2020 Change Maker: Ed Wehmer, CEO & Founder of Wintrust

Ed Wehmer founded Wintrust on a strong belief that he could spend more time with his large and growing family, while serving a community he loved, if he built a better bank for Lake Forest, where he and his wife, Dorothy, were raising six young children. He was so successful that the bank grew to eventually become Chicagoland’s […]

2020 Change Maker: Liz Thompson, Founder and President of The Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education

Liz Thompson knows the power of a good educator. “I have always admired teachers because of the amazing people that taught and motivated me throughout my education,” said Thompson. So, this year, when children across Chicago were unexpectedly distanced from those impactful figures, Thompson wanted to make sure tomorrow’s young leaders could hold their heads […]

Inside the Minds of MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant Winners Monika Schleier-Smith and Forrest Stuart

There are many ways to define “genius,” but each October, Chicago’s MacArthur Foundation chooses around two dozen to honor. Among the diverse array of this year’s MacArthur fellows are a quantum physicist demystifying the habits of subatomic particles and a sociologist illuminating the way certain kinds of policing turn out to undermine public safety. In […]