October 18 - 24, 2023

A LETTER FROM YWCA METROPOLITAN CHICAGO CEO NICOLE ROBINSON

For the past 51 years, the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago’s signature annual event, the Leader Luncheon, has harnessed the power of storytelling to celebrate local sheroes who are driving change and, through their own spheres of influence, embody the YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women. In honor of our 2023 event on November 16, this issue of Streetwise is dedicated to this year’s Leader Luncheon theme, Equitable

Equitable Futures implores each of us to take a moment to look up and out, rise from the mire and cynicism of everyday life, and realize the possibility of what can be when we take hold of our power and direct it toward peace and justice for all.

That’s what this year’s Leader Luncheon honorees are all about. They are changing policies, breaking the rules, and speaking truth to power in the spirit of creating more equitable futures for us all. In the coming pages you will meet them and learn more about their amazing stories.

When I think about what an equitable future could look like, my mind turns to StreetWise. StreetWise is more than a publication. It is a comprehensive economic security strategy within the YWCA’s Economic Empowerment division. StreetWise micro-entrepreneurs seize the opportunity to transform the pain of past traumas into stories that foster dignity, respect, and acknowledgement. In an equitable future, people are given options to work, to contribute to society, to be seen, to belong. The pathways to equity are

individualized, nonlinear and unending. At the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, nearly 300 staff members, across 1300 square miles in 6 counties through 30 programs, provide a comprehensive spectrum of interventions across three key areas:

• Advancing safety, healing and belonging, which includes offering comprehensive therapeutic counseling services to individuals impacted by all forms of violence including gender-based and community-based.

• Unleashing Youth and Family Potential , connecting thousands of families to childcare resources by building the capacity of childcare providers, as well as empowering the next generation of youth through engaging programs.

• Driving economic equity, focusing on workforce training in high-growth, high-demand industries as well as accelerating small women-owned businesses

In the following pages, you’ll learn more about how YWCA Metropolitan Chicago is paving the way for a more equitable future for our region through innovative programs like our Breedlove Accelerator for Black women entrepreneurs or the Racial Justice League for Chicago corporate leaders. You will also join us for a conversation with this year’s Luncheon honorees, Kathy Bolhous, Chairman and CEO of Charter Next Generation, Tracie Hall, Former Executive Director of the American Library Association, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, PhD, First Deputy Chief of Staff for the City of Chicago and the youngest of this year’s honorees, The Pierce Twins!

All of these individuals have led in unique, trailblazing ways that have made our City better for everyone. Please know YOU can be a leader too! I hope you will join us on November 16 to meet our honorees in person and join the movement toward a more equitable future, a more equitable Chicago. One that works, for all of us.

With highest hopes,

profiles by Suzanne Hanney

Stories by Julie Youngquist

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YWCA LEADER LUNCHEON HONOREE OUTSTANDING LEADER IN BUSINESS

KATHY

BOLHOUS

CHAIRMAN & CEO, CHARTER NEXT GENERATION

Unlike the days when they were simply earning a paycheck, employees now view the business as owners. If there’s a labor shortage at one site, employees from other sites will provide assistance. Customer service employees will help with shipping, if needed.

Each plant has an ownership board that tracks daily metrics. Did they meet production targets? Were there scrap issues or quality issues?

“With equity, employee incentives are different. They’re more interested in whether their shift achieved its goals for the day, whereas before, they would get paid no matter what. They know if something went wrong on a shift and how to improve.”

Bolhous was born the ninth of 10 children in Mishawaka, IN and put herself through Hope College in Holland, MI. When she started her career in manufacturing 40 years ago, she was often the only woman in the room.

“I knew that if I persevered – worked twice as hard and kept my focus on delivering the type of performance my company was looking for – my results would speak for themselves.”

“Every single team member is part of the company’s success, so it doesn’t make sense to reward only the senior executives – the top 1-5%,” Bolhous said. Statistically, 40% of Americans have less than $400 in savings. They’re one car repair bill or health emergency away from financial disaster, she said.

Paychecks pay employees’ bills. Having an ownership stake, however, means they can buy a house and plan for retirement. Bolhous is moved when employees tell her that owning shares in the company will end generational poverty for them, like the employee who said he grew up too poor to have meals with his family, that they subsisted on Doritos and beef jerky.

Giving employees ownership shares also aligns them with management, she said. “Everyone has the same incentive: to create value for the long-term.” That has made good business sense at CNG’s 15 manufacturing plants around the U.S.

Her three decades in plastics manufacturing have included senior leadership roles at Appleton Paper, Cascade Engineering and Magna-Donnelly. In 2010, she was named CEO of Charter NEX, at the time valued at $58 million. She led the company through three different private-equity ownership transitions, including a 2019 merger with a competitor, Next Generation Films. Now headquartered in downtown Chicago, CNG is valued at nearly $5 billion.

CNG is “absolutely committed to sustainability” in its manufacturing operations and in its products. Its GreenArrow™ films are designed to be recyclable, with high levels of postconsumer recycled (PCR) content or plant-based resins so they can be composted.

Bolhous has been a board member of the Flexible Packaging Association since 2011, its chair and now vice-chair. In 2021, she was named to Forbes’s inaugural list of “50 Over 50” successful female founders, leaders and CEOs. Last year, Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) made her an Entrepreneur Of The Year ® Midwest Award winner.

2023

2023 YWCA LEADER LUNCHEON HONOREE OUTSTANDING LEADER IN RACIAL JUSTICE TRACIE

HALL

FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

As the American Library Association’s (ALA) first female African American executive director since its founding in 1876, Tracie D. Hall fought more book bans in classrooms and libraries across the United States – book bans that she says endanger educational outcomes, economic inclusivity –and American democ -

ALA reported 695 attempts to censor library materials and services and 1,915 challenges to books for the first eight months of 2023, which is up 20 % from the same period last year. Most challenges were to books written by people of color or LGBTQIA. Hall bolstered ALA’s in-house legal services and launched a comprehensive Unite Against Book Bans initiative. As a result, she’s

“Libraries should be the place where we can ask questions and get them answered, where we have access to the intellectual record of humanity as well as the cultural record,” Hall told StreetWise. “The right to read, just like freedom of speech, just like freedom of religion, are all part of our foundational First Amendment rights.”

Hall knows intuitively that intellectual freedom, diversity, and equity inclusion reinforce each other. Her grandmother was raised in the rural South, geographically isolated from many resources, with just a few years of formal education. When Bessie Mae Sanders-Scott discovered the clean and free Watts branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, she signed Hall up for a library card, took part in various programs, and learned right alongside her.

After graduate school, Hall worked at a homeless shelter in the city. Following her grandmother’s example, she got everyone in the shelter a library card, because she understood the connection between housing precariousness, low literacy and educational attainment. Shelter residents took part in literacy and GED programs, basic

education, and job finding services. They gained a place to belong and free recreation.

In addition to her MLIS from the University of Washington, Hall holds a master’s in International and Area Studies with an emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa from Yale University and dual bachelor’s degrees in Law and Society and Black Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has studied at the Universities of Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in East Africa.

Book bans are destructive, Hall said, because non-professionals – who may not have read a book, but only experienced it third-hand – seek to delegitimize collections curated by trained librarians to reflect the entirety of American experience. These controversies leave libraries vulnerable to disinvestment.

“It’s like someone walking into a hospital and saying, ‘I am going to take away the right of doctors and nurses to serve this community because I don’t like this specific thing going on,’ ” she said.

Biden inauguration poet Amanda Gorman’s book, “The Hill We Climb,” for example, is about democracy and everyone working together, as well as the importance of learning, Hall said.

“Books like that are being problematized and there’s no good reason for it, which tells you the base of this conversation is increasingly hollow. There may be other motives for censoring books than the ideas they contain.”

Book bans may actually be a “Trojan Horse” for grabbing valuable real estate, she said. One egregious example is the conversion of Houston School District libraries into detention centers: facilitating the school-to-prison pipeline, not helping to eliminate it.

“Libraries are the marketplace of ideas. Some of those ideas corroborate what we think we know, and other ideas unsettle us. We should welcome all those ideas, because that is what makes us a society: the ability to listen to each other, to agree as well as disagree and still get along, still build together and still respect each other. In this era where books are being contested, where voices are being suppressed, the entire lived experience of history being suppressed, we need our libraries more than ever. Access to libraries, to information, is the civil rights issue of the 21st century.”

In early October, Tracie Hall resigned from the American Library Association to pursue new endeavors.

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We’re a proud founding member of the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago Racial Justice League and we’re committed to being part of the change that addresses the effects of systemic racism.

2023 YWCA LEADER LUNCHEON HONOREE OUTSTANDING CIVIC LEADER

CRISTINA PACIONE-ZAYAS, PHD

FIRST DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, CITY OF CHICAGO

Cristina Pacione-Zayas, PhD, who is First Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Brandon Johnson, is an Outstanding Civic Leader, but she also sees herself helping to change the landscape for all by addressing histories of disparities among people of color. An important first step was to help set up the office of Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant and Refugee Rights, which Mayor Johnson created by executive order after his inauguration in May.

Before joining the Johnson administration, Dr. Pacione-Zayas was a member of the Illinois Senate, where she was the inaugural chair of the Senate Early Childhood Education Committee. Because 90% of a child’s brain develops before age 5, she wrote in prepared material that she was “thrilled” the FY 2024 Illinois budget allocates $250 million to the Smart Start Illinois early childhood initiative.

“Access to high quality early care and education, health care, and nutrition sets the foundation for better economic, social, and health outcomes throughout life,” Dr. PacioneZayas said. “This budget works to fill in the gaps in our existing childcare system and early childhood programs, transforming the outcomes for Illinois children and establishing our state as the best in the country to raise a family.”

The budget’s early childhood investments encompass an Illinois State Board of Education early childhood block grant, childcare workforce compensation contracts, early intervention programs, the Department of Human Services home visiting program, the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity Scholarships and $50 million for early childhood capital improvements.

“With these appropriations, more families will soon have greater access to send their child to high quality preschool as Smart Start investments seek to eliminate ‘preschool deserts,’” Dr. Pacione-Zayas said. “In addition, childcare providers will receive more relief and support from the

state, decreasing burnout and increasing staffing. Because of these investments in families and providers, the Smart Start Illinois initiative is a monumental step to improving early childhood development.”

The budget also invests $350 million in affordable housing and other initiatives to prevent housing insecurity – up $85 million from last year. “I am thrilled that we are making an investment in affordable housing solutions to fight gentrification and support families who wish to stay in communities their ancestors helped to shape,” she added.

Dr. Pacione-Zayas was also chief sponsor in the Illinois Senate of a bill enacted in July to mandate three individuals with lived experience in the Illinois Department of Corrections on the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority Board. This board develops programs to improve law enforcement and administration of the criminal legal system.

In 2020, when she was handpicked by State Sen. Iris Martinez to fill her unexpired term upon her election as Cook County Circuit Clerk, Dr. Pacione-Zayas said she was thrilled to be able to apply child development science to the policymaking in the Illinois General Assembly.

At the time of her appointment, Dr. Pacione-Zayas was associate vice president of the Erikson Institute, where she led its policy and leadership department. She created Erikson’s Community Data Lab and established its Early Childhood Leadership Academy (ECLA) for Illinois leaders seeking to strengthen their capacity to inform early childhood policy.

“You can count on me to help fellow legislators ‘find the baby’ in the work, and to advance an anti-racist framework that dismantles systemic racism and economic exploitation so we can all thrive,” she said.

Dr. Pacione-Zayas has served on the Illinois Early Learning Council executive committee, the Illinois State Team of the BUILD Initiative and the Title V Needs Assessment Advisory Committee for the state’s federally mandated maternal and child health services. She previously served as secretary on the Illinois State Board of Education, the governing board of the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies and the Educational Success Committee of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Transition Team.

As a member of the Puerto Rican community, she served as director of education advanced policy at the Latino Policy Forum and co-chair of the Puerto Rican Agenda of Chicago, a non-profit that influences policy around self-determination for Puerto Ricans.

THE PIERCE TWINS

KYRA & PHALLON PIERCE

Kyra and Phallon Pierce – the Pierce Twins – are the YWCA Leader Luncheon’s Outstanding Youth Leaders because they learned early to use their voices for a cause greater than themselves – and took it all the way to state government.

The Agatha Christie bestseller, “And Then There Were None” was on their summer reading list before 8th grade, and as they got into the book, they were disturbed by a racist 19th century minstrel show rhyme central to its Survivor-style plot. Ten people are invited to a remote island, where the framed rhyme hangs in their guestrooms. One by one, they die mysteriously – each time preceded by the rhyme, and by one of 10 Black figurines falling to pieces.

Now juniors at Bolingbrook High School, the Twins said that reading the rhyme, seeing the original book cover and title, was like twisting a knife in them. They didn’t have to scroll very far in their research before they learned the book’s original title and the rhyme that was central to the plot.

The Twins told their parents what they had learned, and the school removed the book from the reading list, which wasn’t part of their plan. “We just wanted context to be provided. Various works of art and literature can make you uncomfortable, they said, but understanding the timeframe in which they were set, as in a conversation with teachers, can help."

“While we were waiting, thinking of things we can do, we realized it was a bigger problem than just our school,” Phallon said. “There was also a lack of diversity in the books we were told to read, so we thought about a list, and how to get it out.”

It was not a book ban, Kyra said, but the opposite. “We are essentially adding books, so that assignments and school libraries could be more diverse.”

Within four months, the Twins had also come up with a website, and a 501 (c)(3), Positive Change Charities, which provides grants for books by multicultural authors to kids in need and to underfunded school libraries across Chicago and surrounding suburbs. They have already distributed 3,700 books, and this year they are taking the charity nationwide, with a goal of giving away 100,000 books.

Suggested books on their website include “Sulwe” by Lupita Nyong’o, the “Twintuition” series by Tia and Tamera Mowry, “Alma and How she got her name" by Juan Martinez, “The Proudest Blue: A story of Hijab and Family," by Ibtihaj Muhammad and S.K. Ali, and “Hair Love" by Matthew Cherry. Their secondary school list includes “Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers,” by Michelle Obama; “The March” by John Lewis, the Track Series Collection by Jason Reynolds, "The Crossover Series" by Kwame Alexander, "Sal and Gabi Break the Universe" by Carlos Hernandez, "The Great Wall of Lucy Wu" by Wendy Wan-Long Shang, and more. Kyra herself recommends “A Good Kind of Trouble” by Lisa Moore Ramee and “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stephenson, which covers problems with the death penalty in the criminal justice system. Their book list is updated quarterly.

The Twins are AP Honor students, athletes and artists. They do varsity competitive cheer, varsity track, competitive dance and they also love to act.

In terms of aspirations, Kyra wants to be an anesthesiologist or an orthopedic surgeon; she wants to help people and sees them as most vulnerable when they are having surgery. Phallon’s first choice is being a surgeon, because it is hands-on. “But I really like fighting for people and that’s what a lawyer does.”

Representation in books really matters for children, because it builds confidence, the Twins said.“It allows them to see themselves in others and makes everyone more accepting and tolerant, Phallon said. “They can learn new things from people who are different from themselves.”

Toward that end, they have cooperated with State Rep. LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago) to draft legislation that would require school reading lists to have more diverse books written by multicultural authors. HB 2401 was introduced last February and in April, the Twins discussed their idea for multicultural book grants with members of the Illinois House and Senate. They also met Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. Please visit www.thepiercetwins.com to apply for a grant to receive books and for more information.

2023 YWCA LEADER LUNCHEON HONOREE OUTSTANDING YOUTH LEADER

THE BREEDLOVE

ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER: BRIDGING RACIAL WEALTH GAP

The racial wealth gap, the disparity of resources and wealth between Black white Americans, has grown over the last 30 years and persists at every age and income level. Inheritances are the biggest socioeconomic factor behind this historic inequity, according to the Brookings Institution. Black households account for 13% of the U.S. population and held just 4% of total household wealth. This is compared to 2019 where Black households made up nearly 16% of the US population and held just under 3% of overall wealth, according to the Federal Reserve’s 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances. White households, by contrast, held nearly 87% of the wealth but only represented 68% of the population.

According to a JPMorgan Chase report, “The number of businesses owned by Black women grew 50% from 2014 to 2019, representing the highest growth rate of any female demographic. Black females accounted for 42% of all women who opened a new business during that time and represented 36% of all Black employers.

Despite the tremendous growth in Black women-owned business, they face significant barriers and obstacles in securing capital for start-up or to scale their businesses. A Harvard Business study found that 61% of Black women self-fund their startup capital. The high percentage of selffunded businesses is because Black women find it difficult to get funding elsewhere. Investing in Black-owned businesses can play a significant role in helping to close the racial wealth gap.

The total amount of venture capital funding available to all women-owned businesses is just 2%. For Black women entrepreneurs, the amount of available venture capital is just 0.00006%. (YWCA Breedlove Accelerator). Black business owners who apply for funding have a rejection rate that is three times higher than that of white business owners, according to the JPMorgan Chase report.

In 2021, a solution emerged to support Black women entrepreneurs. The YWCA Breedlove Accelerator was born. Its mission is to empower Black business, close the wealth

gap and transform community. The Breedlove team consulted Mightyhum, DePaul Women Entrepreneurship Institute, and Lunum as subject-matter experts to help develop the curriculum. The specialized curriculum targets laterstage Black women entrepreneurs with annual revenues of $100,000+ that are undercapitalized. The idea is that with adequate funding and support, all entrepreneurs can have a catalytic impact on the communities they serve.

The YWCA Breedlove Entrepreneurship Center took its name and inspiration from Sarah Breedlove, one of the first African American millionaires in the U.S. Born to sharecropper and former slave parents in 1867, Breedlove transformed herself into Madam C.J. Walker and built a hair care empire that employed several thousand sales agents and trained upwards of 20,000, pioneering a path to economic independence for countless African American women. Her spirit continues to guide the YWCA's work to support and empower a new generation of Black women in building their own empires.

Since its inception, the YWCA Breedlove Accelerator has hosted five cohorts and supported 50 women in their business expansion. The program includes classroom instruction on finance, marketing, technology, and branding. The entrepreneurs also have access to capital and ongoing business advisors and mentorship to realize their business goals, scale their business, and ultimately, to create the true economic development impact that’s vital to the health and sustainability of the communities where they live and work.

Some YWCA Breedlove Accelerator graduates include:

WINDY CITY RIBS (Teri Evans)

CUTE AS A CUPCAKE (Michelle Wainwright)

SALTER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, INC. (Toi Salter)

TORI PRINCE BEAUTY, LLC (Victoria Prince)

EGG ROLLS, ETC. (Javon Nicholas)

A final note. Investing in Black-owned businesses is just one piece of the puzzle in addressing the racial wealth gap. Comprehensive solutions also require addressing systemic issues such as discriminatory lending practices, educational disparities, criminal justice reform, and affordable housing, among others. However, supporting and investing in Black-owned businesses is a tangible and impactful step toward greater economic equity and opportunity for Black communities.

THE RACIAL JUSTICE LEAGUE AND THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY AND EQUITY

In the aftermath of the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020, as a society we seem to have arrived at a moment of reckoning. A collective awakening. Many began looking beyond issuing statements of solidarity or making one-off donations to a cause. The moment in time was too big. People were ready to change the narrative.

Building on its century and a half of work promoting equity, social justice, and gender equality, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago met the moment to move forward as a nation, past our history of injustice and toward a future that is inclusive, equitable, and just. It was in this moment that the Racial Justice League was formed. Rooted in the founding principles that “all people are created equal and born with certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of who they love, how they identify, where they come from, or the color of their skin”, the Racial Justice League was ready to begin the fight.

Since its launch, The Racial Justice League counts 30 corporate allies who have joined with the YWCA and contributed over $2.5 million that is reinvested back into the community and supports the YWCA’s work to address effects of systemic racism by expanding early childhood education, trauma intervention, job placement, small business development programs, and more.

As a benefit of being a Racial Justice League member, our corporate allies access expert support and guidance, participate in convenings, and access Inclusion Chicago trainings, workshop, and resource library to transform their workplaces to create the necessary cultural shifts to lead the way in being an inclusive marketplace providing everyone an opportunity to thrive.

Achieving racial justice in a segregated city like Chicago requires sustained effort and collaboration across sectors and communities. The Racial Justice League fosters a sense of unity and shared responsibility to break down the barriers and structure that perpetuate segregation and inequality to create a society that is equitable and just.

Until the land of the free is free of racism.

Until the home of the brave is brave enough to change.

Until “by the people” and “for the people” means doing right by all the people.

UNTIL JUSTICE JUST IS

CHICAGO

4 ON THE LIST OF THE MOST SEGREGATED CITIES IN AMERICA

Racial segregation remains one of the most persistent plagues on major metropolitan areas. A recent report from Brown University, "Metropolitan Segregation: No Breakthrough in Sight” lists Chicago as the 4th most segregated city in the United States, behind Newark, Detroit and Milwaukee. In Chicago, about 73.8 percent of Black or white residents would have to move to a different census tract to even out the numbers, according to a commonly-used segregation measure called the index of dissimilarity. In Milwaukee, the figure is 75 percent and in Detroit, it’s 74.5 percent, according to the report.

Segregation is well-known and deeply rooted in the city’s complex history, laws and policies that are built into our institutions and much of which Chicagoans have grown to accept as the norm. This systemic racism continues to negatively affect access to education, healthcare, housing, employment, and wealth-building.

Systemic racism leads to widespread disparities:

It harms Black Health. Compared with white Americans, Black Americans are two to three times more likely to die during childbirth and twice as likely to die from COVID-19. (CDC)

It denies Black children an equal education. The average non-white school district received $2,226 less per student, and the persisting achievement gap means Black students are less likely to attend college, thus reducing their lifetime earnings by 65%. (NPR and Manhattan Institute)

It undermines Black wealth building. Black Americans are more likely to be turned down for mortgages and are dramatically less likely to own homes, which is partly why Black American families have 90% less wealth than white families. (Brookings Institution)

It hurts Black-owned businesses . Black-owned businesses are two times as likely to be denied loans as those owned by white people. (Centers for Responsible Lending)

It traps Black Americans where they live. Half of the majority-black areas have more than 30 percent of families in poverty compared to most majority-white census tracts that have fewer than 10 percent of families in poverty. (Brookings Institution)

All of these factors are interrelated. “With the long history of redlining combined with self-segregation, you limit the possibilities, opportunities and life chances of different groups. That gap breeds hyper-segregation,” said Horace Hall, a professor of human development at DePaul University who specializes in segregation. “The hypersegregated and isolated don’t have access to quality education and jobs.”

We need to bring together citizens, advocates, policymakers, and the business community to work together to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive society; a more equitable future.

To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the

Last week's Answers

Director

•

Director/Publisher

DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of StreetWise. Learn More at streetwise.org

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• Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief • Amanda Jones,

of Programs • Julie Youngquist, Executive Director

NOV 16

For nearly 150 years, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago has been here to support, uplift and unleash the full potential of every woman, child and family across the region. With its long-held mission to eliminate racism and empower women, the YWCA is building a more Equitable Future. This year, our Leader Luncheon honorees are changing policies, breaking the rules and speaking truth to power in the spirit of creating more Equitable Futures for us all.

To learn more about this year’s remarkable honorees and to RSVP visit ywcachicago.org/leaderluncheon

The Pierce Twins, Kyra & Phallon Pierce

OUTSTANDING LEADER IN RACIAL JUSTICE

Tracie Hall, Executive Director, American Library Association

OUTSTANDING CIVIC LEADER

Cristina Pacione-Zayas, PhD, First Deputy Chief of Staff, City of Chicago

OUTSTANDING LEADER IN BUSINESS

Kathy Bolhous, Chairman & CEO, Charter Next Generation

OUTSTANDING YOUTH LEADER