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2025: WE'RE READY
What a year this has been! We
stayed the course and fortified our mission.
Chicago United's 2024 Programming
helped to navigate the waters. We provided platforms for Members at all levels of an organization to learn, collaborate and engage with the purpose of creating impact by driving inclusion.
Our Emerging Leaders Series concentrated on the advancement of young Professionals of Color while our Mid-level Manager Series honed skills that eventually build collaborative,
diverse cultures. Through our Employee Resource Group Symposiums, Diversity Officer Roundtables and Business Leaders of Color Programming Series, we reinforced our commitment to ensure
the corporate pipeline remains filled with leaders who are prepared and ready to instigate lasting change in corporate culture.
Our C-Suite Sessions broadened
the context of thought leadership at the executive level while our Minority Business Partnership Program, which includes the Five Forward Initiative™, iterated our role as a convener
and provided Minority-owned Businesses with untapped opportunity that ultimately creates jobs and supports the growth of communities.
Our Corporate Inclusion Institute
matriculated its seventh Cohort in 2024. Seventy-two professionals have stepped forward to reshape the corporate landscape through cross cultural competency and leadership development. And we
are prepared to introduce the next assemblage of Leaders of Color prepared for corporate board directorships with the Business Leaders of Color honor, a biennial distinction returning
in 2025.
There is much more work to be done and I am excited about our future. Along with you — our Members, Partners, and Allies — Chicago United will continue to
strengthen its foundation and stand strong. We will continue to build upon this work with your help.
I remain grateful for your continued commitment and support. Wishing you the best for a Happy Holiday Season and a New Year of Impact!
Be well,
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Business Leaders of Color 2025
NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN
Nominations are now open for Business Leaders of Color 2025, an honor identifying Leaders of Color who are prepared to step into service with corporate boards. Since its debut in 2003, this biennial distinction has identified 515 board-ready candidates
who have served in nearly 500 corporate directorships.
Submit A BLC Nomination Here →
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Chicago United's President and CEO
Receives Honors
Chicago United's President and CEO Tiffany Hamel Johnson was named one of Crain's Chicago Business's Who's Who for 2024. Crain's Who's Who recognizes Chicago's most esteemed
leaders in business, art, government, health care, cultural institutions and nonprofits.
In addition to Hamel Johnson's distinction, several past and present Chicago United Board Members as well as Business Leaders of Color received Crain's Who's Who for 2024 honors, including: Robert Aguilar, President, Cabrera Capital Markets (2011 BLC); Martin Cabrera Jr., CEO Cabrera Capital Markets (2003 BLC); Tim Crane, President and CEO, Wintrust Financial and Former Chicago United Board Member; Wendell Dallas, President and CEO, Nicor Gas (2023 BLC); Darrel Hackett, CEO, BMO Financial; President and CEO BMO Bank, Former Chicago United Board Member (2021 BLC); Stephen Harris, President, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (2023 BLC); Mellody Hobson, President and Co-CEO, Ariel Investments (2003 BLC); Dorri McWhorter, President and CEO, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago (2009 BLC); Gil Quiniones, CEO Commonwealth Edison (2023 BLC); Andrea Sáenz, President and CEO, The Chicago Community Trust and Former Chicago United Board Member (2023 BLC); Kathy Scherer, Vice Chair, Central Region Marketplace Leader and Managing Partner, Chicago Office, Deloitte LLP and 2025-2026 Chicago United Board of Directors Vice Chair; Z Scott, President, Chicago State University (2013 BLC); Maurice Smith, President and CEO, Health Care Service Corp.(2013 BLC); Don Thompson, CEO Cleveland Avenue (2007 BLC); Suzanne Yoon, Founder and Managing Partner, Kinzie Capital Partners (2023 BLC); and Andrea Zopp, Managing Partner, CAST US, Cleveland Avenue (2005 BLC).
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Now Available: Chicago United's Inside Inclusion
Chicago United's Inside Inclusion featuring the Corporate Diversity Profile is available for download. This bi-annual study is the most comprehensive analysis of the progress of diversity,
equity and inclusion at the highest levels in Chicago's top corporations. Inside Inclusion featuring the Corporate Diversity Profile was produced with the following organizations
that provided research expertise and support: The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, KPMG, and Parker Williams Consulting.
Download The Report →
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Manika M. Turnbull, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Health Care Service Corporation (a Chicago United Member Company) and a Chicago United Board Member, and John Robak, Civic Leader, Board Member and Philanthropist and former Chicago United Board Chair (2021-2023), were named to Crain's Chicago Business's "Notable Nonprofit Board Leaders for 2024." Kathy Scherer, Chicago Managing Partner at Deloitte (a Chicago United Member Company) and a Chicago United Board Member, was named a member of the invitation-only global membership organization IWF Chicago. David Andalcio, Founder and CEO of Wynndalco Enterprises, LLC (a Chicago United Member Company), a Chicago United Board Member and a 2009 Business Leader of Color, was appointed to the Board of Directors of Intersect Illinois. Gil Quiniones, President and CEO of ComEd (a Chicago United Member Company) and a 2023 Business Leader of Color, was appointed the 2025 Board Chairperson of the Illinois Utilities Business Diversity Council (IUBDC).
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300 East Randolph Street, Suite 40.200, Chicago, IL 60601-5075
312-977-3060 • www.chicago-united.org
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