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 Alfredo Narváez Gete 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 to expand postsecondary access for Chicago’s immigrant and Latino communities. He currently oversees the adult education program at the City Colleges of Chicago.
Brent Neiman is the Edward Eagle Brown Professor of Economics at Chicago Booth. From 2022-2025, he served at the US Treasury as Counselor to the Secretary and as the Deputy Undersecretary for International Finance. Previously, Neiman served as staff economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisers and worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and McKinsey & Company.
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 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.
Currently at Yale University, Dr. Aisha Sethi also has experience serving on the steering committee as an assistant director of outreach for the Center for Global Health at the University of Chicago. After attending medical school in Pakistan, she completed her post-doctoral fellowship, internship, and residency in dermatology at Yale University, where she also served as chief resident.
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.
Juliet Sorensen is a clinical professor of law and the director of Loyola's Rule of Law Institute and Program in Rule of Law for Development. She was previously on the faculty of Northwestern and served as the executive director of Injustice Watch, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization focused on systemic inequities in the courts.
Meredith Stricker is also a senior fellow at The Soufan Center, a think tank focused on global security and emerging threats. She previously served as the founding executive director and led the organization’s research team and speaker series, building on years of experience with counter-terrorism and other security matters.
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.
Nik Theodore teaches, writes, lectures, and consults on urban planning and labor markets in the United States and Britain. He was an Atlantic Fellow in Public Policy at Manchester University in England and was recognized by Crain's "40 Under 40."
