With more than 300 members, the Emerging Leaders community is a dynamic cross-sector network of Chicago’s visionary, globally minded, locally committed leaders.
Abin Kuriakose is the first-ever chief strategy and innovation officer for World Business Chicago (WBC), the city's economic development organization, chaired by the mayor. In this role, Kuriakose and his team manage a portfolio of high-impact economic development programs to grow the region’s tech, innovation, and startup economy.
Gabriella Kusz is CEO of the Global Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency Association, a global voluntary self-regulatory association. Previously, she served as the principal for strategic initiatives at the International Federation of Accountants. Kusz’s background has included working in the international financial sector and economic growth spanning 50 countries and five continents.
Working with the Big Shoulders Fund, Rebecca Lindsay-Ryan uses her education background and nonprofit management experience to help improve communities and prepare students for lifelong success. For over a decade, she has overseen significant growth of the fund’s academic programs in order to increase access to high-quality education.
John Lucas has two decades of experience in higher education and student mobility. He has served as provost of the School for International Training and associate vice president of IES Abroad. He also spent 12 years working in Spain, directing international programs for IES, CIEE, and the Institute for Social and International Studies at Portland State University.
Kate Maehr has led the Greater Chicago Food Depository in its mission to provide food for hungry people while striving to end hunger in our community since 2006. In this role, she has guided a number of strategic initiatives and accomplishments to distribute nutritious food across Cook County while addressing the root causes of hunger.
Amy Maglio is the founder and executive director of Women’s Global Education Project (WGEP), an organization recognized for its innovative women's empowerment approach by the Obama Foundation, IBM, and the UN Girls Education Initiative.
Anna Maitland works alongside marginalized communities to support locally-owned and -led struggles toward progressive and sustainable change. She previously served as the inaugural Schuette Clinical Fellow in Health and Human Rights at the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
Jeff McCarter is a media producer, director, cameraman, and editor who founded Free Spirit Media, a media education, production, and workforce development nonprofit organization.
At the University of Chicago, Eileen McCarthy, now retired, facilitated and oversaw global initiatives, including the development and management of university centers in China and India. Before this role, she served as the director of strategic initiatives and planning in the office of the president and directed the Center for Policy Practice at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies.
Beth McCostlin partners with philanthropists, their families, and UNICEF colleagues to pursue a better world for every child. Based in Chicago, she leads engagement across the Midwest to connect supporters with global impact. Before UNICEF USA, she worked in development at the Joffrey Ballet and served as a US Army Reserve Public Affairs Officer, including a deployment to Baghdad, Iraq.
