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, 2015, Industry, Food & Agriculture, Sector, Private Sector, Alongside his father and brother, Amer Abdullah launched the Cedars restaurant in 2001. Shortly thereafter, a fast-casual child of Cedars named Mezza Mediterranean Grill was born, where Abdullah heads the marketing strategy. From...

Cohort, 2015, Industry, Government, Policy, & Public Affairs, Sector, Academia, Roseanna Ander serves as the founding executive director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, which was launched in the spring of 2008 in partnership with the City of Chicago. In the years following, she was appoin...

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, 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 ...