The premier annual public event of the Lester Crown Center on US Foreign Policy is the Lester Crown Distinguished Lecture on US Foreign Policy, bringing a major foreign policy figure to drive greater visibility and energize greater public discussion on a critical policy issue.

Cohort, 2026, Industry, Housing & Transportation, Sector, Public Sector, Social Media, Kemena Brooks serves as Chief of Staff at the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). In this role, she supports executive leadership in advancing agency-wide priorities and managing cross-departmental initiatives. Sh...

Cohort, 2026, Industry, Government, Policy, & Public Affairs, Sector, Public Sector, Social Media, Sarah Boyle currently serves as the deputy director of strategic planning in the Office of the Superintendent at the Chicago Police Department. She is responsible for managing and implementing hig...

Cohort, 2026, Industry, Law, Sector, Public Sector, Social Media, Vikas K. Didwania serves as complex litigation counsel at the Illinois Attorney General's Office. He helps lead Illinois's efforts to protect Illinoisians from federal overreach. Previously, Vikas served as a Senior Policy Adviser ...

Cohort, 2016, Industry, Business & Consulting, Sector, Private Sector, Steve Babitch’s work lies at the intersection of the social sciences, business strategy, and design. As a consultant who has worked with leading-edge innovation and design consultancies Doblin, now part of Deloitte, and IA C...

Cohort, 2016, Industry, Advocacy & International Development, Sector, Non-profit, Emma Belcher is the president of the Ploughshares Fund, a public grantmaking foundation that supports initiatives to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons. Before this position, she was the director of nucle...

Cohort, 2025, Industry, Banking & Finance, Sector, Non-profit, Shaska Chirinos is a senior responsible investment manager for the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). PRI is recognized as one of the world’s leading proponents of responsible investment, committed to integrat...

Cohort, 2012, Industry, Environment & Sustainability, Sector, Private Sector, Social Media, Joyce Coffee is an entrepreneur and the founder of Climate Resilience Consulting, which helps clients develop practical strategies to strengthen markets and communities through climate change adaptation. I...

Cohort, 2012, Industry, Advocacy & International Development, Sector, Non-profit, Social Media, Gillian Darlow is the CEO of the Polk Bros. Foundation, which focuses its grantmaking on reducing the impact of poverty and expanding access to quality education, the arts, preventive health care, and ...

Cohort, 2010, Industry, Government, Policy, & Public Affairs, Sector, Public Sector, Social Media, Raja Krishnamoorthi was elected to Congress in 2016 and is now in his fourth term representing Illinois’ 8th District. He serves as Ranking Member of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competit...