With more than 300 members, the Emerging Leaders community is a dynamic cross-sector network of Chicago’s visionary, globally minded, locally committed leaders.
Joe McCluskey is currently a founder and principal at JTM Advisory. He brings experience from previous roles at E & R Industrial, a specialty brand of Grainger and Grainger. He holds an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.
At Resolute Consulting, John McGovern focused on strategic communications in the public policy arena and provided expertise in navigating complex decision-making processes in Illinois and Washington, D.C. He previously worked for US House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and served as the executive director of Keep Our Majority PAC.
Outside of the US, Tanya Menon has taught in France, India, Singapore, Italy, and Spain. She has won multiple teaching awards and has incorporated her nonprofit consulting experience into her classes. Additionally, Menon is the associate editor of the Journal of Management Science and was an American Marshall Memorial Fellow.
John Murray is a former partner in Accenture’s Management Consulting group, focused on its Chicago-area client base. Before joining Accenture, he spent three and a half years as the chief bid officer for the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid, where he was part of the executive leadership team. Murray joined the bid after spending six years as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.
Brent Neiman is the Edward Eagle Brown Professor of Economics at Chicago Booth, but is taking a leave of absence in order to serve at the US Treasury as the Deputy Undersecretary for International Finance and Development. He researches international macroeconomics, finance, and trade and is a co-founder and principal investigator of the Global Capital Allocation Project.
Before teaching at the University of Rochester, Milena Novy-Marx co-led a two-year effort to develop the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's initiative on global migration and human mobility. She also managed the foundation's work on international development, where she led an effort to create a new, interdisciplinary master's in development practice degree at universities worldwide.
Before William Blair, Jim O'Connor worked at MVC Capital as managing director after nine years with Motorola, Inc. He was also a White House Fellow for the US Treasury Department, worked for the Committee on Ways and Means at the US House of Representatives, and was a volunteer teacher in South Africa. He was named one of American Ventures Magazine’s “40 under 40."
Before his role as president and CEO of Acero Schools, Richard Rodriguez worked for Res Publica Group and served as commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environment and deputy chief operations officer for the City of Chicago. He previously served as president of the Chicago Transit Authority and commissioner of the City of Chicago’s Department of Aviation.
Anthony Simpkins is a leader in Chicago’s affordable housing community and has held multiple roles serving the City of Chicago. As Managing Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Housing, he administered housing and community development policies, programs, and strategic investments. Before that, he was appointed a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Melissa Zaikos co-founded Intrinsic Schools in 2013. Previously, as chief of elementary schools, Pershing Network for Chicago Public Schools, she oversaw the performance and management of over 100 autonomous schools within the school system. She was also a Broad resident, funded by the Broad Foundation, leading strategic projects at CPS, and a manager for Deloitte Consulting.
