With more than 300 members, the Emerging Leaders community is a dynamic cross-sector network of Chicago’s visionary, globally minded, locally committed leaders.
Tim Jones is an 11-year veteran of organizational leadership, community outreach, and project management, with extensive experience leading nonprofit enterprises. Jones’ tenure at Willow Chicago, a multicultural church in downtown Chicago, consisted of roles in project management, program management, budget process, volunteer/database management, and fundraising.
In her previous position, Abigayil Joseph leveraged over a decade of experience as a senior leader at Chicago Public Schools to advise on strategic, policy, and operational priorities. She served as a liaison for the board with the mayor’s office and the CEO of CPS. She's guided by a deep commitment to equity and access to quality education for all children, in every school and neighborhood.
Jamia Jowers is the executive director of the What's Your Forté Foundation where she designs innovative programming to solve pressing challenges faced by Chicago's South and West side neighborhoods, as well as a security fellow with the Truman National Security Project, a Boren scholar, and president of the Chicago Refugee Coalition.
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.
Melissa Kessler is a regulatory and scientific affairs professional with nearly 20 years of experience ensuring compliance for cosmetics, food, feed, supplements, and over-the-counter drugs. She works at Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) as the global director of regulatory affairs, where she leads key nutrition and food science policy strategies and advocacy at the global, federal, and state levels.
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.
