More than 50 resident and nonresident fellows offer research, analysis, and commentary on US foreign policy and public opinion, global food security, and global cities.
Minoo Javanmardian joined Oliver Wyman's health and life sciences practice with over 25 years of experience as a strategy consultant, executive coach, and business leader in the healthcare industry. She's focused on developing strategy-based transformation in the healthcare industry, including the payors (health plans) and providers (e.g., hospitals and clinics) sectors.
Before her role at the Chicago Quantum Exchange, Andrea Jett Fletcher managed the civic engagement, participatory democracy, and public policy initiatives of the McCormick Foundation. Previously, she worked with the University of Chicago Cultural Policy Center, the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Brookings Institution, and the African Development Bank.
Jamie Jones works with students, alumni, and members of the community to apply business principles for positive societal and/or environmental impact. Before her time at Duke, she was at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where she launched the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge and co-hosted the Impact Investing Summit.
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.
Seth Kravitz is the former co-founder of Technori, a publication that celebrates entrepreneurship, and Bow Truss, a premium coffee roasting company. After falling in love with the Chicago entrepreneur community, Kravitz started mentoring at the Coleman Center at DePaul University, the Knapp Center at IIT, Excelerate Labs, and Code Academy.
William Krehbiel is the founder and CEO of Topography Hospitality, LLC, and co-managing partner of Ballyfin Demesne, a luxury hotel in Ireland. He previously founded and led A Better Chicago, a venture philanthropy fund supporting high-impact nonprofits serving low-income communities.
Natasha Krol's work has included facilitating collaboration across distributed higher education systems, supporting the government of Nigeria in reducing poliovirus cases, and designing innovation labs. Recently, Krol supported Chicago and UILabs in their winning bid to launch a $320M public-private "Digital Lab" to support advanced manufacturing technology research, development, and demonstration.
Seema Kumbhat's experience includes directing medical device innovation, in addition to performing due diligence for strategic alliances and risk management activities, for the global pharmaceutical and medical device company Hospira. She's licensed to practice medicine and surgery in the state of Illinois and has traveled the world to examine healthcare disparities in other countries.
Ashish Lal is a vice president at BDT & Company, a Chicago-based merchant bank that combines a $3 billion investment fund with advisory services to address the strategic and financing needs of companies. He was involved in establishing BDT’s strategic joint venture with one of India’s most highly regarded conglomerates and continues to establish relationships with business owners outside of the US.
Nate Laurell is the former CEO of The Fresh Factory and current board chair, advising the company on all aspects related to continued growth and high-level strategic considerations. He has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, having founded and sold several companies in the finance, energy, and food industries.
