With more than 300 members, the Emerging Leaders community is a dynamic cross-sector network of Chicago’s visionary, globally minded, locally committed leaders.
Amiel Harper brings over a decade of professional advisory experience across industries to Morpheus Consultancy, LLC. He's served as an advisor to two Illinois governors and many C-suite executives in addition to extensive service to academic, corporate, political, government, philanthropic, and entrepreneurial organizations.
Michael R. Jarecki is the principal and founding attorney of Jarecki Law Group, LLC, a Chicago-based full-service U.S. immigration law firm, and he's a board member of the Federal Bar Association’s Immigration Law Section. The AILA Chicago chapter awarded Jarecki the Minsky Beacon of Light Award for his dedication to the advancement of the immigration field and for outstanding mentorship.
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.
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.
Matt Meltzer is the founder and CEO of Sage Corps, an international internship program that sends college students to work abroad with entrepreneurs at tech startups. Before Sage Corps, he was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, LLP where he represented primarily Latin American clients in international litigations and internal investigations.
Karla Ruth Orozco Toledano has over a decade of experience in trade, investment, business development, and international affairs. At WBC, she advocates for Chicago as an inclusive economic hub. She's focused on assisting foreign companies in setting up offices within Chicagoland and integrating them into diverse ecosystems, including food and agriculture, fintech, transportation, and more.
In the financial services industry since 2013, Ryan Schomburg currently works for HSBC Asset Management where he assists corporate clients with their investment needs. Previously, he worked in corporate banking relationship management, after completing a two-year finance rotation program with various roles in New York, London, and Chicago.
Birju Shah teaches and mentors students and executives on how to design, develop, and deploy AI and ML products and platforms. He is also the CEO of Loam, an AI-powered sustainability platform that helps CPG companies transition their supply chains to regenerative agriculture supply chains to accelerate the nation’s longevity plans for sustainable and productive agriculture.
Nathan Uldricks is a nationally recognized tech and operations executive and policymaker and was elected to serve as the chair of Pine Township in his native Porter County, Indiana. He is deeply involved in serving his local community as a volunteer firefighter, Porter County Parks Foundation board of directors member, local Boy Scout leader, and more.
Diane D. Williams is completing her Ph.D. in social work focused on productive aging in older adult populations, specifically focusing on social integration and retirement. Most recently, Williams worked on the AARP Disrupt Disparities IL Report which focuses on racial disparities among older adults across topic areas of economic security, health equity, and connectivity.
