50 Influential Leaders in Chicago Shaping the City

Last updated: June 2026

As of June 2026, Chicago's most influential leaders are not a monolith. They run healthcare systems that serve the city's most vulnerable residents, architect buildings that have made the skyline a case study in equity and innovation, build investment firms that have become the largest Black-owned mutual fund operations in the United States, and lead community colleges that put associate degrees into the hands of tens of thousands of students who are first-generation college graduates. The fifty leaders in this directory were selected for one reason: they are actively shaping the conversation about leadership, community, and impact in one of the world's great cities, and following their work will make you a better leader too.

Chicago has always been a city where civic identity and organisational ambition are inseparable. The Commercial Club, Leadership Greater Chicago, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and dozens of other institutions exist precisely because Chicago leaders have long understood that the quality of the city depends directly on the quality of its institutions. That tradition continues. Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026 recognised nearly 500 leaders shaping Chicago's business, civic, and cultural spaces. The leaders in this list were drawn from that broader landscape and chosen specifically for their active presence in the public conversation, whether through original LinkedIn content, media commentary, keynote speaking, or civic engagement that shapes how Chicago thinks and acts. Jonno White, author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000+ copies sold) and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, compiled this list to surface the voices that every leader with any connection to Chicago genuinely needs to know.

To bring Jonno in to facilitate an executive team offsite or Working Genius workshop for your organisation, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

The list is organised into eight categories so you can see the full shape of Chicago leadership, not just a string of names. Every person here holds a current, confirmed role and was verified against primary sources within the past twelve months. A deliberate effort was made to include voices doing the work alongside the most recognised names, because Chicago's strength has always come from the people who show up every day.

Why Chicago Leadership Matters

Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States and the largest in the Midwest, with a regional economy bigger than that of most countries. It is home to major Fortune 500 headquarters, a federal reserve bank that sets national monetary policy, one of the largest public school systems in the country, the nation's largest Latino-serving community college system, the most prominent safety-net hospital system in Illinois, and an arts and culture sector that has shaped everything from jazz to architecture to activist urban planning. The leaders who run those institutions are making decisions that affect millions of people, and they are doing it in real time, publicly and with accountability.

Chicago also has a specific leadership challenge that makes its leaders worth studying: the city is simultaneously one of the wealthiest and one of the most economically divided urban centres in America. The leaders on this list are not ignoring that reality. They are responding to it, through investment in under-resourced communities, through health equity initiatives on the West and South sides, through gun violence prevention partnerships, through educational access programmes, and through philanthropic initiatives that attempt to bend the city's trajectory toward something more equitable.

The Working Genius framework created by Patrick Lencioni and The Table Group helps leaders understand the type of work that gives them energy and the type that drains it. Applied to a city like Chicago, the framework illuminates why certain leaders and organisations thrive while others struggle: alignment between the work and the people doing it is the invisible ingredient in every sustained success story on this list.

For executive teams navigating similar dynamics, Jonno White works with organisations across Chicago, the United States, and globally to facilitate the Working Genius conversation. Email jonno@consultclarity.org.

How This List Was Compiled

Each leader on this list was selected for a documented, fact-checked contribution to Chicago's civic, business, or cultural life, alongside an active public presence through which they are sharing ideas, challenging assumptions, or modelling leadership. Selection drew on Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026, Chicago Magazine's 50 Most Powerful Chicagoans (February 2026), Leadership Greater Chicago's network of more than 1,400 Fellows, Axios Chicago Power Players, and direct research into LinkedIn activity and public speaking. Every role, organisation, and title was confirmed against a primary source dated within the last twelve months.

Category 1: Finance, Investment, and Capital

Chicago's financial leadership sits at the intersection of institutional scale and civic purpose. The leaders in this category run organisations managing hundreds of billions of dollars while maintaining deep commitments to the communities around them.

1. Mellody Hobson

Ariel Investments

Mellody Hobson is Co-CEO and President of Ariel Investments, the Chicago-based investment management firm with more than $14 billion in assets under management that she joined as an intern after graduating from Princeton. She is the first Black woman to chair an S&P 500 company, having served as Chair of the Board of Starbucks Corporation, and is a director of JPMorgan Chase. In 2025, she founded Project Level to change the game in women's sports, and in 2021 she co-founded Ariel Alternatives and its inaugural private equity fund, Project Black, which has a mission to scale sustainable minority-owned business enterprises to serve as Tier 1 suppliers to Fortune 500 companies.

Her public voice on financial literacy, diversity in corporate leadership, and long-term value creation is one of the most consistent and substantive in American business. She brings to every platform a combination of investment discipline and a refusal to separate economic equity from business performance, and the accessibility of her commentary on CNBC and in major publications makes sophisticated financial thinking available far beyond the boardroom.

2. John W. Rogers Jr.

Ariel Investments

John W. Rogers Jr. is the Founder, Chairman, Co-CEO, and Chief Investment Officer of Ariel Investments, which he founded in 1983 at age 24 to focus on patient, value investing within small and medium-sized companies. Ariel is the United States' largest minority-run mutual fund firm. He is a member of the board of directors of Nike, The New York Times Company, and Ryan Specialty, and serves on the board of trustees of the University of Chicago and the Obama Foundation. A regular contributor to Forbes for many years, Rogers appeared at Bloomberg Invest in March 2026 and contributed to the Barron's Roundtable in January 2025.

His patient investment philosophy, captured in the firm's tagline 'slow and steady wins the race,' is a genuine intellectual contribution to how organisations and individuals think about building and sustaining value. His willingness to speak directly about racial equity in finance, diversity on corporate boards, and the importance of Black-owned financial institutions gives his voice a civic dimension that extends well beyond investment returns.

3. Darrel Hackett

BMO Financial Corp / BMO Bank N.A.

Darrel Hackett serves as CEO of BMO Financial Corp. and President and CEO of BMO Bank N.A., a top 10 U.S. bank by assets, overseeing all U.S. operations across BMO Financial Group. He joined BMO in 2004 and was named CEO in 2023 after serving as President of BMO Wealth Management U.S. He serves on the boards of the Art Institute of Chicago, Rush University Medical Center, and United Way of Metro Chicago, and is a member of the Federal Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board.

His active LinkedIn presence spans community investment, diversity initiatives, and economic development in Chicago and across the U.S. He has posted consistently on Bold Conversations events engaging the Latino business community, workforce development, and the intersection of banking and civic health, making him one of the more genuinely engaged financial executives in the city's public conversation.

4. Martin Nesbitt

Vistria Group

Martin Nesbitt is Co-CEO and Co-Chairman of the Vistria Group, the Chicago-based private investment firm he co-founded that operates with more than $17 billion in assets under management at the intersection of purpose and profit. Vistria invests in essential industries including healthcare, knowledge and learning, and financial services. In 2025, the firm returned approximately $1 billion of liquidity to limited partners and completed roughly 17 investments. Nesbitt is a board director of American Airlines Group and Chewy Inc., serves as Chairman of the Barack Obama Foundation, and was previously Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Housing Authority.

His conviction, stated publicly in a Crain's op-ed, that Chicago is the right place to define the future of capitalism, is more than civic boosterism. It is an investment thesis backed by billions of dollars in capital and a sustained track record of delivering both financial returns and social outcomes. His involvement in the global investment and civic communities gives his commentary a reach that extends well beyond Chicago.

5. Austan Goolsbee

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Austan Goolsbee is President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, a role he has held since January 2023, and serves on the Federal Open Market Committee, the Federal Reserve System's monetary policymaking body. Chicago Magazine ranked him the third most powerful person in Chicago in its February 2026 Power 50 list. A former Chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers and Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics Emeritus at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, he has been a Fulbright Scholar, named to the World Economic Forum's 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow, and twice named a 'star' professor by BusinessWeek.

His ability to explain complex monetary policy and economic dynamics clearly and memorably makes him one of the most accessible and widely followed voices on the American economy. His public engagement on interest rates, AI's impact on productivity, and the divergence between national policy and regional economic realities makes his commentary essential following for any leader trying to understand the macroeconomic context of their decisions.

6. Michael Sacks

GCM Grosvenor

Michael Sacks is Chairman and CEO of GCM Grosvenor, the Chicago-headquartered global alternative asset management firm with approximately $91 billion in assets under management. He joined the firm in 1990 and was named CEO in 1994, growing it from an early participant in an emerging industry to one of the largest and most diversified alternative asset management platforms in the world. Crain's Chicago Business named him Executive of the Year for 2025 and has described him as 'the most connected person in Chicago.' He has been recognised with the 2025 Navy Seals Foundation Patriot Award and the 2023 Better Government Association's Daniel L. Goodwin Watchdog Award.

His influence spans finance, politics, philanthropy, and civic life in ways that are difficult to overstate. His role in major civic initiatives, from neighbourhood economic development to education reform, reflects a model of business leadership that treats civic engagement not as an add-on but as a core responsibility of institutional scale.

Category 2: Corporate and Business Leadership

From a utility company serving ten million customers to a digital agency redefining content strategy, Chicago's corporate leaders are shaping not just their organisations but the city's broader business culture.

7. Calvin Butler

Exelon

Calvin Butler is President and CEO of Exelon, one of the nation's largest utility companies serving approximately ten million electric and gas customers across six local energy companies in Illinois, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. He was named Chair of the Edison Electric Institute's Board of Directors in 2025. The first Black CEO of Exelon and previously the first Black CEO of Baltimore Gas and Electric, Butler posts actively on LinkedIn about energy transition, workforce development, community investment, and the responsibilities of corporate leadership.

His 'Lead with Purpose; Leave a Legacy of Impact' address at Howard University in January 2025 captures the tone of his public leadership: direct, purposeful, and grounded in the idea that scale creates responsibility rather than distance from it. For an organisation trying to understand how to lead a complex, politically charged, essential-services business while building genuine community trust, his model is worth studying closely.

8. Debra Cafaro

Ventas Inc.

Debra Cafaro is Chairman and CEO of Ventas Inc., the S&P 500 real estate investment trust that owns approximately 1,400 healthcare, research, and senior living properties in North America and the United Kingdom. Under her leadership since 1999, Ventas's market capitalisation has grown from $200 million to more than $40 billion in 2026. She is the longest-serving female CEO of an S&P 500 company. She has been named one of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women by Forbes twice, a Top 100 Best-Performing CEO in the World by Harvard Business Review for six consecutive years, and has received the Order of Lincoln, Illinois' highest honour for professional achievement.

Her demonstration that patient, disciplined, long-cycle thinking can compound returns of more than 19 percent annually over more than two decades is itself a leadership lesson. Her engagement in Chicago's civic life, including her chair of the Economic Club of Chicago and membership on the University of Chicago's board of trustees, reflects a commitment to the city that has kept her here even as Ventas's reach has become genuinely global.

9. Joe Mansueto

Morningstar

Joe Mansueto is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Morningstar Inc., the global investment research and data company he started from his Chicago apartment in 1984 with $80,000. Morningstar is now a publicly traded global leader in independent investment research. Through his company Mansueto Ventures, he also owns Inc. and Fast Company magazines. He is the owner of Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire FC and Swiss Super League club FC Lugano. In April 2026, he and his wife Rika announced a $50 million gift to fund multidisciplinary AI and machine learning research at the University of Chicago.

His founding story, including the conviction that individual investors deserved the same quality of research previously available only to institutions, is a genuine insight about information asymmetry that shaped an industry. His civic investments in the University of Chicago, the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation, and Chicago's arts community reflect four decades of commitment to the city that made his business possible.

10. Andy Crestodina

Orbit Media Studios

Andy Crestodina is Co-Founder and CMO of Orbit Media Studios, an award-winning digital agency in Chicago he has built over more than twenty years. He is the author of Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing, has written more than 500 articles on content strategy, SEO, analytics, and visitor psychology that reach more than three million readers each year, and delivers approximately 100 webinars and conference presentations annually. He is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago.

Among Chicago's business leaders, Crestodina is one of the most consistently and substantively active voices on LinkedIn. His daily posting on SEO, AI's impact on content strategy, answer engine optimisation, and web analytics gives followers a practical, evidence-based framework for thinking about digital marketing and business development. His annual Blogger Survey and the data he publishes from hundreds of Analytics accounts give his commentary an empirical grounding that most marketing voices lack.

11. Jeanne Gang

Studio Gang

Jeanne Gang, FAIA, is the Founding Partner of Studio Gang, the international architecture and urban design practice headquartered in Chicago with offices in New York, San Francisco, and Paris. She was named the 2026 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medalist in Architecture and the 2025 Architect of the Year by AW Architektur and Wohnen. Time magazine named her one of its 100 Most Influential People, the only architect on the list that year. Her Aqua Tower in Chicago was the tallest building in the world designed by a woman at the time of its completion.

Her active LinkedIn presence through Studio Gang shares ongoing projects from the Spelman College Center for Innovation and the Arts to major cultural projects globally, giving followers a window into how an internationally recognised architecture practice navigates equity, sustainability, and civic ambition simultaneously. Her willingness to close the gender pay gap at Studio Gang publicly in 2018 and urge other firms to follow demonstrated that her leadership extends well beyond building design.

12. Tom Gimbel

LaSalle Network

Tom Gimbel is Founder and CEO of LaSalle Network, the Chicago-based staffing and professional services firm he has built into one of the most influential voices on workforce dynamics, talent strategy, and the changing relationship between employers and employees. Axios Chicago recognised him as one of Chicago's most consulted voices on hiring, retention, and economic recovery. He posts actively on LinkedIn about workforce trends, talent acquisition, business culture, and what employers are getting wrong and right in managing the transition to new ways of working.

His practitioner perspective on talent, drawn from running a firm that places thousands of professionals into roles across Chicago and beyond, gives his public commentary a specificity and relevance that purely theoretical voices on the future of work rarely achieve. For leaders navigating hiring challenges, workforce strategy, and the dynamics of a shifting labour market, he is one of the most practical Chicago voices to follow.

Category 3: Healthcare and Community Health

Chicago's healthcare leaders are operating at the frontlines of some of the most challenging questions in American medicine, from safety-net funding to health equity to the integration of technology into community care.

13. Dr. Ngozi Ezike

Sinai Chicago

Dr. Ngozi Ezike is President and CEO of Sinai Chicago, the largest private safety-net health system in the state of Illinois, a role she has held since June 2022. She is the first Black woman to lead Sinai Chicago in the system's history, and previously served as Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, where she was the first Black woman appointed to lead the 143-year-old state agency. She hosts the More Than Medicine podcast and posts regularly on LinkedIn about health equity, community health, and the challenges facing safety-net hospitals.

Her dual identity as a practising physician who has also led a state public health response and now runs a major urban health system gives her perspective a depth that neither academic nor purely administrative voices can match. Her consistent advocacy for the communities that Sinai serves, particularly on Chicago's West and South sides, makes her one of the most important voices on what healthcare justice actually requires in a city as economically divided as Chicago.

14. Dr. Macquline King

Chicago Public Schools

Dr. Macquline King is Superintendent and CEO of Chicago Public Schools, a role to which she was named permanently on 30 March 2026, after serving as interim leader since June 2025. A lifelong Chicagoan who attended Chicago Public Schools as a student before becoming a teacher, principal, and district leader over 32 years, she was honoured as a Cahn Fellow for Distinguished Educators during her tenure as a principal. Chicago Public Schools serves more than 315,000 students across the city.

Her appointment as permanent CEO ends a contentious transition and she takes office with the full weight of a significant projected budget deficit and a school board transitioning to elected governance. Her long track record in CPS itself, spanning classroom, principal's office, and mayoral policy roles, positions her as someone who understands the system from the inside at every level. For anyone trying to understand how Chicago's public sector navigates complexity, her leadership of CPS will be a case study worth following closely.

15. Omar Lateef

Rush University System for Health

Omar Lateef serves as President and CEO of Rush University System for Health and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Vizient ranked Rush University Medical Center number six in the United States for quality and accountability in 2025, its thirteenth consecutive year in the Vizient top ten. STAT News named Lateef to its 2025 STATUS List of 50 leaders shaping healthcare headlines, the only president and CEO of an academic medical centre to appear on that list.

His ability to sustain top-ten quality rankings over more than a decade while leading one of Chicago's largest research-intensive academic medical centres makes the Rush model a genuine case study in how healthcare leadership, culture, and operational rigour combine to produce consistent outcomes. His public commentary on what it takes to lead a healthcare institution through sustained excellence is among the most substantive available from any U.S. health system CEO.

16. Tom Jackiewicz

University of Chicago Health System

Tom Jackiewicz serves as President of the University of Chicago Health System, overseeing a $4 billion, seven-hospital clinical enterprise integrated with the research and education missions of the University of Chicago. Under his leadership since 2020, the University of Chicago Medical Center became the only research-intensive academic hospital in the United States to earn consecutive 'A' Leapfrog safety grades since the programme began in 2012. Modern Healthcare named him to its 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare for 2025.

He is building the AbbVie Foundation Cancer Pavilion, scheduled to open in 2027 as Illinois' first freestanding comprehensive cancer centre. His background growing Keck Medicine of USC from a small hospital into a $2.3 billion academic medical centre before arriving at UChicago demonstrates the kind of transformational leadership arc that provides useful frameworks for any executive overseeing major institutional growth.

Category 4: Civic Leadership and Government

Chicago's civic and governmental leaders are navigating federal headwinds, municipal budget pressures, and the complex politics of a city with enormous ambition and real institutional challenges. Their work shapes every other sector on this list.

17. Valerie Jarrett

Obama Foundation

Valerie Jarrett is CEO and a member of the board of directors of the Obama Foundation, where she is overseeing the creation of a new world-class cultural and civic institution on Chicago's South Side, the Obama Presidential Center, which opened in June 2026. She is the longest-serving Senior Advisor to a sitting U.S. president, having served under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017. She was named by the Governor of Illinois as a 2026 recipient of the Order of Lincoln and is also a Senior Distinguished Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School and the author of the New York Times bestselling book Finding My Voice.

Her position at the centre of the Obama Foundation's work on civic engagement and the development of the next generation of leaders in Chicago and globally gives her a platform that combines political credibility with a genuine civic mission. Her LinkedIn presence and public engagements in 2025 and 2026 demonstrate the continuing evolution of her voice as a civic leader in her own right, distinct from but informed by her White House years.

18. Toni Preckwinkle

Cook County

Toni Preckwinkle is the 35th President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, a position she has held since 2010, making her one of the longest-serving major elected officials in Chicago. She is the first Black woman elected to the office. As the top executive of the nation's second most populous county, she oversees one of the nation's largest public health and hospital systems and one of the nation's largest criminal justice systems. During her tenure, she has solved for nearly $3 billion in budget deficits. In 2025, Cook County erased more than $1.5 billion in medical debt for county residents.

Her sixteen consecutive years in one of Chicago's most consequential roles make her one of the most experienced public sector leaders in the Midwest. Her engagement in public health, economic development, and criminal justice reform reflects a breadth of civic leadership that few executives in any sector can match.

19. Arne Duncan

Chicago CRED

Arne Duncan is Managing Partner of Chicago CRED (Creating Real Economic Destiny), the anti-gun violence organisation he founded in 2016 in partnership with Emerson Collective after leaving his role as U.S. Secretary of Education. Chicago CRED now serves approximately 500 of the young men most at risk of shooting or being shot in Chicago, through a model combining outreach, mental health support, education, and employment. Duncan maintains an active public presence across education reform, gun violence prevention, and what he describes as 'the most difficult work I've done in my life.'

His willingness to return to Chicago and work directly on its most visible and intractable challenge, after years at the highest levels of federal government, is itself a leadership statement about where meaningful impact actually happens. His public commentary on what gun violence prevention requires at the ground level cuts through political abstractions with a practitioner's directness.

20. Juan Salgado

City Colleges of Chicago

Juan Salgado is Chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago, overseeing Chicago's community college system that serves more than 70,000 students across seven colleges, more than three-quarters of whom are Black or Latino students. He was named a 2015 MacArthur Fellow and was elected to chair the MacArthur Foundation Board in April 2025. He is a board member of the Obama Foundation and serves as a Class C Director for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

The City Colleges commencement in 2026, celebrating 4,275 associate degree graduates including 1,868 first-generation college students, is a data point that Salgado shared with visible pride. His career-long focus on making postsecondary education accessible to communities that have historically been underserved by higher education gives his public voice an authority that purely theoretical education reformers lack.

21. Kwame Raoul

State of Illinois

Kwame Raoul is the Attorney General of Illinois, the state's top law enforcement official, a position he has held since 2019. Chicago Magazine ranked him among its 50 Most Powerful Chicagoans in its February 2026 list. In 2025 and 2026, he successfully defended Illinois's elimination of cash bail and upheld the state's assault weapons ban before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He is widely viewed as a potential successor to the governorship.

As a long-serving Illinois state senator before his election as Attorney General, Raoul brings a depth of legislative and legal understanding to his public role that distinguishes him from purely executive voices. His willingness to take on consequential legal battles on cash bail, gun regulation, and consumer protection in a period of significant federal pressure makes his leadership a live case study in how state officials navigate institutional challenges.

22. Derek Douglas

Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago

Derek Douglas is President of the Civic Committee and the Commercial Club of Chicago, organisations that bring together Chicago's most senior business, civic, and educational leaders to address the region's most pressing challenges. He is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 2013 and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026.

His position as convenor and orchestrator of Chicago's cross-sector civic leadership makes him one of the most networked and strategically positioned people in the city's institutional landscape. The work of the Commercial Club and the Civic Committee operates as connective tissue for how Chicago's major institutions align around shared priorities.

Category 5: Education, Philanthropy, and Nonprofit Leadership

Chicago's nonprofit and philanthropic sector is among the most sophisticated in the country. These leaders are directing hundreds of millions of dollars into the city's most complex challenges while building the civic infrastructure that outlasts any one initiative.

23. John Palfrey

MacArthur Foundation

John Palfrey is President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, one of the nation's largest philanthropic organisations with assets of approximately $9 billion and offices in Chicago, New Delhi, and Abuja. U.S. News named him one of its Best Leaders of 2025. In 2025 and 2026, he led MacArthur to increase its payout rate to at least 6 percent in response to federal funding freezes, and publicly encouraged other foundations to follow. In April 2025, he co-organised a coalition of more than 700 foundations to issue a statement defending their freedom to give to the causes they believe in.

His consistent willingness to speak publicly about the responsibilities of philanthropy in a period of political pressure on civil society makes his commentary unusually substantive for a foundation leader. The combination of his background as an educator, legal scholar, and innovator with his position overseeing one of the largest pools of unrestricted philanthropic capital in the world gives his public voice a reach and authority that extends well beyond Chicago.

24. Diana Rauner

Start Early

Diana Rauner is President of Start Early, a Chicago-based organisation that focuses on early childhood development and education for children from birth through age five in under-resourced communities. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 2007 and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who. Start Early's work is grounded in the research base for early childhood investment and has influenced early education policy at the state and national level.

Her long track record in early childhood education advocacy and her leadership of one of Chicago's most respected early childhood organisations give her voice a particular credibility at the intersection of education reform, child development research, and equity-focused policy. Her engagement across state and national policy conversations makes her more than a local leader.

25. Janice Jackson

Hope Chicago

Janice Jackson is CEO of Hope Chicago, the organisation founded in 2022 that provides four-year scholarships to Chicago Public Schools graduates and a parent from each recipient's household, removing financial barriers to postsecondary education simultaneously for students and their families. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 2007. Previously, she served as CEO of Chicago Public Schools from 2017 to 2021.

Her dual experience leading one of the country's largest school systems and then founding a scholarship organisation that approaches educational access from a family-unit perspective gives her an unusual depth of perspective on what actually changes educational trajectories. Her commentary on education, leadership, and what it takes to build organisations designed for long-term impact in communities that need it most is consistently grounded in practice.

26. Julie Morita

Joyce Foundation

Julie Morita is President and CEO of the Joyce Foundation, the Chicago-based foundation that works to improve the quality of life in the Great Lakes region through grantmaking in education, employment, environment, gun violence prevention, and democracy. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. Previously, she served as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Her career spanning public health, government, and philanthropy gives her a systems perspective on the interconnectedness of the challenges the Joyce Foundation funds. Her leadership of a foundation with a reputation for rigorous, evidence-based grantmaking that often takes on structural rather than symptomatic causes positions her voice as one of the more analytically credible in Chicago's nonprofit sector.

27. Gillian Darlow

Polk Bros. Foundation

Gillian Darlow is CEO of the Polk Bros. Foundation, one of Chicago's oldest and most respected private foundations, which focuses on supporting organisations that advance economic and social well-being for those living in poverty in the Chicago area. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026.

Her stewardship of a foundation with deep roots in Chicago's philanthropic history and a specific commitment to addressing poverty within the city's boundaries gives her a perspective on what long-term, community-based investment actually requires. Her engagement with the broader philanthropic community in Chicago and her willingness to sustain funding relationships through economic and political volatility reflects a model of grantmaking that prioritises organisational health and long-term relationships.

28. Sean Garrett

United Way of Metro Chicago

Sean Garrett is President and CEO of the United Way of Metro Chicago, one of the largest United Way affiliates in the country and a central convener of Chicago's civic and philanthropic community. He is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026.

His role coordinating the United Way's work across human services, education, and financial stability in the Chicago region requires a level of cross-sector relationship management that few leaders at any scale are asked to perform. His engagement with corporate, government, and nonprofit partners reflects a model of civic leadership that operates through relationships as much as through direct programme delivery.

Category 6: Arts, Culture, and Community Development

Chicago's arts and cultural leaders are shaping how the city understands itself, who belongs, and what kind of community it wants to become. These voices are essential for any leader who wants to understand Chicago's identity at depth.

29. Theaster Gates

University of Chicago / Rebuild Foundation

Theaster Gates is Professor of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago and Founder of the Rebuild Foundation, a nonprofit platform for art, cultural development, and neighbourhood transformation on Chicago's South Side. He was named a medalist in the Established Artists category at the 2026 Art Basel Awards. His Stony Island Arts Bank, the former bank building he converted into a vibrant cultural institution in the Grand Crossing neighbourhood, has become one of Chicago's most distinctive creative spaces. The Obama Presidential Center commissioned a major new work from him in 2025.

His practice, which sits at the intersection of art, urban planning, and community development, is itself a model for how creative leadership can transform spaces that have been written off. His career demonstrates that the line between art and civic infrastructure is a choice, and that someone with enough imagination and organisational capacity can dissolve it entirely.

30. Tiffany Hamel Johnson

Chicago United

Tiffany Hamel Johnson is President and CEO of Chicago United, the organisation that works to advance multiracial leadership in business and improve economic inclusion in the Chicago region. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. Chicago United's work spans corporate board diversity, supplier diversity, workforce equity, and multiracial business leadership development.

Her leadership of an organisation whose mission is to change the composition of leadership itself in Chicago's business community makes her voice particularly important in any conversation about what inclusive leadership actually requires at an institutional level. Her engagement across corporate, nonprofit, and civic spaces gives her a cross-sector perspective that is increasingly rare.

31. Myetie Hamilton

Leadership Greater Chicago

Myetie Hamilton is CEO of Leadership Greater Chicago, the region's premier civic leadership development organisation, which she has led since 2016. Leadership Greater Chicago's Signature Fellows Program, now in its 40th cohort, has produced more than 1,400 leaders who have shaped Chicago's civic, business, and nonprofit sectors. She was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026.

Her role as the convener and steward of the largest network of cross-sector civic leaders in the Chicago region positions her at the centre of how Chicago's leadership community thinks about itself and about the city's future. Understanding Leadership Greater Chicago and its alumni network is one of the most efficient paths to understanding how Chicago's civic infrastructure actually functions.

32. Mary Ellen Caron

After School Matters

Mary Ellen Caron is CEO of After School Matters, the Chicago nonprofit that provides high-quality after-school and summer programmes to Chicago's teenagers. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 1993 and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. After School Matters works with approximately 12,000 teens per year across the city, with a particular focus on Chicago's West and South sides.

Her decades-long commitment to the development of Chicago's young people and her leadership of one of the city's most established youth-development organisations reflects the kind of sustained civic investment that rarely makes headlines but fundamentally shapes what kind of adults the city is developing.

33. Sylvia Puente

Chicago Education Alliance

Sylvia Puente is Co-Chair of the Chicago Education Alliance and Former President and CEO of the Latino Policy Forum, where she spent more than two decades transforming how the Latino community engaged in critical policy decisions in Illinois. She was honoured with the Leadership Greater Chicago Distinguished Service Award in 2026. She has been an LGC Fellow since 1997 and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026.

Her combination of long-term institutional commitment to Latino civic empowerment and her national recognition as a policy voice gives her a credibility in Chicago's equity and education conversations that few can match. Her transition to co-chairing the Chicago Education Alliance reflects an evolution of her public role from organisation builder to ecosystem convener.

Category 7: Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

Chicago's technology and entrepreneurship ecosystem is smaller than Silicon Valley's but consistently produces founders and operators whose pragmatism and operational discipline set them apart.

34. Garry Cooper Jr.

Rheaply

Garry Cooper Jr. is Co-Founder and CEO of Rheaply, the Chicago-based technology company building the infrastructure for sustainable resource management in organisations, helping companies reduce waste and build circular economy practices. He is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. Rheaply works with major institutions and corporations to track, manage, and redirect surplus physical assets rather than discarding them.

His approach to sustainability, which treats resource waste as an organisational efficiency problem rather than a CSR add-on, is a genuinely original contribution to how businesses think about their physical operations. His active presence in Chicago's innovation and civic communities makes him one of the more visible younger business builders in the city.

35. Michael Fassnacht

Clayco

Michael Fassnacht serves as Chief Growth Officer and President of the Chicagoland Region at Clayco, one of the largest privately held construction, architecture, and real estate development firms in the United States. He is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. Previously, he served as President and CEO of World Business Chicago, the city's economic development organisation.

His dual background in economic development strategy and large-scale construction and development gives him an unusually integrated view of how cities grow, where investment flows, and what the built environment of Chicago's economic future actually looks like. His engagement in civic conversations about Chicago's competitive position nationally and globally makes his perspective valuable well beyond his specific sector.

36. Samir Mayekar

Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Samir Mayekar is Managing Director of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago, one of the most active university-affiliated entrepreneurship ecosystems in the Midwest. He is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. The Polsky Center supports startups, provides entrepreneurship education, and connects University of Chicago students and faculty to Chicago's broader business and innovation community.

His role bridging the University of Chicago's research and intellectual resources with Chicago's entrepreneurship ecosystem makes him one of the most important connectors in the city's innovation community. For founders and organisations seeking to understand how to access the University of Chicago's networks and capabilities, his engagement and public presence are worth following closely.

37. Matt Moog

Career Bird / Wavetable Studios

Matt Moog is Founder and CEO of Career Bird and Managing Director of Wavetable Studios, investment and advisory platforms focused on talent and career technology. He is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. His career has spanned multiple ventures across technology, media, and platform development.

His perspective on how technology is reshaping careers, hiring, and the relationship between individuals and institutions draws on a long track record of building and investing in platform businesses. For leaders thinking about the intersection of technology and talent, his Chicago-based voice provides a practitioner's grounding in what actually works.

Category 8: Real Estate, Law, and Professional Services

Chicago's real estate, legal, and professional services leaders are building the institutional foundations through which much of the rest of Chicago's economy operates.

38. Ciere Boatright

Chicago Department of Planning and Development

Ciere Boatright is Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, the city agency responsible for planning the physical and economic development of Chicago's neighbourhoods, commercial corridors, and industrial districts. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 2020 and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. Her department oversees zoning, urban design, historic preservation, and the deployment of state and federal development incentives across the city.

Her role at the intersection of neighbourhood development and city-wide planning makes her one of the most consequential people for understanding how Chicago's physical evolution is actually being managed. For anyone in real estate, construction, community development, or neighbourhood advocacy, her work shapes the rules and priorities of the environment they are operating in.

39. Jon Van Gorp

Mayer Brown

Jon Van Gorp is Chairman of Mayer Brown, one of the world's leading international law firms. He has been recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who for four consecutive years, including 2026. Under his leadership since 2021, Mayer Brown has sharpened its strategic focus and strengthened its market leadership through shifting economic and regulatory conditions. He is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 2005.

His position leading a major global law firm from Chicago at a moment of significant regulatory, commercial, and geopolitical complexity makes his perspective on legal risk, governance, and strategic decision-making relevant well beyond his firm's client base. His sustained civic engagement reflects a model of law firm leadership that treats Chicago's health as integral to the firm's own.

40. Teresa Wilton Harmon

Sidley Austin

Teresa Wilton Harmon is Chicago Co-Managing Partner of Sidley Austin, one of the largest law firms in the world. She was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026 and is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow. She channels the strength and spirit of Sidley's 1,400-person Chicago office to support clients and the community.

Her position leading one of the world's largest law firms in one of its most important markets gives her a perspective on commercial leadership, governance, and institutional management at global scale that extends well beyond the legal profession. Her engagement in the civic life of Chicago reflects a model of professional services leadership that takes civic responsibility seriously.

41. Larita Clark

Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority

Larita Clark is CEO of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the public authority that operates Navy Pier and McCormick Place, the largest convention centre in North America. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 1990 and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. McCormick Place hosts hundreds of trade shows, conventions, and events that collectively attract millions of visitors annually.

Her leadership of the authority that manages two of Chicago's most iconic civic assets, and whose success or failure directly shapes Chicago's position as a conference and events destination, makes her one of the most consequential operational leaders in the city.

42. Maria Doughty

The Chicago Network

Maria Doughty is President and CEO of The Chicago Network, the organisation of senior leaders of Chicago's most prominent organisations committed to advancing women's leadership in the city. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 2012 and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. The Chicago Network's membership includes the most senior women leaders across Chicago's business, nonprofit, civic, and academic sectors.

Her role as the steward of Chicago's most established women's leadership organisation and as a connector of the city's senior women across all sectors makes her particularly well placed to speak to how Chicago's leadership community is evolving and what genuine advancement of women's leadership actually requires at an institutional level.

43. Ricardo Estrada

Metropolitan Family Services

Ricardo Estrada is President and CEO of Metropolitan Family Services, one of Chicago's oldest and most comprehensive social service organisations, serving more than 120,000 individuals and families across the city and region. He has been a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 2001 and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. Metropolitan Family Services provides mental health, early childhood, economic empowerment, and older adult support services across multiple Chicago neighbourhoods.

His leadership of an organisation that addresses the full life cycle of human need at scale gives him a perspective on systemic social challenges that is grounded in frontline service delivery. His long tenure at a major social services organisation through multiple economic and public health crises makes him one of the more experienced voices on what it takes to sustain the organisations that Chicago depends on.

44. Nosa Ehimwenman

Bowa Construction

Nosa Ehimwenman is President and CEO of Bowa Construction, a Chicago-based construction management firm. He is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026.

His leadership of a construction firm in a city where major development projects are central to neighbourhood transformation and economic development places him at the intersection of business operations and civic impact. His engagement in Chicago's business community reflects a model of entrepreneurship that takes seriously the responsibilities that come with operating in the built environment.

45. Ameya Pawar

Michael Reese Health Trust

Ameya Pawar is President and CEO of the Michael Reese Health Trust, the Chicago-based health foundation that focuses on improving health equity and community health in Chicago. He is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. He was previously a Chicago alderman and a Democratic candidate for Illinois State Treasurer, bringing a public policy and political background to his current foundation leadership role.

His combination of legislative experience and now foundation leadership gives him a cross-sector perspective on how health equity is shaped by policy, economics, and institutional investment simultaneously. His public voice on what health equity actually requires at a community level is grounded in practical engagement rather than purely academic analysis.

46. Zaldwaynaka 'Z' Scott

Chicago State University

Zaldwaynaka 'Z' Scott is President of Chicago State University, a public university on Chicago's South Side that serves a predominantly Black student population and is one of the few institutions in Illinois focused on educational access for students from under-resourced communities. She has been a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 1991 and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026.

Her leadership of a university whose existence and mission are inseparable from the story of Chicago's South Side makes her voice particularly important in any conversation about educational equity and community development. Her long civic engagement in Chicago, spanning more than three decades of LGC involvement, gives her a depth of relationship and understanding in the city that few leaders of any institution can match.

47. David Doig

Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives

David Doig is President of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI), the organisation focused on neighbourhood revitalisation and economic development in underserved Chicago communities. He has been a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 1994 and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026. CNI's work in communities like Pullman on Chicago's Far South Side has produced nationally recognised examples of community-driven economic development.

His decades of experience building sustainable economic activity in Chicago's most disinvested neighbourhoods gives him a practitioner's credibility in the conversation about what community development actually requires. The Pullman redevelopment has become a case study in how patient, relationship-based community development can transform industrial brownfields into sources of community employment and pride.

48. Eva Giglio

CME Group Foundation

Eva Giglio is Executive Director of the CME Group Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the CME Group that focuses on education, workforce development, and economic opportunity in the Chicago region. She has been a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 2021 and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026.

Her leadership of the philanthropic instrument of one of the world's largest financial exchanges gives her a platform for connecting financial market resources with community development needs in Chicago and beyond. Her engagement in Leadership Greater Chicago's network reflects a model of foundation leadership that treats civic participation as integral to institutional purpose.

49. Christy George

Illinois Economic Development Corporation

Christy George is President and CEO of the Illinois Economic Development Corporation, the organisation focused on driving economic development across Illinois. She is a Leadership Greater Chicago Daniel Burnham Fellow and was recognised in Crain's Chicago Business Who's Who 2026.

Her leadership of the statewide economic development organisation gives her a perspective on Illinois and Chicago's competitive position for investment, talent attraction, and business development that spans both the immediate city context and the broader regional economy.

50. Penny Pritzker

PSP Partners

Penny Pritzker is Managing Partner and Founder of PSP Partners, the Chicago-based private investment and advisory firm she founded after her tenure as U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Obama from 2013 to 2017. Chicago Magazine ranked her among its 50 Most Powerful Chicagoans in its 2026 list. She was the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of Commerce. She is a co-chair of the Obama Presidential Center's leadership and has been one of the most active civic investors in Chicago's economic development over multiple decades.

Her combination of government service at the highest level and private investment leadership in Chicago, along with her sustained civic engagement in education, economic development, and civic institutions, makes her one of the most broadly networked and institutionally credible voices in the city. Her public perspective on the intersection of business, government, and civic purpose is shaped by an unusually varied and consequential career.

Notable Voices We Almost Included

Several voices were seriously considered for this list but were not included in the numbered entries. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois Governor, is among the most powerful people in Chicago and nationally and carries the most consequential executive responsibilities in the state, but his primarily governmental voice sits slightly outside the cross-sector business, civic, and cultural mix that the list is designed to capture. Brandon Johnson, Chicago's Mayor, shapes the city's direction profoundly, and several leaders on this list work directly with his administration. His mayoral platform is represented through the civic section of the list. Debra Cafaro (Ventas), Mellody Hobson (Ariel), and others named here have peers whose work is equally important but who have less of an active public thought-leadership presence in the specifically LinkedIn-and-media sense that guided selection for this list.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Engaging Chicago's Leadership Community

The most common mistake that business leaders and organisations make when trying to engage with Chicago is treating it as a scaled version of any other large American city. Chicago's leadership culture has specific features that reward particular kinds of behaviour and punish others.

The first mistake is underestimating the importance of relationships. Chicago is a network city in a way that is difficult to fully appreciate from the outside. The organisations described on this list, from Leadership Greater Chicago to the Commercial Club to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, exist precisely because Chicago's leaders have repeatedly found that relationships forged across sectors produce better outcomes for the city than purely transactional engagement. Cold outreach to a Chicago leader who has no prior context on who you are is less likely to produce results than a warm introduction from a shared connection. Investing time in the networks that generate those connections is not optional.

The second mistake is ignoring the geography of Chicago's inequality when positioning products, services, or organisations. Chicago is simultaneously one of the wealthiest cities in America and one of the most economically divided. Leaders who engage with the community dimension of that reality, as many of the leaders on this list do, are consistently better positioned to earn trust and build lasting relationships in the city than those who treat it as a simple corporate market.

The third mistake is assuming that Chicago's leaders share a single civic identity or political alignment. The diversity of this list across sector, community, background, and civic philosophy is not accidental. Chicago's leadership ecosystem is genuinely pluralistic, and the leaders who thrive in it are those who can build authentic relationships across that diversity rather than operating only within a comfortable ideological or sectoral bubble.

The fourth mistake is failing to leverage the power of Chicago's event and convening culture. The Economic Club of Chicago, the Executives' Club, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, and dozens of other institutions run events and programmes specifically designed to connect leaders across sectors. Participating actively in these ecosystems is one of the most effective ways to build credibility and relationships in Chicago's leadership community.

For leadership teams navigating the dynamics of a complex, multi-stakeholder city environment, Working Genius facilitation helps teams understand how their different working styles and natural contributions interact. Hire Jonno White to facilitate a Working Genius session or executive team offsite for your organisation. Email jonno@consultclarity.org or visit consultclarity.org. International travel is often far more affordable than clients expect, and virtual facilitation is available for teams across time zones.

Implementation Guide: How to Get the Most From This List

Following fifty people is not the same as learning from them. The most valuable way to use a leadership directory is to be selective and deliberate about how you engage with it.

Start with relevance to your current challenges. The leaders on this list span finance, healthcare, education, arts, civic leadership, and professional services. Rather than trying to follow everyone simultaneously, identify the two or three categories most relevant to where your organisation is right now. If you are navigating a strategic partnership with a healthcare system, start with Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Omar Lateef, and Tom Jackiewicz. If you are thinking about community investment and neighbourhood development, start with Theaster Gates, David Doig, and Ameya Pawar.

Follow the conversations, not just the names. The leaders on this list are all engaged in ongoing public conversations about leadership, equity, strategy, and community. Following those conversations, rather than just adding names to your LinkedIn network, is where the real value is. What is Mellody Hobson saying about inclusion on corporate boards? What is Andy Crestodina publishing about SEO and AI? What is Austan Goolsbee saying about monetary policy and regional economic conditions? These are not abstract questions. They have direct implications for how every organisation in Chicago is operating.

Look for pattern breaks. The most valuable thing a leadership list can do is surface a perspective you had not previously considered. Look specifically for the leaders on this list who are making arguments or taking positions that you find surprising or that challenge an assumption you hold. Those are the ones worth spending more time with.

Engage authentically. The leaders on this list post content because they find the conversation valuable, not because they are looking for engagement metrics. Comments that add something to the conversation, that build on the argument, surface a counterexample, or ask a genuinely curious question, are the ones that lead to real relationships.

Use this as a map, not a destination. The fifty people in this directory are individually influential, but their real power comes from the networks they are embedded in. Each of them is a node in a much larger web of relationships across Chicago's leadership ecosystem.

For organisations ready to invest in leadership development and team alignment, Jonno White works with corporate, nonprofit, and school leadership teams to build the communication, accountability, and culture foundations that make strategy stick. Bring Jonno in to deliver a keynote or facilitate your next executive team offsite. Email jonno@consultclarity.org. Many organisations find that engaging Jonno is more affordable than expected, and international travel for facilitation work is far more cost-effective than it might appear.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the most influential business leaders in Chicago in 2026?

As of June 2026, Chicago's most influential business leaders span finance, healthcare, real estate, energy, and professional services. Mellody Hobson at Ariel Investments, Calvin Butler at Exelon, Darrel Hackett at BMO Financial, Debra Cafaro at Ventas, and Michael Sacks at GCM Grosvenor are among the most prominent. The full picture of Chicago business leadership requires including civic institution leaders, nonprofit executives, and public sector leaders, since Chicago's business culture is unusually integrated across sectors.

What makes Chicago's leadership community distinctive?

Chicago's leadership community is distinctive for the depth of its cross-sector integration, the longevity of its civic institutions, and the specific tension between the city's ambition and its inequality. Organisations like Leadership Greater Chicago, the Commercial Club's Civic Committee, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs create sustained structures for cross-sector collaboration that are less common in other major U.S. cities.

How do I connect with Chicago's influential leaders?

The most effective way to connect with Chicago's influential leaders is through the city's civic institutions and networks. Leadership Greater Chicago's programmes, the Economic Club of Chicago, the Executives' Club of Chicago, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and the Commercial Club all create structured opportunities for cross-sector connection. Cold outreach is far less effective in Chicago than a warm introduction through a shared connection.

What sectors produce the most influential leaders in Chicago?

Chicago produces influential leaders across all sectors, but the city's historical strength in finance, healthcare, education, and civic institution building means that those sectors are disproportionately represented in the leadership community. The city's community college system, major hospital systems, and philanthropic foundations operate at scales that produce genuine national influence.

Final Thoughts

The fifty leaders in this directory are not a complete map of Chicago. They are a starting point for understanding how one of the world's great cities actually functions. The patterns that emerge from spending time with their public work are consistent: the most effective Chicago leaders combine a long time horizon with a specific commitment to the communities around them, and they build relationships across sectors as a matter of practice rather than strategy.

For organisations working in or entering the Chicago market, for leaders seeking to build relationships in the city, and for anyone trying to understand how a major American city navigates complexity, this list is designed to be useful for years, not months. The fundamental dynamics of Chicago leadership, its civic integration, its focus on relationships, its explicit engagement with economic inequality, and its institutional depth, are stable enough that the frameworks these leaders model will remain relevant long after any individual name on this list has changed roles.

The global conversation about the future of work, leadership, and organisations is increasingly shaped by people operating at exactly this intersection of institutional responsibility and civic purpose. For more on that broader conversation, explore the directory of future of work thought leaders at consultclarity.org/post/thought-leaders-future-of-work-globally.

For organisations ready to invest in the quality of their own leadership and team dynamics, Jonno White, author of Step Up or Step Out (10,000+ copies sold), Certified Working Genius Facilitator, and leadership consultant who has worked with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world, is available to facilitate executive team offsites, deliver keynotes, and run Working Genius sessions for leadership teams across Chicago, the United States, and globally. Email jonno@consultclarity.org to start the conversation.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, author of Step Up or Step Out, and leadership consultant who has worked with schools, corporates, and nonprofits around the world. His book Step Up or Step Out has sold over 10,000 copies globally, and his podcast The Leadership Conversations has featured 240+ episodes reaching listeners in 150+ countries. Jonno founded The 7 Questions Movement with 6,000+ participating leaders and achieved a 93.75% satisfaction rating for his Working Genius masterclass at the ASBA 2025 National Conference. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Jonno works globally and regularly travels for speaking and facilitation engagements. Organisations consistently find that international travel is far more affordable than expected. To book Jonno for your next keynote, workshop, or facilitation session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

Sources

Chicago Magazine, 'The 50 Most Powerful Chicagoans,' February 2026. Leadership Greater Chicago, '72 Fellows Named Who's Who in Crain's Chicago Business,' 2026. Crain's Chicago Business, 'Who's Who in Chicago Business 2026.' City Colleges of Chicago, official website, March 2026. Chicago Public Schools, official leadership page, 2026. MacArthur Foundation, official website, 2026. Exelon Corporation, official leadership page, 2025. Ariel Investments, official people pages, April 2026. Ventas Inc., official leadership page, 2026. BMO Financial Group, executive bios, 2025. GCM Grosvenor, official people page, 2025. Vistria Group, official team page, March 2026. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, official bio, 2025. Obama Foundation, official leadership page, June 2026. Morningstar Inc., official leadership page, 2026. Studio Gang, official website, 2026. Sinai Chicago, official CEO bio, June 2026. Rush University System for Health, official website, 2025.

Next Read

The dynamics that make Chicago's leadership community distinctive are part of a broader global shift in how the most effective leaders think about their roles. For more on the global voices shaping how leadership works in complex, multi-stakeholder environments, explore the directory of essential thought leaders on executive coaching globally at consultclarity.org/post/thought-leaders-executive-coaching-globally.