With more than 300 members, the Emerging Leaders community is a dynamic cross-sector network of Chicago’s visionary, globally minded, locally committed leaders.
Karla Ruth Orozco Toledano has over a decade of experience in international affairs, trade, and economic diplomacy, with a strong focus on China–Latin America relations. She currently serves at World Business Chicago (WBC), where she promotes Chicago as an inclusive global economic hub and supports foreign companies expanding across the Chicagoland region.
Lauren Ostrowski is a global nonprofit leader with more than 20 years of experience in international programs, higher education administration, and organizational strategy. As Associate Vice President for Global Academic Administration at IES Abroad—one of the world’s leading nonprofit study abroad organizations—she oversees academic programs across a portfolio of international centers.
Jeff Pajauskas is an audit partner at Grant Thornton LLP, where he has spent the past 15 years of his career. Pajauskas leverages his extensive industry and technical knowledge to serve a variety of clients including those that are global in scope, public or private in the manufacturing, distribution, and retail industries.
Mark Palchak started his career growing proprietary trading groups in Chicago at Infinium Capital Management. In time, he assumed leadership of Infinium in a distressed situation, immediately taking the company through a successful sale process and returning the successor company, V3 Markets, to profitability.
Before becoming a consultant, Jason Palmquist was the executive director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, having spent his early career in Washington, D.C., working for the Washington Ballet and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He has experience with local, national, and international arts communities and served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Satya Pandey is the CTO of investment banking at William Blair, specializing in implementing AI and advanced software solutions to drive transformation. He previously founded a start-up that developed an AI-powered app for home sellers. His 20+ years of experience spans the technology space, and his AI expertise is underpinned by a comprehensive understanding of the technology's impact potential.
Lisa Pattis is president of Next Chapter Holdings, where she manages investments for the Pattis family and the Pattis Family Foundation, investing globally in a diversified range of assets. Previously, she was general counsel of Wintrust Financial Corporation and spent 17 years as a partner at Sidley Austin, LLP, specializing in corporate governance, securities law, and strategic counseling.
Before his role as executive director, Brian Peckrill served as the fellows’ program director, where he was responsible for designing and implementing forward-thinking, ethics-focused experiences for top MBA students, as well as fostering an active and engaged alumni community of young business leaders as they embark on and manage their careers.
Matt Pelton is an audit & assurance (A&A) managing director at Deloitte & Touche LLP and serves as the US A&A sustainability offering leader for the technology, media, and telecommunications industry. He focuses on advising executive teams of multinational companies and investment firms on global regulations, sustainability standards and frameworks, and strategic communications.
A former federal prosecutor, Shoba Pillay is a partner at Jenner & Block where she leverages her technical skills and depth of understanding on global issues and risk to provide guidance to clients across a range of sizes and sectors.
