Announcing The Daniel Burnham Fellowship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 6, 2019
Media Contact
Lynda Baldwin
(708) 703-8804 | l.baldwin@communication-strategies.com
New Leadership Experience Immerses C-Level Executives in
Chicago's Civic Landscape
Leadership Greater Chicago Announces The Daniel Burnham Fellowship and Inaugural Cohort
CHICAGO, IL (February 6, 2019) – Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) (www.lgcchicago.org) unveils The Daniel Burnham Fellowship – an accelerated civic onboarding experience for senior executives, designed to inspire these leaders to mobilize and exert their combined influence and intellect to positively impact Chicago, its future, and the continued economic progress of the region. The Fellowship is for C-Suite or senior level executives who are new to their role or new to Chicago and want to integrate into the civic fabric of the city, understanding its history and future trajectory and building relationships and networks across the Greater Chicago Region. It is ideal for those executives who are new to Chicago – from international or domestic assignments, and including the suburbs – and those who are now leading in Chicago and would benefit from gaining a deeper understanding of the city, its networks, and the business community.
“In recent years, Chicago has seen an increase of corporate headquarters locating to our city,” said LGC Chief Executive Officer Maria Wynne. “There is no better time than right now to expand civic leadership development in our region. Beyond managing teams and running organizations, these executives will benefit from developing a deep understanding of Greater Chicago in order to have a positive effect on the socioeconomic progress of our region and provide a high quality of life for their employees and our communities.”
By the year 2030, Chicago is projected to become the next megacity in the United States, defined by a population of 10 million. To become a megacity with opportunities for all, LGC recognizes that the civic community and its leadership will be important drivers of this trajectory. The Daniel Burnham Fellowship will engage participants in Chicago’s vibrant structure of civic leaders, providing an interconnected view on the key opportunities and challenges facing the business community and region.
"In recognizing the evolving civic infrastructure of Chicago, we identified and created this opportunity for executives to help our region leverage growth and opportunity through inclusive practices," said LGC Board President Connie Lindsey, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Diversity & Inclusion for Northern Trust. “The Daniel Burnham Fellowship is an extension of the work LGC does to connect senior leaders to one another and provide them with the resources and opportunities to drive social change and make an even greater impact in the city of Chicago. It is our hope that the LGC Signature Fellows Program will continue to be the engine for civic leadership development in the Greater Chicago Region, along with The Daniel Burnham Fellowship, and that jointly they can accelerate transformation where it is most needed.”
“LGC should be a critical center of gravity for civic engagement in the Chicago region,” said Julia Stasch, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation President. This is the first and only program of its kind, combining the unique challenges and opportunities faced by C-level executives today with the demand for stronger civic leadership in Chicago and beyond.
On February 7, 19 C-level and senior leaders from diverse backgrounds and industries will begin the inaugural session. The elements of the five-session series will include the history of Chicago through the lens of urban planning, the region’s work force forecast, building strategic partnerships for economic development, and driving innovative solutions to build an inclusive Chicago. Ultimately, the call to action for these leaders is to drive and impact transformative change to make it possible for Chicago to reach its full potential.
The 19 executives who will participate in the inaugural cohort are as follows:
Rod Adams – US/Mexico Talent Acquisition Leader, PwC
Pat Barrett – Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, First Midwest Bancorp Inc.
Joe Dominguez – Chief Executive Officer, ComEd
Michael Ericson – Executive Vice President, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago
Sean Garrett – President and Chief Executive Officer, United Way of Metro Chicago
Kate Gebo – Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Labor Relations, United Airlines
Evan Hochberg – President, Crown Family Philanthropies
Mark Ishaug, M.A. – Chief Executive Officer, Thresholds
John Latessa, Jr. – President, Midwest Division, CBRE, Inc.
Sandra Cordova Micek – President and Chief Executive Officer, WTTW | WFMT
Eileen Mitchell – President Illinois, AT&T
Allyson Park – Global Vice President, Mars Wrigley Confectionery
Matt Primack – President, Advocate Christ Medical Center
Jacqui Robertson – Global Head of Talent, Diversity & Inclusion, William Blair
Jayne Rosefield – Partner, Office Head, Brunswick Group
Megan Ross, Ph.D. – Zoo Director, Lincoln Park Zoo
Amiee Thomas – Senior Vice President, Store Operations, Ulta Beauty
Maggie Westdale – Business Chief Financial Officer, Aon
Betsy Ziegler – Chief Executive Officer, 1871
The Daniel Burnham Fellowship is the latest addition to a portfolio which fulfills Leadership Greater Chicago’s longstanding mission to convene, connect, and mobilize the region’s most promising leaders around key socioeconomic issues through dynamic education and experiences. Since 1983, LGC has developed more than 1,150 leaders through its Signature Fellows Program – an intensive 10-month program that provides the foundation for a lifelong commitment to civic engagement. Additionally, LGC has invested an estimated $5 million to build leadership capacity in the private, nonprofit, and public sectors.
About Leadership Greater Chicago
Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) is the region's premiere civic leadership development organization. LGC convenes, connects and mobilizes the area’s most promising leaders around key socioeconomic issues through dynamic education and experiential activities. These diverse individuals represent the most prominent corporate, nonprofit, government and education organizations.
LGC creates connectivity among its Fellows to positively impact not only themselves but their employees, their constituents, their clients, their neighbors, and their families. This connectivity is the backbone and strength of the LGC network, enabling leaders to leverage collective resources to make the Greater Chicago Region a more dynamic, inclusive, and collaborative community.
2018 marked the 35th Anniversary of LGC’s founding by The Chicago Community Trust. Since 1983, the LGC Signature Fellows Program has equipped participants with the resources they need to understand how decisions are made, how complex policies are shaped, and how to influence meaningful change. Using the city as a classroom, LGC Fellows learn through interactions with private, public, and nonprofit decision makers, and work as a group to develop critical thinking, analytical, governance, and leadership skills.
LGC Fellows are a distinguished group that includes former First Lady Michelle Obama, Managing Partner of Emerson Collective and former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, Chairman of Urban Partnership Bank David Vitale, General Partner of Henry Crown & Company Steve Crown, President and CEO of World Business Chicago Andy Zopp, City Treasurer Kurt Summers, Senior Executive Vice President and CEO of Exelon Utilities Anne Pramaggiore, CEO of Ariel Investments, LLC John Rogers, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Diversity & Inclusion at Northern Trust Connie Lindsey, Chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago and MacArthur Genius Juan Salgado, President and CEO of Metropolitan Family Services Ric Estrada, CEO of American Red Cross of Chicago and Northern Illinois Celena Roldan, President and CEO of Cara Maria Kim, President of Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) MarySue Barrett, and President and CEO of Access Living Marca Bristo.
LGC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. To learn more about The Daniel Burnham Fellowship, please click here.
