With more than 300 members, the Emerging Leaders community is a dynamic cross-sector network of Chicago’s visionary, globally minded, locally committed leaders.
Luis Narváez, born and raised in Mexico City, is the former director of strategic projects for Chicago Public Schools' Office of Language and Cultural Education. He worked to support the city's 70,000+ English language learners and focuses on expanding postsecondary access for Chicago’s immigrant and Latino communities.
In her current role, Hinsley Njila helps develop strategy and mitigation solutions for Credit Customer Lifecycle Management. Citi Retail Services delivers consumer and commercial credit card products, both private label and co-brand, to retailers and their clients across North America.
Jacob Plummer's background is in management, operations, and investment in technology-enabled health services, and he previously led global business development at Allscripts, an international health software company. At Allscripts, he oversaw a variety of investment initiatives covering North America, the UK, Singapore, Australia, and beyond.
Alisa Bhachu is the executive director of the Chicago Refugee Coalition. In her career, she has focused on the human rights sector as an advocate for women and girls, namely refugees and asylum seekers, especially those displaced throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2009, after visiting his hometown of Jerusalem, Kais Salhut started a software development outsourcing company in Ramallah, Palestine, to tap into the largely underutilized talent pool Palestinian universities produced each year. The company he started later merged its operations into iConnect Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer.
Based in Chicago, Julie Steffen-Layda leads the Midwest hub for the international desk for JLL. In this role, she is responsible for expanding the growth of the company's international business across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific regions. Before her move to Chicago, Steffen-Layda was part of the Palo Alto hub of the international desk.
While at Northern Illinois University's College of Law, Morse Tan directed the international law certificate program. A US Supreme Court Fellowship finalist and a member of the US Supreme Court Bar, he previously worked at the University of Texas Law School as a visiting scholar and Senior Research Fellow.
Kruti Trivedi is previously an assistant US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, where she served in the securities and commodities fraud section. A federal prosecutor based in Chicago, Trivedi has investigated and prosecuted a wide array of crimes, ranging from complex frauds to corruption to violent crimes.
Rebecca van Uitert created a unique professional pathway that combined a successful business immigration practice with a sustained commitment to pro bono representation of vulnerable immigrants. At Fragomen, the world’s largest immigration law firm, she served as primary outside immigration counsel to multiple Fortune 500 international corporations.
Shawn Zhou is a strategy consultant with a passion for addressing global healthcare needs. In his previous role at Deloitte Consulting, Zhou led projects for multi-national life sciences companies on their R&D, business development, and commercial strategies. Recently, he worked with a pharmaceutical company to improve access to care for patients who struggle to afford medications.
