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[toggle title=”Caralynn Nowinski Collens, Chairman” open=”no”][accordian]
Dr. Caralynn Nowinski Collens is the CEO of Dimension Inx, a next-generation biomaterials and biofabrication company developing 3D-printed therapeutic products that direct cells to rebuild healthy tissues. She is passionate about building teams and organizations that harness technology to drive transformational change and improve the quality of people’s lives.
Previously as the co-founder and CEO of UI LABS, a first-of-its-kind technology organization focused on the digital future of industries, Caralynn built the organization from concept in late 2011 through launch in 2014, raising $200M+ in investment and ultimately spinning out MxD (national digital manufacturing institute) and City Tech Collaborative as independent businesses in 2019. After starting her first company while a joint medical/business student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Caralynn spent her early career in venture capital and corporate finance, primarily focused on technology-based university spin-outs.
Caralynn is an Independent Director of Fathom Digital Manufacturing [NYSE:FATH] and serves on the Executive Council of Granite Creek Capital Partners. She is proud to have been a member of the Chicago Chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and recognized as one of Crain’s Chicago Business’ “Forty Under Forty”, “Notable Women in Manufacturing”, and “Tech 50”. In 2020, SME recognized Caralynn as one of “30 Leaders Transforming Manufacturing”.
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[toggle title=”John May, Co-Founder” open=”no”]
John May co-founded Imerman Angels with Jonny Imerman and formerly served as the Chairman of the Board. Inspired to make sure no one faces cancer alone. John’s primary role is supporting Imerman Angel’s strategic plan while making sure its program and operation support its mission on a daily basis.
Mr. May is also the Founder and Managing Partner of CORE, a Chicago-based Private Equity firm with over $700 million assets under management. He is responsible for overseeing all activities of the firm including investment sourcing and valuation, transaction structuring, the securing of acquisition financing, fundraising and all administrative activities. Before founding CORE, he spent the past 18 years working on transactions with several private equity sponsors principally with The Blackstone Group and H.I.G. Capital. He serves on the boards of all CORE portfolio companies.
Mr. May graduated with Honors from East Carolina University with a business degree. He currently serves on the East Carolina University Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors, including its Executive Committee and is Chair of the Investment Committee. He also is an active member of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization), a member of The Economic Club of Chicago, and obtained his Level I Sommelier accreditation from The International Sommelier Guild.
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[toggle title=”Jonny Imerman, Co-Founder, Chief Mission Officer” open=”no”]
Jonny Imerman co-founded Imerman Angels. While fighting cancer at 26 years old, Jonny had loving support from family and friends, but never met anyone his age who was a cancer survivor. He wanted to talk to someone just like him, someone who truly understood and remembered – someone who had already faced the same type of cancer.
Today, Imerman Angels provides that gift for cancer fighters. Imerman Angels introduces each cancer fighter to one survivor who is the same age, same gender, and someone who has already faced that particular type of cancer. A cancer survivor would be an angel – walking, talking, living proof to inspire the fighter that he/she can overcome their cancer. This was the beginning of Jonny’s vision.
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[toggle title=”Annie Bao
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine” open=”no”]
Annie Bao is a licensed marriage and family therapist, instructor, healthcare consultant, behavioral analyst, and writer. She is the manager and primary instructor of the Psychosocial Coursework for the Northwestern University Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling. In addition, she is a thesis advisor and thesis committee member of graduate student research projects. During the Summer of 2020, Annie was one of the medical school faculty selected to become a member of the Feinberg Academy of Medical Educators (FAME), to be inducted in the Fall. Annie is actively involved on the leadership team, in Admissions, and other program activities and specifically leads community engagement initiatives for the Genetic Counseling program. She continues to supervise students, guest lecture, and provide programming for other educational, medical, and corporate entities. Within the local Chicago community, Annie is presently committed to contributing to initiatives for The Kennedy Forum, Social Works – My State of Mind, and Truth, Racial Healing, & Transformation (TRHT) in collaboration with Healing Illinois and the Woods Foundation.
In training as a marriage and family therapist at Northwestern University, Annie developed a deeper understanding of how systemic (e.g., relational, familial, and community) constraints and traumas impact an individual’s development and sense of self. For over a decade, she continues to be dedicated to being in service of those seeking mental wellness and promoting initiatives that support recognition/integration of mental health in operations for optimal performance. During her time at Virginia Tech, Annie was responsible for undergraduate education in the department of Human Development and Family Studies, mentorship of student SEC football athletes, and supervising graduate students pursuing degrees in Marriage and Family Therapy. Her fellowship at the University of Chicago included educating and training family medicine residents to become proficient in the psychosocial skills of their practice, consulting family medicine faculty in specialty clinics, and attending to providers’ mental health and wellness. Annie has worked in multiple levels of collaborative healthcare systems as a therapeutic referral resource, behavioral specialist, family medicine in-house therapist, psychosocial healthcare consultant, and family medicine residency psychosocial educator/preceptor.
Her clinical practice interests and expertise include sex therapy, loss and grief work, resilience in trauma, premarital/marital conflict resolution, boundary management, and integrative/collaborative medical family therapy. She also provides education, consultation, and support services for healthcare providers in the areas of empathy practices, self-care, clinical burnout/compassion fatigue, collaboration, and issues in supervision. Annie’s current concierge private practice prioritizes the importance of creative, collaborative, and innovative techniques and approaches to comprehensive wellness and individualized holistic health. This experience involves efforts in varying contexts including individual, couples, groups, training programs, corporations, community, and hospital systems. Additionally, she is an individual clinical supervisor for Northwestern University MSMFT graduate students at the Family Institute. Her professional memberships have included board work, task force engagement, conference planning, and strategic planning and execution.
Annie’s research interests and publications include grief and loss, family resilience, human sexuality, sexual health, HIV/AIDS education, depression in couples, boundary ambiguity, psychotherapeutic boundaries, provider uses of humor, kinship care, self-care, collaborative healthcare practices, clinical supervision, and the systemic psychosocial impact of illness, disease, and diagnosis.
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[toggle title=”Steven Crowe
Tax Partner, Deloitte” open=”no”]
Steven is a tax partner with Deloitte based in Chicago and has been serving private equity, venture capital and related fund structures for more than 10 years with clients based across the Midwest and West Coast. Within Deloitte, Steven is active in the marketplace, as well as a member of several diversity and inclusion initiatives. Steven is a Certified Public Accountant and holds an active license in Illinois, and is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) plus the Illinois CPA Society. Steven holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accountancy and a Master of Science in Accountancy with a specialization in Taxation both from the University of Notre Dame. He is married and lives in downtown Chicago with his two children.
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[toggle title=”Tai Duncan
Vice President of Community Integration, Cresco Labs” open=”no”]
Tai Duncan is Vice President of Community Integration at Cresco Labs, one of the largest multi-state, vertically integrated cannabis companies in the US. In this role, Tai and her team provide expertise and leadership to promote Cresco’s community related goals to a wide internal and external audience, driving strategic initiatives that align with Cresco’s rapid expansion and serve as the company’s central point of contact with community leaders.
A licensed attorney since 2008, Tai has enjoyed a successful legal and business career, serving in a variety of roles across industries. A founding member of the adult basketball fitness company, Swish House, over the past six years, Tai has served as a consultant to the startup, serving as its Vice President of Business and Legal affairs prior to joining Cresco. Previously, Tai was Executive Director of the Chicago Chapter of national youth sports nonprofit, Positive Coaching Alliance, after serving as Director of Corporate Affairs in the Office of the CEO at Ariel Investments, the country’s largest minority-owned investment firm, with more than $13 billion in assets under management. Tai started her legal career as an Assistant Corporation Counsel at the City of Chicago Law Department. She also spent ten years as a girls’ basketball, at both the high school varsity and AAU levels.
With civic engagement as a priority, Tai has served on boards, committees and as a volunteer for nearly a dozen local organizations. She has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Cove School, Lookingglass Theatre Company and the Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation. Tai continues to be involved with a variety of nonprofit organizations through philanthropy, advocacy and board service, including A Silver Lining Foundation, The Wabash Lights, and B.I.G Baseball Academy. In 2016, Tai received the WNBA Chicago Sky’s #RedefinePossible Women’s Leadership Award, and she was recognized as one of Chicago Scholars’ 35 Under 35 Making an Impact in 2018.
Tai graduated from Grinnell College with a B.A. in Sociology and a concentration in Gender and Women’s Studies. At Grinnell, Tai was a student-staff member, Admissions volunteer, and decorated student-athlete. As co-captain of the women’s basketball team, she received Academic All-Midwest Conference honors, in addition to being voted to the Second Team All Midwest Conference for her athletic performance. Her contributions to the school on and off the court were celebrated in 2018, when she was inducted into the Grinnell College Athletics Hall of Fame. Tai graduated with Honors from the University of Iowa College of Law, where she received the Dean’s Achievement Award, and served as an Associate Note and Comment Editor for The Journal of Gender, Race and Justice. A native Chicagoan, Tai is a graduate of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, and lives in the River North neighborhood with her hound dog rescue, Maya.
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[toggle title=”Melanie Giglio
Real Estate Broker, Compass Real Estate” open=”no”]
Updated bio coming soon.
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[toggle title=”Bonnie Gordon
Director of WBA Relationship, Vitamin Angels” open=”no”]
Bonnie Gordon has over 25 years of experience as an award winning “marketer, healthcare advocate and creative inspirer”. As a 20+ year breast cancer survivor, her passion is to provide quality healthcare and educational support for the underserved and underinsured across America. In her 19+ years at Walgreens, Bonnie held several marketing leadership roles, including print and broadcast creative, media services and strategies as well as her final role as Walgreens Director of Cause Marketing.
She served as the Public Relations Chair for the Chicago Chapter of the Network of Executive Women and President of the Board of Directors of Susan G. Komen Chicagoland Affiliate. She mentors and teaches Cause Marketing as well as a speaker at many venues including Cause Marketing Forum, has received the Al Ward Humanitarian Award from the GoodCity Organization in Chicago and the Mission Possible Award from Ambassador Nancy Brinker, Founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
After being asked to step in as the Executive Director of Susan G. Komen, Chicago Affiliate to restructure the Affiliate for two years, Bonnie serves as Director, WBA Relationship for Vitamin Angels.
[/toggle][toggle title=”Jeffrey Imerman
Owner, CLOZTALK” open=”no”]
Updated bio coming soon.
[/toggle][toggle title=”Nimesh Jhaveri
President, Community Pharmacy, McKesson Corporation” open=”no”]
Updated bio coming soon.
[/toggle][toggle title=”Stephen Lee
CFO/COO, CORE Industrial Partners” open=”no”]
Updated bio coming soon.
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[toggle title=”Ian Mahoney
Director Emerging Networks, Viacom” open=”no”]
Updated bio coming soon.
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[toggle title=”Joy Lyu Monahan
Associate Director, Legal Diversity and Outside Council Programs, AbbVie” open=”no”]
Joy Lyu Monahan joined AbbVie in June 2020 as Associate Director, Legal Diversity and Outside Counsel Programs.
With her professional background in government, law firms, and nonprofits, Joy provides a unique combination of experience in philanthropy, private business, nonprofits, government, finance, law and other fields to this newly-created position.
Joy has been a frequent volunteer speaker on diversity and inclusion on organized industry panels and in informal settings and published author of several articles regarding this subject since she entered the legal profession in 1997.
In April 2019, Louisiana State University appointed Joy to serve on its National Diversity Advisory Board with 24 national industry leaders to advise the President’s office and to advocate and foster diversity and inclusion throughout the LSU system.
Joy recently served as General Counsel and Director of Special Project for World Business Chicago, the public-private economic development arm for the city of Chicago for almost six years. Initially recruited to lead the formation of its Metro Chicago Exports initiative in July 2014, Joy remained at WBC in multiple roles to fundraise, raise awareness, and develop strategic initiatives and external partnerships to drive inclusive economic growth and job creation under WBC’s chairman, the Mayor of the City of Chicago.
Prior to joining WBC, Joy spent eight years in Chicago practicing law with Edwards Wildman Palmer and Kirkland and Ellis LLP. Joy and her family moved to Chicago in 2006, after Hurricane Katrina struck their home in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she first started her legal career as a judicial law clerk.
As an attorney, Joy has over two decades of experience counseling national and international clients in a wide variety of litigation, corporate restructuring and insolvency matters, and global and cross-border corporate transactions. Prior to her legal career, Joy served in various roles in the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Joy earned her J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University, her Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University, and her B.A. from Georgetown University. Joy also attended the London School of Economics and earned a General Course Certificate in International Politics and Economics.
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[toggle title=”Dr. Elif Oker
Principal and Founder, InSun Solutions, LLC” open=”no”]
Updated bio coming soon.
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[toggle title=”Sharbel Shamoon
Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending, Guaranteed Rate” open=”no”]
Sharbel Shamoon is a Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending at Guaranteed Rate. He was born and raised on the North Side of Chicago. Sharbel attended Lane Tech High School and went on to college at UIC to study Political Science. He has been in the Mortgage industry since 2004. Sharbel is very big on relationship building and makes worthwhile introductions to people in his network every day. Sharbel and his wife reside in Glenview to be closer to family. In his free time, he enjoys spending quality time with his wife and nephews and giving back to Chicago through charity involvement. Sharbel is very blessed, always positive, and dedicated to what he does.
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[toggle title=”Christiana Shoushtari, MD, MPH
Physician of Internal Medicine at Oak Street Health” open=”no”]
Updated bio coming soon.
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[toggle title=”Christoph Sitzer
Director Global Supply Chain Management, Leica Microsystems” open=”no”]
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[toggle title=”Noel Smith
Chief Investment Officer and Managing Member at Convexity Asset Management; Options and Volatility Trading at Tanius Technologies” open=”no”]
Mr. Smith was a founding member and Managing Partner of Third Millennium Trading LLC (TMT) in Chicago Illinois. He joined TMT at the Chicago Board Options Exchange in 1996. TMT is a privately funded proprietary stock, futures and options trading firm. Using proprietary trading models TMT grew from a small trading pit based firm to an industry standout with offices in New York and Chicago. Mr. Smith managed the main firm options, futures and stock portfolio and was in charge of growing the firm from 4 to more than 60 employees at the firm’s peak. TMT also functioned as the venture capital for other businesses.
Mr. Smith graduated with a B.S. In Biochemistry from the University of Illinois Urban-Champaign. At Illinois, Mr. Smith played men’s club Ice Hockey, he studied Neuroscience at Beckman Institute and was a volunteer at Carle and Condell hospitals, working in the ER and surgical ward. Later, living in Los Angeles, he attended UCLA, completing the post graduate program in Film and Television Production. Mr. Smith is an auto enthusiast and raced competitively in the SCCA formula Mazda series (retired). Mr. Smith has been an avid guitar player since 1983. Mr. Smith is also a proud veteran of the U.S. Army.
Noel and his wife Erin are enthusiastic snowboarders and enjoy traveling. The Smith family lives in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood.
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[toggle title=”Daryl Sneed
Executive Director, SOUNDOFF” open=”no”]
Updated bio coming soon.
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[toggle title=”Julius Talley
Managing Director, James Capital, LLC” open=”no”]
Julius Talley is the Managing Director for James Capital, LLC. James Capital arranges various modes of capital for small and mid-sized enterprises (SME), municipalities and healthcare entities.
Alongside capital sourcing, Julius via James Capital provides interim and fractional Chief Financial and Operating Officer services. He has provided these services to health care clinics in Michigan, Florida, Georgia and Illinois.
Prior to starting James Capital, Julius was Vice President of Corporate Support Services for Summit Pointe, the mental health division of Calhoun County, in Battle Creek, MI where he led the start-up of finance, human resources, information technology, purchasing and facility management units.
His initial career was in public accounting on the audit staff of “Big Four” accounting firms where his client base spread across various commercial industries, municipalities and nonprofit organizations.
He has an Executive MBA from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend and an Accounting Degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.
Julius was touched early in life by cancer as he lost a very close mentor and cousin at 36 years of age and as an adult the lost of a best friend to colon cancer in 2011 at the age of 36.
Currently, he lives in Chicago with his wife and two children.
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[toggle title=”Dr. Garth Walker, MD, MPH
Attending Physician, Jesse Brown Veteran Affairs Hospital and Deputy Director at the Illinois Department of Public Health” open=”no”]
Updated bio coming soon.
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[toggle title=”Thad Wong
Co-Founder, @properties” open=”no”]
Updated bio coming soon.
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[toggle title=”David Zimmer
Owner, Fleet Feet Sports Chicago” open=”no”]
Dave Zimmer is the owner and CEO of Chicago’s most popular running stores – the three Fleet Feet Sports locations that have been the highest volume franchise in the national Fleet Feet chain every year since 2000. Under his stewardship, the Fleet Feet Chicago has established a reputation for its customer-first focus and wholehearted commitment to community service. Crain’s Chicago Business featured Zimmer on the cover of its edition focusing on local “Masters of Customer Service” in the fall of 2012 and a few weeks later, Formula 4 Media and Competitor Magazine named Fleet Feet one of the “50 Best Running Stores in America” – an honor the store has received every year since the award began in 2006.
Zimmer personifies Fleet Feet Chicago’s motto of “Running Changes Everything” by actively seeking ways to positively impact not just his consumers but the community at large. He served as the President of the Mayor’s Fitness Council of the City of Chicago, is on the board of a local charity (Imerman’s Angels), founded the Chicago Triathlon Club in 1999 and his company sponsors and/or stages over 50 running/fitness events each year that benefit various community groups and charities in need. With his degree in Communications/Radio/TV/Film from Chicago’s Loyola University, Zimmer is a media favorite and has repeatedly been interviewed locally and nationally by major media outlets when they need a voice on running, retail, health or special events management. Zimmer attributes the success of Fleet Feet Sports’ retail and sports management to his enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff, their willingness to find ways to connect with consumers and sponsors while developing a sense of community beyond the few minutes someone spends making a purchase at his stores. Zimmer is married to a fellow runner, Lisa, who helped him build his Fleet Feet business, and has a son and a daughter who are well-known by the running community.[/toggle]
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