Crain's Chicago Business

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • NOVEMBER 8, 2021 35

2021

MILITARY VETERAN EXECUTIVES These 30 veterans have forged remarkable civilian careers following their military service. Many have applied skills learned in the armed services to positions in engineering and construction. Some forged careers in law, investments and technology, while others have dedicated their careers to providing social services to fellow veterans.

Whatever their position, they go out of their way to help those who served.

They’re active in their company’s veteran resource groups and help in

recruiting. Lawyers provide pro bono assistance to veterans navigating legal quagmires to claim benefits. Executives speak to veterans organizations and participate in panel discussions. They also coach veterans in transition to civilian careers, helping them identify the skills and experience that would be valuable to employers. Just as they were helped in adjusting to life after service, they lend a hand to those coming next.

By Judith Crown and Lisa Bertagnoli

GETTY IMAGES

METHODOLOGY: The veteran executives featured did not pay to be included. Their profiles were drawn from nomination materials submitted. This list is not comprehensive. It includes only veterans for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after an editorial review. To qualify for the list, the executives must be serving in a senior-level role and have made contributions to advancing the issues that affect veterans in the workplace or in the Chicago area.

MIR ALI

JAMES BLAND

DONALD BONDS

JOHN P. CALAMOS SR.

CHRISTIAN CAÑAS

Partner Schiff Hardin

Partner NextGen Growth Partners

Chief transit operations officer Chicago Transit Authority

Director of operations LaSalle Network

A partner in Schiff Hardin’s litigation and dispute resolution practice, Mir Ali manages commercial litigation and contract disputes. In May 2020, Ali participated in one of the nation’s first Zoom trials and has since conducted numerous Zoom depositions and court proceedings. Ali was selected for Army Special Forces (Green Berets), serving as a Special Forces detachment commander and completing two combat tours in Afghanistan in 2005 to 2007. Ali recruits veterans and works to ensure that the firm is responsive to issues specific to those joining private practice after serving in the armed services.

He also represents pro bono veterans unjustly denied benefits earned from military service-connected disabilities. Ali launched a nationwide network of volunteer legal professionals who provide legal support to Afghans seeking evacuation to the United States.

James Bland this summer joined NextGen Growth Partners and leads on several active investments for the private-equity firm that supports entrepreneurs in acquiring lower middle-market businesses.

Bland is a field artillery captain in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve who serves as the civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army for Illinois. In this position, Bland advances the priorities of the Army and veterans in the state. The position affords him a three-star general protocol rank. Also this summer, Bland was appointed to the Glenview Village Board to fill a vacancy. Before joining NextGen, Bland was a partner at Clear Springs Capital, a family office that acquires and grows founder-owned businesses with veteran talent. At NextGen, Bland seeks to recruit veterans to lead acquired companies.

At the CTA, Donald Bonds directs bus and rail operations, with responsibility for 8,500 employees, or 80% of the workforce, 1,400 in-service railcars and 1,800 buses. Bonds led efforts to maintain full service throughout the pandemic.

Although ridership plummeted during the pandemic, CTA provided more than 250,000 daily rides, a lifeline to transit-dependent riders on the South and West sides. Bonds served as an Army chief warrant officer and worked in military vehicle maintenance and logistics. He began at CTA as a maintenance worker and climbed through the ranks to senior leadership.

Bonds helps recruit veterans to the agency. The transit agency offers a military occupational classification resource on its hiring site so veterans and active-duty military can learn how their military duties are applicable to CTA positions.

Founder, chairman and global chief investment officer Calamos Investments

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Industry pioneer John P. Calamos Sr. founded Naperville-based Calamos Investments in 1977, launching one of the first convertible mutual funds in 1985 and an early liquid alternative mutual fund in 1990. The firm manages more than $40 billion.

Calamos served in Vietnam as a forward air controller, recording more than 400 combat missions, and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross.

After five years on active duty flying B-52 bombers and 12 years in the Reserves flying A-37 fighters, he retired as a major.

Calamos has backed Operation Support our Troops-America, a

Naperville-based nonprofit with programs that include veterans’ assistance. He’s provided the Calamos hanger at DuPage Airport to the DuPage Veterans Foundation to host fundraisers. He’s a life trustee of Illinois Institute of Technology, where he established endowed chairs in philosophy and business.

As operations director at the employment agency, Christian Cañas helps streamline sales and recruitment practices and also oversees the data and analytics team. Cañas served in the Army and was deployed to Afghanistan for two tours as a member of the Bastogne Brigade and earned a number of awards. He joined LaSalle Network in 2020 and started the firm’s veteran hiring initiative to help veterans and their partners find employment.

The program provides educational webinars to veterans and companies hiring veterans.

Cañas led internal training for more than 200 recruiters on how to help veterans adjust their résumés and find skills to help transition their careers from military to civilian life.

Before joining LaSalle Network, Cañas was COO at search firm Quick Leonard Kieffer.

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36 NOVEMBER 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

MEGAN EVERETT

STEVEN GAYTAN

THOMAS GEMMELL

TAD GERLINGER

CORNELIUS GRIGGS

GLE

Veterans program director Robert R. McCormick Foundation

Chief operating officer Monterrey Security Consultants

Shareholder Polsinelli

Orthopedic surgeon Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush

President and CEO GMA Construction Group

Megan Everett oversees strategy and grant-making for the Veterans Program. She manages a $3 million grant portfolio in partnerships with veteran and community organizations in Chicago and Illinois.

Everett was commissioned as a surface warfare officer from the Cornell University Naval ROTC program in 2000.

She served aboard two ships and deployed twice to the Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. During the pandemic, Everett coordinated with the USO Illinois to support the National Guard and Team Rubicon to launch COVID testing sites. She also teamed with the Travis Manion Foundation for food insecurity and Thresholds on issues of financial insecurity.

She’s increased the number of organizations funded at McCormick focusing on employment, student veterans and wellness from 12 to nearly 50.

At the onset of the pandemic, Monterrey Security was tapped by the city of Chicago and other partners to provide security services to critical locations, including alternative housing for first responders, homeless shelters and testing locations.

When event operations ended, Steven Gaytan oversaw the retraining and reassignment of event security personnel to meet the surging needs of clients in health care and human services. Gaytan joined the Marine Corps shortly after 9/11 and was deployed to Iraq three times. He subsequently served as a drill instructor at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. In his first 60 days at Monterrey Security, Gaytan launched a veterans hiring program. This initiative recruits veterans in transition and identifies roles to match their skill set and experience level.

At Polsinelli, Thomas Gemmell leads the firm’s unmanned systems and advanced robotics practice and co-leads the aviation practice as well as the transportation and logistics practice. From 1984 to 2008, Gemmell served as an F-15 fighter pilot, but also in the Air Force Reserves as a military lawyer and liaison officer to the U.S. Air Force Academy. He fought in the first Gulf War, with 37 combat missions, and retired as a lieutenant colonel. Gemmell is involved in veteran service projects through the American Legion and his Air Force Reserve unit. Through his work with the nonprofit Bunker Labs, Gemmell is a mentor to veteran entrepreneurs in developing their businesses in unmanned aircraft systems. Gemmell joined Polsinelli in 2016 from Husch Blackwell, where he was a partner.

Dr. Tad Gerlinger runs a jointreplacement practice, including knee and hip reconstruction.

He is an associate professor at Rush University, director of the Adult Reconstructive Fellowship at Rush University Medical Center and a member of the Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush management committee.

During the pandemic, Gerlinger shifted treatment to outpatient surgery centers. He is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, having served four tours as a combat surgeon, one each in Kosovo and Iraq and two in Afghanistan. He was awarded a Bronze Star. Gerlinger is a member of the VA’s referral network, providing joint replacements to underserved veterans. He mentors medical students interested in military medicine, teaching the next generation of military doctors. Two sons followed Gerlinger to West Point and pursued Army careers.

In the past six years, Cornelius Griggs has expanded operations from Illinois to Texas, North Carolina, New York and Virginia, solidifying GMA as a national general contractor and design builder.

GMA serves as the prime contractor in a joint venture for the O’Hare International Airport Modernization Program. Griggs served in the Army during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, completing tours in Qatar and Iraq. Earlier this year, Griggs launched GRE Ventures, a real estate investment company that focuses on developing affordable housing with commercial spaces. GRE Ventures recently was awarded a project under the city’s Invest South/ West program. The $32 million mixed-use project in Lawndale will include apartments, townhomes and a community center.

Griggs is a commissioner on the City of Chicago Community Development Commission.

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2021

VETERAN EXECUTIVES

Congratulations

GLEN JOHNSON All of us at Greeley and Hansen congratulate Glen Johnson on being named one of Crain’s 2021 Notable Veteran Executives.

Glen Johnson, PE

Global Practice Leader, Solid Waste engineering

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • NOVEMBER 8, 2021 37

GLEN JOHNSON

TREVOR LEEDS

JOHN MAJEWSKI

NICOLE MANDEVILLE

JASON MEADOR

Global solid waste global practice leader Greeley & Hansen

Vice president and consulting division manager Primera Engineers

Senior vice president, asset management Invenergy

Director Cook County Office of Contract Compliance

Head of group captives Zurich North America

Engineer Glen Johnson specializes in water, wastewater and solid waste, and designs projects for labs, hospitals, industrial facilities and other buildings.

He is serving as senior program manager for New York City’s Marine Transfer Stations, designed by Greeley & Hansen for the New York City Department of Sanitation. Johnson enlisted in the Army as a combat engineer, and after attending Officer Candidate School, he continued in the Engineer Corps as a bridge company commander. He was in command of six active duty

Trevor Leeds joined the engineering firm in 2020 and accepted the leadership role of the team he wouldn’t meet in person for months.

He’s grown his team by 25% and increased year-over-year profitability.

Leeds joined the Air Force and volunteered in the Honor Guard, providing final military honors for veterans. He was deployed to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and other locations.

For a time, he was based at the 74th Tactical Air Control Squadron at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. While on active duty, he developed secure site communications plans before advancing to a civilian career in telecommunications. He spent eight years as a communications engineer before transitioning into management consulting.

Leeds helps unemployed or underemployed veterans identify the military skills they can translate to civilian careers.

At Invenergy, John Majewski leads a team providing asset management, operations and energy management services to North American owners of wind, solar and storage power plants. Despite force majeure claims, supply chain disruptions, lockdown orders and quarantines, Majewski’s team kept customer renewable power plants operating safely. From 2002 to 2006, Majewski was a surface warfare officer on the USS Oak Hill based in Norfolk, Va. He subsequently was assigned to the Army and served as an electronic warfare officer in Iraq. Majewski was a founding co-chair of the Invenergy Veterans Network, an affinity group that coordinates with nonprofits to support the veteran community. He’s championed the hiring of minority and women veterans for field jobs as well as corporate roles for which veterans often are overlooked.

Nicole Mandeville oversees a staff of 10 responsible for increasing opportunities for minority, women and veteran businesses to participate in Cook County contracts.

Before joining Cook County this fall, Mandeville was associate deputy director for the Business Enterprise Program at the Illinois Department of Central Management Services. There, she increased the vendor pool to include minority- and women-owned businesses as well as businesses owned by people with disabilities. Earlier, Mandeville was senior program manager at the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Mandeville joined the U.S. Army Reserves as a junior in high school and served from 1988 to 1996. During her freshman year in college, she deployed to the Persian Gulf in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield and Operation Provide Comfort with the 308th Civil Affairs Group.

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Over the last 20 years, Johnson has helped family support groups for military units activated for service. He has served on the military detail to honor veterans at burial services and guided young people on the decision to enlist.

At Zurich North America, Jason Meador manages the insurer’s $2 billion (gross written premium) group captives business, which includes member-owned, agency and fronted captives. Meador’s team added three captives in 2020 and two so far this year, delivering financial results that exceeded plan. Meador enlisted in the Navy at age 18 and became qualified to operate a nuclear reactor a year later. He rose to program manager at Naval Reactors headquarters in Washington, D.C. At Marquette University, he was in the Navy ROTC and was chosen his senior year to lead 120 Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps students. Meador is a member of the Veterans Engagement Team at Zurich, a group that participates in recruiting events for veterans. Meador speaks about his Navy service, networks and coaches veterans seeking career help.

CONGRATULATIONS

TO LAURENT “LT” THERIVEL President and CEO of UScellular We applaud LT for being named a 2021 Notable Veteran Executive by Crain’s Chicago Business and for his ongoing commitment to supporting veterans in our company and community. He is a model for empowerment, collaboration and coaching.

We thank him for his leadership excellence.

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38 NOVEMBER 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

ROBERT MORRISON

BRAD PURTELL

JACK RIVES

LARUE ROBINSON

Retired CEO and corporate board member Quaker/Kraft

Vice president, services business development Invenergy

Executive director American Bar Association

Partner Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Robert Morrison was chairman and CEO of both Kraft Foods and Quaker Oats, retiring as vice chairman of PepsiCo in February 2003.

While at Kraft, he initiated a program to recruit veterans, several of whom went on to become CEOs of other public companies. A captain in the Marines, he was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart in 1965 for service in Vietnam. A supporter of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, he also received the Semper Fidelis Award from the Corps’ Scholarship Foundation.

Morrison has been a member of the boards of the Urban League of Chicago, the United Way of Chicago, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Grocery Manufacturers of America and the Commercial Club and also was a Museum of Science & Industry trustee.

Brad Purtell is responsible for key customer relationships for operations and management services for renewable generation facilities across the United States and internationally.

He’s launched third-party services business, supported expansion of services business into Mexico and contracted on more than 7,500 megawatts of new services in less than three years. He founded the Invenergy Veterans Network in 2017 to help with recruiting, employee engagement and community outreach to Invenergy veterans as well as external organizations.

He was the founding sponsor of the Veterans Advanced Energy Project in 2017 and led several fundraising efforts to support organizations such as Hiring Our Heroes, Navy/Marine Corps Relief Society, Team Rubicon and Fisher House Foundation. Purtell was a Naval nuclear electrician’s mate submariner on the USS La Jolla.

Following a 33-year career as a military attorney and judge advocate in the Air Force, where he was the first lieutenant general in the history of any military service’s JAG Corps, Jack Rives began serving as the American Bar Association’s executive director, focusing on membership, nondues revenue and budgeting. He oversaw a comprehensive task force on the legal needs arising out of the pandemic, led the launch of the ABA Racial Equity in the Justice System website and secured cooperation from more than 50 law schools for the Legal Education Police Practices Consortium. As a member of the Legal Services Corp.’s Veterans Task Force, he plays a vital role on the Task Force Implementation Group, which improves collaboration between the VA, Legal Aid and the veterans they serve.

LaRue Robinson is a litigation partner, managing trials and investigation matters in federal and state courts. In 2020, he headed an internal investigation of reported workplace racial mistreatment and was co-counsel in a pro bono case with the ACLU and NAACP Legal Defense Fund regarding South Carolina’s absentee voting laws. At Willkie, he leads efforts to increase the recruitment of veterans and, more broadly, helps former JAG Corps lawyers transition to the private sector.

He joined the Army as an ROTC scholarship recipient and rose to the rank of captain. After law school, he joined the Army JAG Corps, serving as lead administrative and labor law attorney for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, military magistrate for Fort Knox and lead prosecutor for the 3rd Chemical Brigade.

HIPOLITO “PAUL” ROLDAN CEO Hispanic Housing Development Corp.

Hipolito “Paul” Roldan’s Hispanic Housing Development Corp. has developed more than 4,500 affordable apartments and townhouses for families and elderly residents of several Hispanic communities. He also oversees Tropic Construction, a residential and commercial builder. In 2020, Hispanic Housing launched its affordable home purchase program and announced its first redevelopment project in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. A Vietnam veteran (1965-67) who was awarded a Bronze Star with “V” Device for combat duty, Roldan received a 1988 MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” for his work in community development. His 53rd housing project is named after “The Borinqueneers,” the first Hispanic military unit (and Korean War unit) awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. It will serve as rental housing at 1045 N. Sacramento Ave. for veterans on the Northwest Side.

STRATEGIST.

Congratulations to NGE Intellectual Property partner Mike Turner on his wellearned recognition as one of Crain’s 2021 Notable Military Veteran Executives.

MOTIVATOR.

Graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Mike served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and now shares his experience as a veteran and legal advisor to mentor young military officers, particularly those interested in law.

INFLUENCER.

RON

www.nge.com

Dedicated to our societal goal of justice for all, Neal Gerber Eisenberg proudly provides pro bono services to veterans in our community.

To learn more about our commitment to serving the most vulnerable members of our community and the impact of our efforts please visit www.nge.com/CSR

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • NOVEMBER 8, 2021 39

RONALD SEYMORE Principal—Enterprise Performance Management and Analytics Practice lead KPMG

Ronald Seymore leads the Enterprise Performance Management and Analytics Workday practice within the KPMG Technology Enablement practice, advising clients on monitoring the performance of business strategies. He is a leader of the KPMG Chicago Veterans Network, helping veterans transition out of the military, volunteering at food banks and partnering with the KPMG Network of Women for a clothing drive to dress military spouses for interviews. He also is on the boards of the Latin School of Chicago and

the Comer Foundation’s Network for Young Adult Success. Seymore enlisted in the Marine Corps, won a Naval ROTC Marine option scholarship and was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant; later he was awarded a Naval Achievement Medal and obtained the rank of captain.

JOANNA GARCIA SOHOVICH CEO Chamberlain Group

JoAnna Garcia Sohovich guides Chamberlain Group’s strategy and is leading the company through a technology transformation.

Considered one of very few female veteran CEOs in the Chicago area, she champions diversity, equity and inclusion through business resource group creation, employee videos (in English and Spanish) and coffee chats engaging groups of 10 to 7,000 ONETeam members. More than a third of her leadership team are veterans. A Naval Academy graduate, Sohovich is a Six Sigma master black belt and Design for Six Sigma-certified. She serves on the U.S. Naval Academy board of trustees and is a member of the Nominating & Governance Committee. Sohovich is an independent director at Barnes Group, a member of YPO Gold Chicago and a member of the Committee of 200, an invitation-only membership organization of female business leaders.

LAURENT THERIVEL

MIKE TURNER

FERNANDO VALLES

President and CEO UScellular

Partner Neal Gerber Eisenberg

Program director, Veterans Project Thresholds

Laurent Therivel is president and CEO of UScellular, the country’s fourth-largest wireless carrier.

Taking over in the pandemic, he led the company almost entirely virtually while restructuring the executive team and, in April 2021, launched a new brand focused on “locally grown wireless.” A captain in the Marine Corps, he served as a communications officer in various locations in Southeast Asia.

He’s involved with UScellular’s Veterans & Associates Leading Organizational Results Associate Resource Group, which provides insights, support, guidance and

As co-chair of Neal Gerber Eisenberg’s industrial and manufacturing focus group, Mike Turner represents clients in intellectual property matters. A registered patent attorney and himself a patent holder, Turner earned a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering at West Point and served overseas in a Corps of Engineers combat unit.

Through the West Point Society of Chicago, he networks with junior military officers transitioning out of active service. As a member of the Tudor Society, a group of West Point graduates who are leaders in the civilian legal community, he

resources in the recruitment and transition of veteran associates.

Therivel recently hosted an open forum for associates to have a safe place to talk about and share their concerns with the events happening in Afghanistan.

helps fund and create internships for West Point law department cadets. Turner practices education law in a pro bono capacity for parents of special needs children, helping them obtain access to education, and is the author of “Raising Special Children.”

Fernando Valles heads Thresholds’ Veterans Project, a program for veterans with trauma and severe mental illnesses that provides housing, case management, psychiatry, substance use treatment and other holistic services. He served 12 years as a Navy petty officer and was deployed to Iraq three times. He started his career at Thresholds in 2010 as a community support specialist, carrying a caseload of civilian clients with serious mental illness. In partnership with the Chicago Botanic Garden, Valles established a nationally recognized horticultural-therapy program, co-created a Chicago Humane Society program that matches rescue dogs with veterans suffering from PTSD, partnered with local VA hospitals on new housing initiatives and worked with the McCormick Foundation and Boeing to help launch a citywide initiative to assist veterans affected by COVID-19.

Congratulations, Ron Seymore On being named as a Crain’s Chicago 2021 Notable Military Veteran Executive.

Thank you for your leadership of our Enterprise Performance Management and Analytics Workday practice and your dedication to inclusion and diversity at KPMG. Your strong moral compass, keen sense of integrity and exemplary leadership style shaped by the Marines are a true asset to our people, clients and community.

Learn more about our innovative business solutions and careers at kpmg.com.

© 2021 KPMG LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited, a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. The KPMG name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International.

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40 NOVEMBER 8, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

MELISSA VENTRONE

GILBERT VILLEGAS

TODD VIRGIL

DAVID WAGENER

JIHAN WALKER

Member and leader of the Cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy Business Unit Clark Hill

36th Ward alderman City of Chicago

Senior director, SaaS channel and strategic integration Zebra Technologies

Partner Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

Partner Jones Day

Todd Virgil leads a team that’s responsible for the strategy, development and partner management of Zebra’s software as a service channel as well as the go-to-market practice, including diligence, target identification and integration around mergers and acquisitions and Zebra Ventures. He is responsible for introducing military outplacement firms into Zebra’s recruiting methodology. Virgil also advised on the integration of military leadership principles and lessons into the company’s talent development programs. For the past two years, he’s served as the council chair of VETZ, Zebra’s inclusion network for veterans and their allies. Virgil was an Air Force captain who led the projects division of a military IT systems integration and test facility and commanded a squadron of 73 military members at an Air Force research lab.

David Wagener represents borrowers and lenders in financing transactions across a range of industries. He’s also a member of the firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee and played a pivotal role in developing educational programming on racial inequity. He represents veterans pro bono in claims for disability compensation.

Wagener was an infantry rifle platoon leader in Afghanistan with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and an infantry rifle company executive officer in Iraq. He’s a board member and storyteller with 2nd Story, an organization that promotes DEI through personal stories. “Heart of Nowhere” is available on 2nd Story’s website and shares his experiences in Afghanistan.

Wagener is also a member of the associates board at Steppenwolf Theatre, where he is a member of the education committee of the board of trustees.

Recognized nationally as a cybersecurity lawyer, Melissa Ventrone has been instrumental in creating a legal consulting group for cybersecurity services, Asset360.com.

As the pandemic forced companies to rely more on networks of remote workers, cyber and ransomware attacks increased significantly. Ventrone and her team saw a 51% increase in new clients over an 18-month period.

Her military experience—she retired as a major after 21 years in the Marine Corps—with multiple deployments prepared her to assist companies, particularly during negotiations with those holding data and systems hostage. She volunteers as an ombudsman at Employer Support of the Guard & Reserve, mediating employment-related disputes. She’s also a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Ald. Gilbert Villegas was a Marine colonel who was deployed to Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. Elected in 2015 to the Chicago City Council, he founded its Veterans Caucus; he also chairs the Committee on Economic, Capital & Technology Development and the City Council Latino Caucus. Villegas worked with colleagues to create a veteran business enterprise program to offer the same bid incentives offered to minority- and women-owned businesses. He’s also passed legislation focused on opportunities for veteran-owned businesses. Most recently, he led the charge to ensure that the $8.5 billion O’Hare International Airport Modernization Plan included an oversight commission to ensure that hiring practices include veterans. Additionally, he works with other veterans organizations, including the Chicago Marines Foundation and Veteran Housing.

Jihan Walker is a trial attorney focused on the defense of individual and class-action product liability lawsuits. She’s taken on a leadership role at Jones Day during the pandemic, hosting weekly training sessions on various litigation topics; she also led a panel discussion in June 2020 for 600 attendees on steps corporations can take to advance diversity, equity and inclusion. A member of Jones Day’s Chicago Office Diversity and Pro Bono committees, Walker organized a judges panel for female attorneys in Chicago. Walker was in the Army JAG Corps, including service in combat zones representing soldiers in southwestern Afghanistan and at forward operating bases. She later became a prosecutor and a defense attorney and later served as an appellate attorney representing the United States in court-martial appeals.

SERVICE • TEAMWORK MANAGING RISK The principles that John P. Calamos, Sr. honed while serving in the U.S. Air Force have guided our investment process and business mission for over 40 years.

To all those who have served or are serving in the military, Calamos Investments extends our deepest gratitude.

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