Chicago

Economic Development & Public Policy

Advises cooperatives, grassroots coalitions, and municipal governments on community wealth building, public bank legislation, and South Side economic cooperative structures.

Economic Development & Civic Leadership

Served as CEO of World Business Chicago and the Chicago Urban League. Directed civic investment plans, connected regional suppliers with international markets, and worked on workforce equity programs.

Education & Public Safety

Co-founded Chicago CRED (Creating Real Economic Destiny), which works to reduce gun violence through job creation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and educational programs. Previously served as CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

Civic Leadership & Public Policy

Began his career as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side, directing the Developing Communities Project. Taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School before serving in public office, and established the Obama Foundation in Chicago.

Artificial Intelligence

Co-leads the SAND Lab at the University of Chicago, which developed Glaze and Nightshade, tools that block unauthorized scraping and training of digital artists' work by generative AI models.

Aviation

First African American and Native American woman to hold a pilot license (1921). Moved to Chicago to secure sponsor backing for her flight training.

Civic Leadership & Public Policy

Co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1968. Served 30 years in Congress, authoring laws on community health clinics, neighborhood housing redevelopment, and historical preservation.

Civic Leadership

Serves as Mayor of Chicago. Previously worked as a public school teacher and as an organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union. His agenda includes school funding, neighborhood youth programs, and affordable housing development.

Economic Development & Workforce Training

Founded Sweet Beginnings, a bee-farming and honey-production social enterprise that hires and trains formerly incarcerated West Side residents. Leads North Lawndale Employment Network employment programs aimed at reducing recidivism.

Civic Leadership

Serves as Alderman of Chicago's 25th Ward. His legislative focus includes affordable housing, rent control, immigrant protection, community-led zoning, and property tax equity.

Civic Leadership

Serves as Alderman of Chicago's 35th Ward. His legislative focus includes community-driven zoning, tenant rights, and immigrant sanctuary protections.

Civic Leadership & Law

Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, representing Illinois. Worked on public school infrastructure funding, historic preservation of Underground Railroad sites, and minority commercial contracts.

Philanthropy & Arts

Founded SocialWorks, which has donated to Chicago Public Schools, established youth enrichment programs, supported mental health services, and organized local youth civic participation.

Technology & Urban Science

Co-founded the Array of Things project in Chicago, which deployed a network of environmental sensors. Directs programs that use urban data, IoT, and high-performance computing to support city services.

Urban Planning & Economic Development

Led the implementation of Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago. Directed modernization of the city's waterfront, the creation of Wacker Drive, and public education campaigns on urban planning.

Philanthropy & Arts

Founded the Common Ground Foundation, which offers college preparation, leadership mentorship, and character development programs for high school youth on Chicago's South and West Sides.

Agricultural Manufacturing

Invented the mechanical reaper (1831). Moved manufacturing to Chicago in 1847, building the McCormick Reaper Works, which contributed to Chicago's growth in heavy industrial manufacturing.

Architecture & Urban Planning

Co-authored the 1909 Plan of Chicago, which established the lakefront park system, forest preserves, civic plazas, and transit frameworks that shaped the city's metropolitan growth.

Healthcare & Medical Education

Founded Provident Hospital in 1891, the nation's first Black-owned and interracially staffed hospital. Performed one of the first successful open-heart surgeries in 1893 and established a nurse training school for Black women.

Cosmetics Manufacturing & Corporate Leadership

Serves as CEO of Black Opal and Fashion Fair Cosmetics. Previously led Peoples Gas and served as CEO of Johnson Publishing Company.

Social Justice & Economic Development

Directs community service hubs across the metropolitan area. Previously led the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, converting it into a social enterprise model that provides digital literacy, career training, and economic services.

Social Justice & Education

Founded the Chicago-based national organization Interfaith America, which builds cooperation across religious lines. Advises universities, corporations, and government agencies on civic diversity programs.

Education & Social Justice

Served as Dean of the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. Applied statistical methods to social science research and advocated for public welfare and housing reform in Chicago.

Education & Social Justice

Researches the history of Black education organizing in Chicago. Author of 'A Political Education: Black Politics and Education Reform in Chicago Since the 1960s.'

Education

Appointed Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools in 1909. Expanded vocational training, introduced sex education, and secured teacher representation in administrative decisions.

Labor Rights & Social Justice

Founded the American Railway Union and co-founded the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in Chicago. Led the Pullman Strike of 1894 over wages and union recognition.

Education & Social Justice

Researches public school closures, racism, and urban inequality. Author of 'Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side.'

Social Justice & Economic Development

Leads Heartland Alliance, which provides housing, healthcare, legal protection, and economic services. Previously served as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services.

Education

Founded the Cook County Normal School (1883) and the Francis W. Parker School. Introduced experimental science, manual training, and child-centered curricula to American education.

Architectural Design

Developed the Prairie School architectural style in Oak Park and Chicago. Designed residential buildings, including Robie House, that integrated structure and landscape.

Social Justice & Civil Rights

Founded the Rainbow Coalition, bringing together Chicago gangs and activist groups across racial lines to oppose poverty, police brutality, and urban neglect. Organized free breakfast programs and community health clinics before his killing by law enforcement in 1969.

Technology & Economic Development

Founded Sittercity, an online marketplace for caregiving. Works as an angel investor in Chicago tech startups, with a focus on female-founded companies.

Railroad Manufacturing & Urban Planning

Founded the company town of Pullman on Chicago's Far South Side. Built luxury passenger rail cars and standardized factory manufacturing; his labor practices precipitated the Pullman Strike of 1894.

Social Justice & Policy

Headed the Immigrants' Protective League in Chicago. As Chief of the U.S. Children's Bureau, she helped draft the Social Security Act and child labor regulations.

Meatpacking & Industrial Development

Developed the ice-cooled refrigerator car in 1878, enabling year-round meat shipping and establishing Chicago as a center of the meatpacking industry.

Literature & Education

First African American to win a Pulitzer Prize (1950). Served as Illinois Poet Laureate and taught at Chicago State University, mentoring Black writers and students in Chicago public schools.

Technology & Civic Infrastructure

Served as CIO for the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago. Implemented digital transformation projects, smart city pilots, open data portals, and municipal broadband expansion.

Civic Leadership & Social Justice

Elected Chicago's first African American mayor in 1983. Decentralized city government, expanded neighborhood infrastructure spending, created the city's first environmental department, and opened city contracting to minority and women-owned businesses.

Technology & Economic Development

Co-founded Modest (acquired by PayPal) and served as CTO for Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, where he built large-scale cloud infrastructure and data analytics for political organizing.

Artificial Intelligence & Tech Education

Co-leads the SAND Lab at UChicago, researching AI security, machine learning systems, and privacy protection, including tools that protect user data against generative AI model scraping.

Economic Development & Philanthropy

Directed the Chicago Community Trust, one of the nation's largest community foundations, focusing its assets on closing the racial wealth gap in metropolitan Chicago through homeownership support, community development, and small business financing.

Technology & Economic Development

Co-founded and served as CEO of 1871, a Chicago startup incubator. Mentored Chicago tech entrepreneurs and managed early-stage venture funds.

High-Performance Computing & Tech Education

Developed grid computing methods and built Globus, a data management platform used in scientific research. Leads programs applying distributed systems and AI to scientific data analysis.

Social Justice & Journalism

Conducted investigative journalism documenting lynching across the United States. Co-founded the NAACP, led suffrage groups, and organized for voting rights and housing equity in Chicago.

Civic Leadership & Economic Development

Co-founded 1871, a Chicago digital startup incubator. As Governor, signed legislation expanding state venture capital programs, funding broadband infrastructure, and establishing local tech development zones.

Social Justice & Economic Development

Advocates for racial wealth equity and has protested discriminatory home mortgage practices. Founded the Majestee Center, providing small business resources, financial literacy, and youth services on Chicago's South Side.

Social Justice & Youth Education

Organizes educational and cultural field trips for under-resourced youth across Chicago neighborhoods. Coordinates community cleanup programs, senior home services, and neighborhood holiday lighting.

Social Justice & Education

Co-founded Hull House on Chicago's Near West Side in 1889, part of the settlement house movement. Advocated for child labor laws, public health, women's suffrage, and educational programs for working-class immigrants.

Education & Philanthropy

Leads Hope Chicago, a college-access program offering debt-free college education to CPS graduates and their parents. Previously ran Chicago Public Schools, where graduation rates and early-college programs increased.

Frontier Trading & Economic Development

Established the first permanent trading post and settlement at the mouth of the Chicago River in the 1770s. The outpost served as a regional hub for European, Native American, and early American traders.

Banking & Economic Development

Established the first Black-owned bank in Chicago in 1908, financing mortgages for African American families during the Great Migration when white banks refused credit to Black residents.

Social Justice & Civil Rights

Headed Operation Breadbasket in Chicago to pressure companies into hiring Black employees. Ran presidential campaigns in the 1980s, registering voters and advocating for corporate diversity and labor rights.

Technology & Economic Development

Founded WeDeliver, an on-demand delivery startup. Served as State of Illinois Officer of Technology and Economic Development, coordinating tech access and procurement resources for South and West Side business owners.

Education & Philosophy

Founded the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in 1896 to test progressive education methods. Emphasized learning-by-doing, experiential learning, and democratic participation in education.

Media & Economic Development

Founded Ebony and Jet magazines, building a nationally distributed Black-owned publishing company. Established a cosmetics line (Fashion Fair) and an insurance business.

Asset Management & Economic Development

Founded Ariel Investments in 1983, the first Black-owned mutual fund firm in the United States. Advocates for financial literacy, corporate diversity, and minority business contracting.

Education & Civic Leadership

Oversees Chicago's community college system. Previously led Instituto del Progreso Latino, expanding adult education, vocational training, and career advancement programs for immigrant communities.

Retail & Philanthropic Education

Led Sears, Roebuck & Co. during its rapid expansion. Established the Rosenwald Fund, which financed the construction of over 5,000 schools for Black children in the segregated South, and founded Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

Education & Social Justice

Led the 2012 Chicago teachers' strike, which shifted the national labor debate toward class sizes, school counselors, library access, and community-centered education funding.

Social Justice & Education

Analyzes housing discrimination, predatory lending, and structural inequality in Chicago. Author of 'Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership,' which documents systemic barriers to Black homeownership.

Social Justice & Legal Administration

Implemented criminal justice reforms, including declining to prosecute low-level, non-violent drug offenses, expunging marijuana convictions, and promoting bail reform.

Technology & Higher Education Access

Co-founded Admit.me, an online platform that uses algorithmic matching to help underrepresented students navigate the college and MBA admissions process.

Artificial Intelligence & Education

Directs the Center for Advancing Safety of Machine Intelligence (CASMI) at Northwestern. Co-founded Narrative Science, a natural language generation company that commercialized AI research from Chicago.

Real Estate & Economic Development

Develops commercial spaces, healthcare clinics, and grocery stores on the South and West Sides to reduce retail deserts and build local assets.

Education & Social Impact Philanthropy

Invests in youth, community development, and justice programs through Chicago Beyond. Previously served as Principal of Fenger Academy, where she led a reduction in violence and an increase in college enrollment.

Civic Leadership & Economic Development

First openly LGBTQ+ and first African American woman mayor of Chicago. Launched the INVEST South/West initiative, coordinating public and private investment across 10 historically disinvested neighborhoods.

Literature & Social Justice

Wrote the play 'A Raisin in the Sun' (1959), depicting a Black family's struggles against Chicago housing segregation and restrictive covenants, drawing on her family's Supreme Court case Hansberry v. Lee.

Architectural Design

Designed steel-frame skyscrapers including the Auditorium Building and Carson Pirie Scott. Advanced the principle 'form follows function,' mentored Frank Lloyd Wright, and reshaped Chicago's commercial core.

Social Justice & Labor Rights

Co-founded the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in Chicago in 1905. Organized protests, strikes, and publishing networks advocating for the 8-hour workday, women's rights, and racial equality.

Education & Social Justice

Co-founded the Chicago Teachers Federation in 1897, an early teachers' union. Led campaigns for public pensions, civil service rights, and corporate tax enforcement to fund public schools.

Museum Administration, Art & Education

Co-founded the DuSable Museum of African American History in 1961. Taught art in Chicago Public Schools and at Chicago City Colleges and advocated for accessible arts education.

Retail & Economic Development

Founded the department store Marshall Field & Co. Funded the Field Museum of Natural History and donated land for the founding of the University of Chicago.

Social Justice & Community Development

Established the MAAFA Redemption Project, providing vocational training, housing, mental health services, and leadership development for young Black men on Chicago's West Side.

Social Justice & Labor Rights

Organized coal miners, factory workers, and child laborers. Led the Children's Crusade march from Philadelphia to New York to protest child labor, coordinating many campaigns from Chicago.

Financial Administration & Economic Development

Manages city investment portfolios, expanded deposits in local community banks, and launched programs requiring financial managers to report diversity metrics and ESG compliance.

Finance & Economic Development

Co-CEO of Ariel Investments and board chair of Starbucks. Co-chairs the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and works on financial literacy and minority representation on corporate boards.

Social Justice & Community Organizing

Leads anti-violence and civil rights campaigns on the South Side. Operates job training centers, housing assistance, ex-offender programs, and food pantries at St. Sabina.

Civic Leadership & Education

Served as Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago and Executive Director of Public Allies Chicago, connecting young leaders to public service jobs. As First Lady, advocated for girls' education, nutrition, and military families.

Technology & Entrepreneurial Education

Co-founded The Code Academy (later Startup Institute Chicago), which ran bootcamp-style coding and entrepreneurship courses. Leads Techstars Chicago, mentoring and funding early-stage startups.

Social Justice & Community Advocacy

Advocates for environmental justice, prison reform, and health equity. Coordinates affordable senior housing, urban farming, and food access programs on Chicago's South Side.

Civic Leadership & Economic Development

Serves as Alderman of Chicago's 3rd Ward and chairs the City Council Budget Committee. Has steered South Side redevelopment including the Michael Reese site (Bronzeville Lakefront), housing initiatives, and commercial corridor investment.

Education & Civic Administration

Manages Chicago Public Schools, the nation's fourth-largest school district. Has directed post-pandemic recovery programs, bilingual education expansion, vocational career pathways, and neighborhood school funding models.

Economic Development & Philanthropy

Co-chairs the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, aligning workforce programs with employer demand. Works on digital skills, manufacturing pipelines, and local real estate development.

Meatpacking & Industrial Development

Built Armour & Company into a large-scale meat processor and helped develop Chicago's Union Stock Yards. Adopted refrigerated rail transport to ship meat over long distances, employing thousands of industrial workers in Chicago.

Real Estate Finance & Economic Development

Heads Capri Investment Group, a Black-owned real estate investment firm. Co-developed urban real estate projects in Chicago, including the redevelopment of the Thompson Center for use as Google's Chicago headquarters.

Community Development & Social Justice

Directs community development programs on Chicago's Southwest Side, including medical clinics, housing for returning citizens, food access, and the Go Green on Crime initiative to redevelop local retail corridors.

Artificial Intelligence & Public Policy

Founded the Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) Fellowship at the University of Chicago, training researchers to apply machine learning and data science to education, healthcare, and criminal justice.

Artificial Intelligence & Research

Leads the AI+Science Initiative at the University of Chicago. Conducts research on machine learning, signal processing, and data science, developing algorithms applied to scientific and environmental problems.

Artificial Intelligence & High-Performance Computing

Leads Argonne's AI initiatives, developing models for scientific research, cancer research, and climate modeling. Oversees deployment of the Aurora exascale supercomputer for AI training and research.

Media & Publishing

Founded the Chicago Defender in 1905. The paper became a widely circulated Black weekly newspaper in the United States and encouraged the Great Migration by publishing accounts of jobs and housing in Northern cities.

Community Organizing & Social Justice

Founded the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) and organized working-class residents in Chicago's Back of the Yards to negotiate for better conditions. Developed methods of neighborhood community organizing later adopted across the United States.

Heritage Tourism & Education

Documents and teaches Chicago history through social media videos and neighborhood tours. Promotes tourism to the South and West Sides and supports local businesses.

Social Work & Education

First woman to graduate from the University of Chicago Law School and the first female member of the Chicago Bar. Co-founded the University of Chicago Graduate School of Social Service Administration, helping establish social work as an academic discipline.

Labor & Education

Leads collective bargaining and civic advocacy for Chicago educators. Has campaigned for increased community school funding, housing support for homeless students, and racial equity in education.

History & Civil Rights

Documented Chicago's Black history and organized the Chicago contingent for the 1963 March on Washington. Used oral history methods to record South Side working-class accounts.

Civic Leadership & Public Policy

Leads the government of Cook County, the second-largest county in the United States. Advanced criminal justice reforms, expanded affordable healthcare access, and supported economic development programs on Chicago's South Side.

Social Justice & Visual Art

Created the Folded Map Project, using photography and interviews to compare corresponding street addresses on Chicago's North and South Sides and to document the effects of structural disinvestment on neighborhoods.

Computer Science & Research

Leads scientific computing research at Argonne National Laboratory. Works to increase the representation of women and underrepresented minorities in computing through the Coalition to Diversify Computing.

Science & Education Administration

Served as Director of Argonne National Laboratory and President of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, working on scientific policy, STEM curriculum, and higher education administration.

Civic Administration & Railroad Infrastructure

Elected Chicago's first mayor in 1837. Financed the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, the city's first railway, and built early swing bridges, harbor works, and sewage systems.