Leadership Greater Chicago Announces LGC Class of 2024
For Immediate Release
Contact: Candice Warltier, CS-Effect
773.991.1210
cwarltier@cs-effect.com
Leadership Greater Chicago Announces LGC Class of 2024
45 cross-sector leaders selected to region’s
premier civic leadership program
CHICAGO, IL (August 1, 2023) – Today, Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) announced the 2024 Class of its Signature Fellows Program, the greater Chicago area’s premier civic leadership development program. These 45 accomplished and diverse individuals represent a cross-section of professionals from the corporate, nonprofit, government and education sectors. During the 10-month program, with the city as a classroom, they will be immersed in major socioeconomic issues facing the region through full-day seminars, neighborhood site visits, conversations with subject matter experts and cultural events.
“As we celebrate our civic leadership organization’s 40th anniversary of its founding by The Chicago Community Trust, I am honored to welcome such a distinguished group of leaders to the LGC Class of 2024,” said LGC Chief Executive Officer Myetie Hamilton (LGC Fellow since 2016). “I look forward to working closely with the new Class to better understand and address the issues that our city is faced with today, and to elevate our impact across every sector and in every corner of the Greater Chicago Region.”
Selection into the LGC Signature Fellows Program is based on a record of professional accomplishment, evidence of leadership skills, the potential to influence positive change and a commitment to the region. This year’s Class advanced through a highly competitive process that included a written application, an online assessment and, in some cases, an interview with graduates of the LGC Signature Fellows Program. Those selected for the 2024 Signature Fellows Program share the organization’s commitment to lead bold, transformative change in the community.
Presenting the LGC Class of 2024:
- Kristopher J. Anderson – Director, State and Local Government Affairs, United Airlines
- James Baldwin – Chief Financial Officer, Metropolitan Family Services
- Laura M. Beres – VP, Enterprise Transformation, Ulta Beauty
- Keith Borchers – VP Chief of Staff to the CEO, Adtalem Global Education
- Tyrone Branch – Senior Lean Improvement Coach, Discover Financial Services
- Edward T. Brice – Director, Talent Analytics, Allstate Insurance Company
- Edgar Delgado – Executive Director, Chicago Federal Executive Board
- Jamie Jones Ezefili – Senior Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer, Northern Trust
- Rachel Flores – Vice President of Business Development, Advocate Health
- Lisa Forbes – General Counsel, Builders Vision
- Nora A. Garcia – Director of Programs, Healthy Communities Foundation
- Sarah Glavin – Head of Community Affairs, Chicago, Amazon
- Kelly Greening – Associate General Counsel, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
- Kimberlee Guenther, Ph.D. – Chief Impact Officer, United Way of Metro Chicago
- Amiel B. Harper, Esq. – Founder & Principal, The Morpheus Consultancy, LLC
- Kevin Harrington – Managing Director, CIBC Bank USA
- Kelwin Harris – Chief Civic Engagement Officer & Deputy Assessor, Cook County Assessor's Office
- Rachel L. Harris – Divisional Vice President, North Central Division, Beam Suntory
- Kelsey Malnati Howell – Executive Director, Marc & Jeanne Malnati Family Foundation
- Jennie Hull – Chief Program Officer, Nourishing Hope
- Craig D. Jeffrey – Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP
- Marlena Jentz – Vice President of Operations & Strategic Partnerships, Institute for Nonviolence Chicago
- Garrett Johnson – Managing Director, BMO
- J. Simone Jones – Partner, Sidley Austin LLP
- Annie Kastanek – Partner, Jenner & Block LLP
- Jennifer Keeling – Chief of Partnerships and Operations, Chicago CRED
- Mia Khimm – Culture Program Director, The Joyce Foundation
- Priya Linson – Executive Director, OneGoal Chicago
- Eva Liu – Chief Strategy & Operations Officer, Chicago Beyond
- Sonia Mathew – Director of Partnerships, Robert R. McCormick Foundation
- Matthew F. McCabe – Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago
- Ashli Nelson – North American Impact Director, Government Relations, Community Engagement and Public Affairs, McDonald's Corporation
- Natalie C. Neris, Ed.D. – Chief of Community Engagement, Kids First Chicago
- Nikki Newsome – Chief Culture Officer, Meta
- Merih Ocbazghi – Managing Director & Partner, Boston Consulting Group
- Miriam Owens – President and Chief Executive Officer, The People's Music School
- Grace K. Pai – Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago
- Abbie Peluso – Partner, Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila, LLP
- Matt Richards – Deputy Commissioner of Behavioral Health, Chicago Department of Public Health
- Carla Rubalcava – Managing Director of Illinois Programs, Mikva Challenge
- Joe Salgado – Director, Labor Relations, Nicor Gas
- Daniel Serota – Vice President of Government and Public Affairs, Aon
- Diana C. Sharpe – Vice President, Large Customer Operations, ComEd
- Joanna Trotter – Executive Director/Senior Program Officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- David L. Williams – Partner, Faegre Drinker
More than 1,300 leaders have successfully completed this world-class civic leadership development program, and 83% of those individuals still reside in Illinois. A new class of leaders is selected each year, with the approval of the LGC Board of Directors. The application for the 2025 LGC Signature Fellows Program will open on October 1, 2023.
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About LGC
Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) is the region’s premier civic leadership incubator, delivering the knowledge and network to lead bold, transformative change. 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.
The LGC Signature Fellows Program© equips 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.
The Daniel Burnham Fellowship© is an accelerated civic onboarding experience for senior executives who, in their roles as change leaders and decision makers, are challenged to play an active part in shaping the future of Chicago. The Fellowship integrates participants into the civic fabric of the city — understanding its history and future trajectory and building relationships and networks across the Greater Chicago Region — to ultimately impact Chicago’s workforce and the region’s economic progress.
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. LGC counts among its Fellows the former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, Managing Partner of Emerson Collective and former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, former Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, former Executive Chairman of Urban Partnership Bank David Vitale, General Partner of Henry Crown & Company Steve Crown, Managing Partner of Cleveland Avenue, Andy Zopp, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, Chairman and Commissioner of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities Rachel Arfa, Co-CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Ariel Investments John Rogers Jr., President of United Airlines Holdings, Inc. Brett Hart, Chancellor of Chicago City Colleges and MacArthur Genius Juan Salgado, President and CEO of Metropolitan Family Services Ric Estrada and President and CEO of Access Living Karen Tamley.
LGC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. To learn more, please visit: lgcchicago.org
