If there’s one word that’s been used to describe 2020 over and over again, it’s “unprecedented.” Yes, we’ve faced unprecedented challenges, unprecedented political and social strife, and unprecedented sadness and heartbreak. But, during what will likely go down as one of the worst years in our collective memory, when so many of us have experienced […]
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 […]
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 […]
The need for food across Chicagoland has stunned Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) Executive Director and CEO Kate Maehr, but it has never disheartened her. “Every time I go out to a distribution, I’m just struck that every single person standing in line is a person with a life, with a family, with a story—and […]
The multi-pronged aid offered by Metropolitan Family Services (MFS) is near and dear to Ric Estrada. Since March 2011, CEO has preceded Estrada’s name, but his roots are not unlike those of the 93,000 Chicagoans served by MFS, most of whom are working poor or lower-middle class. Estrada, a Mexican-American immigrant, grew up in a […]
Sometimes it takes someone from outside the bubble to see the big picture. When Monique Jones first interviewed for the leadership position at the Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) back in 2015, she thought it was a place-based philanthropy all about Evanston. “I’ve since found out that the foundation is part of the fabric of Evanston, […]
In 2015, after working in D.C. as President Barack Obama’s Education Secretary, Arne Duncan returned home to Chicago. In a house just two blocks from where he grew up in Hyde Park, Duncan wasted no time in getting back to work. This time, to confront Chicago’s most critical crisis: gun violence. “Chicago has given me […]
