Emerging Leaders Class of 2011

William Burns was elected alderman of Chicago's 4th Ward in 2011. He previously served as an Illinois Representative and vice president of Conlon Public Strategies. Before that, he worked for the Office of the Senate President, the Chicago Urban League, and the Metropolitan Planning Council.

As a scientist, clean energy entrepreneur, CEO, and now a member of Congress representing Chicago's western suburbs, Congressman Sean Casten has dedicated his life to combating climate change. In Congress, Casten leverages his private sector experience to develop market-based solutions that reduce emissions, create jobs, and spur economic growth.

Prior to his time at Equator Capital Partners, Paul Christensen was a faculty member of the finance department at Northwestern University and the president and COO of ShoreCap Management, an international private equity company based in London. He also led Shorebank Enterprise Group, an economic development organization in Cleveland, and worked for McKinsey & Company in Pittsburgh.

Before becoming a conference minister, Lillian Daniel was the senior minister of the First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Glen Ellyn. She has taught preaching at three seminaries, is a trustee of the Chicago Theological Seminary, and board president of Arise (formerly Chicago Interfaith Committee for Worker Issues).

Tony Davis serves as the president and managing partner of Linden Capital Partners and has more than fifteen years of principal investing and consulting experience. He is a member of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), president of Americans United in Support of Democracy, and a member and former President of CityPAC.

As former president of Heartland Alliance, Evelyn Diaz—a member of the Council's Emerging Leader Program class of 2011—was responsible for directing domestic and global strategy for Heartland Alliance's five nonprofit corporate entities. Previously, she was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to lead the City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services.

Before joining Beacon Building Products, Prithvi Gandhi worked at Dover Corp., where he was responsible for corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic investments. Before that, he worked at Zebra Technologies and Morgan Stanley.

Jeanne Gang, a 2011 MacArthur Fellow and member of the 2011 class of the Council's Emerging Leaders Program, is the principal architect of Studio Gang Architects, a Chicago-based firm that has been recognized internationally for its innovation in design. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology and has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.

Previous to joining EMPLOYERS, Barbara Higgins was the senior vice president of customer experience and retention at Allstate Insurance Company. Before that, she was vice president of customer experience at United Airlines, where she led the global customer experience function and managed contact center operations in nine countries.

Tom Levinson has spent much of his professional life working with families and family-owned businesses. In addition to owning a registered investment advisory firm, Levinson is a writer whose work on religion, values, and American life has been featured in national magazines, major newspapers, and on TV and radio.

Joe McCluskey is currently a founder and principal at JTM Advisory. He brings experience from previous roles at E & R Industrial, a specialty brand of Grainger and Grainger. He holds an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.

At Resolute Consulting, John McGovern focused on strategic communications in the public policy arena and provided expertise in navigating complex decision-making processes in Illinois and Washington, D.C. He previously worked for US House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and served as the executive director of Keep Our Majority PAC.

Outside of the US, Tanya Menon has taught in France, India, Singapore, Italy, and Spain. She has won multiple teaching awards and has incorporated her nonprofit consulting experience into her classes. Additionally, Menon is the associate editor of the Journal of Management Science and was an American Marshall Memorial Fellow.

John Murray is a former partner in Accenture’s Management Consulting group, focused on its Chicago-area client base. Before joining Accenture, he spent three and a half years as the chief bid officer for the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid, where he was part of the executive leadership team. Murray joined the bid after spending six years as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.

Brent Neiman is the Edward Eagle Brown Professor of Economics at Chicago Booth, but is taking a leave of absence in order to serve at the US Treasury as the Deputy Undersecretary for International Finance and Development. He researches international macroeconomics, finance, and trade and is a co-founder and principal investigator of the Global Capital Allocation Project.

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 William Blair, Jim O'Connor worked at MVC Capital as managing director after nine years with Motorola, Inc. He was also a White House Fellow for the US Treasury Department, worked for the Committee on Ways and Means at the US House of Representatives, and was a volunteer teacher in South Africa. He was named one of American Ventures Magazine’s “40 under 40."

Before his role as President & 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.

Anthony Simpkins is a leader in Chicago’s affordable housing community and has held multiple roles serving the City of Chicago. As Managing Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Housing, he administered housing and community development policies, programs, and strategic investments. Before that, he was appointed a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Melissa Zaikos co-founded Intrinsic Schools in 2013. Previously, as chief of elementary schools, Pershing Network for Chicago Public Schools, she oversaw the performance and management of over 100 autonomous schools within the school system. She was also a Broad resident, funded by the Broad Foundation, leading strategic projects at CPS, and a manager for Deloitte Consulting.