Current Young Professionals Ambassadors
Young Professionals (YP) Ambassadors are a select group of leaders from among the approximately 2,000 Council YP Network members and are essential to the success of the Council's YP program. YP Ambassadors are chosen to represent their peers and help serve as the voice of the next generation at the Council.
2021-22 YP Ambassadors
Srinivas Anne
Compliance Officer, BMO Financial Group
Srinivas Anne supports regulatory and data analysis activities as a compliance officer with BMO Financial Group. Prior to this role, he worked as a consultant specializing in SEO (search engine optimization) and cloud computing. Born and raised in Downers Grove, Illinois, he received a BBA from Benedictine University with a double major in accounting and finance.
Nupur Balain
Associate, William Blair
At William Blair, Nupur Balain works on researching technology firms that have the potential to be the next big leader within their industry or geographic region. She has uncovered ideas in both the emerging and developed world. Prior to moving to Chicago, Balain lived in New York, Delhi, Bangkok, and Singapore. She also sits on the leadership team at the Vassar Club of Chicago.
Justin Bandy
Independent Investor
Justin Bandy is an independent investor focused on global equities. From 2009-2021, he was a partner and portfolio manager at Artisan Partners where he invested across multiple sectors and geographies. Prior to Artisan Partners, Bandy was an equity research associate for KeyBanc Capital Markets in San Francisco.
Jessica Butler
Chief Development Officer, North Lawndale Employment Network
Jessica Butler is the strategist responsible for designing, leading, and implementing sustainable revenue growth strategies as the chief development officer for the North Lawndale Employment Network. Butler has served as the executive director of the Tollie and Eva Archie Foundation and has held leadership positions on committees of various nonprofits including the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Elizabeth Caldwell
Director, FTI Consulting
Elizabeth Caldwell supports global energy clients across the energy spectrum, from oil and gas to renewables in FTI Consulting’s Energy & Natural Resources Strategic Communications practice. She has supported clients through many challenges, including launching IPOs and ESG programs, as well as counseling clients through congressional hearings.
Francesca Cardillo
Associate, K&L Gates LLP
Francesca Cardillo focuses her practice at K&L Gates on a variety of transactions to facilitate the effective management, transfer, and commercialization of intellectual property and the receipt and provision of technology and logistics products. Currently, she serves on the board of directors and co-chairs the social and networking committee for Chicago Women in Intellectual Property.
Colleen Desmond
Partner, Boston Consulting Group
Colleen Desmond serves as a core member of the provider, payer, and services group within the health care practice at BCG. She's lived across Europe, Africa, and Australia, including a year abroad with BCG’s Global Impact Partners, the World Food Programme, and the Gates Foundation. Prior to BCG, she served as a WorldTeach teacher in Namibia, focused on introducing technology to the classroom.
Yawen Duan
Lead Data Science Analyst, Discover Financial Services
Yawen Duan is a lead data science analyst at Discover Financial Services with a focus on credit risk strategy. Born and raised in China, she came to the US as an exchange student in 2014. She received her BS in biology from East China Normal University in Shanghai and her MS in business analytics from Emory University in Atlanta. Besides Mandarin, her native tongue, she also speaks Japanese and is proficient in programming languages R and Python.
Conor Durkin
Business Analytics Lead, Braviant Holdings
Conor Durkin is currently business analytics manager at Braviant, an online lender expanding consumer credit among the underbanked population. Prior to joining Braviant, he was focused on credit strategy and risk at Future Finance, a UK-based private student lending startup, and a bond trader at Guggenheim Partners in their structured credit group.
Max Ebacher
Manager of Partnerships, UtmostU
Max Ebacher coordinates digital communications, manages student recruitment, and develops strategic partnerships to provide valuable services and resources to UtmostU student fellows. Previously, Ebacher served as the assistant to the executive director of the Comer Education Campus in Chicago’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, and he taught first grade as a Teach for America corps member.
Tyrel Floyd
Regional Development Specialist, Lions Club International Foundation
Tyrel Floyd puts a face to the Lion Club International Foundation’s work in the Middle East, South Asia, Indonesia, and Oceana: promoting its capital campaign, developing its fundraising strategy, and managing its volunteer structure as a regional development specialist. He also currently serves on the Paris Committee at Chicago Sister Cities International.
Brian Flynn
Ward Superintendent, City of Chicago
Brian Flynn is the City of Chicago’s 23rd Ward Superintendent where he works with elected officials and partners with city department heads to meet residents’ needs. Prior to this role, Flynn worked for the Office of the Illinois Speaker of the House and consulted on city and state political campaigns. He is an active member of Chicago’s Gaelic Park and the Young Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago.
Anna Forsberg
Senior Manager, PayPal
Anna Forsberg is a manager on the customer success team at PayPal. Prior to PayPal, Forsberg worked around the world in a wide range of business environments including broadcasting in China, music administration in Europe, a non-profit technology start-up in Western Africa, and technology-focused start-ups in the US.
Jauwan Hall
Reading Tutor, Chicago Public Schools
Jauwan Hall is a military veteran who serves with the Illinois Army National Guard and is also a reading tutor with Chicago Public Schools. He began his military service as a United States Marine and subsequently deployed three times in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Hall is active in several community organizations including the Chicago Urban League.
Alexander Konetzki
Founder & Managing Partner, Alexandros LLC
Founded in 2020, Alexander Konetzki's firm focuses on trusts and estates and business law. He previously was voter protection counsel on Barack Obama’s re-election campaign; a civil litigator; a researcher at the New America Foundation, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the DePaul International Human Rights Law Institute; and was a congressional intern for Rahm Emanuel.
Michael Lemm
Associate, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
In his current role, Michael Lemm advises companies in financial distress and those undergoing formal domestic and cross-border restructurings. He also maintains an active pro-bono practice in which he focuses on matters concerning civil rights, immigration, and wrongful convictions. Lemm earned his BS in policy analysis and management from Cornell University and his JD from Harvard Law School.
Shayna Lewis
Digital Campaigns Director, Win Without War
Shayna Lewis mobilizes more than half a million activists to advance a bold, progressive foreign policy as digital campaigns director at Win Without War. Most recently, Lewis served as senior advocacy advisor at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee as well as unit president of UNITE HERE! Local 2661. She also volunteers with Heartland Alliance Refugee and Immigrant Community Services.
Alex Loo
Vice President, Capital One
Alex Loo specializes in commercial real estate financing, focusing predominantly on multifamily and senior housing as a vice president at Capital One. He earned his BA in international affairs and economics at The George Washington University, was a visiting student at Oxford University (Pembroke College), and is currently an MBA candidate at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Sali Mahgoub
Deputy Director, The Obama Foundation
As the deputy director of development – Midwest region at the Obama Foundation, Sali Mahgoub is responsible for the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of major gift prospects. Previously, she worked at the University of Chicago and the Iowa State University Foundation where she received the Council for Advancement and Support of Education Circle of Excellence Award.
Aaron Masliansky
Realtor, Dream Town Realty
Aaron Masliansky is a Young Professional Ambassador with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and a Realtor at Dream Town Realty in Chicago. He hosts the podcasts "The Real Estate Diplomat" and "Inside the Skev," and is the Immediate Past Chairman of the Global Real Estate Council at the Chicago Association of Realtors. He holds a Masters and Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Molly Matelski
Hospitality Consultant
Molly Matelski is an independent hospitality consultant with a focus on restaurant openings and emerging beverage companies. Her work includes supporting Italian companies with marketing, public relations, proposal development and delivery, operations support, and event management. Previously, she worked for Marriott and Hilton, where she led high-performing teams in over 20 properties nationwide.
Charlie Minard
Technical Account Manager II - LATAM, FourKites
Charlie Minard focuses on FourKites international expansion into Latin America as a technical account manager. Previously, he lived and worked in Brazil and Colombia at Online Taxman, an international accounting firm. Minard is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. He also tutors at Tutoring Chicago and is a member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals Chicago chapter.
Jenna Nizamoff
Manager, KPMG LLP
Jenna Nizamoff is a manager in KPMG’s Economic and Valuation Services practice, where she provides transfer pricing services to multinational entities. She has been with KPMG since 2014 and has worked in the New York City, Dubai, and Chicago offices. Nizamoff also currently tutors through the Young Professionals Board of Horizons for Youth, a local nonprofit.
Lily Payton
Associate, Centre for Public Impact
Lily Payton is an associate at the Centre for Public Impact, a BCG Foundation working to reimagine government across the world. With a focus on government innovation at the local level, she has worked with cities in implementing a human-centered design curriculum to help bureaucrats become more resident-centric. Payton also serves as the vice chair of WorldChicago’s Young Professionals Group.
Monica Rodriguez
Director of Network Engagement, Pyxis Partners
Monica Rodriguez helps drive forward Pyxis Partners’ engagement efforts for the National Institutes of Health's All of Us Research Program. Previously, she was the director of communications and engagement of the program at Northwestern University, and worked for several years at a nonprofit organization committed to leadership development in university students.
Matt Schultz
Technical Account Manager, Qualtrics
Matt Schultz assists organizations in mastering Qualtrics technology to optimize their stakeholders’ experiences through data-driven decision-making. As an undergraduate, he was a Critical Language Scholar, a Boren Scholar, and he studied and volunteered in Morocco, France, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, Benin, and Mexico. Currently, Schultz volunteers as a youth mentor with RefugeeOne.
Sari Schwartz
Growth Partnerships Associate, The Coda Collection
Sari Schwartz works in growth partnerships at music-tech startup The Coda Collection. Schwartz meets with prospective brand partners and manages Coda’s largest partnership with United Airlines. She holds an MA in global commerce from the University of Virginia, an MS in global strategic management from ESADE Business School, and a certificate in international management from Lingnan College.
Meghan Shaffer
Electric Vehicle Business Development Manager, Illinois Tool Works
Meghan Shaffer is the electric vehicle business development manager at Deltar Fasteners, an automotive division of Illinois Tool Works (ITW). Prior to her move into electric vehicles, she held multiple plant manager and engineering roles within manufacturing operations at ITW where she led global production improvement projects across the US, Germany, France, and Singapore.
Falak Shah
Senior Engineer, Exponent
Falak Shah specializes in solving complex engineering problems involving the failures, performance, and reliability of structural and mechanical systems at Exponent. His clients span industries, including construction, energy/utilities, mining, aerospace, rail, consumer products, and chemicals. His work has taken him to many of the fifty states, South Africa, and Vietnam.
Sarah Shu
eCommerce Senior Manager, Kellogg's
Sarah Shu manages the natural and insurgent eCommerce businesses at Kellogg’s. She oversees marketing strategy, site experience, and promotional campaigns for brands including RXBAR, Kashi, and Bear Naked. Shu also sits on the Joffrey Ballet Generation J Leadership Council and is currently earning her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Timothy Spellman
Immigration Officer, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Tim Spellman works in the field inspecting companies using the US’ non-immigrant skilled based work programs. He's spent time all over the world as an enlisted member and commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps. Currently, he's a student in the Masters of Threat and Response Management Program at the University of Chicago Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies.
Lake Vitton
Associate, Revantage
Lake Vitton is currently an associate on the strategic initiatives team at Revantage, a Blackstone company, that provides Blackstone’s Real Estate group and portfolio companies with corporate services including due diligence, valuations, and portfolio management support. In addition to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs he serves on the board of the Michigan Rowing Association.
Brandon Wall
Senior Corporate Accountant, US Foods
Brandon Wall works in corporate finance at US Foods. He is a US Navy veteran and spent three years serving in Yokosuka, Japan, where he engaged and trained with US allies along the Pacific rim. Wall also lived five years as an ex-pat in Perth, Western Australia. During that tenure he worked for a residential construction company, overseeing their accounting department.
Shuhan Zhou
Analytics Consultant, Northwestern Memorial Healthcare
In her current role, Shuhan Zhou focuses on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act through value-based care initiatives. Born and raised in Henan, China, Zhou moved to the US to pursue her college education. Zhou’s engagement with the Council began when she served as an intern in 2018. She also serves on the Education Committee for HIMSS Greater Illinois Chapter.