With more than 300 members, the Emerging Leaders community is a dynamic cross-sector network of Chicago’s visionary, globally minded, locally committed leaders.
Esther Joy King began her legal career as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago and later had the opportunity to serve the State of Illinois in the office of entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology. Her entrepreneurial spirit also led her to start a marketing firm after obtaining her law degree, GRP21, where she learned firsthand about creating jobs and opportunities.
Murali Kanakasabai is a leader in the derivatives industry, having designed and launched exchange-traded products in several industries. Before Exponential, he was a member of the founding team at the Chicago Climate Exchange, which pioneered environmental derivatives, and the American Financial Exchange/Ameribor, a market-based LIBOR alternative.
Jayesh Kannan, CFA, researches global technology, media, and communication services companies and makes recommendations regarding their investment attractiveness for the firm’s global and international investment portfolios. He focuses on understanding the business model, competitive advantages, and evaluating the corporate performance of companies across economies of the world.
Sam Kendall is an accomplished strategic relationships officer at Rotary International, where he skillfully cultivates partnerships with institutions such as the German government, the United Nations Environment Programme, and UNICEF. His efforts focus on aligning the interests of various organizations to foster impactful collaborations that support Rotary International's mission and its members.
Nadav Klugman is a partner at White & Case LLP and formerly at Mayer Brown’s projects and infrastructure group. He has worked on a wide range of debt, equity, and tax monetization financings, restructurings, acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures in the US and abroad. Much of his practice focuses on renewable energy and other clean technology assets.
Rebecca Knight is an assistant general counsel with Aon's law and compliance team. She is a business-focused attorney with over 15 years of experience partnering with leaders to meet strategic objectives, mitigate risk, and drive growth. She regularly negotiates complex commercial agreements and counsels the businesses she supports on the development of innovative offerings.
In her current role, Tina Kotrych leverages broad networks on both sides of the border to help Midwest-based firms navigate all aspects of setting up and expanding operations in Canada. In addition to her foreign direct investment (FDI) expertise, Kotrych also has a keen sense for policy analysis built over a decade of advocacy efforts promoting Canada's trade priorities.
Seth Kravitz is the former co-founder of Technori, a publication that celebrates entrepreneurship, and Bow Truss, a premium coffee roasting company. After falling in love with the Chicago entrepreneur community, Kravitz started mentoring at the Coleman Center at DePaul University, the Knapp Center at IIT, Excelerate Labs, and Code Academy.
William Krehbiel is the founder and CEO of Topography Hospitality, LLC, and co-managing partner of Ballyfin Demesne, a luxury hotel in Ireland. He previously founded and led A Better Chicago, a venture philanthropy fund supporting high-impact nonprofits serving low-income communities.
Raja Krishnamoorthi represents the 8th District of Illinois, which includes Chicago’s west and northwest suburbs. He is the Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party and is also a member of the Emerging Leaders Class of 2010.
