CCB_20241202

Chicago’s wine world braces for Trump tariffs

He’s done it before. “We’re expecting this to be at least as bad or worse,” one importer says. I

By Ally Marotti

Chicago’s wine industry is preparing for potential tari s from the incoming Trump administration, with importers and distributors stocking up on inventory in hopes of delaying price increases.

Restaurant owners, too, are concerned. e price of eating out has gone up about 30% since 2019. Operators worry that tari s on imported wines would force them to raise menu prices again, scaring o consumers fatigued by pricey meals. In the low-margin restaurant world, the markup on imported wines is usually a way to

Tariffs on imported wine actually do a lot more damage to businesses here in the U.S. than they do abroad.”

Ben Aneff, U.S. Wine Trade Alliance

Lessons learned after ve years of legal weed

When it comes to the recreational marijuana market in Illinois, the green rush is more like a slog. Operators have some feedback to share.

By John Pletz

Scott Weiner thought the cannabis business would be a lucrative side hustle.

Like many other entrepreneurs who won licenses to grow or sell marijuana when Illinois legalized recreational use, he found out it’s not the easiest way to make a buck.

“Nobody tells you when you get into cannabis . . . how hard it’s going to be,” says Weiner, a veteran restaurant owner who became a partner in Okay Cannabis, which won licenses to open retail stores. “It’s a full-time job where you might be working for free. I think a lot of people . . . thought this could be kind of a part-time thing, with guys running the business for you. Nothing could be further from the truth. I can’t tell you a harder year I’ve had in business.”

ical marijuana use a decade ago.

When Illinois legislators legalized recreational marijuana in 2019, thousands applied to get in on the action. What some saw as a short path to riches has turned into a slog.

Sales have been hampered by competition, both legal and illegal. In ation took o , squeezing customers’ wallets and pushing up costs for operators. What little capital there was early on has largely dried up. Even the giant multistate operators that got in early have hunkered down, trimming jobs to conserve cash.

“From a business perspective, this green rush we’ve been talking about for several years, the craze has died down,” says Jonathan Robbins, an attorney in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who chairs Akerman’s cannabis practice. e slumping market is re ected in statewide revenue from recreational cannabis sales, which totaled $136.5 million in September. It was the rst year-over-year decline since the program started in January 2020.

Downtown hoteliers are bristling at newly released valuations that suggest they have fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic

By Danny Ecker

An advocacy group for downtown hotel owners is blasting Fritz Kaegi for what it deems to be wildly high spikes in the Cook County assessor's new property valuations, calling them a threat to job creation and new investment in the recovering local

Weiner and his partners in Okay Cannabis recently sold their three Chicago-area dispensaries to Nature’s Grace & Wellness, a group from western Illinois that has been in the business since Illinois rst approved med-

Hotel owners take issue with Kaegi assessments

hospitality sector.

e public bristling from the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association comes as owners of many prominent hotels in the heart of the city grapple with triple-digit percentage increases in their 2024 initial assessments, numbers that play a key role in determining owners' property tax bills next year.

See WINE on Page 34 See HOTELS on Page 34

Twenty large hotels in and around the Loop reviewed by Crain's saw their initial assessments jump by an average of 131% from their nal valuations in 2023. Among other examples riling up hotel investors, the assessor's o ce estimated the

People’s purchasing habits likely will change if tariffs are once again levied on wine, says Erin Carlman Weber, owner of Ukrainian Village restaurant and wine shop All Together Now. ALEXANDER GOULETAS/ORGANIC HEADSHOTS

The Palmer House Chicago hotel in the Loop saw its assessed value rise by 108% from last year. COSTAR GROUP

Brandon Johnson’s weakness is spurring an early start to the next mayoral sweepstakes

It’s ridiculously early, with more than two years to go before any votes actually are tallied. at means lots of publicity-hungry pols can oat their names and raise their pro les without actually committing themselves.

But that having been said, the race to become Chicago’s next mayor is o to a real if uno cial start. With the political class sensing that incumbent Mayor Brandon Johnson has badly damaged any hopes he may have of winning a second term, a long list of potential rivals is taking at least initial steps to position themselves to run — or being wooed by business leaders to consider doing so.

Included: two statewide elected o cials, a congressman, a former head of Chicago Public Schools, a veteran county o cial and a committee-room-full of City Council members. Maybe a

around himself to take the political temperature, perhaps hoping to preempt at least part of the field.

Getting out front now raises the risk of making himself an

Making the boldest move at the moment is Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, whose interest appears to have soared since Pritzker’s team spread word that the incumbent governor is likely to seek election to his third term in 2026.

former mayor, too. And quite possibly a few surprises to come.

Hanging over the behind-thescenes activity are two key questions: Will Gov. JB Pritzker, a Chicagoan whose relationship with Johnson has turned toxic, actively get involved in backing a mayoral hopeful in the February 2027 first round?

And, can Johnson, whose current problem passing a city budget epitomizes the difficulties he’s had governing, pull things together enough to at least make an April runoff, something he might be able to do in a large field with perhaps only 15% of the vote?

Making the boldest move at the moment is Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, whose interest appears to have soared since Pritzker’s team spread word that the incumbent governor is likely to seek election to his third term in 2026.

The official word from the Giannoulias camp is that he’s only considering the numerous calls from business and labor leaders urging him to run. In fact, multiple sources report, the Chicago resident is calling

early target for Johnson and others. But Giannoulias will have to decide fairly soon because his job as secretary of state will be on the Democratic primary ballot in just 16 months.

Somewhat in the same position is Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, who ran for mayor in 2019 and appears to be considering a second shot at the job.

O cially, she’s not commenting. Uno cially, as one insider puts it, “She’s interested. She’s a kid from the neighborhood. She knows how to talk to people.”

The aforementioned congressman is Mike Quigley, whose district covers most of the North and Northwest sides — the same district Rahm Emanuel represented before becoming mayor. Quigley has made moves to run for mayor in previous cycles only to back off, but this time he has the inducement of not wanting to get lost in Washington at a time when Republicans will again run the U.S. House.

Insiders also are chattering about Emanuel himself, who is expected to soon return home to Chicago after a stint as U.S. ambassador to Japan.

Emanuel “is not one to just sit

around,” as one associate puts it. That explains why he’s being mentioned as a possible candidate not only for mayor but chairman of the Democratic National Committee — or governor if Pritzker vacates the seat, or U.S. senator in the event incumbent Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chooses not to seek a new term in 2026, as many political insiders expect.

Emanuel, in a text from Tokyo, said those rumoring about him are “overreaching.” But he didn’t rule out anything, writing only, “I am looking forward to nishing my work here in Japan and

coming home, which I miss.”

Some business leaders have been maneuvering for months to find a mayoral hopeful they can back. Said one, who asked not to be named, “I’m not sure I have ever seen this level of incompetence before, and it can’t go on for another term.”

One person they’ve been wooing is former Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson, now head of Hope Chicago, which operates a student scholarship program. Jackson did not respond to a request for comment. I hear different things about whether

she’s interested.

Among others: County Treasurer Maria Pappas, a bit of a provocateur who likes to make news, says she’s “the one that could be drafted.” The names of several aldermen are being mentioned — including Brian Hopkins, 2nd; Silvana Tabares, 23rd; Gil Villegas, 36th; Bill Conway, 34th; and Brendan Reilly, 42nd. But none at this point has announced anything.

Flatly ruling out a race are former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. All but ruling out a race is the man Johnson defeated in 2023, former CPS chief Paul Vallas. “You never say never,” Vallas texted. But, he added, “I am not looking to throw my hat in the ring again.”

A spokesman for Johnson declined to comment on all of this maneuvering. “We’re not commenting in 2024 about an election in 2027,” he said. But one recent poll conducted for several aldermen reportedly showed Johnson with an approval rating of just 14%.

Also not commenting is Team Pritzker. But sources who know the governor say odds are rising that he will get behind someone other than Johnson.

“If the governor has national ambitions,” as one associate put it, having the state’s largest city being in a political and economic mess “would not be helpful.” Pritzker and Durbin have said they will announce their election plans later.

“Wintrust,

Greg Hinz

Clockwise from top: Brandon Johnson, Rahm Emanuel, Janice Jackson, Mike Quigley, Susana Mendoza and Alexi Giannoulias | AP, BLOOMBERG AND DANIEL X. O’NEIL/FLICKR

Stockyard sites proposed for $80 million music campus

A state-of-the-art facility for producing lm scores is the missing link in Chicago’s growing lm and TV industry |

Apair of long-unused sites at the Halsted Street entrance to the old Union Stock Yard is being pitched for a two-building, $80 million music campus that would include a state-of-the-art facility for producing lm scores, education programs in a historic building and related ventures.

e city’s Department of Planning & Development, or DPD, announcing last month that ird Coast Music submitted the best proposal for reuse of the old Stock Yards Bank building, which has been empty for half a century, and the vacant lot across the street where the Stock Yard Inn stood from 1913 until it was demolished in 1971.

e DPD put out a request for proposals last November. In its announcement, the DPD said it received two complete proposals. It did not include details of the other proposal. e sale of the site, at a proposed $1.9 million, would need approval from the Chicago City Council.

See STOCKYARD on Page 37

By Dennis Rodkin

“Chicago needs this (facility) because the rest of the production infrastructure is in place and production is booming.”

Rich Daniels, board member of the Chicago Federation of Musicians

Ozempic maker claims Chicago medical spas sell unsafe copycats

Old Town Med Spa is among those being accused of using deceptive practices to sell knockoffs of popular weight-loss drugs

By Katherine Davis

Novo Nordisk, the maker of weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, is suing at least ve Chicago-area medical spas and health clinics, alleging they each are using false advertising and deceptive marketing practices to sell copycat versions of the popular drugs that could be unsafe.

Denmark-based Novo Nordisk led complaints last month against Chicago-area businesses, including Old Town Med Spa, claiming that messaging on their websites and social media deceptively indicates to consumers that they sell U.S. Food & Drug Administration-approved Novo Nordisk drugs, which treat obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

In reality, Novo Nordisk claims, these businesses are selling unapproved compounded drugs — custom medications made usually by pharmacists — that “purport to contain semaglutide,” the same active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus medications. And even though such compounded drugs have not been evaluated by the FDA for their safety, e ectiveness or quality, Novo Nordisk alleges defendants are suggesting so anyway.

Novo Nordisk claims defendants are violating the Lanham Act by using its trademarks and

research to persuade patients that compounded semaglutide products are equivalent to Ozempic, Rybelsus or Wegovy.

“Defendant’s conduct is likely to confuse and deceive patients into mistakenly believing that they are purchasing authentic Novo Nordisk medicines or medicines that have been evaluated by the FDA, studied in clinical trials and deemed safe and e ective,” Novo Nordisk wrote in a complaint against Old Town Med Spa, which has four Chicago locations.

Novo Nordisk, the maker of weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, is suing at least ve Chicagoarea medical spas and health clinics.

Four other similar lawsuits reviewed by Crain’s were lobbed against Midwest Aesthetic Management in Chicago and Chicago Weight Loss & Vitality Clinic, which has four locations in northern Illinois. Ambrose Medical, which does business as Performance Medical Clinic in

See

on Page 37

How St. Anthony switched to in-house ER staff

By Jon Asplund

As St. Anthony Hospital's emergency room sta ng contract was set to expire earlier this year, leadership at the Southwest Side safety net had a plan in place to swim against the tide: ey'd hire and employ ER doctors and advanced practice nurses themselves.

A majority of hospitals rely on outsourcing the sta ng and management of their emergency departments. St. Anthony in Douglass Park was no di erent. But, knowing its contract with the company TeamHealth was

set to expire, the hospital took steps to put an in-house sta ng plan in place, said St. Anthony Chief Medical O cer Dr. Romeen Lavani.

About a year and a half ago, Lavani brought in a longtime emergency executive, Dr. Pierre Wakim, to consult on where the hospital should go with its emergency room sta ng once the contract ended in February 2024.

Wakim, who was at Cook County Health for more than 20 years, much of that time as chair of the emergency department at Provident Hospital, came in as a consultant to look at how well

St. Anthony provided emergency services.

He found that, like many staing companies following the COVID pandemic, TeamHealth wasn't always able to provide the sta ng levels for which it had been contracted. e contracted sta ng model, he said, also meant doctors and nurses were sometimes own in from around the country, fed and housed by the company, and tasked to step in to an unfamiliar ER for short stints.

Wakim said he knew there was a better way to sta the ER, having rst run emergency depart-

ment sta ng and then owning his own local emergency sta ng company serving hospitals in disadvantaged Chicago neighborhoods.

Anthony has a very busy ER, often serving 80 to 100 patients a day. A large percentage of those

St.

Dr. Romeen Lavani, left, and Dr. Pierre Wakim | ST. ANTHONY HOSPITAL

OZEMPIC

See ST. ANTHONY on Page 37

This rendering shows the proposed new scoring stage building at left and the current Stock Yards Bank building at right.

Law rm nears deal for move to Wacker Drive

Venable is closing in on a lease for the top oor of 111 S. Wacker Drive, showcasing the allure of high-rise workspace in top-tier buildings

By Danny Ecker

e owner of a Wacker Drive o ce tower is close to signing a law rm tenant to replace another one that's moving out.

Venable, a Washington, D.C.based rm that planted its ag in Chicago almost four years ago, is nearing a lease for more than 25,000 square feet on the top oor of the 51-story skyscraper at 111 S. Wacker Drive, according to sources familiar with the matter. If the deal is completed, Venable would relocate its local o ce to the tower from a similar amount of space it occupies today one block away at 227 W. Monroe St., sources said.

e move would showcase the allure of high-rise workspace in top-tier buildings at a time when tenants have a wealth of o ce options. Companies looking to encourage in-person work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic are hunting for the most attractive o ces they can nd, many exing their negotiating muscle while landlords grapple with record-high vacancy and weak demand.

e space Venable is eyeing will soon be vacated by law rm White & Case, which inked a lease earlier this year to expand its Chicago o ce and move it to 300 N. LaSalle St. e leasing

challenge created by that departure from 111 S. Wacker appears to have been conquered with relative ease by Union Investment, the tower's Hamburg, Germanybased owner.

Part of the reason may be that while there is more available ofce space downtown than ever before, high-rise workspace in updated buildings is much harder to come by. Data from real estate services rm CBRE earlier this year showed the vacancy rate for high-rise o ces in top-tier, or Class A, buildings with compelling views was less than 5%, a stark contrast to the nearly 26% vacancy rate across the entire downtown o ce market.

at's a good sign for Union as it looks to back ll another pending vacancy a few oors below White & Case, where law rm Locke Lord is poised to leave behind nearly 90,000 square feet for a new o ce in the revamped tower at 225 W. Randolph St. e 1.2 million-square-foot tower is 92% leased today, not accounting for the pending departures of Locke Lord and White & Case, according to data from real estate information company CoStar Group.

A spokesman for Union Investment did not respond to a request for comment, and a Venable spokeswoman did not pro-

vide a comment.

Venable has been in the market for a new o ce as it approaches an expiration of its current lease at 227 W. Monroe St., known as the Franklin. e rm arrived on the scene in Chicago in late 2020, when it hired a construction law team from law rm Schi Hardin to launch the new Venable o ce downtown.

Decamping from the 60-story Monroe Street tower would create a new headache for the building's owner, New York-

based Tishman Speyer. e loss would come as another tenant in the building, advisory rm FTI Consulting, prepares to leave behind 70,000 square feet at the Franklin for a new o ce at 155 N. Wacker Drive.

A spokesman for Tishman Speyer declined to comment.

Venable has a headcount of more than 900 nationwide and recently announced the addition of new attorneys in its Chicago o ce, which it has dubbed the rm's "Midwestern

anchor," according to its website. e rm's specialties include construction law, government investigations, privacy and data security, intellectual property, corporate law, litigation and product liability.

Steve Steinmeyer, Rob Schmidt and Isabelle Montagne of brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle are negotiating the new lease on behalf of Venable. Jamey Dix and Matt Whipple of Chicago leasing agency Telos Group represent the landlord.

Loop landlords pitch taxing themselves to boost ailing downtown

By Rachel Herzog

A downtown landlord group is pitching a new self-imposed tax to fund improvements for the city’s central business district.

e Building Owners & Managers Association of Chicago has initiated the process of proposing a business improvement district, or BID, that would cover the greater Loop, the group announced earlier this month. A BID allows commercial property owners in a de ned area to impose a fee on themselves to be spent on improvements within the boundaries of the district that could include updating storefronts, bee ng up security, funding infrastructure projects and other e orts to attract businesses.

Many commercial landlords in the Loop have expressed interest in a BID to help revitalize downtown amid record-high ofce and retail vacancy, even as the real estate industry grapples with the burdens of high energy costs and property taxes, BOMA Executive Director Farzin Parang said.

“ e industry is very sensitive to new costs; we already have the highest commercial property tax in the country, so really the pur-

pose of this process is to nd out, ‘Does this make sense?' ” Parang told Crain’s.

State legislation allowing BIDs along commercial corridors in Chicago was signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker in July. BIDs are similar to Special Service Areas, or SSAs, an economic development tool already allowed in Chicago that enables landlords to raise millions more in revenue and gives them more control over how the money is spent. In a BID, the sponsor organization calculates the formula for how the tax is assessed.

BOMA said it is exploring the potential boundaries for such a district and is having initial conversations with owners of commercial properties bounded by Desplaines Street to the west, Harrison Street to the south and Columbus Drive to the east. e northern boundary would follow Kinzie Street east from Desplaines Street to State Street, then trace the Chicago River from State Street to Columbus Drive.

BIDs can cover larger areas than SSAs, which can allow for economies of scale to be created for the services o ered within them. But the BID proposal that

ultimately emerges might not cover that entire area.

“ ese areas also have di erent needs. ey have di erent challenges, and so that’s part of the conversation: Does it make sense to have one big one or divide them? We wanted to cast the broader net and have this conversation all at once,” Parang said.

While the improvements and services that BIDs finance can vary, Parang said he anticipates improving safety will be a main

function of a potential Loop district.

“Probably the consensus will be that security is the most immediate need. Certainly, in the o ce sector, we are still hearing that as a concern for tenants returning to the o ce. Obviously that impacts retail and tourism and everything in the Loop,” Parang said.

e Magni cent Mile Association, which pushed for the legislation along with the Chicago Loop Alliance, is in the process

of creating a BID along the North Michigan Avenue shopping corridor. But that district, and the potential Loop district that BOMA is proposing, wouldn’t take e ect until at least 2026 because of the time needed to go through the process of building consensus among property owners and allow the city to set up the collection mechanism.

e potential BID boundaries outlined in BOMA's announcement cover the existing State Street SSA, but Parang said the new district would carve out that corridor and allow the SSA to continue. Under state law, SSAs and BIDs can’t overlap.

Meanwhile, the Magni cent Mile Association has said it plans to renew the existing Michigan Avenue SSA, which was set to expire at the end of 2024, for two years while working with the community and property owners to create a BID for the corridor.

e BID process requires two community meetings to be held, and the proposal must ultimately be approved by the full City Council. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration supported the state legislation. BID terms start at ve years, with the option for 10-year renewals.

111 S. Wacker Drive, center COSTAR GROUP

Commercial landlords in the Loop have expressed interest in a business-improvement district to help revitalize downtown amid record-high of ce and retail vacancy. | JOHN R. BOEHM

1 in 2 kids in Chicagoland don’t have the clothing they need to stay warm.

No child should wait for the bus in below-freezing temperatures without warm clothing.

A Chicago winter can be debilitating for families experiencing poverty or crisis. Cradles to Crayons’ Gear Up for Winter initiative, presented by Bank of America, aims to distribute 50,000 winter coats and other essentials to families that need them most.

We need your help today!

Join us to get involved through volunteering, donating, and supporting!

Wave of complaints paint a disturbing picture of City Hall as a workplace

Ask anyone who has worked for an elected o cial at the level of, say, a president, a senator, a governor or a big-city mayor, and they’ll likely tell you straight up: It’s a pressure-cooker environment, particularly the closer one gets to the very top of the power pyramid. ose high-intensity conditions, often exacerbated by too much co ee and too little sleep, have historically been relied upon to excuse or even to cover up behavior that would be seen as outright deplorable in other workplaces. Besides, as a Chicago pundit observed as long ago as 1895, “politics ain’t

Hall’s Fifth Floor nowadays. And yet, allegations of misogyny, racism, harassment and antisemitism within the highest levels of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration have emerged in waves, blending with one another to create the impression City Hall is not the most pleasant place to work lately, even by the politics game’s typical standards.

Allegations of misogyny, racism, harassment and antisemitism within the highest levels of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration have emerged in waves.

beanbag.” In other words, someone was mean to you? Life is tough. Get over it. Or at least that’s long been the prevailing attitude. With the rise of the #MeToo movement, followed more recently by the election of a mayor who wears his progressive bona des on his sleeve, it could be hoped that tales of truly egregious o ce bullying might be few and far between within the con nes of City

Of course, any woman old enough to have been active in the anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s — where she likely would have been relegated to licking envelopes or making co ee rather than shaping strategy — can attest that a progressive cause doesn’t always lead to utopian outcomes. Even so, she’d likely be shocked by the alleged behavior reported and apparently tolerated within this reform-espousing mayor’s inner circle. is week, we learned the alleged backstory behind Ronnie Reese’s departure from the Johnson administration. Reese, whose ties to the mayor date back to their time working for the Chicago Teachers Union, had been the mayor’s communications director, making him the primary connection between the administration and the City Hall press corps. Reese, who joined the administration after

serving in a similar role during the campaign, was red Oct. 23 for “failure to meet professional standards,” according to a letter written by Chief of Sta Cristina PacioneZayas and obtained by Crain’s through a public records request.

Reese’s exit followed three complaints led by city employees who described workplace abuse, at times in sobering detail. e complaints depict Reese as a condescending boss who was critical of female subordinates, made unwanted physical contact, made inappropriate comments about sta ers’ appearance, and sparked hostility that inspired a fear of retaliation.

Reese “strongly and unequivocally” denied the allegations in a written statement to Crain’s, adding, “I have carried myself with the utmost professionalism and respect for all of my peers.”

Nevertheless, months after the complaints were rst led earlier this year, Reese is now no longer a city employee. His exit comes on the heels of the departure of Sydney Holman, Johnson’s deputy mayor of intergovernmental a airs, who along with two of her lieutenants chose to leave rather than work under Kennedy Bartley, a leader in Johnson’s progressive movement who was hired into the administration in May. Bartley apologized in September for referring to police as “fucking pigs” during

a 2021 podcast interview and was accused of heckling the only Jewish member of the City Council during an emotional debate just days after Hamas attacked Israel — an allegation Bartley denied.

And in January, reports surfaced that a handful of former mayoral sta ers were let go and placed on the city’s “do not hire” list in retaliation for complaints they made in the o ce — a scarlet letter of sorts that can follow a former employee throughout his or her career.

We know more about the Reese situation than some of the others in part because of Freedom of Information Act requests fullled no doubt begrudgingly and with the usual dollop of redactions. But even between the big blocks of black ink, telling details catch the eye: One complainant alleges the chief of sta , Pacione-Zayas, invoking the notion of “restorative justice,” advocated addressing the press o ce sta ’s complaints about their boss by assembling a “peace circle” that would presumably have included Reese.

It’s a small point in a much larger mosaic of behavior, but a telling one nonetheless. Any sta ers who expected a zero-tolerance environment for workplace harassment and bullying under a mayor who professes to be the most progressive who ever held the o ce have been given ample reason for doubt.

Real estate revitalization is key to reimagining the Mag Mile

As Chicagoans and visitors to our city get ready for the holiday season, North Michigan Avenue is a must on many to-do lists.  erefore, it’s imperative to spend some time focusing on a discussion of the economic future and the long-term stability of this iconic corridor.  Once the epitome of bustling commerce and our city’s showcase, the Magni cent Mile now faces a 30% retail vacancy rate as referenced by Stone Real Estate's 2023 Annual Loop Analysis, soaring interest rates for its building owners, and enduring post-pandemic challenges. Are agship stores still opening at marquee addresses, and are tourists still taking photos in front of the internationally known landmarks? Or, are current tax assessment policies going to endanger one of the “postcards” of our city? Now is the time to ensure that our assessment property tax policy follows a “do no harm” approach to this important part of our city.

As Crain’s reported in October, highlights of the assessor’s o ce's new assessments include taxable valuation increases in hotels, mall and retail spaces, and some o ces.  e recent wave of North Michigan Avenue property assessments might be misaligned with current market realities. (We will not know until we see all the evidence.) ese new property tax assessments will likely translate

the city from which you’re

to higher property tax bills. In addition, one must also understand that these valuations threaten to discourage the very investments needed to return North Michigan Avenue to its well-earned international reputation.

e Cook County Board of Review, where I serve as District 1 commissioner, works to ensure that assessments align with fair market conditions. However, ensuring fair assessments is only part of the solution.

Learning from other cities

e challenges facing North Michigan Avenue bring unique opportunities. Reenergizing this economic engine of our city will require not just fair property real estate assessments, but forward-thinking solutions that prioritize economic stability and growth.

Other urban centers grappling with similar issues are introducing innovative incentives to breathe new life into their commercial spaces.

For instance:

◗ New York City has implemented commercial rent tax relief in speci c zones to attract small businesses back to high-rent areas like Fifth Avenue. Tax abatements are also provided to businesses willing to occupy spaces for ve years or more, ensuring long-term tenant stability.

◗ San Francisco has introduced adaptive reuse programs, encouraging landlords to transform vacant retail spaces into coworking spaces or experiential centers. By relaxing zoning requirements, the city aims to create vibrant, multi-functional spaces that cater to evolving urban lifestyles.

◗ Los Angeles has o ered development incentives in its downtown corridor, including streamlined permitting and density bonuses for developments. is approach has spurred investment in previously underutilized areas and brought in a diverse mix of development ideas.

Charting a path forward

A reimagining of North Michigan Avenue is both feasible and necessary. By incentivizing development that aligns with the current needs of our city and its residents, we can harness North Michigan Avenue's potential to adapt and thrive. Key strategies could include:

◗ Tax incentives for adaptive reuse: Modifying the existing commercial tax incentives for retail owners with vacant spaces could attract a variety of business types, from startups to community-oriented developments.

◗ Targeted rent relief for small businesses: Rent relief initiatives, akin to those in

NYC, would support local small businesses and artisans, fostering diversity and resilience. is initiative could be extended to long-term commercial tenants committed to the economic health of the area, enhancing the district’s appeal and encouraging visitors to return.

◗ Community and cultural hubs: Repurposing larger properties for cultural and community hubs would give Chicagoans and tourists new reasons to visit North Michigan Avenue. Public-private partnerships with local arts organizations and educational institutions could transform these spaces into centers of learning, art and cultural experience.

Revitalization strategies are critical to maintaining North Michigan Avenue as both a retail powerhouse and tourist destination. A key component to any strategy is to ensure fair and pragmatic assessments. In ated valuations, detached from current market conditions, risk accelerating thenancial burdens already straining property owners and driving potential investors away. Cook County Board of Review District 1 is committed to align assessments with factual market data. Our promise to the taxpayers is to do just that.

George Cardenas is a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Review.

An ongoing threat of maternal fatality disproportionately affects Black women in Chicago. As an attorney, I have litigated numerous maternal death cases that underscore the persistent and alarming risk faced by women of color.

In one case, a pregnant Black mother arrived at a Chicago hospital's emergency department experiencing severe chest pain and shortness of breath. Her life-threatening diagnostic test results, which should have prompted immediate action to save her, were never reported to the young mother. Instead, she was discharged and died just days later. She left behind a grieving family, including young children.

is story is not just about the failure of a single hospital or a few medical professionals. It re ects a broader, alarming trend in the statistics.

The numbers behind the crisis

Despite living in one of the most advanced cities in the world, Black women in Chicago have a maternal mortality rate that is nearly six times higher than white women. is gap is more than twice the national gure, where Black women experience a maternal mortality rate 2.6 times higher than white women, according to the CDC.

And this gap only widens as women age. Nationally, for Black women between the ages of 30 and 34, the pregnancy-related mortality rate jumps to four times higher than for white women in the same age group.

e Chicago Department of Public Health has taken a closer look at these disparities, particularly focusing on severe maternal morbidity. eir ndings are grim: NonHispanic Black women experience the highest rates of severe maternal health complications, with 120.8 deaths per 10,000 deliveries.

e 2023 Illinois Maternal Morbidity & Mortality Report is a culmination of the work of two Illinois Department of Public Health committees: the Maternal Mortality Review Committee, established in 2000, and the Maternal Mortality Review Committee for Violent Deaths, established in 2015. e committees are comprised of experts who analyze maternal deaths and develop recommendations to prevent future deaths. According to the report, “discrimination, including structural racism, contributed to 39% of pregnancy-related deaths during 2018-2020.” Access to health care is a crucial factor driving these disparities.

An August 2024 report from the American Medical Association examining the e ects of OB-GYN clinic closures on maternal and infant health on Chicago's South and West sides found signi cant disparities in access to comprehensive maternal care. ese areas have the highest concentration of low-access ZIP codes. Women living in communities facing high economic hardship experience the highest rates of severe maternal morbidity, with 91.5 cases per 10,000 deliveries.

According to a 2023 census report, 16.2% of Chicago’s population are women of color. ese statistics

serve as a reminder that the crisis is not happening in isolation. It a ects a large, diverse portion of the population with a barrier to receiving proper health care.

Litigation as a catalyst for change

Litigation can help lower the Black maternal death rate by holding health care providers and institutions accountable for negligence that contributes to poor maternal outcomes.

When health care providers face lawsuits for maternal deaths or injuries related to substandard care, it

can lead to reforms within hospitals and clinics. A verdict or settlement in medical malpractice cases often forces hospitals to re-evaluate their operations. For instance, a signicant legal outcome can lead to the adoption of stricter safety measures, better patient care protocols, and initiatives aimed at reducing inequities in treatment.

Additionally, the visibility of such cases raises awareness about the Black maternal mortality crisis, encouraging policymakers to address gaps in health care delivery through regulations and funding for targeted maternal health programs. In this

way, litigation not only provides justice and compensation for families but also drives changes that can reduce the maternal death rate for Black women.

Preventing the preventable

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 91% of pregnancy-related deaths were potentially preventable due to clinical, social, community, or patient factors. Collaboration among health care providers, attorneys, policymakers, and communities is essential to identify and implement solutions that will reduce

these preventable deaths and ensure that all women receive the care they deserve.

Addressing the Black maternal health crisis in Chicago requires urgent attention and a commitment to nding meaningful solutions. While the exact path forward may be complex, it’s one we must all take on.   It is time we listen, learn, andnally deliver on the promise of a health care system that serves everyone equally.

Ben Crane is a partner at Chicagobased law rm Coplan + Crane.

Mills family joins the investment surge for a once-niche, multibillion-dollar sector

One of Chicago’s richest dynasties built one of the biggest health-care fortunes, but now they’re part of a group driving another market

By Ben Stupples and Annie Massa, Bloomberg

Chicago’s Mills dynasty built one of the world’s biggest healthcare fortunes over the past century, but these days they’re part of a group driving another multibillion-dollar market.

e family o ce for the clan behind Medline Industries led a recent spin-out deal for biotech company Medix Biochemica from a European private equity fund, joining scores of investment rms for the mega-rich betting on the so-called secondaries sector.

Family o ces’ allocations to secondaries — where backers of closely held companies sell stakes to others — have surged as buyout rms and other investors grapple with pinched liquidity amid higher borrowing costs.

e deep pools of long-term capital typically controlled by family o ces are helping make this once-niche area of nance an increasingly bigger player in the booming private markets sector. It also signals how some of the largest of these typically secretive rms — once little more than loose coalitions of family members deciding how to invest their fortunes — are behaving more like big, established money managers.

“ is is an area our clients are investing in,” said William Sinclair, managing director and head of the US family o ce practice at JPMorgan Chase & Co. “We’ve raised capital around that idea last year, and we’re doing it again this year.”

EquityZen, a marketplace for buying shares in private companies, said family o ces’ allocations rose more than 100% during 2023 compared with the average for the three prior years. A recent UBS Group AG survey of 230 family o ces managing

almost $1 billion in assets on average found they planned to over-allocate this year to the secondaries market.

Overall, the sector is set to reach a record annual transaction volume of more than $140 billion this year, according to a July report by Je eries.

Among the buyers are French billionaire Francois Pinault’s family o ce, which acquired a majority stake last year in Hollywood talent giant Creative Artists Agency from TPG Inc. after the private equity rm extended its holding period for the roughly $7 billion asset.

In September, the private investment rm for Finland’s richest person, Antti Herlin, invested alongside the Mills’ Council Ring Capital to help private equity rm DevCo raise €616 million ($651 million) for Medix Biochemica. And Robin Lauber, the real estate scion behind Swiss family o ce In nitas Capital, is backing a new investment rm targeting secondary venture capital deals due to demand for liquidity in that corner of private markets.

When faced with cash constraints, sellers are often willing to sell at discounts.

“ e timing seems to be right,” said Lauber, whose new rm is seeking to raise $30 million. “You’re able to invest in a mature business at sometimes really cheap valuations.”

Rising rates

Opportunities in secondary markets surged after the pandemic as policymakers hiked interest rates to curb in ation, leading to a slowdown in dealmaking for both venture capital and buyout rms. At the same time, their investors also pulled back from handing over fresh capital.

at led to private equity funds adopting a growing array of asset-shu ing tactics to buy more time for wringing returns, such as retaining assets for longer in so-called continuation vehicles.

In those instances, managers slide assets from an older fund into a new one, akin to shifting an investment from one pocket to another. Meanwhile, the rm enlists investors to buy into the continuation fund, allowing them to cash out old clients who are seeking liquidity.

“A lot of funds dating toward the end of their shelf life have good assets sitting in them,” said Daniel O’Donnell, Citigroup Inc.’s head of alternatives and investment manager solutions for its wealth unit.

e continuation approach offers a chance to bet on a speci c company where investors may have expertise as well as the opportunity to double down on their investment if they put money into the original fund. e Mills family, for instance, which traces its fortune back to 1910, had at least four generations worth of experience in the health-care sector prior to investing in Medix Biochemica, a Finnish supplier of products

used for testing blood and tissue to identify diseases.

Herlin, meanwhile, was already an investor in the PE rm that acquired a majority stake in Medix Biochemica in 2018. e largest individual shareholder of elevator and escalator-maker Kone, Herlin has a net worth of about $5.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, while the Mills family have a combined fortune of more than $25 billion after their North eld, Illinois-based medical goods manufacturer was acquired three years ago by a private equity consortium.

Maturing market

New rms are entering the market as well, helping to deepen the sector’s investor pool and drive competition over the hottest deals.

Artea Global, a London-based secondaries investment rm cofounded last year by Patrick Hasani, a former money manager for British technology billionaire Simon Nixon, recently raised almost $100 million for its debut fund, according to regulatory lings. Bain Capital-backed 360 One Wam Ltd., one of India’s largest wealth rms, raised $500 million for its debut secondary

vehicle this year, almost all of which came from local family o ces and wealthy individuals. “ ere are more players in the market,” said Hugo King-Oakley, a San Francisco-based head of private markets and community at family o ce membership group GPFO. “It’s maturing.”

An improved market for initial public o erings could eventually put a damper on secondary sales as rms gain additional sources of liquidity. Still, the thousands of companies acquired by private equity rms over the years — as well as some of the largest startups such as SpaceX and Stripe holding back from going public — means that plenty of opportunities remain for now.

Payments giant Stripe previously opened up share buybacks from employees to some of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s richest clients. Outside parties may have the chance to invest in such deals again in the future.

“ ere does seem to be an opportunity set going forward,” said Rob Mullane, Goldman’s co-head of private-wealth management for Europe, Middle East and Africa. “ e world is continuing to understand that the private-wealth channel is a more and more important source of capital.”

JPMorgan Chase building a private banking outpost in Winnetka

By Mark Weinraub

JPMorgan Chase is constructing a three-story building in downtown Winnetka to boost its private bank o erings to wealthy clients in the northern suburbs.

e building, located at 791 Elm St., also will include a Chase retail branch on the ground oor.

“We have been serving the North Shore for 20 years,” Jaime Freeman, head of North Shore for J.P. Morgan Private Bank,

said in an interview. “From a private bank perspective, this really is the kind of moment that shows our commitment in a really visible way.”

e company’s North Shore Private Bank team, which Freeman has led since 2022, currently has just under 30 employees. e new building will allow it to boost the total to more than 50.

“We are working with our highest-net-worth clients with incredibly complex balance sheets, and there is a preponderance of those in the North

Shore,” Freeman said.

JPMorgan reported $2.91 billion in revenue from its Global Private Bank division in the third quarter of 2024, 2.6% higher than the third quarter of 2023. e company had 3,753 client advisers in the unit, up from 3,443 a year earlier.

Through its predecessor banks, JPMorgan has operated at the Winnetka location since 1894, a spokesman said. The company closed its existing Chase branch at that location in April to make way for the new

building. Teardown of the current building is expected to begin in January, with the new one scheduled to open mid-2026.

e new building will more than double the square footage of the former building to nearly 35,000 square feet.

e project will create 250 local construction jobs, with 20% of the work planned to be awarded to local minority- and women-owned businesses, JPMorgan said.

e move ts in with a trend

of wealthy empty nesters choosing to remain in the suburbs as the generational move downtown has lost its luster in recent years. A private bank o ce in Winnetka is more convenient for them than one based in the Loop or other areas downtown.

“It is really exciting to have this physical embodiment of all the work that we are doing and will hope to continue to do on the North Shore,” Freeman said. “We want to interact with our clients. We want to meet them where they are.”

LARGEST NONPROFITS IN THE CHICAGO AREA

Ragu sauce maker will move its HQ to Schaumburg in 2025

Mizkan America has inked a long-term lease for 50,394 square feet at Wood eld Corporate Center

By Danny Ecker

e company that makes Ragu pasta sauce and other food products will move its North American headquarters next year to Schaumburg, where it has signed a deal to become the new anchor tenant of an o ce complex near Wood eld Mall.

Mizkan America, a U.S. subsidiary of Japanese food manufacturer Mizkan Group, has inked a long-term lease for 50,394 square feet at the Wood eld Corporate Center property in the northwest suburb, according to a statement from real estate services rm Savills, which negotiated the deal on behalf of the company.

Mizkan America will relocate its main o ce to the buildings at 200 and 150 N. Martingale Road in late 2025 from its current home at 1661 Feehanville Drive in Mount Prospect, where the company is exercising an option to terminate its roughly 55,000square-foot lease early, according to Savills.

e recommitment to a similar amount of workspace is good news for owners of o ce buildings in the northwest suburbs, where the advent of remote work compounded a vacancy problem that was giving them headaches before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fueled by companies shedding o ce space over the past few years, the vacancy rate among northwest suburban o ce buildings at the end of the third quarter was a whopping 40.8%, the highest of all suburban Chicago submarkets tracked by brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle.

“We very much look forward to bringing our team together in this energizing, newly remodeled space," Mizkan America CEO Koichi Yuki said in the statement. "I’m con dent this location will be an inspiration to our team as we continue to live our rst principle to ‘o er customers only the nest products.’”

Mizkan, whose U.S. food brands include Ragu and Bertolli, among others, will build out its new North American corporate o ce in the top two oors of 200 N. Martingale and create a small "experience center with kitchen and multi-use space" on the lobby level of 150 N. Martingale, the statement said. e company will also have rights to rooftop building signage at the complex, which includes 12and 14-story buildings overlooking Interstate 290.

Mizkan has a separate research and development facility in the area that will not be relocated as part of the o ce move, according to Savills.

Amid an ugly backdrop for ofce leasing, signing Mizkan locks in crucial long-term cash ow for Sperry Equities, the Irvine, Calif.based real estate investor that has owned Wood eld Corporate Center since 2016. Prior to the Mizkan deal, the two buildings in the 535,000-square-foot complex were 85% and 62% leased, respectively, according to real estate information company CoStar Group. ose are on either side of the 69% average for suburban ofce buildings as of the end of September, according to JLL.

e move creates a new leasing challenge for Mizkan's current landlord at the Kensington O ce Plaza I property in Mount Prospect. Mizkan occupies more than half of the 89,000-square-foot building and has its name on the facade.

e property is owned by an entity led by local real estate investor Chet Balder and a Montreal, Quebec-based venture, according to Cook County and Illinois records.

Savills brokers Robert Sevim, Ann Marie Collins, Lisa Davidson and Adam Southard negotiated the new lease on behalf of Mizkan. Jones Lang LaSalle leasing agents Doug Shehan and Rick Benoy represented Sperry Equities.

Wood eld Corporate Center | COSTAR GROUP

Future of Illinois POLITICS

NOTABLE NONPROFIT BOARD LEADERS

Meet 81 business leaders who lend their professional skills and connections to champion nonpro t missions and enrich our communities.

METHODOLOGY: The individuals featured did not pay to be included. This list, which is not comprehensive, includes only individuals for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after a review by editors. To qualify for the list, nominees must have at least ve years of experience serving on the board of a charitable organization that serves the public and has active fundraising campaigns. They must have advanced the cause of their nonpro t organization and raised its pro le in the community, and they must live and work in the Chicago area. Their pro les were written from the nomination materials submitted. Some of the pro les in this feature were written with the assistance of generative AI based on provided information. Honorees can appear in only one Notables feature per calendar year.

John Atkinson

Chairman, Intersect Illinois

Managing director and chairman, Marsh

Nonpro t contribution: Appointed chairman of Intersect Illinois by Gov. JB Pritzker in 2023, Atkinson has helped transform its board of directors, instituted a new siteselector engagement strategy, invested in the quantum industry and more.

Biggest professional win: With Atkinson at the helm, Intersect Illinois-assisted projects from scal year 2024 have accounted for 2,738 new jobs, up 158% over last year, and $2.05 billion in investment, up 47% over last year.

Other contributions: Atkinson is director emeritus for One Million Degrees and, prior to Intersect, chaired the Illinois Board of Higher Education. He serves on boards at Cradles to Crayons and Argentum, as well as the Loyola University Chicago Council of Regents and Catholic Charities of Chicago’s board of advisors.

Debbie Berman

Board chair, Anti-Defamation League

Board member, Jewish United Fund

Partner, Jenner & Block

Nonpro t contribution: Berman has served on the boards of the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish United Fund. She currently chairs the board of the AntiDefamation League, a leading anti-hate organization. She also contributes her expertise as a board member of Brandeis Hillel and the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Biggest professional win: Berman secured a complete jury win for Hetronic International against former European distributors selling copycat products, obtaining a signi cant judgment and injunction despite a change in precedent from the Supreme Court.

Other contributions: Berman co-chairs Jenner & Block’s pro bono committee, a top pro bono program in the U.S. She also serves as president of the Harvard Law Society of Illinois.

Salman Azam

Executive board member, Downtown Islamic Center

General counsel and chief compliance of cer, Dialysis Care Center

Nonpro t contribution: Azam joined the Downtown Islamic Center’s board in 2005 as its youngest member, later serving as board secretary for ve years. He has managed daily staff, expanded programming and handled legal affairs, while recruiting younger board members to sustain growth. Azam fostered partnerships, joining the Chicago Loop Alliance and establishing interfaith dialogues with prominent Chicago institutions.

Biggest professional win: Azam transformed the mosque from a commuter-centric institution into a full-time Muslim community center with extensive programming for downtown residents.

Other contributions: Azam has hosted Radio Islam WCEV, provided pro bono legal services, chaired Islamic Society of North America conventions and served as the rst Muslim president of the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago.

Peter J. Birnbaum

President, The Jesse White Foundation

President and CEO, Advocus National Title Insurance

Chief Justice, Illinois Court of Claims

Nonpro t contribution: Birnbaum has served as board president of The Jesse White Foundation since 2012, leading efforts to establish the Jesse White Community Center, a facility in partnership with the Chicago Park District. The center serves local residents and supports Jesse White Foundation programs, including The Jesse White Tumblers.

Biggest professional win: As CEO, Birnbaum led Advocus’ merger with Rate in 2022, yielding an average return of 23,900% for Advocus’ 2,200 attorney-shareholders. As chief justice, he has streamlined operations for timely case resolutions. Other contributions: Birnbaum received numerous awards, including the Justice John Paul Stevens Award and the Vanguard Award for diversity, and was named a Chicago-Kent College of Law Alumnus of Distinction.

Austin Baidas

Board nominating and governance committee chair, Howard Brown Health

Consultant, self-employed Nonpro t contribution: Baidas has strengthened Howard Brown Health’s mission through his leadership of the governance committee, guiding a signi cant leadership transition and developing strategies for board recruitment.

Biggest professional win: As treasurer, Baidas secured nancing for Howard Brown’s new Halsted Street clinic. He set up the organization’s investment fund, which allowed borrowing against the building at a 2.9% interest rate for 12 years, supporting the center’s nancial stability and ongoing community impact.

Other contributions: Baidas also serves as governance chair for Albion College, is treasurer for Synergia and supports Rainbow Railroad. A founding member of QForce, he advocates for LGBTQ+ inclusion and led voter outreach for Kamala Harris’ campaign.

Steven Blonder

Board chair, The Ark Principal, management committee member, Much Shelist

Nonpro t contribution: Blonder has led The Ark’s 28-member board since 2016, setting strategic priorities, managing a $10 million budget and advancing its mission to provide essential services for the Chicago area’s Jewish community. During his tenure, The Ark has expanded support for basic needs such as food, shelter and health care.

Biggest professional win: Blonder led The Ark’s $23.7 million Building Our Future campaign, resulting in a new West Rogers Park facility with a 60% larger footprint, an expanded food pantry and dedicated mental health space, serving as a model for human services.

Other contributions: Blonder is vice chair of the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Investing in Justice campaign and has served on the boards of WTTW-TV and WFMT-FM, Jewish United Fund and Jewish Children’s Bureau.

Board chair, The Auditorium Theatre Vice president, Loop Auto Parks Nonpro t contribution: Baryl has served on The Auditorium Theatre’s board since 2012 and was elected chair in 2023. He has led the organization through major challenges, including the COVID pandemic, and secured support for signi cant projects like its elevator campaign, enhancing accessibility in the historic theater.

Biggest professional win: Under Baryl’s leadership, the Auditorium completed restoration projects that enabled it to host “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” during this year’s Democratic National Convention, boosting exposure for the theater and Chicago.

Other contributions: Baryl supports scholarships at Purdue University’s Daniels School of Business and coaches his son’s sports teams. He is active in fundraising for Alphonsus Academy and St. Alphonsus Church and is a member of the Green Lake Association.

Board member, Chicago Public Library Foundation

Executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, Wintrust Financial

Nonpro t contribution: Boege brings over 20 years of experience as in-house counsel and board liaison across multiple industries. She applies her governance expertise at the Chicago Public Library Foundation and has chaired several nonpro t CEO selection committees, supporting strategic leadership decisions.

Biggest professional win: Boege led Wintrust’s legal efforts in its acquisition of Macatawa Bank, nalized in August, expanding its presence in West Michigan.

Other contributions: Boege serves on several nonpro t boards, including the Chicago History Museum Costume Council, the Field Museum, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Illinois/Northwest Indiana, the Keystone Board of the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, and the Women’s Educational Aid Association.

Thomas R. Baryl

Kathleen Boege

Craig Bondy

Board member, Communities In Schools of Chicago

Founder and CEO, Bondy Capital

Nonpro t contribution: Bondy, the longest-serving board member at Communities In Schools of Chicago, has provided 18 years of leadership, connecting the organization with key supporters and leading fundraising efforts aimed at doubling impact by 2030.

Biggest professional win: After 23 years at GTCR, where he managed over $3.2 billion in equity investments, Bondy launched Bondy Capital in 2023, focusing on private equity in technology and business services, building the rm with experienced partners and a strategic vision.

Other contributions: Bondy is active in Chicago’s business community and serves on the advisory boards of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Chair, Ladies of Virtue President and CEO, Results Sales & Marketing

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair of Ladies of Virtue, Cardell secured the organization’s largest single donation of $160,000, expanded its budget from $230,000 in 2018 to $1.6 million in 2024, and grew its reach by 500%. Her network and strategic partnerships have driven steady fundraising growth and corporate contributions.

Biggest professional win: Cardell expanded a brand’s distribution into new channels, achieving a 25% sales boost, a 13% revenue increase, and 4% market share growth. Her approach to product positioning has consistently yielded double-digit growth for her clients. Other contributions: Cardell is active with the Global Beauty Alliance, serves on the board of Omni Channel and volunteers with the Barbara Bates Foundation, Delta Sigma Theta and Fellowship M.B. Church.

Christine Brambila

Co-chair of programs and impact committee, Carole Robertson Center for Learning

Senior program of cer of children’s mental health, Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation

Nonpro t contribution: Brambila, an alumna of the center’s early learning program, has played a key role in its growth from an $8 million to a nearly $40 million organization, expanding reach in Chicago. Her expertise in child development and policy has been instrumental in the center’s strategic planning and community impact.

Biggest professional win: At the Illinois Governor’s Of ce of Early Childhood Development, Brambila leveraged $2.3 million in emergency funding to expand the infant/early childhood mental health consultation workforce and support multilingual public awareness campaigns, enhancing statewide access to mental health services.

Other contributions: Brambila is active with Chicago Latines in Philanthropy and the Youth Mental Health Funder Collaborative, and is a volunteer interviewer for the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund.

Board chair, Esperanza Health Centers

Senior vice president and xed-income portfolio manager, Northern Trust

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair, Chico has driven growth and support for Esperanza Health Centers, including leading a Bank of America Chicago Marathon team that raised over $33,000 and volunteering in community programs. He also enrolled as an Esperanza patient, strengthening his commitment to its mission.

Biggest professional win: At Northern Trust, Chico launched three international bond funds, including a multi-currency Emerging Markets sovereign bond fund with 630% growth in assets under management and two ESG-integrated bond strategies that grew by over 450% since 2022.

Other contributions: Chico promotes Esperanza on social media, mentors new board members, and actively contributes to strategic planning, enhancing the organization’s community impact.

Melvin L. Brooks

Chairman, Habilitative Systems Inc. Managing partner, The Cochran Firm Chicago

Nonpro t contribution: Brooks has served as board chair of Habilitative Systems Inc. since 2010, supporting programs for over 7,000 individuals annually across Chicago’s South and West sides. His leadership includes active fundraising for HSI’s Race and Health Equity Board reception and major involvement in agency events.

Biggest professional win: Brooks, a personal injury attorney, has recently led over $22 million in settlements and litigation wins. He also was involved in notable cases like the $20 million E2 nightclub settlement and a $4.5 million award for the family of Rekia Boyd.

Other contributions: Brooks has been an HSI donor for over 15 years, provides pro bono legal support to agency leadership, and is involved in board recruitment and development.

Vice chair, executive committee, DuSable Black History Museum & Education Center President, GI Stone

Nonpro t contribution: Dandamudi has spearheaded fundraising and outreach efforts for the DuSable Museum, hosting youth events and encouraging GI Stone clients to support the museum’s mission. She provides personal nancial support and advocates for increased visibility and engagement.

Biggest professional win: As president of GI Stone, Dandamudi has led the company to work on high-pro le projects such as the Ritz-Carlton and Tribune Tower Residences. She considers her work on the Obama Presidential Center’s interior stonework her career highlight.

Other contributions: Dandamudi mentors apprentices through the Marble Setters Union, collaborates on workforce programs with St. Paul Community Development Ministries, and serves on the boards of the Anti-Defamation League, the National Indo-American Museum and more.

Tracy Burcham

Chairman, board of governors, Shriners Children’s Chicago Vice president, JPMorgan Chase Bank

Nonpro t contribution: Burcham has streamlined Shriners Children’s Chicago board meetings, introduced monthly dinners to connect staff and board members, and led efforts to approve a new MRI/CT suite and pursue a master facility plan. Under his leadership, patient volume has increased 17% year to date.

Biggest professional win: As leader of JPMorgan’s global pre-underwriting team, Burcham implemented automated processing and streamlined work queues, enhancing ef ciency and messaging consistency across multiple global locations.

Other contributions: A member of Medinah Shriners, Burcham has served as potentate and co-chaired fundraising events. He also holds a leadership role with the Great Lakes Shrine Association.

President and CEO, Wings Program

Nonpro t contribution: Leading Wings Program for 25 years, Darr has grown Illinois’ largest domestic violence agency from a $350,000 annual budget to nearly $17 million, expanding services to include emergency shelters, transitional housing, and the award-winning Survivor Lifeline Mentoring program.

Biggest professional win: Darr established a second Safe Home and launched a comprehensive Children & Family Services Program, expanding emergency housing and long-term support options for survivors across Chicago and the northwest suburbs.

Other contributions: Darr holds leadership roles with the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Cook County Commission on Women’s Issues, and the Chicago Mayor’s Of ce Gender-Based Violence Task Force. She is frequently consulted by media on domestic violence issues.

Inger Burnett-Zeigler

Chair, Thresholds

Associate professor and licensed clinical psychologist, department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair for Thresholds, Burnett-Zeigler leverages her research background to inform evidence-based practices, target underserved populations and raise awareness through public engagement. Her work supports Thresholds’ mission to improve access to mental health services in Chicago.

Biggest professional win: BurnettZeigler secured a multimillion-dollar NIH grant to lead a ve-year trial on a mindfulness intervention for depressive symptoms among Black women in Federally Quali ed Health Centers, involving 250 participants and ve trained staff.

Other contributions: Burnett-Zeigler serves on the African American Legacy board of The Chicago Community Trust, has served on the Heartland Alliance Health board, and was co-chair of former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Council for Mental Health Equity.

Board member, executive committee, James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy Partner, Pelham S2K Managers

Nonpro t contribution: Fields, a ve-year board member, leads the Advancing Racial Equity task force at the Moran Center and helps cultivate funding relationships, strengthening the organization’s governance and outreach in the Chicago area.

Biggest professional win: Fields has been recognized for her board leadership, including serving as board chair for Lifespace Communities and receiving the Distinguished Alumna Award from Chatham Hall. She frequently speaks on governance, including at national conferences.

Other contributions: Fields also serves on the boards of Ravinia Festival, Superior Group of Cos. and IMA Financial Group, where she chairs the audit and risk committee. She also fundraises for Fisk University.

Elsie Cardell

Michael Chico

Sandya Dandamudi

Rebecca Darr

Venita Fields

Edward J. Fiorentino

Vice chair, Clearbrook

Executive chairman, TerSera Therapeutics

Nonpro t contribution: Fiorentino has been instrumental in advancing Clearbrook’s mission through fundraising and community engagement. Under his leadership, TerSera has been the presenting sponsor of Clearbrook’s Step it Up 5K event, with 165 participants in 2024, enhancing the organization’s visibility and support.

Biggest professional win: Fiorentino co-founded three biopharmaceutical companies, leading them from startup to growth. His focus on advancing human health has driven growth in sales, employment and product development across each venture.

Other contributions: Fiorentino serves on the boards of TerSera Therapeutics, Senseonics, and Clearbrook, and is involved in industry organizations, including past board roles with iBIO, California Healthcare Institute, and the National Pharmaceutical Council.

Sally Fletcher

Board president, Friends of the Chicago River

Co-founder and chief nancial of cer, Momento

Nonpro t contribution: Fletcher, president of the Friends of the Chicago River board for eight years, has led growth in the organization’s budget from $1.4 million to $2.9 million. She spearheads board campaigns, supports DEI initiatives, and serves as an adviser to the executive director.

Biggest professional win: Fletcher led advocacy efforts for improved water quality standards, including the approval of stricter sewer discharge permits. Her leadership has driven Friends’ continued progress toward a cleaner ChicagoCalumet River system.

Other contributions: Fletcher also serves on the boards of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ and the Chicago Metropolitan YMCA, and previously served as president of New City YMCA.

As Audit Partner and Audit Practice Leader in KPMG’s Chicago of ce, Andrea Rodbro leads a team of more than 100 professionals in the Consumer and Industrial Markets practice. In this role, Rodbro sets a strong example of community service. Since joining the March of Dimes Chicago market board of directors, Rodbro has advocated to increase awareness around premature birth and maternal health disparities. By leading fundraising efforts at KPMG to support this cause, Rodbro has helped raise more than half a million dollars for the March of Dimes.

Bonnie Fong

Board chair, Chinese American Service League

Retired vice president of investment banking, Goldman Sachs

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair, Fong led the Chinese American Service League through a strategic rebranding to expand services for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Paci c Islander communities, secured 100% board nancial participation, and initiated the planning for CASL’s new 5.3-acre south campus.

Biggest professional win: At Goldman Sachs, Fong co-led the Chicago Diversity Network, increased diverse talent in investment banking, and captained the recruitment team, achieving aspirational targets for gender and racial diversity.

Other contributions: Fong is active on the University of Chicago women’s board, assessing grant proposals, and she organized service projects for over 700 Goldman Sachs employees in Chicago.

Sponsored Content

Jeremy Foster

President and CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago

Nonpro t contribution: Since 2017, Foster has led Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago, overseeing a $6.3 million budget and a team of 50 to 60 employees. He guided the merger of Lake County BBBS into the Chicago agency and established four regional mentoring centers in high-need communities.

Biggest professional win: In 2018, Foster launched a ve-year campaign to raise $8.975 million to double the youths served. Despite pandemic setbacks, he kept the campaign on track, aiming to bring 1-to-1 mentoring to 5,000 youths and families across the Chicago area.

Other contributions: Foster collaborates with community groups and faith organizations to recruit mentors and mentees, drives national corporate philanthropy, and serves as an elder at Faith Lutheran Church in Lake Forest.

NOTABLE SPOTLIGHT

Celebrating life’s little miracles

Interviewed by Brooke Bilyj for Crain’s Content Studio

Why did you get involved with the March of Dimes, and why is its mission so close to your heart?

KPMG has been a long-time sponsor for March of Dimes, so my late husband, Mike, and I got involved early in my career, years before having our own children. Then, in January of 2015, we had twin boys, Ben and Levi, who were born three months premature and spent three months in the NICU. Through that experience, I learned how the March of Dimes advocates for the health of babies and moms.

The March of Dimes was responsible for many of the groundbreaking medications and technologies we used. Certainly, I didn’t want any other family to go through what we did. So, shortly after the boys were born, I joined the March of Dimes Chicago board. Mike and I were very involved; we were the ambassador family for the 2016 March for Babies Walk and Signature Chefs Gala. When my husband passed away three years ago, we donated to March of Dimes in his name.

Every time I think about my involvement with March of Dimes, it reminds me

Esther E.T. Franklin

Board chair, The Family Institute at Northwestern University

Global chief strategy of cer and cultural uency of cer, Spark Foundry

Nonpro t contribution: Franklin, a board member for 15 years and chair for the past two, leads the board in advancing The Family Institute’s mission, overseeing a $60 millionplus budget and supporting services for over 7,000 clients annually. Her leadership has strengthened TFI’s partnership with Northwestern University and guided DEI initiatives.

Biggest professional win: At Spark Foundry, Franklin pioneered the “Spark Plus” strategy, focused on cultural uency and audience identity. In 2023, she was honored in Campaign US’ Inspiring Women Awards for her impact on media planning.

Other contributions: Franklin supports The Family Institute’s Gratitude Gala, turning guests into donors, and serves on the boards of Lurie Children’s Hospital and the Chicago Urban League.

with Andrea Rodbro

of where the boys started and makes me grateful for where they are today — perfectly healthy. My involvement with March of Dimes reminds me of the strength we had to get through that and the gratitude I feel for the blessings we’ve been given.

How do you advocate for the March of Dimes’ mission?

As often as I can, I’m telling our story to build awareness around premature birth, especially as we think about health disparities in the United States. For a well-developed nation, the statistics are shocking, and access to healthcare has such a profound impact. I think the best way to inspire people to get involved is to tell your personal story, so I talk about it a lot.

I also lead our efforts at KPMG for the March for Babies Walk and other fundraising opportunities, like an annual trivia event that I help organize. In total, we’ve raised over $550,000 for March of Dimes — closer to $600,000 if you include our personal contributions and Mike’s tribute.

How has board involvement shaped your approach to leadership?

I lead with empathy. But if you would’ve

asked me 10 years ago, I don’t think the word empathy would’ve come to mind. My involvement with the board is a constant reminder that you never know what people are going through. Being involved in the board encourages me as a leader to bring my whole self to work. My passion for March of Dimes is key to my values as a leader. By demonstrating that, it encourages other leaders to do the same. We’re not just leaders within our rms; we need to act as leaders within our communities, too.

What example do you hope to set for your children?

I want them to be involved and be reminded of the importance and necessity of giving back to our communities. I hope they can see that involvement with an organization like March of Dimes is also a reminder to be grateful for our blessings and know that we have the strength to overcome challenges.

John Gilligan

Chair, A Better Chicago Partner and co-founder, Riverspan Partners

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair of A Better Chicago, Gilligan has supported initiatives to serve over 115,000 students and deploy more than $40 million in capital to 30-plus organizations. He helped launch the Grape + Grain auction, which raises nearly $1 million annually.

Biggest professional win: After co-founding Riverspan Partners in 2022, Gilligan achieved his biggest win in 2024 with the rm’s rst two successful acquisitions, establishing a foundation for his goal of delivering solid returns and fostering an inclusive culture.

Other contributions: Gilligan has served on the boards of City Year Chicago, Barretts Minerals and Polaris Laboratories. He is also an associate trustee of St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, Mass.

Marion K. Gross

Board chair, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana

Executive vice president and global chief supply chain of cer, McDonald’s

Nonpro t contribution: Gross has volunteered with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana for over 30 years, serving on the board since 2014 and leading as board chair since 2024. She has helped drive initiatives like expanding the Ronald McDonald House near Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Biggest professional win: Gross led McDonald’s global supply chain to achieve 26.2% of U.S. spend with diverse-owned suppliers, above the industry average. Her team’s DEI efforts include a pledge signed by 553 U.S. suppliers to enhance equity in their businesses.

Other contributions: Gross is active in Chicago-area organizations, including AWESOME Leaders’ board of advisers, The Chicago Network and Leadership Greater Chicago.

Robert “Rob” Hallberg

Executive board chair, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago

Managing director, commercial banking, BMO

Nonpro t contribution: Hallberg has been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago since 1999, initially as a Big Brother. As executive board chair, he leads over 30 business professionals, helping shape strategy and support mission growth.

Biggest professional win: Hallberg played a role in the agency’s $8.9 million Drive for Five campaign, securing mid-six- gure pledges and corporate support that enabled the opening of four regional mentoring centers. His cash ow projection model, created as nance committee chair, has been valuable during and beyond COVID-19.

Other contributions: Hallberg serves with the Elmhurst Lions Club, advising the Leo service club for teens, and participating in service projects. He also serves on his parish nance committee.

Mary Hasten

Board chair, Start Early President, The Hasten Foundation

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair of Start Early, Hasten oversees a 31-member board, approves grants, and supports Head Start initiatives. She has elevated parent leadership and engagement in strategic decision-making, enhancing Start Early’s community pro le and supporting fundraising efforts.

Biggest professional win: Hasten has helped secure new donors and increased funding, contributing to Start Early’s scal year 2025 budget of $122 million. Her efforts focus on long-term support for early childhood education and strengthening the organization’s post-pandemic recovery.

Other contributions: She is president of the Hasten Foundation, serves on Loyola University’s board of trustees and is involved with CASA of Cook County, Rush Neurobehavioral Center, Lurie Children’s Hospital and Jobs for Youth Chicago.

Jonathan Hennessy

Board chair, Defy Ventures Illinois Executive director, Hughes Charitable Foundation

Independent investor

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair of Defy Ventures Illinois, Hennessy has overseen its expansion from a pilot to a program spanning three adult correctional centers, a juvenile facility, and a post-release program. His leadership has driven a 150% budget increase and a 200% rise in program participation.

Biggest professional win: Hennessy’s work with Defy has helped reduce recidivism for program participants to 10%, compared to 40% for non-participants. In 2023, 74% of participants secured employment within 90 days, with 11 new businesses launched.

Other contributions: Hennessy has volunteered in prisons, mentoring participants in entrepreneurship. He also supports numerous other organizations, including Chicago Furniture Bank, Women’s Justice Institute and StreetWise.

Darryl Henry

Board chair, Genesys Works Chicago

President and CEO, Diversi ed Technology

Nonpro t contribution: Henry, board chair since 2020, has driven Genesys Works’ mission to empower underserved high school students through tech skills training and internships. He led the organization’s largest annual fundraiser, a golf tournament that raised over $500,000 and expanded the donor network by over 40 new supporters.

Biggest professional win: As CEO of Diversi ed Technology, Henry launched the “hire>train>deploy” model with partners like Accenture to create tech career pathways for underserved communities and veterans. His leadership earned DTI a place on Crain’s 2024 Fast 50 list for growth and innovation.

Other contributions: Henry recruits Genesys Works alumni as staff, creating mentorship and growth opportunities. He continues to champion diversity and inclusion in the tech industry.

Stefanie Hest

Board chair, Share Our Spare Senior director, Corporate Coalition of Chicago

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair of Share Our Spare, Hest manages a $5 million budget focused on providing essentials to children under 5. In 2023, Share Our Spare reached over 18,000 children, distributing 7.7 million diapers. She co-chaired the 2020 gala, raising $250,000 despite a virtual pivot, and fostered new local partnerships.

Biggest professional win: At Northern Trust, Hest co-chaired the Women’s Leadership Development Forum, creating a yearlong program for 200 participants aimed at advancing women’s careers and ensuring a diverse talent pipeline.

Other contributions: Hest’s role at the Corporate Coalition centers on initiatives to boost job creation on Chicago’s South and West sides. She also served on the board of Family Services of Glencoe and is active with the President’s Council of Cornell Women.

Nicola Idehen

Vice chair, Adler University Founder, Halden Bridge Advisory Group

Nonpro t contribution: Since joining Adler University’s board of trustees in 2019, Idehen has leveraged her HR expertise to support institutional stability. Elected vice chair in 2022, she led an 11-month national presidential search, culminating in the appointment of President Lisa Coleman.

Biggest professional win: Idehen founded Halden Bridge Advisory Group following a strategic sabbatical and advises Red Arts Capital and New Catalyst Strategic Partners. She previously was enterprise head of people at Citadel and held leadership roles at Vistra and GCM Grosvenor.

Other contributions: Idehen serves on the leadership advisory committee for the Art Institute of Chicago, the board of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and the family advisory council for Cradles to Crayons.

DeAnna Ingram Jones

Chair, Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities Consultant, NEPC

Nonpro t contribution: As TASC board chair, Ingram Jones has advanced its mission, leveraging her investment expertise to diversify its portfolio and establish an endowment fund. Her advocacy has in uenced statewide policy, and her leadership proved valuable during TASC’s 2020 executive transition, supporting the hiring and onboarding of CEO Joel K. Johnson.

Biggest professional win: At NEPC, Ingram Jones has driven diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, adding diverse managers to NEPC’s preferred list and implementing DEI ratings to enhance client outcomes.

Other contributions: She chairs the National Association of Securities Professionals Chicago and serves on its national board. She also sits on the board of Lawrence Hall, co-chairs its South Shore hub committee and leads a nancial literacy program at St. Paul Elementary.

Harold Israel

Chair, board of trustees, Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning & Leadership Partner and chair of pro bono committee, Levenfeld Pearlstein

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair of Spertus Institute, Israel has strengthened its mission of providing education rooted in Jewish wisdom and open to all. He has driven efforts to expand Spertus’ reach nationally and internationally, guiding new initiatives like the Leadership Certi cate in Combating Antisemitism and overhauling the institute’s fundraising model.

Biggest professional win: Israel led a team representing the trustee in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of the Woodlawn Community Development Corp., which resulted in a multimillion-dollar surplus estate. Other contributions: Israel is past chairman of the nonpro t Credit Abuse Resistance Education and chaired the Chicago Bar Association’s bankruptcy and reorganization committee.

Manny Jimenez

Secretary, Poder

First vice president, Community Reinvestment Act of cer, Marquette Bank

Nonpro t contribution: Jimenez has served on Poder’s board since 2012, previously as treasurer and now as secretary. He secured pro-bono space at Marquette Bank’s South Pulaski branch for Poder’s Pilsen site, facilitating over $500,000 in support. He was instrumental in securing the site and funds for Poder headquarters in Gage Park, which opened in 2023 as a community hub for Latino immigrants.

Biggest professional win: Jimenez led Marquette Bank to achieve 11 consecutive CRA Outstanding ratings, the highest rating possible. Other contributions: Jimenez is board president of the Greater Southwest Development Corp. and Archer Manor Little League, and is board treasurer for the Woodstock Institute.

Kenneth Johnson

Board chair, LINK Unlimited Scholars

Managing partner, Johnson Blumberg & Associates

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair of LINK Unlimited Scholars, Johnson has enhanced the organization’s visibility by featuring LINK at the national conference of the National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms, or NAMWOLF, and has raised nearly $100,000 since 2013. He has mentored three scholars and recruited three board members to strengthen LINK’s mission.

Biggest professional win: Johnson led Johnson Blumberg & Associates’ expansion into six states, positioning it as one of the few minority-owned rms handling high case volumes while maintaining client satisfaction.

Other contributions: Johnson is a trustee for River Forest, becoming the rst African American in the role for the village. He’s also a NAMWOLF board member.

Ronald G. Kaminski

Board chair, Chicago Commons

Senior vice president, Quanta Services

Nonpro t contribution: Kaminski has led Chicago Commons in expanding its capacity, securing a Head Start grant to enhance early education services for families. As leader of the Evans-Blossom Golf Committee, he has raised over $1 million to support underserved communities in the Chicago area.

Biggest professional win: Kaminski founded HBK Engineering, which he grew into a premier engineering resource before its acquisition by Quanta Services in 2020. Now with Quanta, he oversees Utility Performance Solutions for a company generating over $20 billion in revenue.

Other contributions: With over 12 years on Chicago Commons’ board, including three as vice chair, Kaminski has been instrumental in nearly doubling annual contributions and attendance at events, helping Chicago Commons gain recognition for quality community services.

CONGRATULATIONS,

ROB ROMANOFF , our esteemed Board of Directors Chair, on being named a Notable Nonprofit Board Leader by Crain’s Chicago Business .

We are grateful to you for your outstanding leadership and support, and proud that your work has been recognized.

Anne Kaplan

Board chair, Joffrey Ballet Partner, owner and designer, Insight Environmental Design

Nonpro t contribution: Kaplan, as board chair, has driven growth at Joffrey Ballet, securing a $5 million endowment for the Grainger Academy, expanding diversity on the board, and leading 2023 and 2024 galas that raised over $4 million for free Joffrey for All performances. She also spearheaded $28 million for the Artistic Innovation Fund and $12 million in pandemic crisis funding.

Biggest professional win: Kaplan’s greatest accomplishment was collaborating with Joffrey’s senior team during the pandemic, an experience that reshaped her approach to board leadership.

Other contributions: Kaplan is a board member of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and supports Chicago Cares, Marwen and the Chicago Architecture Biennial. She is a trustee of The Mayer & Morris Kaplan Family Foundation.

Lori Kaufman

Honorary board chair, AIDS Foundation Chicago

Retired art dealer, Hokin Kaufman Gallery

Nonpro t contribution: Kaufman has worked with AIDS Foundation Chicago for 35 years, serving as board president during the height of the HIV crisis and later as fund development chair. Her leadership has sustained resources as AFC evolved into a public health and advocacy organization serving thousands in Illinois each year.

Biggest professional win: As fund development chair, Kaufman helped launch the Getting to Zero Illinois initiative, aiming to end the HIV epidemic. This initiative has led to a 40% drop in annual diagnoses since 2012.

Other contributions: Kaufman also is a life trustee for Francis W. Parker School, an honorary board member of Marwen and a member of the women’s board of the University of Chicago.

Katie Kazas

Board president, The Goldie Initiative

Managing director of capital markets, Longfellow Real Estate Partners

Nonpro t contribution: Kazas began with The Goldie Initiative as a mentor and progressed to co-chairing its Goldie Gala in 2022 and 2023, achieving record fundraising. As board president, she oversees the 2023-26 strategic plan, which expands programming and fundraising beyond the Chicago area.

Biggest professional win: In 2023, Kazas launched Longfellow Lifts, the rm’s corporate giving program. The initiative donates over $250,000 annually and supports community involvement, STEM education and DEI, with employees committing 400 volunteer hours per year.

Other contributions: Kazas was a board member of NAIOP Chicago from 2017 to 2023, contributing her expertise to the commercial real estate community.

Julia Lissner

Vice president and presidentelect of the women’s board, Kohl Children’s Museum of Greater Chicago

Litigation partner, Akerman

Nonpro t contribution: As vice president and president-elect of the women’s board, Lissner leads over 35 members in supporting Kohl Children’s Museum’s exhibits and programs. She co-chaired the 17th annual Touch A Truck Family Festival, boosting attendance by 14% to 2,400 and setting fundraising records, advancing the museum’s mission.

Biggest professional win: A litigation partner at Akerman, Lissner secured a $110 million jury verdict for a Waukegan business in 2021, one of the largest U.S. verdicts that year.

Other contributions: Lissner has over 10 years of nonpro t board experience, including roles with the Northwestern Alumni Association, the Junior League of Chicago and the Appellate Lawyers Association.

Jackie Lomax

Founder and executive director, Girls 4 Science

Nonpro t contribution: Lomax has led Girls 4 Science for 15 years, developing hands-on programs, securing grants and partnerships, and advocating for girls in STEM. The organization provides free access to STEM opportunities for girls ages 10 to 18.

Biggest professional win: In the past ve years, Lomax celebrated Girls 4 Science’s issuing of $47,000 in scholarships, including its rst $1,000 scholarship to a high school senior, funded by Cedar Concepts.

Other contributions: Lomax volunteers in the Roseland community, organizing school supply events and mentoring women re-entering the workforce, including providing resources for their job interviews.

Andy Lowenthal

Member, advisory board; former president, board of directors, Renaissance Social Services

Retired senior vice president, global expansion and business development, Cboe Global Markets

Nonpro t contribution: Since 2007, Lowenthal has played a vital role in Renaissance’s growth, serving as board president, executive committee member and advisory board member. His leadership helped expand the budget from $400,953 in 2007 to $15.7 million in 2014, supporting diverse programs for Chicago’s homeless.

Biggest professional win: Under Lowenthal’s tenure, Renaissance evolved into a key player in addressing homelessness, reaching 4,000 people annually with services including housing, mental health care and clinical case management.

Other contributions: Lowenthal is also active with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center.

Jerry Lumpkins

Vice chair, central board of directors; chair, resource development committee, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago

Senior vice president, Midwest commercial real estate division head, Valley Bank

Nonpro t contribution: Lumpkins has leveraged his nancial expertise to strengthen fundraising strategies and identify key funding sources for housing equity initiatives.

Biggest professional win: At Valley Bank, Lumpkins manages multifamily, retail, of ce and industrial transactions across the Midwest. Recently, he was inducted into the Real Estate Journal’s Midwest CRE Hall of Fame.

Other contributions: Lumpkins is active with the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation Mentor Program, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Chicago Oriental Lodge No. 33 and the Latino Real Estate Investors Council. He previously chaired the Rockford Housing Authority Board.

Rocco Martino

Chairperson of the board of trustees, Endeavor Health Co-founder, OceanM19

Nonpro t contribution: Martino led the merger of NorthShore University HealthSystem and Edward-Elmhurst Health, creating Illinois’ third-largest health system. His leadership helped establish a community investment fund that has awarded $21.4 million to 47 partnerships focused on health equity and local economic growth.

Biggest professional win: As Endeavor Health’s board chair, Martino directed a rebranding to unify care across six counties, overseeing 27,000 staff, 7,100 physicians and eight Magnetrecognized hospitals.

Other contributions: Martino’s philanthropy supports higher education at Loyola University Chicago, where he is a trustee. He also serves on Notre Dame’s IDEA Center advisory council and is a past chair of the Illinois Venture Capital Association.

Roxanne Martino

Board chair; chair of the executive, compensation, and nominating and governance committees, Lurie Children’s Hospital Co-founder, OceanM19

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair, Martino led Lurie through the pandemic and a cybersecurity attack, ensuring quality care. She oversaw the search for CEO Dr. Thomas Shanley and modernized governance structures.

Biggest professional win: Martino co-founded OceanM19, a singlefamily investment of ce. Previously, as CEO of Aurora Investment Management, she managed over $14 billion in assets.

Other contributions: Martino is a longtime board director of Thresholds and serves on its executive committee. She led the search for the Economic Club of Chicago’s president and CEO. She is a past chair of the business councils at the University of Chicago Booth School and Notre Dame’s Mendoza College. She is a life trustee of Fenwick High School’s board.

Donielle McCutcheon

Secretary and chair of the nominating and governance committee, Uniting Voices Chicago Partner, Sidley Austin Nonpro t contribution: McCutcheon aided in the rebranding of Uniting Voices Chicago, previously Chicago Children’s Choir, supporting its mission of global youth empowerment through music. As nominating and governance chair, she has enhanced board diversity, welcoming 10 directors from varied backgrounds since 2019.

Biggest professional win: At Sidley, McCutcheon co-leads Boston Women’s Life Sciences Network, advancing high-level discussion on life sciences law and mentoring women professionals.

Other contributions: McCutcheon also serves on Sidley’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee and is a founding member of Black@ Sidley, supporting diversity and inclusion efforts rmwide.

Matt McGrath

Chair, advisory board, Ladder Up Partner, Deloitte Tax

Nonpro t contribution: McGrath has advanced Ladder Up’s mission for 20 years, leading the expansion of its advisory board and driving fundraising through events like Casino Night and Tee Up. His efforts support the organization’s mission to help clients improve economic stability, including over 13,500 tax returns prepared in 2023.

Biggest professional win: As Deloitte’s lead university partner for the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign, McGrath heads the scholarship campaign to endow the Deloitte Foundation Gies College of Business Scholarship Fund, with a $500,000 goal.

Other contributions: McGrath mentors new board members, builds initiatives like the nancial capability committee and leads Deloitte volunteer efforts in the Chicago area.

JD Miller

Board chair emeritus, Care for Friends

Operating adviser, Five Arrows Capital Partners

Nonpro t contribution: Miller led efforts to secure a $3 million grant from the state of Illinois as part of a $9.2 million campaign for a new community center in Lincoln Park. He structured fundraising events like the Sleepout for Homelessness and Power Hope Awards, and mentored two succeeding board chairs.

Biggest professional win: As chief revenue of cer at Motus, Miller drove 20% annual organic growth by implementing new sales and marketing strategies, making Motus one of Thoma Bravo’s top investments.

Other contributions: Miller mentors founders at 1871 Chicago and supports Chicago arts organizations through his family foundation, which also underwrites a scholarship in communication at the University of Illinois.

Pamela Miranda

Board member; chair of the membership and governance committee, Easterseals Serving Chicago & Greater Rockford

Marketing director and business owner, Order Express

Nonpro t contribution: Miranda has led the effort to diversify Easterseals’ board, transforming it from 85% white males to 40% women and 40% members of color. Her leadership in DEI has made the board more representative of those served by Easterseals.

Biggest professional win: At Order Express, a Mexican company providing secure money transfer services, Miranda expanded its range to meet diverse customer needs. Today, the company operates over 70 branches and agents across 25 states.

Other contributions: Miranda donates her skills to organizations including CRIT TeletonUSA, supporting children with disabilities, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Michael Monticello

Board member, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago

Managing director, CIBC Bank

Nonpro t contribution:

Monticello’s role at Catholic Charities has included an extended term as board chair, where he guided the organization’s COVID response, a governance realignment and led the Vision 2030 strategic plan to enhance long-term impact and nancial sustainability.

Biggest professional win:

Monticello’s leadership facilitated record fundraising and service levels, with nearly 2 million people served annually.

Other contributions: Monticello and his family are regular volunteers at Catholic Charities’ community meal services and support its events in Cook and Lake counties. He’s also served at All Chicago – Making Homelessness History and the Leadership Fellows Association of Leadership Greater Chicago.

Fields

Dara Munson

President, International Women’s Forum — Chicago

President and CEO, Family Focus Nonpro t contribution: As president of the International Women’s Forum Chicago chapter, Munson has expanded membership diversity and strengthened the chapter’s pro le. Her leadership at Family Focus has supported early childhood development and family advocacy, impacting over 20,000 families annually across Illinois.

Biggest professional win: Munson led the 2021 merger between Chicago Child Care Society and Family Focus, creating one of the largest human services organizations in the Chicago area.

Other contributions: Munson is a board member of Illinois Partners for Human Services, advocating for increased public funding for the health and human services sector.

Meredith O’Connor

Board chair, mHUB

International director and executive managing director, Jones Lang LaSalle

Nonpro t contribution: O’Connor has been mHUB’s board chair since 2024 and a board member since 2017. She led mHUB’s 2023 relocation, securing funding for the $50.2 million acquisition and renovation of 1623 West Fulton.

Biggest professional win: O’Connor represented major real estate projects, including Gotion’s $2 billion battery plant in Illinois, the Chicago Bears’ purchase of the former Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights, and Toyota’s $13 billion battery plant in North Carolina.

She also represents PsiQuantum’s effort to anchor a massive quantum campus to be developed at the former U.S. Steel South Works site.

Other contributions: O’Connor serves on the boards of First Women’s Bank, the American Red Cross and the YMCA. She’s a founding member of 1871 Chicago.

Victor Ravago

Chair, Center on Halsted

CEO and principal, Bravo Hospitality Group

Nonpro t contribution: Ravago led the board through a CEO transition, strengthened LGBTQ+ senior housing and diversi ed board leadership. He also secured a larger ownership stake in Town Hall Apartments, ensuring stability for LGBTQ+ senior housing.

Biggest professional win: As CEO of Bravo Hospitality, Ravago manages operations, development and acquisitions for four hotels across Illinois and Wisconsin, overseeing nearly 250 associates.

Other contributions: Ravago applies his expertise in real estate and nancial management to support Center on Halsted’s mission, expanding services and nancial stability.

ALifespace Communities congratulates our Board Chair, Venita Fields, on being named a 2024 Notable Nonprofit Board Leader by Crain’s Chicago Business.

Venita’s impactful work with the James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy reflects her dedication to empowering communities and uplifting youth—a commitment that aligns closely with Lifespace’s values in supporting older adults. We are proud to celebrate Venita’s outstanding achievements and contributions.

John C. Robak

Board chair, Chicago State Foundation

Former chairman and CEO, Greeley & Hansen

Nonpro t contribution: As chair, Robak has expanded Chicago State Foundation’s impact by securing new corporate sponsors and increasing event attendance. In the last year, its signature fundraising event raised over $700,000, welcoming 500 guests and 18 new sponsors.

Biggest professional win: Robak led the acquisition of Greeley & Hansen by Tylin in 2022, enhancing the rm’s resources and expanding its global infrastructure capabilities.

Other contributions: Robak serves on multiple boards, including World Business Chicago and the Goodman Theatre, and chairs the Chicago Police Foundation.

Cari Sacks

Chair, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair, Sacks has driven the museum’s IDEA initiatives, mentoring trustees in leadership roles to strengthen inclusivity. Her impact includes chairing events such as the ArtEdge Gala, bolstered by support from the Sacks Family Foundation, which has elevated MCA’s presence in the community.

Biggest professional win: Through a $5 million contribution to Northwestern University, Sacks and her husband funded scholarships for Chicago Public Schools graduates, supporting diversity in law and business education.

Other contributions: Sacks served on former President Barack Obama’s Advisory Committee on the Arts and the Erikson Institute board, advocating for early childhood development and cultural access.

Jacki Robinson-Ivy

Chair, City Club of Chicago

Senior vice president, Northern Trust

Nonpro t contribution: As the rst female and African American chair of the City Club of Chicago, Robinson-Ivy has expanded the organization’s reach to include all 77 communities in Chicago, engaging a broad range of voices across public policy topics. Her leadership has brought new diversity to the club’s forums and membership.

Biggest professional win: Robinson-Ivy broadened the City Club’s programming to include diverse speakers and fostered partnerships with academics and experts, making it a key venue for substantive policy discussions.

Other contributions: In addition to her role at Northern Trust, Robinson-Ivy co-chairs the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership and serves as vice chair of the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center.

Ellaine Sambo-Reyther

Chairperson, Wings Program

Market manager and director, private wealth adviser, BMO Wealth Management

Nonpro t contribution: Under Sambo-Reyther’s leadership, Wings has grown to become Illinois’ largest provider of services for domestic violence survivors. She engages the board and advisory councils, advancing fundraising and strategic initiatives to expand services and resources for abuse survivors.

Biggest professional win: SamboReyther led clients, family and Wings through COVID’s challenges, including transitioning Wings to virtual services and addressing surging domestic violence cases during the crisis.

Other contributions: She also serves on leadership boards in Barrington, including the Barrington Area Community Foundation, the chamber of commerce and the educational foundation.

Carla Robles

Board secretary, Spanish Coalition for Housing

Director of business development, real estate division, Polsinelli

Nonpro t contribution: Robles brings a hands-on approach to her role, building connections between the Spanish Coalition for Housing and valuable resources, securing major donations and advocating for affordable housing solutions for Chicago’s Hispanic community.

Biggest professional win: At Polsinelli, Robles has grown the rm’s revenue by identifying new business channels and expanding its client base, solidifying its national footprint.

Other contributions: Robles also serves on Casa Central’s Emerging Leaders Auxiliary Board, supporting community growth and future leaders.

Andrea Rodbro

Member, Chicago Market board, March of Dimes

Partner, audit, KPMG

Nonpro t contribution: Rodbro, a board member since 2014, leverages her personal experience with premature birth to advocate for maternal and infant health.

Under her leadership, KPMG has raised over $500,000 for March of Dimes.

Biggest professional win: Recently appointed leader of KPMG’s Chicago consumer and industrial markets audit practice, Rodbro directs a team of over 100 professionals, promoting community engagement and mentoring young team members.

Other contributions: Honored with the Kernan Family Legacy Award in 2023, Rodbro and her family have been active in advancing March of Dimes’ mission through events and fundraising.

Stephen J. Schlegel

General counsel, board of trustees, Union League Boys & Girls Clubs

Founder and principal, Stephen J. Schlegel Ltd.

Nonpro t contribution: Since 1998, Schlegel has shaped the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs’ legal and operational foundations. He founded the safety committee in 2008, bolstering safety protocols across programs. Additionally, as co-creator of the Restorative Justice Program with John Marshall UIC Law School in 2019, Schlegel has furthered the clubs’ dedication to con ict resolution and justice in the community.

Biggest professional win: Schlegel’s recent work with UIC’s Restorative Justice initiative, now Trauma-Informed Care, has empowered staff to address con icts among youth, enhancing support for program participants.

Other contributions: Since 2010, Schlegel has chaired the Heritage Society, a donor initiative encouraging estate planning contributions to the clubs. His leadership has expanded nancial resources, securing sustainable support for youth programs and long-term community impact.

Mark Schwartz

Board treasurer, National Kidney Foundation of Illinois

Managing director, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Nonpro t contribution: Schwartz, a former NKFI board president, has grown the foundation’s endowment through prudent investment strategies, enabling sustained support for programs, research and advocacy during challenging times, including COVID-19. He is also a top fundraiser and current board treasurer and fundraising committee chair.

Biggest professional win: Schwartz, recognized on the Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list, has over 30 years of experience guiding ultra-high-networth families in nancial planning and portfolio construction.

Other contributions: Schwartz honors a family legacy with NKFI, following his parents’ board service, and also supports the advisory board of Tulane University’s College of Liberal Arts.

Board chair, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center

Partner and former managing partner, Levenfeld Pearlstein

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair, Romanoff drives the museum’s mission to educate and engage a broader community, leading efforts to develop a new strategic plan and enhance board involvement.

Biggest professional win: Romanoff expanded Levenfeld Pearlstein as managing partner, boosting its size, revenue and reputation. After stepping down, he deepened his community impact by joining the museum and Jewish United Fund boards.

Other contributions: Romanoff also serves on the board of the Rochelle Zell Jewish High School and provides pro bono legal services to nonpro ts.

Board member, Change Illinois Action Fund/Change Illinois

Semiretired former president and CEO, Better Government Association

Former political reporter, ABC 7 Chicago

Nonpro t contribution: Shaw, a Change Illinois board member for 14 years, has spearheaded diverse board recruitment, guided staff and raised over $3 million, expanding the organization’s budget from $250,000 in 2019 to $800,000.

Biggest professional win: In 2021-22, Shaw raised nearly $820,000 to launch Chicago’s independent redistricting commission, a model for fair ward mapping, enhancing transparency and community engagement.

Other contributions: Beyond his role, Shaw has supported Change Illinois and the Better Government Association, and advised other civic organizations on media, fundraising and government reform.

Robert Romanoff

Andy Shaw

Veeral Sheth

Chairman emeritus of the board, Meals on Wheels Chicago

Partner and director of clinical trials, University Retina & Macula Associates

Nonpro t contribution: As past president and board member, Dr. Sheth helped Meals on Wheels Chicago grow from 6,700 to over 22,000 clients, expanding awareness and securing essential funding, particularly through pandemic-related challenges.

Biggest professional win: Dr. Sheth was a lead investigator in a groundbreaking trial for geographic atrophy, advancing a new treatment that offers hope to countless patients with previously untreatable macular degeneration.

Other contributions: Dr. Sheth lectures globally and contributes to leading ophthalmic organizations, advancing retinal health and clinical research.

John Silmon

Finance committee chairman and treasurer, Ada S. McKinley

Community Services

Financial adviser, Edward Jones

Nonpro t contribution: As treasurer and nance committee chair, Silmon helped eliminate pension risk for Ada S. McKinley, achieving 100% funding and transitioning the retirement plan while maintaining employer contributions.

Biggest professional win: Silmon assisted a single mother in managing overwhelming medical debt, creating a nancial plan that provided stability and relief during a dif cult time, demonstrating his commitment to clients’ nancial well-being.

Other contributions: Silmon mentors new advisers at Edward Jones, serves on community boards and participates in the Executive Protégé Program at IT Service Management Forum, fostering leadership skills.

Diahann

C. Sinclair

Board member, Teamwork

Englewood

Chief of hospital support and community engagement of cer, St. Bernard Hospital

Nonpro t contribution: Sinclair, a founding board member of Teamwork Englewood, supports its mission by promoting annual fundraisers, attracting sponsorship and engaging in media outreach to raise awareness of the services provided to the Englewood community.

Biggest professional win: Overseeing the construction of St. Bernard’s new ambulatory care center, Sinclair increased outpatient volume and established a call center to assist seniors with COVID-19 vaccination scheduling.

Other contributions: Sinclair played a role in creating the South Side Healthy Community Organization, a nonpro t designed to address health equity, connect care providers and improve health outcomes across Chicago’s South Side.

Steve Sorenson

Chair, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago

Retired executive vice president, corporate business transformation, Allstate Nonpro t contribution: Sorenson’s strategic guidance has been integral to the YMCA’s transformation, supporting its rebranding, peoplefocused initiatives, community impact, and funding diversi cation efforts. His in uence has driven a 30% improvement in the Y’s top and bottom lines.

Biggest professional win: Sorenson was responsible for the execution of Allstate’s transformative growth strategy.

Other contributions: Sorenson serves on the boards of the Foglia YMCA and One Hope United, continuing his legacy of community service across the Chicago area. NOTE WORTHY

The majority of U.S. nonpro ts are smaller organizations. Nonpro ts with annual revenues under $50,000: 1 million-plus Nonpro ts with annual revenues between $1 million and $4.9 million: 70,000

Source: Statista

Celebrating Leadership and Dedication

Congratulations to Jerry Lumpkins on being recognized as a 2024 Notable Non Pro t Board Leader. Your dedication and leadership inspire us all.

Thank you for your continued commitment to your clients, colleagues, and the community. We’re proud to have you on Team Valley.

Learn more about our commitment to the community at valley.com.

Mark Stephan

Board chair, Hadley

Retired, Goldman Sachs

Nonpro t contribution: Stephan, a 25-year trustee, has led Hadley through a digital transformation, transitioning from braille delivery to an expansive online learning platform. This shift enabled Hadley to sustain and grow during the pandemic, reaching a global audience with 400 workshops, peer programs and a 98% satisfaction rate.

Biggest professional win: Stephan expanded Hadley’s member base from 4,600 in scal year 2021 to 111,000 in 2024. He also led CEO recruitment to strengthen digital learning using arti cial intelligence, increasing Hadley’s impact worldwide.

Other contributions: After a life-changing accident, Stephan has raised over $10 million for the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and serves on its board, championing resilience and community support.

Board chair, Metropolitan Family Services

Executive vice president, CBRE

Nonpro t contribution: Tropp, a 40-year real estate veteran, has served Metropolitan Family Services as board chair and real estate adviser, guiding strategic facility decisions, including the recent Metropolitan Peace Academy in Pilsen. Under his leadership, MFS expanded its reach, increasing clients served to 183,000 in scal year 2024, with an operating budget up from $129 million to $153 million.

Biggest professional win: Tropp has managed over 1,900 transactions totaling 160 million square feet, valued at more than $9.75 billion, aiding diverse clients across industries and regions.

Other contributions: Tropp also serves as treasurer and nance chair on the Leadership Greater Chicago board and is a distinguished fellow of LGC, recognized for his commitment to civic leadership.

Ta Juana Tang

Board chair, One On One

Founder and president, Tandem Ventures

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair and former fundraising chair, Tang has driven a 256% increase in corporate donations for One On One’s Second Wind 5K.

Biggest professional win: Over 24 months, Tang’s team managed $514 million in construction, with 42% awarded to minority- and women-owned rms — a 7% increase — advancing diversity and partnership in the industry.

Other contributions: Tang is a founding board member of Professional Women in Construction’s Chicago chapter and a board member of the Illinois Housing Council.

Ann Thompson

Past chair, board of trustees; chair, governance committee, Chicago Architecture Center Executive vice president of architecture and design, Related Midwest

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair, Thompson led the search and onboarding of CAC’s new president and CEO and facilitated CAC’s move to Wacker Drive, expanding its engagement with the public through larger exhibitions and advanced technology.

Biggest professional win: Thompson shaped Related Midwest’s vision for 400 Lake Shore and The 78, establishing them as community-focused projects that revive underutilized spaces, creating parks, restored riverfronts and public art installations.

Other contributions: Thompson serves on boards including the International Women’s Forum and The Chicago Network, and mentors early-career women and minority architects.

Manika M.

Chair, Skills for Chicagoland’s Future

Senior vice president and chief human resources of cer, Health Care Service Corp.

Nonpro t contribution: As board chair, Turnbull drives strategic oversight and fundraising, championing equitable hiring practices that prioritize talent from Chicago’s South and West sides. Her leadership encourages employers to adopt accessible hiring approaches, amplifying Skills’ impact.

Biggest professional win: Turnbull transformed HCSC’s HR model, securing $2.7 million in savings by streamlining hiring and human capital planning, which improved ef ciency and engagement across the organization.

Other contributions: Turnbull serves on several boards, including Chicago United, the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and Leadership Greater Chicago, where she chairs governance committees.

National board chair, Prevent Child Abuse America

Partner, Latham & Watkins

Nonpro t contribution: Walch has led Prevent Child Abuse America’s board for nearly a decade, strengthening governance and national visibility. His leadership fosters relationships with af liated chapters, and he has secured pro bono services and funding through Latham & Watkins, amplifying PCA America’s prevention initiatives.

Biggest professional win: Walch has achieved litigation victories for clients such as Dalton Education and Pharma Logistics, defending them against trade secret and copyright claims, and has secured multimillion-dollar judgments for others.

Other contributions: Walch serves on the boards of the Legal Aid Society and Metropolitan Family Services, mentors new board members, and contributes through the Richard Linn American Inn of Court to promote legal integrity in intellectual property law.

Kate Tomford

Chair, Old Town School of Folk Music

Nonpro t contribution: Under Tomford’s leadership, Old Town School achieved nancial stability, negotiated its rst union contract, raised over $1 million at the Blue Jean Gala, and grew its endowment to $5 million. Her mentorship of new board members and staff has strengthened morale and community engagement.

Biggest professional win: During her tenure as senior analyst for energy at the Chicago Transit Authority until July 2023, Tomford secured over $100 million in federal grants for electric bus deployment, advancing CTA’s transition to zero emissions and leading initiatives like Charging Forward for full bus electri cation by 2040.

Other contributions: Tomford has served on Old Town School’s board since 2012, chaired the 2024 executive search, and received the 2023 CC DuBois Alumni Service Award from the University of Chicago Harris School, where she mentors students.

Board chair, Leadership Greater Chicago

Senior vice president of customer operations, Commonwealth Edison

Nonpro t contribution: As an LGC fellow and now board chair, Washington helped develop new programming, including the Daniel Burnham Fellowship, and has been involved in shaping LGC’s strategic plan. As co-chair of the selection committee, she champions diversity in class curation, advancing LGC’s mission across the Chicago region.

Biggest professional win: Washington led ComEd’s efforts under Illinois’ Climate & Equitable Jobs Act, connecting solar and renewable energy to the grid and promoting energy ef ciency programs, advancing equitable sustainability.

Other contributions: Washington serves on boards including the Metropolitan Planning Council and the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center. She is active in civic organizations and is executive sponsor of Exelon’s Developing Young Professionals Chicagoland.

Anna May Trala

President, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago

Managing director and chief nancial of cer, GTCR

Nonpro t contribution: Trala has strengthened the YWCA’s nancial functions and board engagement. Under her leadership, the 2023 annual YWCA Leader Luncheon raised over $1 million, a historic achievement in its 51-year history.

Biggest professional win: Trala has advanced ESG and DEI at GTCR, integrating ESG into nance and increasing diversity on portfolio boards. Recognized as one of Mergers & Acquisitions’ Most In uential Women, she cosponsors GTCR’s DEI council. Other contributions: Trala mentors staff, builds partnerships and champions women’s empowerment. She also serves on the board of America Needs You, supporting rst-generation college students.

Brad Weir

Chair, Aspire

Past CEO, Kelso-Burnett

Nonpro t contribution: Since 2016, Weir has been deeply involved in Aspire, leading the search for a new CEO and engaging with board members, his network and local legislators. His efforts have contributed nearly $200,000 to Aspire’s fundraising through personal and networked gifts.

Biggest professional win: Weir’s career breakthrough came when he secured the NBC Towers contract for Kelso-Burnett. He later established KB Advanced Technologies, now one of the largest teledata rms in the Chicago area.

Other contributions: Weir serves on the boards of Newport Industries and United Electric and is a consultant and expert witness. He has also supported the American Cancer Society’s Walk & Roll, where Kelso-Burnett became the top donor within three years.

David Tropp

Turnbull

Matthew Walch

Melissa Washington

Laura West

Member, chairmen’s advisory council, Big Shoulders Fund

Director, Great Lakes Advisors

Nonpro t contribution: West has promoted Big Shoulders Fund and other nonpro ts through fundraising and visibility efforts. She was involved in establishing the associate board for Mercy Home in 2005, engaging young donors and volunteers. Her network recruitment efforts expand support for missionoriented work in the Chicago area.

Biggest professional win: At Great Lakes Advisors, West maintains over $800 million in assets across 60 client accounts.

Other contributions: West is on Brook eld Zoo’s governing board, Community Memorial Foundation’s board of directors and serves on other committees, leveraging her nance expertise to ensure nancial strength across organizations. In 2021, she co-chaired the most successful Big Shoulders Fund Ball to date.

Darrell Williams

Chair emeritus, OneGoal

Founder and managing member, DuSable Group

Nonpro t contribution: Williams has guided OneGoal’s evolution into a major player in postsecondary access, expanding to six regions and reaching nearly 25,000 students. His strategic oversight, revenue growth insights and donor connections have been instrumental to the organization’s nancial and mission success.

Biggest professional win: At Loop Capital, Williams spearheaded strategic diversi cation, helping grow the rm’s asset management business to over $9 billion.

Other contributions: Williams chairs the board of the Chicago Center for Art & Technology and serves on boards including City Colleges of Chicago and DePaul University’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, advocating for educational access and opportunity in the Chicago area.

Diane Williams

Board chair, Southland Development Authority

President emeritus, Safer Foundation

Nonpro t contribution: Williams has been pivotal in advancing the SDA’s mission, rst co-chairing with CEO Bo Kemp before assuming full board chair responsibilities. She led research to assess the region’s economic needs, guided the SDA’s mission and strategy, and engaged founding members.

Biggest professional win: Under her leadership, Williams helped the SDA raise nearly $10 million, expanding initiatives such as the South Suburban Land Bank to support regional economic growth and serve local businesses.

Other contributions: Williams has consulted for federal agencies, including the departments of Labor, Justice, and Housing & Urban Development. She was also a board and executive committee member for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

Courtland D. Wilson

Founding executive director, Tomorrows Youth Foundation

Local of ce administrator, Illinois Department of Human Services

Nonpro t contribution: As TYF’s founding executive director, Wilson has built youth programs that serve over 2,500 individuals in the Chicago area. His strategic planning, fundraising, and outreach have established TYF as a resource for youth mental wellness and violence prevention.

Biggest professional win: Wilson spearheaded the Empowered Choices Initiative in 2019, securing $300,000 in grants to provide tutoring, scholarships and mentoring to over 300 underprivileged youth, boosting academic performance by 30%.

Other contributions: Wilson is president of the Calumet City Chargers Youth Football Program, coaching at-risk youth and fostering a safe, growth-oriented environment.

CONGRATULATIONS

NOTE WORTHY

Number of nonpro t organizations in the United States: 2 million Total expenses of reporting U.S. nonpro t organizations: $2.42 trillion Total revenues of nonpro t organizations: $2.61 trillion

Source: Statista

48 Chicago charitable causes to support on Giving Tuesday—and beyond

From venture philanthropies to community organizations, Crain’s Giving Tuesday Guide highlights nonpro ts in need of volunteers or nancial support. Explore the guide, and consider making a contribution.

As the city’s only venture philanthropy, we are changing how Chicago ghts poverty by investing in bold ideas that create opportunity for youth.

abetterchicago.org

The Alzheimer’s Association leads the way to end Alzheimer’s and all other dementia—by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support.

alz.org/illinois

Providing state-of-the-art afterschool and summer program opportunities for Chicago teens to explore their passions while they develop their talents and con dence.

afterschoolmatters.org

To build a healthy and happy community where pets and people thrive together. anticruelty.org

Uniting the ALS community to foster bold research initiatives, advance advocacy efforts and provide comprehensive support to those affected by ALS.

alsunitedchicago.org

Increasing the collective impact of our 50-plus member organizations to improve education and economic development outcomes for Chicago’s Austin area.

austincomingtogether.org

Providing healthy food, critical resources and services to hungry families on Chicago’s West Side and near west suburbs for over 45 years.

gobeyondhunger.org

We serve anyone in need throughout Cook and Lake counties, regardless of their background, with a focus on supporting and empowering mothers, families and seniors.

catholiccharities.net

At Child Link, we strive to make human services available to all children and youth who are in need of support.

childlink.org

Addressing Homelessness, Providing Shelter, Accepting People and Finding Home through community development and programs that improve life for lowincome, displaced, and unhoused families and individuals.

ccolife.org

As the leading global type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization, we help make everyday life better while driving toward cures.

breakthrought1d.org/illinois

The mission of the Chicago Furniture Bank is to provide dignity, stability and comfort to Chicagoans that face poverty by allowing clients to handpick an entire package of free furniture.

chicagofurniturebank.org

We believe that all students can succeed and that developing the skills and mindsets of children and young adults contributes to strong, vibrant communities.

cityyear.org/chicago

Progressive, comprehensive services for people with disabilities, promoting choice, dignity and the opportunity to live and work in the community.

cornerstoneservices.org

Brushwood Center works with community partners, artists, health care providers and scientists to improve health equity and access to nature through the arts and education.

brushwoodcenter.org

Our mission is to give people of all ages, identities and abilities access to quality recreation, wellness opportunities and sustainable green spaces in every neighborhood.

chicagoparkdistrict.com

CAWC provides emergency shelter for adults and children, counseling, legal advocacy and a 24-hour hotline for people affected by domestic violence.

cawc.org

Providing children, ages 0-12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with essential items needed to thrive, free of charge.

cradlestocrayons.org/chicago

DuPage Senior Citizens Council initiates, delivers, monitors and coordinates services that promote the ability of older people to live their lives in dignity.

dupageseniorcouncil.org

Gateway Foundation’s mission is to help people build healthier lives by reducing substance use and other addictions, and improving mental health.

gatewayfoundation.org

The mission of Haymarket Center is to aid people with substance use disorders in their recovery by providing comprehensive behavioral health solutions. haymarketcenter.org

JCFS Chicago strengthens selfsuf ciency, belonging and wellbeing among individuals and families in the Jewish and broader Chicago communities. jcfs.org

Episcopal Charities is the social outreach arm of the Diocese of Chicago, providing nancial grants to nonpro t organizations doing vital work throughout Northern Illinois.

episcopalcharities.org

Genesys Works empowers youth through professional development and work experience, equipping young professionals with essential skills and opportunities for workforce success.

genesysworks.org/locations/chicago

Our mission is to help children thrive and families ourish through innovative, communitybased programs.

hephzibahhome.org

Protecting and defending the First Amendment by supporting the rights of libraries to collect––and individuals to access––information.

ftrf.org

Our mission is to end hunger.

chicagosfoodbank.org

iMentor Chicago builds one-toone mentoring relationships that empower rst-generation students to graduate high school, succeed in college and career, and achieve their highest ambitions.

imentor.org

Providing care and support for people living with ALS and their families, access to clinical trials and hope through scienti c research for a world free of ALS.

lesturnerals.org

A solution for kids and families in crisis, providing a safe home, healing, education, life skills and opportunities to build resilience and success.

mercyhome.org

To coordinate, support and sustain a cross-agency infrastructure of local, community-based organizations that deliver services to heal communities at the highest risk for gun violence.

metropolitanpeaceinitiatives.org

50 years of creating thriving neighborhoods on Chicago’s South and West Sides. nhschicago.org

Sharing life with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through a full continuum of care.

misericordia.com

New Moms’ mission is to strengthen families by partnering with young moms as they progress toward housing stability, economic mobility and family well-being.

newmoms.org

Through rigorous academics and A Disciplined Life, Perspectives Charter Schools transforms students into re ective, ethical leaders ready to change our world. pcsedu.org

Rush is a national leader in outstanding patient care, education, research, community partnerships and preparing a new generation of health care providers.

rush.edu

Healthy lungs and clean air for all. resphealth.org

Providing sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. soill.org

To inspire youth, empower communities and build a better world one block at a time. formyblock.org

Chicago’s leading No Kill animal welfare organization, homeless pet hospital and spay/neuter clinic, providing medical care to more than 22,000 pets each year.

pawschicago.org

We exist so families can get better together. ronaldhousechicago.org

Start Early advances quality early learning for families with children, before birth through their earliest years, to help close the opportunity gap. startearly.org

Our mission is to improve the wellbeing of the communities we serve by providing accessible, high-quality health care.

tap360health.org

Ensuring our neighbors have access to resources and opportunities needed to thrive. United, we are building a stronger, more equitable Chicago region.

liveunitedchicago.org

Meeting human needs without discrimination by providing shelter, meals and other services to those who need it most.

salarmychicago.org

Providing innovative behavioral and primary health care to thousands of people with mental health and substance use conditions each year.

thresholds.org

VOA Illinois supports individuals, families and communities who need it most, when they need it most.

voaillinois.org

The WBDC empowers business growth by supporting women and other diverse business owners, enhancing their participation in— and impact on—the economy.

wbdc.org

Former Hollywood hair and makeup stylist gives rundown Kenwood mansion a glow-up

George Robert Fuller, who spent two decades stying for the likes of Chaka Khan, Olivia Newton-John and Patti LaBelle, among others, put the long-empty property on Greenwood Avenue on the market for $2.75 million |

George Robert Fuller grew up in Chicago but spent two decades in Hollywood doing hair, makeup and wardrobe styling for stars including Patti LaBelle, Olivia Newton-John and Chaka Khan, as well as former Ebony magazine CEO Linda Johnson Rice and Juanita Vanoy, the exwife of Michael Jordan.

He’s now nishing a di erent kind of glow-up, the rehab of a rundown Kenwood mansion.

“ is time I have a client who doesn’t talk back,” Fuller says while showing a visitor around the house, a brick and stone mansion built in 1904 on Greenwood Avenue.

e idea of bringing the shine back to a derelict home was “another pivot in my career,” Fuller says. After his years in beauty, he pivoted into management of artists including Khan and Stephanie Mills, and now he’s pivoted into old-house rehab, along with business partner Michael Kushner.

e house “needed somebody who could see it without makeup and know how beautiful it could be,” Fuller says. Lost in foreclosure in 2014 and passed around among a series of owners for the next seven years, according to a tangle of records in the Cook County clerk’s

online les, the house was empty and mostly gutted inside when Fuller bought it in 2021 for $620,000. He later brought in Kushner as a partner and investor in the extensive rehab e ort.

Nearing completion, the house, on a large 50-by-300-foot lot, goes up for sale Nov. 14, priced at $2.75 million. Susan O’Connor Davis, a Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago agent, is representing it.

e stately brick and stone facade evokes “the old English style,” as a 1904 article in e Economist described the house.

e brick has all been tuckpointed, the slate roof replaced and the stone trim, including the oral garland around the front door, sandblasted.

Not yet installed are historically appropriate multi-panel windows that will replace the jarringly modern picture windows.

Although nearly all the interior nishes had been ripped out over time, this graceful curved staircase and the other wood nishes of the entry sequence are intact.

e beams, replace and built-in benches of the foyer, seen at the top of this story and in the photo below, segue into this space, where there’s an old safe hidden behind the framed mirror seen at the left rear.

By Dennis Rodkin

replace, “everything here is new,” Fuller says.

e glass French doors hang in the grooves that supported nowlost pocket doors.

e kitchen, made from a combination of small rooms, has ample cabinetry and a glimmering stone oor. Not seen is the casual dining space, with a row of three windows in its curved outer wall. Fuller and Kushner designed a banquette to go there, but it has not yet been built.

ey’ve held o on that and some other nishes to see if buyers come along with their own ideas. Among them are some of the spaces in the newly rehabbed basement. A pair of rooms down there might work well as a wine cellar and tasting room, but buyers might prefer to nish them as, for example, a home gym.

From the kitchen, another pair of French doors opens onto a sunroom, with arched windows on three sides and a door onto the new, spacious rear deck.

e primary bedroom is one of three on the second oor, and there are two more on the third oor.

e replace has a stove insert that may be from the Cole company and, like the house’s three other replaces, a re nished historical mantel.

Interior is a blessing

A fan of old Hollywood, Fuller envisions Lana Turner “sweeping down these stairs,” perhaps in her glamorous wardrobe from “Imitation of Life.”

e original owners of the house, according to O’Connor Davis, who is also the author of a book on Hyde Park and Kenwood history, were Ernest C. and Jennie Cole. Ernest Cole was one of three brothers from Iowa who came to Chicago and started Cole Manufacturing, which made hot blast stoves, and airtight and cleaner-burning coal-powered heaters.

e rehab project has included updating all the utilities — the obsolete radiators were all removed — rebuilding a roof that was so deteriorated "you could see through it," Fuller says, and rebuilding a historical concrete railing around the front terrace, among other infrastructure tasks.

Because most of the home’s interior was gone by the time Fuller bought it, “we have no idea what it looked like in 1904,” he says.

But the loss is also a blessing in its way, because it meant that aside from a few historical accessories, such as the dramatic foyer, the house could have a mostly modern interior. at includes this open-plan combination of living room and dining room.

Aside from a second historical

is bedroom is part of a fourroom primary suite. e other components are in the next photos. e dressing room was formerly a bedroom, attached to the primary via a small partial bathroom. To the right of that is the sitting room, a second-story version of the sunroom o the kitchen.

Next door is the primary bathroom, which packs in all the glamour it can with black stone walls, a chandelier over the soaking tub and an oversized glass box shower.

In the other bathrooms, Fuller dialed back the glam, but not all the way down to boring. is one, attached to a second- oor bedroom, has an antique dresser repurposed as a vanity and sink.

Across a long yard from the house is the old coach house, also fully rehabbed. e ground level is a four-car garage, and upstairs is a one-bedroom apartment. e privacy fence surrounding the yard is also new, its black nish matching the deck. Fuller, who lives primarily in Los Angeles but also has a home here in Chicago near his mother and other relatives, and Kushner, who lives in Florida, say they plan to do more rehabs of Chicago properties after this one is done.

“I like seeing what something could be and doing the work to make it happen,” Fuller says.

VHT STUDIOS PHOTOS

Former Bear pivots to 154-room Motor Row hotel plan

It’s the latest turn in a project that Israel Idonije has been trying to get off the ground since 2018

By Danny Ecker

Israel Idonije is calling another audible in his vision to revamp a historic Motor Row building, scrapping plans for a mixed-use complex in favor of a 154-room Hilton hotel.

e former Chicago Bears defensive end is seeking city approval to convert the landmark Hudson Motor Building at 2222 S. Michigan Ave. into a boutique inn with a restaurant and event space, according to a zoning application set to be introduced to the City Council this month. Idonije is asking aldermen to change the property's zoning back to what it was before 2022, when he won city approval to redevelop the building with 38 apartments, 18 hotel rooms and a range of other amenities that would serve both.

It's the latest turn for a project that Idonije and former Bears teammate Julius Peppers pursued after buying the vintage former auto showroom property for $10 million in 2018. e duo originally planned a co-working club and boutique hotel, but pivoted early in the COVID-19 pandemic and put the 115,000-square-foot building up for

sale. e property never changed hands, and Idonije eventually redrew plans in 2022 with a residential component, even winning a $10 million tax-increment nancing grant last year from city taxpayers to help nance the $63 million project.

e new plan simpli es the redevelopment to 154 hotel rooms that would be branded as "Hudson House" and a liated with Hilton Hotels' Curio Collection, Idonije said.

" e hotel made the most sense," said Idonije, who spent most of his 11-year NFL career with the Bears.

"We're focused on being part of making Motor Row what it's supposed to be, a Chicago entertainment district that represents the city. We feel like Hudson House is going to be a really special part of it."

Idonije said he and his ownership partner, Tustin, Calif.-based Kelemen Camano Investments, intend to begin construction immediately once the City Council signs o on the project, though he said he is still in discussions about securing a construction loan.

Clearing that hurdle could still be di cult amid elevated interest rates and many institutional investors

treading carefully in a tight lending environment.

Financing for the previous plan called for almost $38 million in debt, $9.8 million in equity and $5.1 million in proceeds from the sale of historic tax credits in addition to the money from the Michigan-Cermak TIF District. at TIF district is due to expire at the end of 2025.

Idonije declined to share the new estimated construction cost but said it is higher than the previous $63 million gure.

e new proposal will require a change to the terms of the redevelopment agreement between Idonije's venture and the city for the TIF grant, according to a spokesman for the Department of Planning & De-

velopment. e funding was originally approved for the plan's historic preservation components, so the amount of TIF money is not expected to change, the spokesman said, but the TIF payment terms would be restructured.

e building at 2222 S. Michigan originally opened in 1922 as an auto dealership and the home of the Hudson Motor Company. e property, which has been vacant for more than two decades, is part of the Motor Row District, which was designated as a Chicago landmark in 2000 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

e revamped Hudson Motor Building could help bring more foot tra c to Motor Row, a historic

South Loop thoroughfare that began drawing more real estate investors several years ago as former Mayor Rahm Emanuel sought to turn the area near McCormick Place into a more dynamic entertainment district.

Some of that momentum was stalled by the COVID pandemic. Mayor Lori Lightfoot's administration in 2022 completed an $11 million project that included widening Motor Row's sidewalks and adding new landscaping, among other improvements.

Hudson House would add to the 466-room tri-brand Hiltons at McCormick Place that debuted in 2018. A Hilton spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

Israel Idonije | AP IMAGES

A rendering of a revamped Hudson Motor Building at 2222 S. Michigan Ave. that was proposed in 2022 FITZGERALD

increase pro ts. Many worry that customers will buy less wine if tari s drive up prices, putting that vital income in jeopardy.

“ at is the way restaurants make money. Alcohol,” said Zack Eastman, owner and wine director at Easy Does It in Logan Square. “It’s already a tough business . . . (this) is going to make everything more di cult.”

President-elect Donald Trump has made no concrete plans to implement tari s speci c to wine. However, while campaigning, he discussed plans to levy a 10% to 20% tari on most foreign products, and at least 60% on Chinese goods. Restaurant owners and wine distributors are worried wine will be included. ey fear other types of tari s, too.

“To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is ‘tari ,’ and it’s my favorite word,” Trump said at the Economic Club in October. “It needs a public relations rm to help it, but to me, it’s the most beautiful word in the dictionary.”

Trump has exalted tari s as a way to bolster American companies and create jobs. Economists say tari s increase prices for consumers, as producers and importers work to o set the added tax. Trump has argued that if tari s drive up prices on foreign goods, it will shift demand to a domestically produced equivalent.  at theory does not apply to wine, said Ian Louisignau, portfo-

HOTELS

From Page 1

InterContinental Chicago hotel along the Magni cent Mile, the Fairmont Chicago near Lakeshore East and the JW Marriott Chicago in the Loop are all worth at least 150% more this year than they were the last time Kaegi revalued them in 2021.

e assessor recently wrapped up new valuations of all downtown properties for the rst time since then.

e increases were expected to be jarring, given hotels saw their assessed values drop three years ago when they were barely functioning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But the IHLA, which represents more than 500 hotels statewide, sees the new numbers as a gross miscalculation of hotels' comeback.

‘Outrageous

assessments’

" ese outrageous assessments by the Cook County Assessor are not commensurate with the reality facing most hotel owners," IHLA President and CEO Michael Jacobson said in a statement. "While we have seen many improvements and certainly had boosts to visitation from large-scale events this year, we are nowhere near prepandemic levels when it comes to pro tability or occupancy. As hotels continue to work to recover, invest in our employees, and return to our place as an economic engine for the city, we cannot af-

lio director at Elmhurst-based wine importer and distributor Maverick Beverage. A variety of grape grown in California would make wine that would taste di erent had it been grown in Italy, for example.

“Barolo from Italy is not something that’s replicable in America,” he said. “To say there’s an apples-to-apples replacement for some of these things, it’s just not true.”

It would not be the rst time wines have been tari ed during a Trump administration. e U.S. put a 25% tari on certain European foods and beverages in October 2019, following a dispute over subsidies the European Union gave to Airbus. at tarri included some French, Spanish and German wines.

‘Horror movie’

at move sent ripples throughout the U.S. wine industry. Chicago restaurant owners said they shifted their wine list toward bottles that came from countries that were not tari ed. Distributors, importers and restaurants together absorbed some of the tari costs so consumers weren’t hit with such steep menu price increases. at would not be the case this time, many in the industry say. Since those last tari s, restaurants faced forced pandemic closures and in ation that shrunk already thin margins. ey have a diminished ability to absorb hits to their bottom line.

“I’ve been using the horror movie analogy: e sequel is always bloodier than the original,”

ford any unnecessary or unjustiable expenses."

e issue shines a spotlight on a downtown hotel market that has come a long way from the public health crisis, but is still chasing the record-setting days it enjoyed before it. City tourism o cials have touted recent hotel revenue highs while they work to change perceptions of downtown as it emerges from the pandemic looking to reclaim its vibrancy. But that resurgence hasn't translated into preCOVID bottom lines for hotel owners, who admonish the assessor's o ce for ignoring the higher costs of labor and goods that have changed hotel economics.

Key performance metrics help support their case: Revenue per available room at downtown hotels — a yardstick for pro tability that accounts for both occupancy and room rates — averaged $162.70 through the rst nine months of the year, according to data from real estate information company CoStar Group. While that was up 9% from the same period in 2019, it's well short of the pre-pandemic gure when accounting for in ation.

Jacobson said Kaegi's o ce wrongly applied national hotel performance gures to downtown Chicago that suggest the market is performing better than it is. e cost of hotel workers alone has thinned out downtown hotels' bottom lines, he said, citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that labor costs in the Chicago hospitality sector have risen by 30% over the past ve years,

Louisignau said. “We’re expecting this to be at least as bad or worse.”

Maverick Beverage is ordering extra wine from producers in Europe, hoping to get product through customs before any new tari s take hold. e company ordered an extra container — or 1,200 cases — of wine from Joseph Drouhin, a French winery in Burgundy. Maverick usually imports wines from several producers in one container, “so for us to order a single container from a producer, it’s pretty uncommon,” Louisignau said.

Family owned wine importer Wein-Bauer is taking similar action. e company plans to order three or four additional containers from German winemaker St. Christopher and about eight additional containers of Schlink Haus Riesling. e blue-bottled Riesling is a staple in the Franklin Park-based company’s portfolio and was subjected to the last tari s, said import and export manager Christopher Bauer.

Lasting effects

When tari s hit European wines in 2019, Chicago restaurant group Bonhomme Hospitality committed to certain wines so that its importers and distributors could order larger shipments in advance of the tari s. When those ran out, it rounded out wine lists with domestic natural wines, CEO Daniel Alonso said in an email. e e ects of that shift have been lasting on the group, which includes Beatnik on the River, Mama Delia and Michelin-starred Porto. It created a new

outpacing in ation.

Downtown hotels "are not even close to fully recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic," Rebel Hospitality Principal Gene Kornota said in the IHLA statement. His Chicago-based hotel venue owns the 130-room Acme Hotel Chicago at 15 E. Ohio St. in River North, which saw its assessed value more than triple this year.

"Even under the best circumstances, nobody can adjust to an assessment increase of this size overnight. ese reassessments threaten our livelihood and, more importantly, our employees’ livelihood,” Kornota said in the statement.

Sensitive subject

Assessments are a sensitive subject for owners of big downtown properties because they shape the zero-sum world of property taxes in Cook County. e assessed value of each property determines each owner's share of the property tax pie. A 100% increase in assessed value, for example, doesn't necessarily mean a corresponding property tax bill will jump by that much, as it depends on how much the assessed value of all other properties also changed.

Kaegi has increased his estimated values of commercial properties more so than residential properties since he was rst elected in 2018. at has made him persona non grata among commercial property owners that accuse him of trying to curry favor with voters and argue he's scaring real estate investors

concept around natural wine — GoodFunk, a natural wine bar that opened its rst location in 2021 and its second earlier this year.

Ordering extra wine is an insurance policy for importers, and it’s not without risk. Some of the smaller operations do not have the liquidity to pay for extra product, or lack the warehouse space to store it. ey are often getting wine from family run vineyards that are not ush with extra cases, and making more is not a process that can be rushed.

Additionally, importers must pay the tari to get wine out of customs at the port. Paying such an upfront cost before revenue is realized is not possible for some. Without knowing yet if the tari s would impact wine and which country’s products would be subjected, ordering extra is too much of a guessing game.

“For me, it’s really di cult to scenario plan,” said Andy Pates, owner of Chicago-based wine wholesaler and importer Cream Wine & Spirits. “We’re a small company. We don’t have the resources to take large positions on wine on speculation. We’re just going to let this thing play out, and we’ll have to build the higher prices into our pricing model.”

Damage done

Since alcoholic beverages legally must be sold through a threetiered system in America — in which restaurants or retailers buy from a distributor rather than directly from a producer — tari s would hit the wine world particu-

away from Chicago. Kaegi has repeatedly said his assessments made up for unfair or inaccurate valuations by his predecessor.

Hotel owners are especially concerned about the valuation leaps because property tax bills take a bite directly out of their pro ts, unlike owners of o ce buildings, for example, that typically pass along those bills to tenants.

Kaegi's o ce last month defended its initial valuations of hotels along the Mag Mile, noting that many properties had rebounded from the pandemic "much faster than we'd expected" and that some had reduced operating expenses like housekeeping sta while still maintaining strong room rates.

But the assessor's o ce today signaled downtown hotel valuations could change based on information owners submit through appeals.

A Kaegi spokesman said in a statement to Crain's that o cials from the assessor's o ce had a "productive meeting" with the IHLA earlier last month and that, based on feedback from the meeting, "we plan to work cooperatively with the Association on datasharing that will expand our access to additional inputs for assessments."

e statement added that the assessor's o ce continues to push for state legislation that would allow it to "gather anonymized data on commercial properties" to help improve the

larly hard. U.S. companies generate $4.52 for every $1 spent on European wine, said Ben Ane , president of the U.S. Wine Trade Alliance, an advocacy group that works on behalf of importers, distributors, wholesalers, restaurants and retailers.

“Tari s on imported wine actually do a lot more damage to businesses here in the U.S. than they do abroad,” Ane said. “It makes the tari s particularly weak in bringing about behavioral change.”

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition team, said in a written statement that when Trump instituted tari s against China during his rst term, it “created jobs, spurred investments and resulted in no in ation.”

“ e American people reelected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” she said in the statement. “He will deliver.”

People’s purchasing habits likely will change again if tari s are once again levied on wine, said Erin Carlman Weber, owner of Ukrainian Village restaurant and wine shop All Together Now. Carlman paused expansion plans due to the uncertainty surrounding tari s.

“It’s hard right now, not knowing what’s going to happen,” she said. “Any expansion or business changes or investment in the business has to be put on hold until we see how these things are going to shake out.”

accuracy of initial assessments. Hotel owners that aren't satis ed with the results of their appeals to Kaegi will turn to the Cook County Board of Review, an elected three-member appeals panel that has dramatically knocked down Kaegi's initial assessments over the past few years. e board has awarded so many big reductions over the past couple years that the overall property tax burden shifted slightly in favor of commercial landlords and against Cook County homeowners, even though Kaegi's initial assessments signaled the opposite would happen. at unpredictability between where assessments start and end after appeals is perhaps the biggest headache for hotel investors as they hunt for new capital partners for their properties or look to sell, Jacobson said.

" e impact on investor sentiment is severely underestimated," he said. " e fact that you have to go through this (appeals) charade every three years — how do you convince new investors to come into the market or current investors to stay in the market?"

Appeals to Kaegi's o ce are due for North Chicago Township — which includes the Mag Mile and other downtown areas north of the Chicago River — by Nov. 27, according to the assessor's website. Appeals for properties in South Chicago Township, which includes the Loop, are due by Dec. 12. e assessor's o ce plans to release nal assessments for the 2024 cycle early next year.

Great Lakes Credit Union buys CMECU as part of recent acquisition spree

The Chicago Municipal Employees Credit Union brings $59M in assets and over 11,000 new members to the Bannockburn-based company

By Mark Weinraub

Great Lakes Credit Union is buying Chicago Municipal Employees Credit Union, part of the Bannockburn-based company’s growth strategy of adding assets and accounts through acquisition.

Financial terms of the deal, expected to close Dec. 31, were not disclosed.

e deal is subject to regulatory approval by the National Credit Union Administration and Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, along with a membership vote of the Chicago Municipal Employees Credit Union. e boards of directors of both companies have already approved the deal.

Chicago Municipal Employees Credit Union, whose members include workers from the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, Chicago

Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago and the Chicago Park District, brings $59 million in assets, three Chicago branches and more than 11,000 members to Great Lakes. It will operate as a division within Great Lakes after the deal closes.

e combined company will have 113,000 members and $1.65 billion in assets.

e deal is part of Great Lakes' recent acquisition spree.

In June, the company merged with Encourage Financial Network Credit Union, bringing 14,000 members and more than $200 million in assets to Great Lakes. And last month, it bought a Vibrant Credit Union branch in Danville, expanding its reach into the central part of the state and the western Indiana market. e Vibrant deal added 12,000 accounts, $66 million in deposits and $22 million in loans.

Wynnchurch Capital acquires LED maker Principal Industries

By Mark Weinraub

Private-equity

rm Wynnchurch

Capital has acquired Principal industries, a provider of LED components for signs and brand imaging.

Rosemont-based Wynnchurch, a middle-market investment rm founded in 1999, has been active on the deal front since closing a $3.5 billion fund in January, although most of its deals have been bolt-on acquisitions for its portfolio companies.

Financial terms of the deal for Principal Industries, based in San Angelo, Texas, were not disclosed.

“Principal’s market leadership position is underscored by its

METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES IS HONORED TO PRESENT THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF ITS GOVERNING BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

unique value proposition, comprehensive product o ering, intense focus on distributor and end user success, and worldwide scale, allowing Principal to satisfy increasingly complex physical branding requirements,” Wynnchurch Partner Brian Crumbaugh said in a statement.

Wynnchurch, which lists Mattress Warehouse, Northstar Aerospace and Northern Wholesale Supply as some of its portfolio companies, said Principal’s founders and management team will stay on as part of the deal.

Chicago-based law rm Foley & Lardner served as legal adviser to Wynnchurch.

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BLOOMBERG

The State of the Midwest ECONOMY

at process is not yet scheduled.

“Chicago needs this (facility) because the rest of the production infrastructure is in place and production is booming,” said Rich Daniels, a Chicago Federation of Musicians board member who’s been involved with local production, including as music director for the television show “Empire” for its full six-season run.

Daniels is one of three ird Coast principals. e others are Chicago-based violinist and music producer Katherine Hughes and Los Angeles-based violinist Susan Chatman, a Chicago native who said she has played for dozens of TV and movie scores.

All three said the scoring stage is a missing link in Chicago’s growing production capacity.

With Dick Wolf's production of "Chicago Fire" and other "One Chicago" TV shows, Lena Waithe’s " e Chi" and others, lm and television producers spend over $600 million in Illinois each year.

Cinespace’s 36 soundstages near Douglass Park and the $100 million development of Regal Mile Studios in South Shore kicked o last year.

When composer John Williams and the Chicago Symphony Or-

OZEMPIC

From Page 3

Edwardsville, and Rejuvae Aesthetics in Forest Park, were also sued.

“Rejuvae Aesthetics categorically denies the allegations,” the medspa’s owner Kimberly Anderegg said in a statement to Crain’s. “We have retained counsel, who has appeared in the matter. We are working with Novo Nordisk to resolve the matter quickly.”

e other defendants did not respond to Crain’s requests for comment.

e Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, the state agency responsible for regulating pharmacists and physicians compounding drugs, said it is aware of the accusations and “takes seriously all complaints, allegations of wrongdoing and investigations.” However, complaints received and investigations undertaken by the department are kept con dential unless they result in public disciplinary action, and so far, the IDFPR has not issued any public disciplinary actions related to these accusations,

ST. ANTHONY

From Page 3

patients speak only Spanish and rely on the century-old safety net to serve their needs, he said.

Wakim said the hospital's 24hour emergency room now has 50 hours of provider coverage a day, with 30 hours from certified emergency physicians and 20 hours from advanced practice nurses. In addition to Wakim, the ER employs eight full-time physicians and will have three full-

chestra and its chorus recorded the score for the Steven Spielberg lm "Lincoln" in 2012, Daniels said, “they had nowhere to do it" but Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center in the Loop, so “they lined up sound trucks out on Michigan Avenue.” Little has changed in the ensuing dozen years, he said. Also fueling demand for a major music production facility is the passage earlier this year in

an agency spokesperson said.

Over the last few years, as Novo Nordisk diabetes and weight-loss drugs have become more popular — and expensive — compounding pharmacies have begun developing and distributing Ozempic and Wegovy copycats, which are often cheaper than the real thing. But drugs made in compounding pharmacies are not FDA-approved, meaning their safety, e ectiveness or quality is not reviewed before they reach patients.

Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk drugs require a prescription from a doctor, and the company says it does not sell its drugs directly to medical spas or health clinics for resale or distribution.

“As the only company with FDAapproved, prescription-only semaglutide medicines, we understand the risks posed by knock-o versions,” a Novo Nordisk spokesperson said in a statement to Crain’s. “ at’s why we’ve taken proactive measures to protect patients.”

e process to produce most semaglutide used in compounding is fundamentally di erent from the process used to produce the sema-

time advanced practice nurses by the beginning of 2025, he said.

Currently, most of its ER nursing sta is also hospital-employed, though St. Anthony does rely on some agency nursing sta . It hopes to have a fully in-house sta by the end of the year.

"It is easy to farm this out," Lavani said, "and it takes a lot of hard work to bring on qualified, board certified, local providers and manage them yourself. But the dividends are great. We get buy-in, control over our quality metrics and an improved patient

facility for producing lm and television scores, sometimes with a space large enough to seat an entire orchestra in front of a movie-size screen so the musicians can watch the lm they’re scoring. ird Coast’s plans call for an 8,000-square-foot scoring stage contained within the new 31,700-foot building.

Construction of the scoring stage building, designed by Los Angeles rm Nonzero Architecture, on the roughly 1.1-acre vacant site accounts for 70% of the projected cost, or $56 million, according to Hughes. e remaining $24 million is for rehab of the Stock Yards Bank building.

e colossal structure at 4150 S. Halsted St. is an oversized architectural homage to Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the U.S. Constitution was written and signed.

Spring eld of the Music and Musicians Tax Credit & Jobs Act. It provides up to $2 million in tax credits to music companies that record soundtracks and employ musicians in Illinois.

e largest component of ird Coast’s proposal is construction of a 31,700-square-foot “scoring stage” building on the Stock Yard Inn parcel at 821 W. Exchange Ave. A scoring stage is a recording

glutide in Novo Nordisk drugs. Novo Nordisk uses a controlled multistep process that uses recombinant DNA technology. Meanwhile, most compounded semaglutide is manufactured in a chemical synthesis process, which can lead to higher levels of impurities.

e FDA has warned the public about the dangers associated with compounded drugs claiming to contain semaglutide. e agency has received multiple reports of patients being hospitalized with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain after dosing errors associated with compounded injectable semaglutide products.

In some cases, patients selfadministered incorrect doses, but in others, health care professionals were miscalculating doses.

As of Aug. 31, the FDA received 346 reports of adverse events with compounded semaglutide and 136 reports of adverse events with compounded tirzepatide, the active ingredient in similar weightloss drugs made by Eli Lilly.

“ ere’s an idea that this is just a trademark dispute, and it’s not,” said Shabbir Safdar, executive director of the Partnership for Safe

experience."

The hard work came when about 30% of the ER staff stayed on after the TeamHealth contract expired. Wakim put his years in Chicago to work networking and finding the other 70% to provide ER coverage, Lavani said. Since the program is new, St. Anthony does not have a full year's worth of data to compare in-house to contract employment, but, Lavani said, the hospital knows it is serving more people, seeing fewer people leave the ER without receiving care and

pitch has been endorsed with letters to the city from o cials of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Federation of Labor, Columbia College Chicago, the Merit School of Music and other organizations that might be associated with the scoring stage once it’s open. ey also submitted letters from individuals in lm production and professional music.

e bank’s vast interior was eventually tted out with event space, classrooms and a museum.

ird Coast, a not-for-pro t, would fund much of the operations in that building with revenues from renting out the scoring stage building, Chatman said.

ird Coast's principals said they have not yet begun fundraising in earnest because they rst needed to get the nod from the DPD on the site proposal. eir

Medicines, a San Francisco-based nonpro t aimed at protecting consumers from counterfeit and substandard medicines. “Describing one medicine that has a high safety pro le, but substituting a medicine with a di erent safety pro le, that’s consumer deception. at’s fraud with potential health consequences.”

Because of the dangers, the FDA advises the public only obtain a semaglutide drug prescribed by their doctor and ll the prescription at a state-licensed pharmacy.

“ e agency has identi ed some areas of concern for compounded GLP-1 drugs,” the FDA says on its website. “( e) FDA is working with its state regulatory partners and will continue to communicate with compounders regarding these concerns.”

Novo Nordisk is seeking to stop the Chicago-area defendants from using its drug trademarks in any manner that is likely to cause confusion or deceive patients. Novo Nordisk is also asking to be awarded monetary relief from defendants’ pro ts incurred from the sale of products that patients purchased under false advertising.

getting positive feedback from the community.

Lavani insists better quality of care is the focus, but said they budgeted for cost savings in the ER due to the shift.

And the long-term return on investment, Wakim said, will come from serving more patients better — and sometimes faster — and being more exible in scheduling and managing operations. He said provider well-being and condence that "we've got you covered" when scheduling issues come up have translated to im-

“I’ve made my last two feature lms in Chicago, but time and budget dictates that we post, arrange, score and record in L.A.,” wrote Dwayne Johnson-Cochran, whose most recent feature lm was "Heist 88," starring Courtney B. Vance and released in 2023. “I would love to be able to nish a lm in its entirety in Chicago.” e proposed scoring stage “is a much-needed piece of infrastructure for our industry that will bring jobs to our community (and) opportunity to hundreds of musicians and musical artists” based in and near Chicago, wrote Bradley Levy, president of the Chicago Federation of Musicians.

Daniels said the group hopes to begin construction of the new building sometime in 2026. Hughes said the renovation and opening of the bank building may be done in phases, with the rst opening around the same time as the scoring stage building.

e lawsuits aren’t isolated to Chicago. As of this month, Novo Nordisk said it led 63 similar federal lawsuits across 18 states, accusing medical spas, health clinics, telehealth companies, online retailers and compounding pharmacies of similar crimes, the company said.

e bulk of the lawsuits are accusing defendants of deceptive and unfair trade practices and false advertising, but others claim businesses are breaking trademark and unfair competition laws. In some of the cases, courts have permanently barred defendants from engaging in deceptive, misleading and unlawful marketing practices related to the sales of compounded semaglutide drugs, according a statement on Novo Nordisk’s website.

Eli Lilly, the Indianapolis-based drug manufacturer and maker of competing weight-loss drugs, has also led lawsuits against U.S. businesses, claiming they are falsely advertising selling products with tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Zepbound and Mounjaro. But none of the businesses are in Illinois, an Eli Lilly spokesperson said.

proved morale among the ranks.

Another part of ROI will be successful integration of patient care into other hospital services. Employed physicians in the ER are familiar with the rest of the hospital's capabilities and sta the way a visiting doctor from Georgia or Kentucky or California can't be, Wakim said.

For example, the ER sta is part of each quarterly sta meeting, he said.

"And if we have a cardiac patient, we know the cardiologist, and we get them there," he said.

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To place your listing, contact Suzanne Janik at (313) 446-0455 or email sjanik@crain.com .www.chicagobusiness.com/classi eds

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Head of Real Estate Product Sales and Marketing

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rough the rst nine months of 2024, revenue was 6% higher than the same period a year earlier, compared with 15% growth in 2022.

Unit volume continues to grow, climbing almost 9% in September from a year earlier, as more new licensees open stores. e number of dispensaries in Illinois is 239, up from 173 a year ago.

Nearly ve years after recreational marijuana sales began in Illinois, here are some lessons from successful operators who have lived through it.

Lessons learned

Competition from the illicit market — as well as the unregulated gray market of synthetic hempderived products that sprung from a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill — has pushed down pricing throughout the industry. Nationally, prices hit a new low of $923 per pound Nov. 22, according to Cannabis Benchmarks.

Neighboring Michigan and Missouri, which have less tightly regulated markets and lower tax rates, have added to the competition for Illinois operators.

Connecting Talent with Opportunity

“Projections called for the Illinois market to be about double what it currently is,” says Tim O’Hern, president of Nature’s Grace & Wellness, which got started as a grower. “ e thinking was the overall pie would increase with more stores. As sales (revenue) attened, it’s carving up the pie into smaller pieces.

“ e challenges operators are

facing are more policy-related, with the unregulated intoxicating hemp market and a tax rate that’s higher than our neighboring states,” says O’Hern, who also operates in the Missouri market.

e Illinois Senate passed a bill this year to ban most synthetic marijuana products made from hemp, the non-intoxicating cousin of marijuana. Legislators are expected to take up the issue again soon.

At the federal level, there is hope that marijuana will be rescheduled and no longer included among the most dangerous drugs. Such a move would mean cannabis operators could deduct routine business expenses, which would make it easier to turn a pro t. e Drug Enforcement Administration is scheduled to begin the nal step in the process today with public hearings.

at’s just one economic challenge operators face. Market forces may prove tougher.

“When we opened in Wheeling in February 2023, the average customer was spending $80,” Weiner says. “By May, we had doubled the amount of customers coming in, but they were spending about $50. I can’t explain how de ating it was.

“I was expecting two to three times the revenue we ended up seeing. I was expecting better margins than in the restaurant industry, but it wasn’t the case.”

Given his hospitality industry background, Weiner and his partners pursued an unusual strategy, adding a restaurant, bar and consumption lounge to their Wheeling dispensary.

“ e food-and-beverage component worked,” he says. “It did drive people who wouldn’t nor-

mally set foot in a dispensary in the door. However, that’s not your core business in cannabis. It’s people who are using cannabis once a day or week, the same way people drink beers.”

It reinforced to Weiner that the only way to thrive in cannabis is to be “vertically integrated” — to be both a grower and seller.

“Not being vertically integrated . . . was a big miscalculation,” he says. “ ere’s no way to compete. We’re all selling the same product, but our competition is able to sell it for less.”

Weiner declined to disclose the terms of the Okay Cannabis sale. But he says he and his partners — who include Greg Mohr, co-owner of restaurant business Fifty/50 Group alongside Weiner, and former Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar — made a pro t in the end.

“We did well,” he says. “None of us will be able to quit our jobs.”

Buy to build

Rick and Michelle Ringold, who run Galaxy Labs in Richton Park, planned for vertical integration from the outset.

“We thought from the beginning that vertical integration was the only way to success,” he says. “You can stock 40% of the inventory in your own store. You become your own best customer. It gives you more buying power (with bigger players) who are more receptive to placing our product if we can carry theirs.

“If you’re only in retail, you’re buying from a grower for 50% of what you sell it for. I don’t see enough profit on products I’m not producing to make it suc-

Like many other entrepreneurs who won licenses to grow or sell marijuana when Illinois legalized recreational use, Scott Weiner found out it’s not the easiest way to make a buck. | ALEXANDER GOULETAS/ORGANIC HEADSHOTS

cessful on grow if we didn’t have a retail location.”

e Ringolds were awarded a craft-grow license but came up short in the lotteries for dispensary licenses. ey nally acquired a retail license earlier this year.

Ringold and his wife came to cannabis with capital and experience from operating their own businesses. She’s a CPA, he’s in construction.

“In the early months, we used our other businesses to fund our operations,” he says.

e company has 52 employees in its grow operation and 36 employees in its dispensary. Galaxy’s product is sold in 162 dispensaries.

Ringold says both businesses are pro table, despite overall revenue being lower than their original projections. Cannabis was selling for nearly $4,000 a pound when they won a grow license two years ago. Now it’s about $2,300. He says pricing pressure and a lack of capital are industrywide challenges that weigh on everyone.

“A store has got to sell our product before they pay their bills. We’ve gotten to a point where we’re picking and choosing which stores we want to do business (with) based on payment and keeping their account current.”

Running a grow operation is challenging because it requires far more capital for equipment and facilities than retail.

“We’ve invested multiple millions of dollars in building this out,” Ringold says. “We’ll be focused the next couple years on being pro table enough to pay down debt.”

Despite the unexpected challenges, “it’s still worth it,” he adds. “Overall, we’ve been successful and happy.”

Tapering off

Stuck in the middle

Rick and Michelle Ringold, who run Galaxy Labs in Richton Park, were awarded a craft-grow license but came up short in the lotteries for dispensary licenses. They nally acquired a retail license earlier this year. | ALEXANDER GOULETAS/ORGANIC HEADSHOTS

“I’m really proud of what I did.”

Ashley was a single mom struggling to make ends meet. When she graduated from Catholic Charities’ Family Self-Su iciency Program, she put her life on a new path. Today, she is building up her savings working as a school bus driver and living in a house where her children each have a bedroom of their own.

Catholic Charities partners with mission-driven individuals and organizations to serve more than 374,000 people like Ashley throughout Cook and Lake counties every year, regardless of their faith, gender, race, or ethnicity.

Give today and be part of something greater!