Announcing the LGC Fellows Class of 2018

Read our press release announcing the 2018 Class in the Chicago Tribune!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25, 2017

Media Contact
Ann Carstensen
Vice President of Marketing and Development
ann.carstensen@lgcchicago.org
312-565-0300 x304

Leadership Greater Chicago Announces
2018 Class of Fellows
Class to explore challenges facing Chicago and the region
to help affect real change in the community

Chicago, Illinois – Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) announced today its 2018 Class of LGC Fellows. This select group of 40 accomplished and diverse individuals — the largest class in LGC history — represents a cross-section of professionals from the corporate, nonprofit, government, and education sectors. They share the organization’s goal of effecting real change in the community.

Selected from nearly 100 highly qualified candidates nominated by their employers, the 2018 Fellows will engage in a 10-month program where they will be immersed in key socioeconomic issues facing our city and the region, including education, economic development, healthcare, housing and infrastructure, criminal justice, and race. Additionally, the Fellows will have an opportunity to engage in small group projects of their choice to directly address a challenge or need in the community. These projects will be shaped by the information and ideas shared in the classroom, engagement with other Fellows, and personal experiences.

“The LGC Fellows Program is rooted in the belief that a small, diverse group of committed leaders can change the world,” said LGC Chief Executive Officer Maria Wynne. “The hallmarks of our program are access to world class thought leaders, priceless community experiences, and the peer learning and friendships that take shape among the Class. This is how we Lead Great together. The personal connections and sense of responsibility with which they emerge drive their lifelong commitment to civic engagement.”

The 2018 Fellows advanced through a highly competitive selection process, including a comprehensive written application and an interview with graduates of the LGC Fellows Program. Fellows selected for this premiere civic leadership development program have demonstrated remarkable professional achievement early in their careers, a commitment to their community, and the potential to influence effective change. The LGC Board of Directors approved the selection of the class.

The 2018 LGC Fellows are:

• Lionel Allen, Jr., Ed.D. – Chief Academic Officer, Urban Prep Academies
• Roslind Blasingame-Buford, Ed.D. – President and Chief Executive Officer, LINK Unlimited Scholars
• Dana Bolton – IT Director, Utility Customer Applications, Exelon Corporation
• Amanda Brimmer – Partner and Managing Director, The Boston Consulting Group
• Inger Burnett-Zeigler, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
• Ashley Duchossois-Joyce – President, The Duchossois Family Foundation; and Board Member, The Duchossois Group
• Tara Dziengel – Senior Vice President, Global Head of Anti-Money Laundering, Northern Trust
• Miguel Edwards – Vice President, Strategy and Operations, Allstate Insurance
• Karyn Bass Ehler – Civil Rights Bureau Chief, Illinois Attorney General’s Office
• Sylvia Garcia – Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff, Chicago Transit Authority
• Jamie Georgas – Managing Director, CBRE, Inc.
• David Gordon – Partner; Deputy Head of Chicago Litigation Group; Co-Leader of Global Accountants and Professional Liability practice Sidley Austin LLP
• Michael Harris Jr. – Managing Director, The PrivateBank
• Colleen Harvey  – Executive Director, Playworks Illinois
• Damion Heron – Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, Office of Nonprofit Engagement, JPMorgan Chase
• Brandon Johnson – Deputy Political Director, Chicago Teachers Union
• Andy Kang – Legal Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago
• Bradley Klein  – Senior Attorney, Environmental Law & Policy Center
• Mrinalini Lakshminarayanan – Director of Product Management, GOGO
• Jamal Malone – Chief Executive Officer, Ada S. McKinley Community Services, Inc.
• Deanne Millison – Senior Advisor and Counsel, City of Chicago Mayor's Office
• Tawakalitu Mitchell – Program Officer, John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
• Mark Murray – Program Director, The Field Foundation of Illinois
• Andy Nguyen – Account Executive and Senior Business Partner Lead, Google, Inc.
• Sara Scarleth Lever Ortiz  – Director, Diversity and Inclusion, Chicago Housing Authority
• Malini Patel – Vice President of Marketing, Tequila and Innovation, Beam Suntory, Inc.
• Denise Poole – Senior Partner, Chicago Market Leader, Aon
• Tamara Prather – Chicago Executive Director, Surge Institute
• Marco Quintana – Vice President and Market Manager, BMO Harris Bank
• Terika Richardson – President, Advocate Trinity Hospital, Advocate Health Care
• David Saunders – Partner, Jenner & Block LLP
• Kashif Shaikh – Co-Founder and Executive Director, Pillars Fund
• Melissa Andrea Simon, M.D. – George H. Gardner Professor of Clinical Gynecology; Vice Chair of Clinical Research and Professor of OBGYN, Preventive Medicine and Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Northwestern Medicine
• Sufyan Sohel – Deputy Director & Counsel, CAIR-Chicago
• Pedro Soto Jr. – Chief of School Operations, Chicago Public Schools
• Lovetta Spencer – Vice President and Senior Commercial Relationship Manager, U.S. Bank
• Sara Dixon Spivy – Attorney Supervisor, Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender
• Evan Trent – Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development, Heidrick & Struggles
• Anna Valencia – Clerk, City of Chicago
• Amanda Williams – Artist, Hyde Park Art Center

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About Leadership Greater Chicago
Leadership Greater Chicago (LGC) is a premiere civic leadership development program. We convene, connect and mobilize the region’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.

Since 1985, LGC has developed more than 1,000 executive leaders through our 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 capacity in the corporate, nonprofit, government and education sectors.

LGC creates connectivity among our 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 reach out to each other across sectors based on the common goal of changing our region for the better.

The 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, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, Chairman of Urban Partnership Bank David Vitale, General Partner of Henry Crown & Company Steve Crown, Deputy Mayor and Chief Neighborhood Development Officer of the City of Chicago Andy Zopp, City Treasurer Kurt Summers, President and CEO of ComEd Anne Pramaggiore, CEO of Ariel Investments John Rogers, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Diversity & Inclusion at Northern Trust Connie Lindsey, Vice President of Marketing at W. W. Grainger Lucino Sotelo, Chancellor of Chicago City Colleges and MacArthur Genius Juan Salgado, President and Chief Executive Officer of Metropolitan Family Services Ric Estrada, President and CEO of Cara Chicago Maria Kim, President of Metropolitan Planning Council MarySue Barrett, and President and CEO of Access Living Marca Bristo.

LGC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Additional information about the Leadership Greater Chicago Fellows Program can be found at www.lgcchicago.org.