Crain's Chicago Business

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • August 9, 2021 25

2021

LGBTQ EXECUTIVES These 50 Notable LGBTQ executives are accomplished in banking, finance, law, health care, retail, young ventures and nonprofits. The list includes the well-established organizations that serve the LGBTQ community, including Howard Brown Health, AIDS Foundation Chicago and Center on Halsted as well as newer entrants such as the Care Plan. The Notables already had track records of supporting LGBTQ causes. But the reckoning last year over inequality opened an opportunity for them to work on redoubled corporate initiatives in diversity and inclusion.

Many are involved in broadening recruiting and employee development to

grow more diverse workforces.

A number of them lead Pride resource groups at their companies and help organize participation in the Pride parade and other events. They don’t hesitate to raise awareness of issues of importance to the community such as all-gender restrooms and domestic partner benefits. They make a point of mentoring LGBTQ colleagues at their companies or through professional organizations. They also reach out to students—the next generation that will continue to push for change and equality in the workplace.

By Judith Crown and Lisa Bertagnoli

KARA ALBERT

AMY ARMSTRONG

MARK W. BENNETT

Head of U.S. engagement, diversity and inclusion Kraft Heinz

Vice president, compliance advisory Discover Financial Services

Partner Laner Muchin

In her diversity and inclusion role, Kara Albert has developed data-driven strategies to improve representation and culture through recruitment, development and retention.

In the past 18 months, Albert launched the Black Business Resource Group mentoring program and other programs to accelerate growth and development of Black employees. She developed an inclusivity curriculum focused on eliminating bias in hiring and employee evaluations. She leads six business resource groups, and she teamed with resource group leaders to grow membership by 60 percent and establish supportive forums for employees. Albert joined Kraft Heinz in 2019; she previously was self-employed as a consultant, facilitator and trainer. She has almost 20 years of experience working with companies, nonprofits and educational organizations in personal and professional development, engagement, manager and leader training, team building and culture.

A specialist in corporate risk management, Amy Armstrong is responsible for compliance advisory for deposits, home equity, personal loans and e-business.

Armstrong and her team translated 1,000 complex legal requirements to plain language compliance standards, which helped business units design controls to manage consumer risks. Armstrong, who has more than 15 years of compliance experience, began her career with the Federal Reserve System. She joined Riverwoods-based Discover in 2019 from Dutch-owned Rabobank in California, where she was senior vice president and director of compliance and fair lending. Armstrong recently was executive co-sponsor for a recent DEI event that assessed the impact of the George Floyd murder. She also co-sponsored an event for Pride month. She’s a member of the Center on Halsted Director’s Circle.

Attorney Mark W. Bennett represents employers in labor relations, employment litigation, employee benefits and business immigration matters. He oversees the work of 10 attorneys and staff. He negotiates collective bargaining agreements on behalf of employers and represents them in union election and representation cases and unfair labor practice cases before government labor boards. Since September Bennett successfully sought injunctions preventing public health care workers from striking in three labor disputes.

He’s a charter member of the firm’s DEI Committee and is active in the Lesbian & Gay Bar Association of Chicago. As a

resident of Ravenswood, he is active in the Second Unitarian Church of Chicago and is a liaison between the church and the Lighthouse Foundation, an organization focused on Black LGBTQ issues.

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METHODOLOGY: The individuals and companies featured did not pay to be included. Their profiles were drawn from the nomination materials submitted. This list is not comprehensive. It includes only individuals for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after a review by editors. To qualify for the list, nominees must serve in a senior role, make significant contributions to advancing equality at their own workplace or beyond, and act as a role model or mentor.

JACQUELINE BOYD

WILLIAM BUTLER

Founder and CEO The Care Plan

Senior vice president, retail Cresco Labs

Jacqueline Boyd is the founder of the young company that helps people navigate the challenges of health and aging, with a focus on the LGBTQ community.

The organization offers help on same-sex relationship rights, HIV discrimination prevention and trans and gender concerns.

During the pandemic, Boyd retained all team members and provided a cost-of-living bonus.

Before starting her business, Boyd was director of operations at Home Instead Senior Care.

She’s consulted with LGBTQ nonprofits, including Howard Brown Health and the AIDS Foundation Chicago. Boyd has presented at conferences including the American Society on Aging National Conference and the Los Angeles County Older Adult Summit. Boyd is co-chair of the nonprofit One Roof Chicago. And she hosts South Side Swell, which connects South Side LGBTQ communities.

At Cresco Labs, William Butler steers retail operations of 32 stores in seven states, including 10 in Illinois. Managing the merchant organization includes inventory, vendor relationships and employee training. Cresco’s Sunnyside retail operations last year more than tripled, and average revenue per store increased to $3.9 million in the first quarter of this year. With a focus on diversity, the retail arm last year reached a milestone: 59 percent of hires were women or minorities. Butler joined Cresco last year from Carnival Cruise Line, where he was vice president, retail. One highlight was delivering a large, multi-deck retail space on the Carnival Horizon.

Earlier, he was vice president and general manager at FAO Schwarz in New York. He is on the board of the nonprofit Soles4Souls.

26 August 9, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

ELLIOTT CRIGGER

PAUL DESOUSA

COLLEEN D. EGAN

Director of ethics policy American Medical Association

Vice president, talent management Ulta Beauty

President and CEO Illinois Science & Technology Coalition & Institute

At Ulta Beauty, Paul DeSousa is responsible for building the talent pipeline, onboarding, leadership development, succession planning, performance management and store associate training. During the pandemic, DeSousa converted onboarding and leadership development offerings to virtual experiences and led new in-store health and safety training. He leads the Pride group within the retailer’s diversity and inclusion network.

Recently, he developed programs in support of key LGBTQ dates, including Transgender Day of Visibility, Transgender Day of Remembrance and National Coming Out Day. During the last three years, he facilitated diversity and inclusion curriculum for corporate and store associates. DeSousa was promoted to his current position earlier this year; previously he was vice president, enterprise training. He joined Bolingbrook-based Ulta in 2007 from Old Navy, where he was a district manager.

Last year, Colleen D. Egan became the first woman and LGBTQ person to lead the nonprofit organization that cultivates technology-based economic development in Illinois.

The institute focuses on STEM education and mentoring programs. Egan created the organization’s first equity framework and developed new programs. She’s been asked to serve on technology, innovation, equity and education, and planning groups for city and state organizations. Egan also is a founding member of the Women in Entrepreneurship Institute at DePaul University, which recently completed its fourth cohort and started a new program with the YWCA serving Black women entrepreneurs.

Egan mentors entrepreneurs through several programs, including the Chicago Innovation Women’s Mentoring Co-op. She recently joined the advisory board of the nonprofit Chicago:Blend, which aims for diversity and inclusion in venture capital.

Elliott Crigger provides expertise on ethics in medicine for the AMA’s Council on Ethical & Judicial Affairs. In a series of essays for the AMA’s online COVID-19 Resource Center, Crigger applied the AMA Code of Medical Ethics to analyze dilemmas arising in the COVID-19 pandemic and provide guidance for physicians. Crigger is co-leading a team to implement policy on racism in medicine adopted by the AMA House of Delegates in 2020. Before joining the AMA in 2007, Crigger was chief of ethics communications for the National Center for Ethnics in Health Care at the Veterans Health Administration in Washington, D.C. In December, he participated with fellow out trans leaders in business at Brandeis University’s LGBTQ+ panel discussion. He is on the board of Howard Brown Health.

RYAN GARRISON

KEN J.A. GRIFFIN

Co-founder and principal Garrison Olson

Chief operating officer Howard Brown Health

Ryan Garrison is co-founder of the digital marketing agency specializing in SEO, content marketing, paid media, social media, digital PR and branding.

Despite the challenges of the last 18 months, Garrison’s team posted 100 percent revenue growth and lost no clients. Clients include national firms Prudential and Catalina Marketing and local pizza chain Home Run Inn. Garrison co-founded Garrison Olson in 2019. Previously he was senior client strategist at content marketing agency Imagination and also held positions at Digital Third Coast Internet Marketing and seoClarity. Garrison is chair of Chicago House, where he oversees the organization’s finances, the recent relocation of its corporate headquarters to Chicago’s Near South Side, its five-year strategic plan, funding for its new Englewood housing initiative, donor strategy and board recruitment.

As COO, Ken J.A. Griffin oversees more than 100 staff in practice operations, patient services, patient experience, facilities, safety, executive management and Broadway Youth Center.

Since joining Howard Brown in December, Griffin led the organizing and hosting of Chicago’s first COVID-19 mass vaccination event, enhanced COVID-19 testing by finding new community ambassador organizations and prepared the agency to continue offering primary care with the city’s reopening. Griffin previously was COO for the St. Louis County Department of Public Health, overseeing 18 departments including three clinic locations. He was on the Coronavirus Emergency Management team, helping the county’s response. Griffin was able to expand services to include telehealth for 38,000 uninsured adults, children and people in homeless shelters. Earlier, Griffin worked at Barnes Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

CHRIS HAEN

NEENA HEMMADY

DARRIOUS HILMON

DANIEL HOPPE

TIFFANY HUDSON

Executive director Lurie Children’s Health Partners Care Coordination

Vice president, support services Commonwealth Edison

Executive director Chicago State Foundation

Partner Kirkland & Ellis

Co-founder and head of accounts Nova Collective

Neena Hemmady oversees a team of 320 supporting environmental, safety and human performance programs, training, real estate and facilities, mapping, and fleet maintenance. Before starting the new position in February, Hemmady was vice president of enterprise risk management at Exelon. In that role, she spearheaded creation of a tool that manages top risks across the company and led the development of a model that identifies and implements best operating practices. Hemmady is the executive sponsor for the company’s Pride employee resource group, which raised awareness for all-gender restrooms and created domestic partner benefits. She is also involved in the company’s racial equity task force. Hemmady is on the board of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights and is on the steering committee for Equality Illinois.

In his two years leading the foundation at Chicago State University, Darrious Hilmon grew revenues to $3.5 million from $694,000 and the endowment to $9.7 million from $6.7 million. The endowment’s growth was fueled by a $1 million gift. In October, the foundation hosted an inaugural fundraising event in a virtual format. Hilmon also worked to build a diverse board and empaneled nine directors: Seven are women, and seven are people of color. Before joining Chicago State in 2019, Hilmon was chief of external affairs at Chicago International Charter School and earlier was a top executive at Chicago Urban League. He recently was selected as a reviewer for the Racial Equity 2030 project co-sponsored by the George D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Corporate partner Daniel Hoppe counsels leveraged buyout and private equity funds and their portfolio companies.

Hoppe has represented clients in more than 25 matters with an estimated value of $4 billion.

Key clients include AE Industrial Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners and Thoma Bravo. Hoppe’s pro bono service focuses on the rights of the LGBTQ community. He’s assisted Howard Brown Health Center and provided the youthled GenderCool Project with a review of its nonprofit incorporation documents. Hoppe also is coordinator for the firm’s LGBTQ+ affinity group in the Chicago office and helps organize Kirkland’s annual Pride retreat. He’s involved in the affinity group’s Pride mentorship program focused on the needs of LGBTQ attorneys. He also mentors LGBTQ students at local law schools through a Kirkland program.

Tiffany Hudson is a co-founder of Nova Collective, which provides consulting, training and learning programs with a DEI focus. She oversees Nova’s accounts team. Hudson started Nova in 2017 with three women partners.

Since its start, revenue has grown to $4 million and the workforce tripled in the past year to 30. Nova Collective worked with 75 organizations within the past year, including several Fortune 500 companies.

Before starting Nova Collective, Hudson was senior client relationship manager at Second City Works, the professional training arm of Second City comedy theater. The partners donate 4 percent of profits to organizations that share its goal of representation and inclusion. She is on the board of the nonprofit Race Conscious Dialogues and is a frequent speaker on diversity in the workplace.

Chris Haen runs a care coordination program operated

by Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Started in 2014, the team of clinical social workers and registered nurses coordinates services to families with medically complex children. In the first year of the program, Medicaid patients enrolled in the program had a 50 percent decrease in hospital days, a 22 percent reduction in emergency room visits and an overall 18 percent decrease in cost of care. Last year, Lurie Children’s won a $16 million award from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to implement a program, All Hands Health Network, to improve the health of children on the West Side. Haen joined Lurie Children’s Hospital in 1999 as a senior social worker and has been in his current position since 2014.

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • August 9, 2021 27

CHRIS JAMERSON

CRAIG JOHNSON

GEORGE JORDAN

DANIEL KEDISH

LOUIS KLAPP

Chief medical informatics officer Advocate Aurora Health

Group manager, minority affairs section American Medical Association

President Oxford Hotels & Resorts

Vice president and strategic assistant to the North America CEO Zurich North America

Partner Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila

At Advocate Aurora in Downers Grove, Dr. Chris Jamerson is responsible for enhancing clinical care through the thoughtful use of technology at 26 hospitals and 500 care sites.

Throughout the pandemic, he’s had responsibility for implementing rapidly emerging clinical guidance into the system’s electronic health record. In the past year, he completed the consolidation of 30 electronic medical record systems. He also created a standardized training curriculum that switched to a remote format. Jamerson teamed with community organizations and created algorithms to prioritize access to vaccinations. He also shepherded an overhaul of how sexual orientation and gender identity are reflected in patient records. Jamerson teaches an elective at Rosalind Franklin University Medical School on Sexual and Gender Minority Health. He began his medical career in pediatrics.

At the AMA, Craig Johnson manages the Minority Affairs Section that focuses on enhancing minority health policy and improving workforce diversity in medicine. For four of his six years at the AMA, he managed the Advisory Committee on LGBTQ Issues and its 500-member caucus. Johnson is also chair of the AIDS Foundation Chicago. This year he was appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to the Advisory Council on LGBTQ+ Issues, where he is a co-lead on public health priorities. At the AMA, Johnson contributed to policy briefs on transgender health care, affirmation surgeries and public accommodations for transgender persons. Johnson also directs the AMA’s Doctors Back to School program, in which volunteer physicians and medical students visit schools to encourage youth from underrepresented communities to consider careers in medicine.

George Jordan leads Chicago-based Oxford Hotels & Resorts and is general manager for the Chicago-area hotel cluster.

Oxford operates 22 hotels nationally, including six in Chicago.

During the pandemic, he secured 1,100 rooms for the city of Chicago’s use, which enabled the company to continue operations and keep employees on the payroll. Jordan was instrumental in securing PPE for team members. He joined Oxford in 2009 as executive vice president and was named president in 2019. One highlight was repositioning the Hotel Versey as a hip urban oasis with a large LGBTQ customer base. He’s worked in hotels for 30 years and spent 12 years with Hilton International, including a four-year assignment at the Drake Hotel.

He is on the DePaul University School of Hospitality board of advisors.

At the insurance giant in Schaumburg, Daniel Kedish coordinates stakeholders to ensure optimal operations and delivery. He coordinates executive team meetings and agendas and serves on projects such as the COVID Crisis Management Team. Kedish is a founding member of Zurich’s Executive Diversity & Inclusion Council, formed after George Floyd’s death. He championed a dashboard showing gender, race and ethnicity representation in the workforce. Before being named to his current position in 2019, Kedish was director of diversity and inclusion and worked with HR to develop a multiyear strategy supporting recruitment, retention and development of diverse talent. As past national chair of the PrideZ employee resource group, Kedish successfully made the business case to executive leadership for Zurich’s first participation in the Chicago Pride parade in 2019.

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OUR TEAM PROUDLY INCLUDES

THE VERY BEST We know our best asset is our people. And, we wouldn’t be the company we are today without them. We’d like to thank Janet for her expertise in the industry, dedication to serving our communities, and leadership set by example. We’re proud to call you part of the Wintrust family.

Congratulations to our 2021 Crain’s Notable LGBTQ Executive!

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Banking products provided by Wintrust Financial Corp. banks.

JANET KORANDA Senior Vice President and Senior Credit Officer Wintrust Commercial Real Estate

Litigation partner Louis Klapp represents clients in patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret disputes. For a well-known smartphone company accused of patent infringement, Klapp convinced the court to dismiss the case and bar an attempt to refile. Through his pro bono practice, he’s advanced the rights of the LGBTQ community. For example, he assisted or led teams challenging the constitutionality of a statute that barred transgender prisoners from accessing hormonal therapy treatment. Klapp is on the firm’s recruiting and development committee, responsible for hiring and training associate attorneys. He also co-developed and manages the firm’s internship program, which aims to hire students from diverse backgrounds and expand the talent pipeline. Klapp joined Riley Safer Homes & Cancila in 2019 from Quarles & Brady, where he was a partner.

28 August 9, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

JANET KORANDA

FRANCO LA MARCA

JORGE LEON

TOM MENARD

Senior vice president, senior credit officer Wintrust Bank

Vice president, wealth advisor Bernstein Private Wealth Management

Partner Michael Best & Friedrich

Vice president of operations AIDS Foundation Chicago

At Wintrust Bank, Janet Koranda oversees credit administration, underwriting, risk management and portfolio monitoring for Wintrust Bank’s commercial real estate business. She also leads and develops a team of portfolio managers and rotational credit analysts. Koranda’s leadership and oversight contributed to commercial real estate growth, including $240 million in increased loans last year. Recently, Koranda completed the Winning at Wintrust program at the Lake Forest Center for Leadership, a yearlong leadership develop-

Wealth advisor Franco La Marca manages assets of $200 million for high-net worth entrepreneurs and nonprofits. La Marca serves as a faculty member in Bernstein’s training program for new advisors.

He is also Bernstein’s Midwest Region LGBTQ Community Ambassador, engaging LGBTQ business leaders and nonprofits for new business opportunities. La Marca is board vice president of the Center on Halsted, and chairs the development committee.

He’s hosted Bernstein Chicago’s LGBTQ Pride Event for the past four years. And he is a national mentor to Bernstein’s LGBTQ employees. He joined Bernstein in 2018 from Charles Schwab, where he was vice president and financial consultant. Earlier, he was a senior financial adviser at Merrill Lynch. La Marca recently joined the Chicago-Milan Sister City Committee.

As co-group leader of the benefits practice, Jorge Leon oversees a group of 13 attorneys and paralegals. Recently, he was part of the defense team in a high-profile ERISA cybersecurity litigation. He also is co-chair of the firm’s DEI Committee.

Leon developed a transgender policy that prohibits philanthropic aid to groups that discriminate against individuals protected under the firm’s nondiscrimination policy.

Recently, he was responsible for Michael Best joining the Human Rights Campaign’s initiative promoting workplace support and equality for the

Tom Menard leads operations at the foundation, which brings together service providers and funders to serve those living with HIV/ AIDS. The organization manages more than $17 million in local, state and federal funds for AIDS-related services.

During the pandemic, Menard transitioned more than 130 staff to fully remote work, including those who’d never worked from home before, then later coordinated a safe return to the office.

He created and implemented equitable HR policies, including equitable parental leave, workplace transition policies for transgender individuals and removing gender-specific language from policies and documents. In addition, Menard led the foundation’s office design, buildout and relocation to a 35,000-square-foot space that includes a wall of plants to boost relaxation and creativity as well as open areas for team collaboration.

ment program. Koranda has participated as a mentor for the commercial banking mentorship program. Earlier, she developed new hire training for Wintrust Credit Academy and participated as a training facilitator. Koranda has been a Federal Club Member and volunteer for Human Rights Campaign, as well as a volunteer for American Cancer Society and PAWS Chicago.

HIV-positive. Leon mentors Hispanic and LGBTQ lawyers through the Hispanic National Bar Association and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois. He is on the board of the Field Museum and the subcommittee that resolves claims for returning artifacts to native populations.

DAVID ERNESTO MUNAR President and CEO Howard Brown Health

David Ernesto Munar leads the nonprofit that delivers health care and social services to more than 40,000 LGBTQ adults and youth. Last year Howard Brown was a leader in COVID-19 response, diagnosing 3 percent of all cases in Chicago and hosting the city’s first mass vaccination event. Late last year, the organization launched a five-year capital campaign to add three new clinics. Since joining Howard Brown in 2014, Munar has expanded services from three clinics to 12. He also diversified the executive leadership team and board of directors. This includes electing the first Black woman as board chair, Chef Fresh Roberson, and her predecessor Mario Treto Jr., the first Latino board chair.

Before joining Howard Brown, Munar was president and CEO of the AIDS Foundation Chicago.

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‘The challenges before us require investments in equity’ David Ernesto Munar has devoted his career to advancing LGBTQ issues and helping vulnerable populations. Since 2014, he’s led Howard Brown Health, the nonprofit that delivers health care and social services to the LGBTQ community. Earlier, he was CEO of the AIDS Foundation Chicago. As a bilingual Colombian American and gay man living with HIV, Munar serves as a role model for what is possible.

He engages with new employees and patient groups and can often be seen around Howard Brown clinics connecting with staff.

CRAIN’S: There’s been a rash of anti-LGBTQ measures in state legislatures. Do you see this sentiment creeping into Illinois?

MUNAR: According to the Human Rights Campaign, more than 250 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures, and at least 17 of those bills have been enacted into law. This makes 2021 the worst year in recent memory in terms of anti-LGBTQ legislation. Luckily for us, we have not seen anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in Illinois. In the spring legislative session, we saw many bills advancing LGBTQ health equity get passed.

That being said, we did see some ho-

mophobic and transphobic arguments against these pro-LGBTQ measures.

Equal access for transgender people has become fraught—why is this?

We started seeing fewer of those (anti-trans) bills especially after the huge backlash North Carolina received after passing its infamous bathroom bill. Now just a few years later, we’re seeing another surge of anti-trans legislation. This time, it’s largely targeted at trans youth, either through school sports participation or access to gender-affirming care.

In the past, the “issue” was that allowing trans people to use public restrooms will increase sexual assault, and now the issue is that allowing trans girls to compete in sports will result in unfair competition and lack of opportunities for cisgender athletes. There’s no data to support that either of these issues is occurring.

Do you see mistrust of the vaccine in your communities, and how do you counter that?

Mistrust and/or hesitancy to accept the vaccine is unfortunately something that our patients experience and express.

This mistrust is rooted in historical events where the medical industry has not acted in good faith with Black and

Brown communities’ health. As clinical providers, we need to acknowledge and listen to patients’ concerns, offer compassion and share what we know without undervaluing the human instinct to be precautious. Howard Brown developed a series of videos addressing common patient concerns.

With more awareness of inequality, corporations are pouring funds into initiatives, especially to open opportunities for Black and Latino people.

Is this corporate interest benefiting Howard Brown. If so, in what way?

power, or will funders lose interest?

The challenges before us as a society will present compelling arguments for continued investments in equity. The issues of climate change, viral pandemics and community safety demand equity approaches. They disproportionally affect communities of color and others facing stigma and discrimination. Equity investments are the path to making the world better for everyone.

What are Howard Brown’s top priorities coming out of the pandemic?

We remain deeply concerned by the relatively low percentage of Cook We have fielded a high number of corpoCounty residents who have been fully rate requests for training and education vaccinated. We will also continue to on LGBTQ+ and clinical topics, including efforts to practice public health from MISTRUST AND/OR HESITANCY TO ACCEPT THE an equity lens. Last year’s confluence VACCINE IS UNFORTUNATELY SOMETHING THAT of the pandemic, disproportionately OUR PATIENTS EXPERIENCE AND EXPRESS. affecting Black and Brown communifocus attention on the geographic areas ties, and protests against police brutality on the South and West sides of the city opened hearts and minds. It also preswhere the needs are greatest. Other sured corporations to consider how their priorities include addressing the needs priorities and practices might contribute of LGBTQ+ young people, especially to structural inequality. those experiencing homelessness.

Does this movement have staying

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CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS • August 9, 2021 29

BRAD PETERSON

NICOLE PRESPERIN

JERED PRUITT

Executive vice president Guaranteed Rate

Vice president of strategic initiatives–New Ventures Group Aon

Chief operating officer Chinese American Service League

Brad Peterson manages a team of 60 analytics professionals responsible for compensation, branch performance, P&L reporting, enterprise-vendor management, internal audits and corporate-insurance risk management.

To help sustain growth after a record-breaking 2020, he designed systems to monitor key performance metrics that helped, for example, integrate compensation for 1,500 new employees as part of several major acquisitions. A 12-year company veteran, he’s executive sponsor of PROUD, an employee resource group and support network that promotes LGBTQ inclusion and advancement inside Guaranteed Rate and throughout the mortgage industry. He oversees research to boost LGBTQ homeownership, conducts training to educate employees on differences between sexual identities and genders, and acts as a marketing resource to strengthen outreach in LGBTQ markets.

Nicole Presperin leads a team of project managers and financial analysts, oversees the New Venture Group portfolio’s commercial governance and chairs its Diverse & Inclusive Leadership Council, focusing on internal inclusion and diversity initiatives and client solutions.

Among firmwide global initiatives she’s sponsored: requiring unconscious bias training for all colleagues; piloting Aon’s inclusive recruiting strategy, resulting in 50 percent-plus diverse hires; launching a diverse sponsorship program, pairing 38 diverse colleagues with senior leaders; and partnering with UIC’s Break Through Tech Chicago to host five “sprinterns.” She also serves on the Ronald McDonald House board, co-chairing the I&D Taskforce. Her career began at PwC in audit and accounting management at Citadel LLC. She joined Aon in 2011.

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Jered Pruitt focuses on operations and administration, programming and development functions at the Chinese American Service League, the largest Asian American and Pacific Islander social service agency in the Midwest.

He oversees more than 100 full-time and 414 part-time staff as well as 200 volunteers serving thousands of individuals. He led CASL’s COVID-19 response, establishing PPE reserves and pivoting the case management system to remote work while managing an 8 percent increase in client services. When the senior meal programs had to close doors, he helped CASL adjust to delivering culturally appropriate meals to low-income seniors, implemented data-informed practices using Salesforce and created a Center for Social Impact to address social determinants of health barriers. Pruitt was instrumental in building CASL’s Community Equity Research Center and including a diversity, equity, inclusion and access officer.

KRISHNA RAMACHANDRAN Vice president, provider performance Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois

Krishna Ramachandran and his team collaborate with doctors and hospitals in the adoption of enhanced reporting, analytics and data-exchange capabilities that improve health outcomes and reduce costs for BCBSIL’s 8 million members. The planning and execution of the Epic Payer Platform (which offers a more efficient exchange of health information between payers and providers at the point of care) was completed in less than 60 days.

This resulted in near-real-time ac-

cess to content to support clinical use cases, which proved critical during the pandemic. He chairs BCBSIL’s “Eliminate Health Care Disparities” subcommittee.

VICTOR RAVAGO CEO and principal Bravo Hospitality Group

Victor Ravago is co-founder of Bravo Hospitality Group, a hotel company built, in part, to be a platform for economic growth opportunities for individuals of diverse backgrounds.

In addition to the day-to-day management of Bravo’s portfolio, projects and development, Ravago serves as treasurer and finance chair for the Center on Halsted, Chicago’s largest LGBTQ community center. He also is on the board of United We Dream, the largest youth-led immigrant rights organization in the United States. In 2010, he was a founding member of the San Diego Dream Team, a youth-led advocacy group for immigrant communities. In recent years he also served on the board of directors at the San Diego LGBT Community Center and the board of governors of the Human Rights Campaign.

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30 August 9, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

TRISH REED

BRYAN REYNOLDS

BRIAN RICHARDSON

VINCENT RIZZO

FRESH ROBERSON

J

Vice president and general manager, IC Bus Navistar

Senior director, sales operations TBI

Midwest regional director Lambda Legal

Partner Hinshaw & Culbertson

Chef Fresher Together

Vi A

Bryan Reynolds oversees a back-office customer-support organization for TBI, an enterprise technology company, with services ranging from quoting and solution design to implementation advocacy and project management. He is the co-founder and primary developer of the Leadership Development Program for aspiring employees to hone managerial skills. He also co-founded Resonate, TBI’s inclusion, equity and diversity employee resource group, with more than 10 percent of the company participating regularly. Reynolds serves as vice president for the associate board of Meals on Wheels Chicago and organized a team for the 5K March for Meals.

He is on the editorial advisory board of Channel Futures, an organization in the technology space, and speaks regularly at their events and contributes to their content as a subject matter expert on customer evolution and experience.

Brian Richardson oversees programming and outreach efforts in Midwestern states for Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization focused on the civil rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV. He presents educational programs and op-eds about legal issues affecting the LGBTQ community. He has served as a mentor through the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, is on the senior leadership team of the Center on Halsted and is on the board of directors of the ACLU of Illinois. Before joining Lambda Legal he served as deputy commissioner and director of public affairs of the Chicago Department of Health, was a communications manager at Google and was press secretary for former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.

Vincent Rizzo, a partner in the firm’s litigation and civil rights practice, represents clients at both the federal and state level, focusing on employment disputes, tort defense, constitutional violations and government-related matters. He regularly presents workshops to highlight issues impacting employers, with a focus on LGBTQ rights, including the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock and Masterpiece Cakeshop. Rizzo also leads the firm’s LGBTQ+ Corporate Equality & Harassment Prevention Training Program.

Rizzo also organizes an annual World AIDS Day event and an annual vigil for Transgender Day of Remembrance. He also presents annually at Lavender Law and is secretary of LAGBAC, Chicago’s LGBTQ+ bar association. He is on the board of directors for Changing Worlds, which provides programming to Chicago schools that foster inclusivity and enhance cross-cultural understanding.

Fresh Roberson is the founder of Fresher Together, a collaborative food and urban agriculture project for economic development, training and retreat. As a sex-positive fat activist, chef and chief farmer at Fresher Together, Roberson teaches others how food can support health equity and serve as a supplement to western medicine. Roberson is a longtime executive board member at Howard Brown Health and was recently nominated as the incoming chair of the agency’s board of directors.

Roberson helped push Howard Brown to launch prenatal care as a new service line in September 2020. Roberson works with students from UIC in summer programs and with Advocates for Urban Agriculture. Roberson chairs Rad Remedy’s board, is treasurer of Cooperation Operation and is a financial steward with the Transformative Justice Law Project.

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Trish Reed manages the Navistar bus business unit’s strategy and execution along with its daily business operations, including market share and margin.

In recent years, Reed and her team repositioned IC Bus as the school bus market leader in the United States and Canada, leading one business unit through the development and execution of an organizational restructuring and turning around another that resulted in 14 percent revenue growth and 49 percent profit improvement. She is a mentor in KPMG Future Leaders Mentoring Program and Navistar Young Professionals and served as executive adviser to Navistar’s Financial Diversity Council.

She captained D’s Dream Team MS Walk team that started in 2003 and has raised more than $50,000 during its tenure. She also serves on the board of the National Association of Pupil Transportation Foundation.

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JULIE RODRIGUEZ

RAYMOND RODRIGUEZ

DAVID SINSKI

BERNADETTE SMITH

TOBIAS SPEARS

Vice president Association House of Chicago

Abbott Academy director of the Joffrey Academy of Dance The Joffrey Ballet

Executive director Heartland Human Care Services

CEO Equality Institute

David Sinski manages Heartland Human Care Services programs serving more than 500,000 people each year nationwide through contextualized literacy and vocational literacy/English as a Second Language, as well as a continuum of housing services ranging from homeless prevention to refugee and immigrant services. Sinski joined Heartland in 2012 after serving 11 years with After School Matters as well as Alternatives Inc. and Mujeres Latinas en Acción. He is a member of the Partner Agency Council of the United States Committee on Refugees & Immigrants, a board member of Illinois Partners for Human Services and Travelers Aid International, and a Chicago Community Trust fellow. He also has served for six years as board chair of the Adler University board of trustees and now chairs the campaign committee.

Bernadette Smith manages a team of consultants, coaches and facilitators serving organizations that are on a DEI journey. A social entrepreneur for 17 years, her career began in 2004 as a specialized LGBTQ wedding planner and has since evolved beyond LGBTQ inclusion into DEI more broadly. Beginning in 2020, she doubled the size of her company to create job opportunities for people from underrepresented groups, and in June 2021, worked with more than 25 companies on Pride programming. She serves as a 1:1 mentor to businesses through StartOut as well as to companies that participate in the LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s LGBTQ+ Business Bootcamp. Her new book, “Inclusive 360: Proven Solutions for an Equitable Organization,” will be released this fall.

Assistant dean and senior director for diversity and inclusion University of Chicago–Biological Sciences Division

Julie Rodriguez oversees all program operations in the four major program areas for Association House: behavioral health, workforce development, child welfare and the Association House High School. She oversees the negotiation, execution and evaluation of myriad contracts that serve particularly sensitive populations, including the intellectually or developmentally disabled, the formerly incarcerated seeking substance-use treatment and families seeking mental health counseling. A licensed therapist and operations expert, she administers complex safety-net programs, including Medicaid and foster care management. She co-chairs the Community Behavioral Healthcare Association’s subcommittee on race, equity and social justice and participates in an anti-racism committee for the Association House High School.

She also serves on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Adult Use Cannabis Health Advisory Committee.

Raymond Rodriguez works in partnership with Ashley Wheater, the Mary B. Galvin artistic director, directing the strategic planning for the academy while overseeing school, youth, adult and family programming as well as teacher and ballet training. He was instrumental in the creation of a virtual learning curriculum as well as the “Joffrey for All” strategic plan, which includes expansion to the South Loop neighborhood and the acquisition of a new studio space at 1920 S. Wabash Ave. He helped establish an open door policy that encourages feedback, no matter the issue, which led, for example, to the establishment of the BIPOC Academy Committee and the installation of gender-neutral bathrooms.

He was a principal dancer with the Cleveland Ballet.

Tobias Spears develops and supervises policies and practices directed at increasing the hiring and retention of diverse employees. He led an initiative to have every unit in the organization establish local-level DEI plans and launched two organizationwide virtual mini-institutes to provide a forum for knowledge and skill building in anti-racism work.

Spears was instrumental in establishing employee resource groups as well as the Inclusion Menu, where he facilitates sessions with individual units to help them tackle the challenges of equity. In a previous position he deployed the universitywide Safe Space curriculum. Since 2017, he’s been a consultant and mentor for the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination, and from 2018 to 2020 was chair of the Howard Brown Health Community Advisory Board. He’s also a member of the AMA Colleges Group on Diversity & Inclusion.

32 August 9, 2021 • CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS

DAVID SPENCER

SCOTT STUART

CHUCK SWIRSKY

PHILIP TORTORICH

MODESTO VALLE

System vice president, health care technology management Advocate Aurora Health

CEO Turnaround Management Association

Deputy chief of public policy Chicago Public Schools

Founding member Actuate Law

CEO Center on Halsted

David Spencer leads clinical engineering, health care technology acquisition, business intelligence and the development of strategy and innovations for nonclinical operations— including environmental services, food and nutrition services, facilities, construction, supply chain and security—at Advocate Aurora Health. He oversees more than 200 employees, a $90 million operating budget and an $80 million capital budget. He’s an executive member of the LGBT Health Equity committee that works, for example, to implement gender-neutral restrooms across Illinois and Wisconsin to better serve trans patients and team members. During the COVID-19 response, the health system implemented drive-thru and mobile testing, new PPE standards, universal masking and temperature screens, new cleaning protocols and the delivery of food and water to direct-care team members.

Spencer is a member of the Project Management Institute.

Scott Stuart oversees all of the Turnaround Management Association’s programming, conferences, education, technology and finances. His staff of 20—more than 50 percent women, several in senior roles— serves about 10,000 members worldwide. During the last 18 months, Stuart, who sits on TMA’s global and European boards, has been involved with a global DEI initiative designed to improve diversity within both the organization and the corporate-turnaround profession. Part of that effort involves support for TMA’s Network of Women and NextGen affinity groups as well as outreach to students at the junior- through postgrad-college levels. He’s held positions with the American Bar Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute and the New York Institute of Credit, and he previously served on the board of Futures & Options.

Chuck Swirsky runs a team of more than 50 people overseeing departments such as intergovernmental affairs, family and community engagement, local school councils, faithbased, parent universities and community action councils. Over the past 18 months, Swirsky led the federal engagement strategy, helping form education stimulus-funding legislation as a member of the Council of Great City Schools legislative working group. He also lobbied for regulatory relief to enable students to receive school meals while not in the physical classroom and assisted in engagement for Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer outreach. At CPS, he revitalized the grant-writing process, leading to more than $100 million in grants. He’s engaged in I Am ALS and has been involved with Big Green, formerly the Kitchen Community.

Philip Tortorich’s practice area includes private client services, providing legal advice and consulting to owners of privately held businesses and to highnet-worth families. His work includes income and estate mitigation strategies, along with philanthropic structuring to meet client objectives. He is one of only a few attorneys handling the income, estate and gift-tax aspects of captive insurance programs for closely held middle-market businesses. He is board president of the Legal Council for Health Justice, formerly the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago, helping clients who need but cannot afford estate-planning services. He is also secretary of Baskets of Courage. Tortorich was an associate and then partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman from 2000 to 2018, joining that firm’s LGBTQ affinity group.

Modesto Valle provides strategic vision for the Center on Halsted, helping to refocus the organization on racial equity and inclusion.

This effort included hiring consultants, creating a senior leadership position to focus on REI, developing equity-leadership groups for staff and the board alike and issuing its first racial-equity statement and equity tool. He’s been instrumental in bringing professional development opportunities to senior leadership and staff. Before joining the center, Valle helped bring the largest display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt to Washington, D.C. He serves on the CenterLink Board of directors and is actively involved in the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Arts Club of Chicago, Illinois Partners Human Services, One Northside Chicago, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and All Chicago.

ROB VOLK

LEWIS WARRICK

JULIE WEBB

ERIC WELT

GABRIEL WYNER

Founder and CEO Foxbox Digital

Chief financial officer Goodman Theatre

Partner Locke Lord

Managing director Mesirow

CEO Fluent Forever

Rob Volk is responsible for defining the strategy of Foxbox, a digital product agency. During the pandemic, his company helped an enterprise health care organization launch a mobile telehealth product. Volk leads monthly town halls to encourage team member input and ensure that policy verbiage remains free of exclusive language or problematic nomenclature.

His establishment of a flexible PTO policy enables global employees to celebrate their uniquely personal traditions.

Prior to starting Foxbox Digital, Volk was co-founder and chief technology officer of Detective, a venture-backed intelligence platform with 200,000 users.

Volk also co-founded Chicago Tech Leaders, a 100-member professional organization for tech leaders. He is also a member of the Queer Tech Club and StartOut. Foxbox Digital is a certified LGBT business with the National and Illinois LGBT chambers of commerce.

At the Goodman, Lewis Warrick oversees the budget’s annual development and daily management, supervises HR, works with bank partners and investment portfolio managers, and collaborates with the senior leadership team. During the pandemic, the Goodman board has resisted massive furloughs or layoffs, making financial management a critical priority.

Warrick maintained cash flow through reserves; worked with PNC Bank partners on PPP loans to continue operations; secured a line of credit that was a financial backstop; and pursued the Shuttered Venues grant, which could result in eliminating a financial deficit for fiscal 2021. Warrick also helped in the creation of the Goodman’s Community Agreement to ensure a safe theater space for all who enter the Goodman’s doors, as well as the theater’s Action Plan for IDEAA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racism and Access).

Julie Webb is an antitrust and litigation partner at Locke Lord, representing clients in class actions and complex litigation as well as providing pro bono representation to asylum seekers, U-Visa applicants and prisoners.

She co-chairs the diversity and inclusion committee in Locke Lord’s Chicago office and also serves on the firmwide D&I committee, overseeing recruitment, retention and initiatives supporting equal justice and civil rights organizations. Webb was also chosen as Locke Lord’s 2020 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity fellow. She spearheaded the firm’s involvement in the National LGBT Bar Association’s Lavender Law Career Fair, helping it achieve a 100 percent rating on the Corporate Equality Index and being named an employer of choice for LGBTQ employees. She’s an appointed member of the ABA’s Commission on Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity.

Eric Welt oversees business development in the investment consultant channel and is responsible for the growth of Mesirow’s equity, fixed-income and currency businesses.

A 28-year veteran of the financial services industry, he’s also a member of Mesirow’s LGBTQ group, PrideConnect, and recently proposed and moderated Out in Finance, a Mesirow-sponsored panel discussion for LGBTQ professionals. In 2014, Welt initiated the firm’s participation in the Big Shoulders Fund’s Stock Market Program, educating young students on financial literacy. He is a CFA charterholder, a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago, and a former trustee for Second Sense, a Chicago not-for-profit that provides support and training for individuals with vision loss. He’s also a former trustee for the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ Community Trust.

Gabriel Wyner directs the company strategy, fundraising and R&D for Fluent Forever, an app that helps users learn foreign languages quickly. In 2014 he wrote “Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It.” In September 2017, he launched a Kickstarter campaign that reportedly became the most-funded app in crowdfunding history; he also won StartOut NYC’s 2019 pitch competition for LGBTQ founders. Wyner frequently writes articles on diversity and inclusion topics for Pride month, BLM and National Coming Out Day, and he increased LGBTQ presence in Fluent Forever’s team from around 6.5 percent to more than 20 percent. A former opera singer born and raised in Los Angeles, Wyner graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with dual degrees in mechanical engineering and vocal arts performance.