Emerging Leaders Class of 2019
Each year, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs selects a highly competitive cohort of Chicago’s up-and-coming professionals to participate in its Emerging Leaders Program. Meet the class of 2019.
Emerging Leaders at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs become part of a network of globally fluent leaders who will continue to raise the bar for Chicago as a leading global city.
Class of 2019
Chief, Bureau of Administrative Services, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office
Garvin Ambrose is an alumnus of the Council’s Emerging Leaders Program (class of 2019) and leads union and non-union administrative professionals in operating the second largest Prosecutor's office in the country. Prior to this role, he served as both Chief of Staff to Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez and Assistant State's Attorney.
Lecturer, School of Art Institute of Chicago
Silvia Beltrametti teaches at the School of the Art Institute and advises on matters related to intellectual property in the creative industry. Her research focuses on art law, as well as international antitrust and intellectual property. She has published works in the Journal of Law and Economics, among many other publications.
Founder & Managing Director, VestedWorld
Euler Bropleh is the founder and managing director of VestedWorld, a venture capital fund focused on spurring sustainable economic growth in underserved regions around the world. In this role, he is responsible for sourcing, vetting, and structuring transactions with early-stage companies poised to achieve significant growth and impact.
Capital Markets Trading Principal, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Zachary Brown previously served as a supervisory financial analyst at the US Department of the Treasury, and before that as a principal at Milliman, where he led a team implementing risk management overlay strategies for banks, asset managers, insurance companies, and pension plans. In this role, he was a named portfolio manager on over a dozen mutual funds with over $20 billion in assets.
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Sav.com
Before founding sav.com, Anthos Chrysanthou was the founder and CEO of Translate.com, a tech startup whose mission is to eliminate the world's language barriers through the use of artificial intelligence and professional linguists. He's also an active member of the Hellenic American Leadership Council.
Senior Director of Programs and Policies, United Nations Association of the USA, United Nations Foundations
In her role at the UNA-USA, Farah Eck oversees national programs, chapter support, communications strategy, and member engagement. She brings with her 7+ years of experience as a UNA-USA volunteer, serving as a chapter president (UNA Chicago) and board member, and as a UNA-USA National Council Member for the Great Lakes Region.
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Kountable, Inc.
Before founding Kountable, Chris Hale was a partner in the Chicago office of Sidley Austin LLP. At Sidley, his legal practice focused on representing companies in corporate law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, finance, and governance issues. He's gained considerable cross-border experience, including working with organizations in the UK, Switzerland, China, and Brazil.
Senior Portfolio Manager, Thrivent Mutual Funds
Prior to joining Thrivent Mutual Funds—a subsidiary of Thrivent Financial—Michael Hubbard was an analyst covering U.S. small cap financials and real estate at William Blair Investment Management. While in this role, he founded and led the company’s veteran business resource group and served as one of the founding board members of the Alliance Board.
Senior Counsel, The Boeing Company
Sherene Awad Jodrey is senior counsel at Boeing, where her practice focuses on employee benefits and executive compensation matters. She represents Boeing on all matters relating to the company’s US retirement, health, and welfare programs, executive compensation programs, global equity plans, and employee-related aspects of mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures.
Senior Program Officer, Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Emanuel “Manny” Johnson joined the Robert R. McCormick Foundation in 2016, where he serves as the program officer for the Veterans Program, managing a $3 million portfolio of 35 grantees. Additionally, he serves on the foundation’s Racial Equity Committee, a group that works to pave the way forward to more equitable grant-making.
Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Telesto Strategy
Alex Kruzel is an author, entrepreneur, business advisor, and CEO and founder of Telesto Strategy, a Chicago-based management consulting firm. Her recent book, The Courage to Continue: Stay the Course on Sustainability to Secure our Future, explores how businesses can integrate sustainability into risk management as well as align environmental security with national security priorities.
Chief Schools Officer, Big Shoulders Fund
Working with the Big Shoulders Fund, Rebecca Lindsay-Ryan uses her education background and nonprofit management experience to help improve communities and prepare students for lifelong success. For over a decade, she has overseen significant growth of the fund’s academic programs in order to increase access to high-quality education.
President, Brooks Utility Products
Before joining Brooks, Chris Lyons was a vice president and general manager at Prince Castle, a foodservice equipment business within the Marmon Retail Technologies Company. In this role, he led a business focused on developing proprietary technologies for some of the largest global brands in the restaurant industry with an emphasis on automation and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity.
Associate Director of Credential Programs, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
In her previous role, Absera Melaku provided overall direction for the University of Chicago's Center for Global Health by managing its long-term strategy, developing numerous educational programs, and overseeing the operational infrastructure. She developed collaborative relationships to further the mission to broaden global health education, training, research, advocacy, and engagement.
Associate Director of Community Engaged Research, University of Illinois Health Mile Square Health Center
Before her time at UI Health, Yamilé Molina was an associate professor with affiliations to the School of Public Health, Center for Research on Women and Gender, and Cancer Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She's led multiple studies characterizing and intervening upon the disproportionate burden of cancer that Latinx, African Americans, and rural populations face.
Partner, Grant Thornton
Jeff Pajauskas is an audit partner at Grant Thornton LLP, where he has spent the past 15 years of his career. Pajauskas leverages his extensive industry and technical knowledge to serve a variety of clients including those that are global in scope, public or private in the manufacturing, distribution, and retail industries.
Principal, KPMG
Nalini Prakash Hart is a principal at KPMG, after previously serving as a managing director in the firm's economic and valuation services practice, with a specific focus on transfer pricing. She has over 15 years of experience assisting multinational corporations and has built and delivered complex transfer pricing solutions.
Partner, Barnes & Thornburg
Tejas Shah serves as primary outside counsel to Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, school districts, and universities, advising them on strategies for hiring top international talent, complying with workplace mandates in a high-risk environment, and ensuring educational opportunities for vulnerable populations.
Senior Manager, Trust and Safety Risk Intelligence, Meta Platforms, Inc.
Scott Stern, now a senior manager at Meta, was previously the director of innovation and insights at the American Marketing Association (AMA). He led an interdisciplinary team responsible for AMA's national analytics program and for converting customer insights into innovative experiences for AMA's 30,000 members and 250,000 non-member customers worldwide.
Executive Director of Principal Quality, Chicago Public Schools
Allison Tingwall previously served as the principal of Curie High School, the third-largest school in Chicago. She began her career in education as a Spanish and math teacher at North Lawndale College Prep and further developed her instructional leadership as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and a resident principal at Back of the Yards College Prep.