640 Labs; Tillable

Co-Founder; CEO

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Jennifer Nau

Northern Illinois Food Bank

Director of Communications

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Orlando Saez

Aker

CEO

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Kellie O’Connell

Lakeview Pantry

CEO

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Jon Morris

Rise Interactive

CEO

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Sid Bala

Alligatortek

CEO

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Jodi Navta

Varsity Time

Founder & CMO

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Phyllis Lee

Jiobit

CMO

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Chris Liang-Vergara

LEAP Innovations

Chief, Learning Innovation

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Brenna Argall

Rehab Institute of Chicago

Faculty Research Scientist

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Mike Shelton

Azure Data Solutions

Technical Director

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Luke Tanen

Chicago Innovation

Executive Director

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Ken Coats

KENTECH Consultin

CEO

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Mark O'Connell

SAVO

Former President & CEO

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Sarah Neukom

Red Frog Events

Producer of Positivity

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Lou Rassey

Fast Radius

CEO

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Sonat Birnecker Hart

Koval Distillery

President & Owner

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Garry Cooper

Rheaply

CEO & Co-Founder

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Lotika Pai

Women's Business Development Center

Managing Director

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Eddie Lou

Shiftgig

Executive Chairman & Co-Founder

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Larry Kiest, Jr.

LMK Technologies

President and CTO

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Eileen Murphy

ThinkCERCA

Founder and Chief Learning Officer

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Todd Connor

Bunker Labs

Founder & CEO

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Shivani Vora

Accenture

Managing Director - Accenture Innovation Hub

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Tope Sadiku

Kraft Heinz

Global Head of Digital Employee Experience

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Shawn Bass

VMware

CTO of End-User Computing

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Michelle Vondrasek

Von Technologies

President

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Ron Guerrier

State of Illinois

Chief Information Officer

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Heidi Brown

Options Away

Founder, COO

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Melissa Donaldson

Wintrust

Chief Diversity Officer

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Mary A. Rogers

Abbott

Principal Scientist and Head of Global Viral Surveillance Program, Diagnostics

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Renee Fleener Morales

Crown Castle

Public Affairs Manager, Central Area

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Brad Serot

CBRE

Vice Chairman

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Ric Phillips

Elkay

President & CEO

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Shivani Jain

Cubii

Co-Founder & CMO

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Susan Smith Kuczmarski

Kuczmarski Innovation

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Marc Freedman

Encore.org

CEO & Founder of Encore.org

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Julie Silverstein

Julie Silverstein & Partners

Founder of Julie Silverstein & Partners; former President & COO of Eved; and former President & COO of SmithBucklin Corp.

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Eric Gannon

Gensler

Studio Director, Principal of Gensler

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Lynn Osmond

Chicago Architecture Center

President & CEO of the Chicago Architecture Center

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Adrienne Harbarger

CBRE Design

Design Lead at CBRE Design

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Karen Voelker

Accenture

Midwest Innovation Lead

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Rick Gates

Walgreens

SVP of Pharmacy and Healthcare

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Rick Long

Cigna

Head of Innovation

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Nicole Leiter

McKesson

SVP, Emerging Pharmacy Channel

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Dev Singh

AiRo Digital Labds

CEO

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Karen Kerr

Exposition Ventures

General Partner

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Gloria Castillo

We Rise Together - Chicago Community Trust

Director

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Brenda Cucci

Accenture

Managing Director

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Mary O'Donnell

RRF Foundation for Aging

President

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Kelly Page

Bennett Day School

Director of Bennett Labs

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David Baker

America’s Urban Campus

Executive Director

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Ashley Moy

Cast21

Cofounder

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Daniel Cervantes

Skills for Chicagoland’s Future

Sr. VP of Programs

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Alan Parker

Energy BBDO

Chief Innovation Officer

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Suzet McKinney

Sterling Bay

Principal & Director of Life Sciences

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Katlin Smith

Simple Mills

Founder & CEO

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Dutta Satadip

ActiveCampaign

Chief Customer Officer

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Mariel Laureano

Acero Schools

Chief Education Officer

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Andrea Ingram Wiles

DuPage Children's Museum

CEO

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Kris Hammond

Northwestern University | Narrative Science

Professor of Computer Science | Co-founder

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Sonia Torres

Jungman STEM Magnet Elementary School, CPS

4th Grade Teacher

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Gina Grant

Discovery Partners Institute

Associate Director of K-12 Student Programming

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Michael Krauss

Market Strategy Group

Co-founder

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Jahmal Cole

My Block, My Hood, My City

CEO and Founder

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Chris Gates

Allstate

Group CIO and SVP, Compute Services and Technology Solutions

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Abdul Jarrar

Intel

Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group

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Carlos Cardenas

Wintrust

Senior VP

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Robert Blackwell Jr.

EKI-Digital

CEO

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Andrea Saenz

Chicago Community Trust

COO

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Richard L. Rodriguez

Acero Schools

CEO

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Sean Simpson

LanzaTech

Founder

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Joanne Rodriguez

Mycocyle

CEO

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Matt Gorniak

Threekit

CEO

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Chuck Vallurupalli

Duality

Senior Director

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Paul Chaffin

Molex

SVP and President of the Medical and Pharmaceutical Solutions Division

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James Wieselman Schulman

Cigna

Global Design Lead for International Innovation

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Anita Allemand

Walgreens Boots Alliance

Chief Transformation and Integration Officer

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Shivani Vora

Accenture

Chief Innovation Officer

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LaToya Collins-Jones

Dell Technologies

VP of Culture, Diversity & Inclusion

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Karen Cavanaugh

Insperity

Senior Human Resources Specialist

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Raki McGregor

Novant Health

VP, New Business Growth & Transformation

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Steven Darrah

Intel

Director of Channel/Solution Providers

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Rohini Dey

Vermilion

Owner

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Kate Sullivan

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Carlos Tortolero

The National Museum of Mexican Art

Founder & President

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Ishwara Glassman Chrein

Chicago Fire

President

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Vicky Lynch

Chicago Red Stars

Chief Business Officer

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Robert Sereci

Medinah Country Club

GM and Chief Operating Officer

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Ron Gleason

WBBM Newsradio

Director of News & Programming

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Steve Richman

Milwaukee Tool

Group President

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Linda Maclachlan

Entara & Forecheck

Founder

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Tim Piccirilli

Crown Castle

Commercial Director, Edge Infrastructure

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Joanne Rodriguez

Mycocycle

CEO

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Garry Cooper

Rheaply

CEO and Co-founder

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Maggie Pakula

Invenergy

Senior Vice President of Strategy

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Allison Myers

Buoyant Ventures

Co-founder and General Partner

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Joanna Kanakis

Halo Investing

EVP, Head of Business Development

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Rick Gray

Milwaukee Tool

Executive Vice President of Outdoor Power Equipment & Channel Marketing

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William Towns

4S Bay Partners

Managing Director

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Tonise Paul

Energy BBDO

Chairman

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Matt Lewisman

Theron Technology Solutions

Chief Operating Officer

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Eric Weinheimer

Forefront

President & CEO