At the age of 15, a “North Shore boy” by the name of Jeff Perry was propelled into the world of theatre at the encouragement of a high school drama teacher. Since then, his life-spanning career has been in support of theatrical endeavors on the local and national level, but few resonate as deeply as […]
Globe-trotting, internationally renowned opera and theatre director Francesca Zambello is back in Chicago at Lyric Opera of Chicago directing the universally beloved musical West Side Story — still relevant some 66 years since its Broadway debut — and how very lucky we are to have her here. She partnered previously with Lyric on productions of […]
Daniella Levitt has spent her career elevating others in and throughout various levels of the corporate workforce. She is the Executive Director of Leading Women Executives — a program that equips women leaders with expanded leadership capabilities and increases advancement of women, among other things — with a 30-year corporate reputation with companies the likes […]
Kecia Steelman has what many would call a “dream job” as Chief Operating Officer of the country’s largest beauty retailer, Ulta Beauty, but getting to that role wasn’t always so rosy for her. Steelman’s humble beginnings started in a lower middle class family in a small farming community in Iowa. Her parents divorced when she […]
Effectively operating in the nonprofit sector — specifically, working hand-in-hand with some of our most vulnerable community members — requires the ability to meet people where they are at, and an eagerness to offer assistance as opposed to passing judgment. This mentality has guided Ric Estrada, CEO of Metropolitan Family Services (MFS), who has served […]
As a young child, Jan Tratnik stepped off a bus and into conversation with a “small man” in a child-size car. A photo of this interaction between Jan and what was actually a ventriloquist’s dummy appeared in the Sunday paper soon thereafter. She was fascinated by this. Thus was born her life-long passion for photography. […]
Red Cross Board Member Jill Schaaf says she’s “hooked” on seeing just how far a little, or a lot, of good can go. At the time of her retirement in 2016, Schaaf was the CVP, President of Renal at Baxter Healthcare. Now, after a prolific career in healthcare, she continues to make a big impact […]
Disclaimer: Some topics relating to mental health and violence are discussed within this article — readers sensitive to those topics, please be advised. As the country reels from the bombardment of recent gun violence — that has been rapidly normalized, despite public fear, as federal regulations have been decisively cut back — the public is […]
If you’ve always dreamt of owning a home in Napa, Sonoma or nearby, At Home in the Wine Country (Gibbs Smith, August 24) deserves a place on your coffee table. Authors Heather Sandy Hebert and Chase Reynolds Ewald take readers inside 17 new, swoon-worthy wine country homes by elite architects and designers — and the […]
