Supporters
LARITA ANTHONY
Chicago, Illinois native LaRita Anthony received her B.A. in Sociology from the University of Illinois. She has 15 years of experience entailing the coordination, management, development, recruitment, maintenance, and outreach activities and grant implementation in the City of Chicago for the following: Chicago Housing Authority/HUD, Head Start, Department of Labor, Chicago Public Schools, and currently the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. LaRita received her master's degree in Public Administration in 2011, whereby joining the development team of Urban Cycle Grassroots Social Enterprise, continuing to provide individuals with advising, community organizing, and acquiring partnerships with public/private organizations.
JACOB CHU
Jacob is a high school junior and docutribe Fellow with interests in graphic design, film making, and media arts. He worked at Boston based startup PlenOptika as a graphic design intern over the summer of 2019.
ANNICE FISHER
JINSY JACOB
Physician leader with expertise in healthcare delivery, healthcare innovation, chronic care, public health, strategic development and implementation of new projects. Skilled in Lean Six Sigma, Telemedicine, Healthcare quality, Medicine, and Patient Safety. Digital health enthusiast. MBA student at IU Kelley School of Business
ABE JANIS
Abe has extensive experience in biomedical and medical device R&D, preclinical models, and clinical research. He has been awarded funding by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute and the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Orthopaedic Research Program. He has been granted over 20 patents and has authored over 80 presentations and manuscripts.
RENU KULKARNI
As a senior business executive and an ‘accidental academic’, Renu has spent 30 years working with leading organizations and academic institutions such as Motorola, Deloitte, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon at a time of massive growth and change in the industry and at Singularity University (a technology think-and-do-tank in Silicon Valley), the University of Chicago and Georgia Institute of Technology. Renu is actively involved in numerous non-profit and civic organizations whose mission is to advance science and education. Examples include serving as a Board of Regents of Loyola University Chicago, Chair of the Questions Committee of the Economic Club of Chicago, a Judge for the New Venture Business Challenge at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, on the Advisory Board of Illinois Tech’s College of Computing, on the Women’s Board of the Adler Planetarium and a Board Member for Pilot Light – a food education non-profit.
Carolyn Kuperman is a 29-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry with strong analytical skills and business acumen who excels at making connections between disparate ideas. Operating at the intersection of strategy, finance, and operations, Carolyn is most noted for articulating financial patterns and implications of business strategies and is seen as a collaborative business and financial leader who delivers solid results and drives value to broad constituencies. Carolyn has a passion for mentoring professionals, and developing world-class teams. Carolyn serves on the Board of The Center for Enriched Living.
RJ LASEK
RJ Lasek is a biopharmaceutical executive with extensive experience across therapeutic areas, functions, commercial models, and geographies. He is currently the Vice President of Commercial Operations and Analytics for Takeda Pharmaceuticals, where he is a member of the US executive leadership team. RJ is passionate about developing people and an inclusive culture, building new capabilities, and connecting patients with innovative therapies. He enjoys volunteering his time to several local charitable organizations.
MIKE LOQUERCIO
Mike has spent the majority of his career in the food and food packaging industry in supply chain & logistics, operations management and business systems implementations. He has worked for large public companies - Pactiv and Reynolds Consumer, and a smaller private equity firm D&W Fine Pack. In his spare time he likes to volunteer on nonprofit boards - IMEC, Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network, and the University of Illinois ISE alumni board along with community groups.
LORRAINE MARCHAND
Lorraine has held executive roles in the health care and pharmaceutical industry with Bristol-Myers Squibb, IQVIA, Covance and Cognizant Technologies. As a public servant, she has served as Director of The National Diabetes Education Program for the National Institutes of Health and was the 2014 recipient of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Hannah Penn Leadership Award.
20+ years experience in testing, professional services, and high volume manufacturing – successfully developing top-tier leadership talent and innovative strategies to achieve world-class financial results. Ben currently focuses on helping organizations accelerate their growth and overall performance as a high impact Senior Advisor, Board Member and Investor. Earlier in his career, Ben served as a President for UL (Underwriters Laboratories), Managing Director of Cummins Generator Technologies and as a Partner of Monitor Group. Past & existing Board Member for numerous for-proft and non-profit organizations.
Caroline Mooney is majoring in Communications with minor studies in Marketing and Psychology at Fordham University. She has developed a keen interest in the healthcare arena following a corporate internship position at a global pharmaceutical company. Her career aspirations include engagement in global awareness on health issues impacting society.
SUE MULLIGAN
Sue is a seasoned executive with 30 years of experience primarily in the startup space. She has served as CFO and held board positions for a number of companies across industries. As the founder and CEO of a financial services company, she has worked to raise millions of dollars for her clients. As the mother of five, she is passionate about protecting children in marginalized communities.
MIROSLAV PEEV MD
Dr. Peev is a Cardiothoracic Surgery fellow at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He is a board certified surgeon and completed his General Surgery residency at the New York University Medical Center in Manhattan, New York. Dr. Peev is a recipient of the prestigious Award for Outstanding Research by a house officer. He participated in the design, development and patent of Minimally Invasive New Technologies at the New York- Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. In addition, Dr. Peev completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School where he participated in the development and testing of the hemostatic ResQFoam – a project heavily funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Department of Defense.
Dr. Annice E. Fisher does not tie herself to a particular sector. She is the CEO and founder of The BEE FREE Woman and Developing CapacityCoaching, LLC. Dr. Fisher is a doctoral professor and certified mindset coach teaching individuals and teams how to use conscious leadership as a tool for healing themselves and advancing equity. This work spans across education, business, government, and the non-profit sectors. With more than 15 years of experience leading individuals, teams, and organizations through thechange process, Annice often serves as a writer, speaker, and panelist on topics related to leadership, DEI, mindset, gender equity, and entrepreneurship.
BEN MILLER
CAROLINE MOONEY
CAROLYN KUPERMAN
LYNN PETERS
Inspiring leader, influential communicator and self-starter. Known for leading high-performing teams of functional leaders, fostering a culture of cross-functional collaboration, empowerment and performance accountability.
CHARLOTTE PUSCASIU
Charlotte Puscasiu is a Franco-German-American majoring in Communication & Culture and French Studies at Fordham University. Aside from her work experience in Executive Recruiting and Customer Relationship Management, she is passionate about environmental justice and supporting students with learning-differences.
ANGELA ROSSETTI
Accomplished, effective and efficient senior biopharmaceutical executive. Successful within large cap pharmaceutical firms and biopharmaceutical entrepreneurships in multiple therapeutic areas including rare disease. Forte in business strategy formation and execution. Practical, hands-on experience in Canada, Europe, and Asia including commercial development, global and US marketing, multi-cultural communications. In-depth board service with public, private and philanthropic organizations including board committee service. Interest and training in bioethics; adjunct professor of Medical and Pharmaceutical Ethics at New York Medical College.
MIKE SCHILDKRAUT
Mike is pharmaceutical leader who has held positions in global and US marketing, early commercial development, sales, operations and business development. After a decade at Eli Lilly, Mike joined Takeda Pharmaceuticals in 2007 and is Vice President in the global commercial organization where he is responsible for a commercial operations platform and Global Product Teams. As a forward-thinking leader who creates a shared common purpose to drive results, he has been called upon to lead cross-divisional initiatives to transform operations as well as build and restructure organizations. Mike serves on the Board of the Sue Duncan Children’s Center.
CECILY TYLER
Award-winning producer, director and consultant of film and media, with strong business acumen. A communicator, storyteller, and connector, passionate about cultivating purpose, engagement and vision. A recognized expert in multiple countries working at the intersection of media, social change and innovation.
ALEXANDRA WEIBEL
Alexandra is an honors student at Syracuse University in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, pursuing a degree in Television, Radio, and Film. She has received recognition and scholarship for her academic and artistic endeavors, including the Newhouse Dean’s List, Invest in SUccess Scholarship, Illinois Global Scholar, and Hannah Paulsen Photography Legacy Scholarship.