Board of Directors

Robert Aguilar is an owner and the President of Cabrera Capital Markets LLC, a registered FINRA broker-dealer with 8 branches across the United States, and Cabrera Capital Partners, LLC, a registered investment advisor and real estate development and investment firm.

A native of Chicago, Robert holds a master’s degree in business administration from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Northern Illinois University. Robert has previously served as a member of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission’s Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies and as the Treasurer for the boards of each of La Rabida Children’s Hospital, Chicago United, and the Chicago Parks Foundation. Robert is currently serving on the Chicago Public Media Board and Chicago Blackhawks Society.

Piyush Chaudhari is the CEO of SGS & Co and the immediate past Board Chair of Chicago Public Media. He is a 25-year veteran in the professional services space. Before joining SGS & Co, Piyush was President of IRI where he oversaw a period of strong customer growth and client retention, having built enduring relationships with leading consumer companies and retailers. Before joining IRI, Piyush was a member of Aon Hewitt’s executive committee, involved in setting the firm’s direction and ensuring successful execution for its multi-national clients. Prior to Aon Hewitt, Piyush was with McKinsey & Co., where he focused on technology and technology strategy.

Piyush is an engineer with multiple U.S. patents and worked for many years at Motorola and IBM in product development and support before moving into consulting. Passionate about increasing the impact of organizations in Chicagoland, he is also a board member of Metropolitan Family Services and a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

In 1978, Howard Conant Jr. and his mother founded Urban Innovations and began redeveloping four buildings on North Wells Street in the Chicago neighborhood that has since become River North. Today, Urban Innovations employs fifty people and provides development, design, construction, property management and asset management to a portfolio of 15 properties located in Chicago and Milwaukee.

Howard and his family have proudly supported WBEZ and Chicago Public Media for over 25 years.

Raymond E. Crossman is a social justice advocate, educator, and psychologist who is among North America’s longest-serving university presidents. Across his tenure at Adler University, the institution grew from a psychology school enrolling less than 200 students to a graduate university preparing over 2,000 students in social justice practice disciplines. Following 20 years of service, Dr. Crossman recently announced that he will step down from the presidency of Adler University in September 2024.

He serves on several civic and professional boards, and he writes and teaches about leadership and diversity. He co-founded LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education, hosted its inaugural meeting in Chicago in 2010, chaired the first national conference for development of LGBTQ leaders in higher education in 2015 on the Chicago Campus of Adler, and co-chaired the growing advocacy organization from 2015 – 2018. In 2017, Dr. Crossman became the first university president to disclose his HIV status publicly, using his personal story to advocate for marginalized communities. Dr. Crossman received his B.S. (summa cum laude) in Psychology and Fine Arts from Fordham University, he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Temple University, and he studied at Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic.

Thomas Fisher is a board-certified emergency medicine physician at The University of Chicago, a Venture Chair at Redesign Health and the Author of The Emergency: A year of healing and heartbreak in a Chicago ER. In his 2022 book, published by One World, an imprint of Penguin Random House, he brings readers into the emergency department to reveal how society and healthcare shape our bodies causing unnecessary and unjust suffering. As a Venture Chair at Redesign Health, he uses these lessons to build new health care companies that improve care for all.

Over his career, he has worked to mend health care as an academic, health insurance executive, healthcare company creator and White House Fellow in the first term of the Obama administration. His path includes training as Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, being honored as a Crain’s Chicago Business 40 under 40 and fellowing in the Aspen Health Innovators Fellowship. For more than twenty years he has been an ED physician, serving the same South Side Chicago community where he was raised.

Bill Gee is co-founder of the Manaaki Foundation and a long time supporter of Chicago Public Media. In addition to his serving on the board of CPM, he has also participated on the board of Mother Jones, ProPublica’s Leadership Council and works closely with The Trace and Global Press Institute.

Before embarking on his philanthropic path, Bill owned and operated a Chicago-based commercial baking business for 30 years. This experience fuels his sincere appreciation for CPM’s focus on covering local issues that directly affected his business, his community and the political landscape throughout the years.

Bill is also an advocate for advancing socially responsible investing principles as it relates to both personal and philanthropic fronts. Although Bill is a life long Chicagoan, he and his Australian wife Sue Crothers, consider Sydney their second home.

Ambassador (ret.) Bruce Heyman is the co-founder of Uncharted LLC, which convenes and connects diverse groups of Americans and Canadians for impact. There, he combines his political, economic, and charitable experience to work on projects involving philanthropy, storytelling, and political activism. He is also the co-author, with his wife Vicki Heyman, of “The Art of Diplomacy: Strengthening the Canada-U.S. Relationship in Times of Uncertainty,” which highlights the extraordinary country of Canada and takes an in-depth look at why diplomacy matters now more than ever. Most recently, he served as the United States Ambassador to Canada under President Barack Obama. Ambassador Heyman is a 33-year veteran of Goldman Sachs, where he served as partner and managing director in the Chicago office.

Roger C. Hochschild most recently served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Discover Financial Services. Mr. Hochschild joined Discover in 1998. Prior to assuming responsibilities as President and Chief Operating Officer in 2004, he was Chief Administrative and Strategic Officer of Morgan Stanley, Discover’s then-parent company, for three years. Before coming to Discover, Mr. Hochschild worked for MBNA America and the consulting firm Booz-Allen & Hamilton.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Mr. Hochschild serves on the board of directors for Metropolitan Family Services and Chicago Public Media and is on the Advisory Board of the Tuck School of Business. He is also a member of the board of directors for Principal Financial Group. In 2022, he became co-chair of the Corporate Coalition of Chicago, an alliance of companies pledging to use their assets and capabilities to address inequities in the greater Chicago region.

Adrienne King leads the Talent function for the Americas region at Bain & Company where she has worked for over thirty years. In this role, she oversees employee engagement and retention, DEI and HR operations for employees in the region.

Adrienne started in a client service role in Bain’s Boston office after graduating from Yale University. She later went on to earn her MBA from Stanford. As a Consultant Adrienne worked in a variety of industries including telecommunications, consumer packaged goods, and financial services. After fifteen years serving clients directly, Adrienne moved into an internal role leading office operations and talent for the Chicago office, eventually growing into the regional role that she currently holds.

Outside of Bain, Adrienne is Vice Chair of the Board for Chicago Public Media and is Chair of the Board for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Lerry Knox is the CEO of Unplugged Capital (UPC). UPC is a private equity/debt focused merchant bank and SEC/MSRB registered Municipal Advisor that specializes in special situation investment infrastructure assets.

Lerry is a former Naval Officer and nuclear engineer with the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (Naval Reactors) and a former infrastructure investment banker with Loop Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs.

Lerry is a licensed Professional Engineer and received his BS in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He also has an MS equivalency in Nuclear Engineering from the Navy’s Postgraduate Bettis Reactor Engineering School, an MBA from the University of Illinois, and a Law degree from the University of Illinois.

Charles Ashby Lewis is chairman of the Lewis-Sebring Family Foundation and Managing General Partner of Coach House Capital, his family office. He is a retired Vice Chairman, Investment Banking, of Merrill Lynch & Co.

Chuck was educated at Amherst College and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He received honorary degrees from Grinnell College and Amherst.

Chuck was a Trustee of the University of Chicago. He helped to create the UChicago Urban Education Institute (UEI) and is a life member of the College Advisory Council. He is a Life Trustee of Amherst and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago and was a Trustee of the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.

Chuck was a member of the National Finance Committee for both Obama presidential campaigns and has written numerous commentaries called “Obamagrams.”

He is married to Penny Bender Sebring, PhD, the Co-Founder of the UChicago Consortium on School Research, a principal component of UEI. They have three children and five grandchildren.

Chuck and Penny have jointly received awards from the McGaw YMCA; the Second Baptist Church of Evanston; OneGoal; and the Golden Apple Foundation, and they received the key to the City of Evanston. He is a member of the Shaker High School (Latham, N.Y.) Sports Hall of Fame.

Dr. Nivine Megahed has worked in higher education for over thirty-five years. As an educational entrepreneur her passion is building innovative student centered organizations focused on student success and empowering our most marginalized populations to achieve social and economic mobility through education.

Since 2010, Megahed has served as the 11th president of National Louis University, a 137-year-old institution recognized for its leadership in professional preparation across a broad set of disciplines, and for its commitment to closing the post-secondary attainment gap through cost effective scalable models of education.

Dr. Megahed earned her bachelor degree in psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her master and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology were earned at the University of Rochester.

She serves as the Finance and Investment Committee Chair for Chicago Public Media; Vice Chair, Partnership for College Completion and is a Fellow for Complete College America. She is the former Board Chair of University of Arizona Global Campus. Dr. Megahed is also a member of The Chicago Network, The Economic Club of Chicago and The Commercial Club. She has been sought out internationally to present on issues related to the democratization of education, women in leadership, innovation in education and closing the achievement gap.

Lisa Morrison Butler is Executive Vice President and Chief Impact Officer at Results for America. Lisa previously served as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Family & Support Services in two mayoral administrations. During her tenure, she led organizational transformation aimed at greater overall impact, overhauling the department’s approach to contracting and improving performance, embedding a focus on outcomes across seven program divisions and encompassing 60 program models.

Earlier in her career, Lisa held senior positions in the non-profit and private sectors.

Lisa holds a B.S. degree from Indiana University and pursued post-graduate studies at the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

Kedra Newsom is Partner and Managing Director in the Chicago office of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Kedra joined BCG Chicago in 2009 and has served clients across many sectors and functions. She holds deep experience and expertise in the intersection of people, operations and technology. Her work has focused on the design and implementation of strategic operating models in asset management, education and social services. At BCG, she also serves as a member of the Global Asset Management Leadership Team, a Center for Illinois’ Future Board Member and the Great Lakes Black & Latinx Network Lead.

Before joining BCG, Kedra worked at Merrill Lynch as a software developer/architect and project manager in Enterprise Data and as an enterprise IT strategist. Kedra earned her MBA from the Harvard Business School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Kedra serves on the founding governing board for America Needs You Illinois and volunteers in education in various capacities.

Robert Pasin heads Radio Flyer Inc., the business founded by his grandfather in 1917. Radio Flyer is an iconic brand that holds a special place in people’s hearts because it instantly transports them to a happy time — to the best parts of childhood. Robert works with a team of “FUNomenal Flyers” whose mission is to create products that bring smiles to kids of all ages and create warm memories that last a lifetime. He is devoted to making his company a “best place to work,” and cultivating a culture infused with fun that ultimately drives innovative, award-winning results. This commitment to making Radio Flyer FUNomenal resulted in B Corp Certification and led to breakthrough business outcomes, with company sales growing by 10X thanks to Robert’s focus on building a highly committed and creative team. Robert reinvented the business which now expands well beyond the iconic Little Red Wagon™ to include tricycles, scooters, ride-ons, electric vehicles, strollers, and the Tesla Model S for Kids. Most recently the company launched the FLYER™ Line of electric bikes and scooters for adults. Robert is also the Emmy-winning producer of the animated short film, Taking Flight.

In 1991, Robert earned his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Notre Dame, where he served as student body president. After graduation, Robert taught 6th grade in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood through the Amate House Young Adult Volunteer Program. In 1997, Robert completed his M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

An avid runner and hiker, Robert has completed numerous marathons and is always up for a great hike, run, or bike ride with his wife, four children and friends.

Julian Posada is an operationally-focused serial entrepreneur professional with over 25 years of experience creating and executing strategies to maximize enterprise value in both the private and social impact sectors. He is currently founder and President of LiftUp Enterprises, a for profit holding company that focuses on both economic and social outcomes of low-income individuals. Prior, he was COO of TRP where he focused on the core operations including Marketing, Community Ownership, IT, and Property Management. He was also President and CEO of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club where he was responsible for the day-to-day operations serving as the top Fire business executive leading the strategic planning and overall management of the club. He has worked in media with senior level roles at both The Tribune Company at Hoy Newspaper as well as The Chicago Sun-Times the Reader and his own start-up Café Media.

Posada has served on numerous non-profit boards over his career. Currently, he sits on the boards of the Chicago Public Media (WBEZ), EDLI, Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), and The Otho S. A. Sprague Memorial Institute. He has received several awards and recognitions for his business achievements and community service including being a McCormick Tribune Media Fellow (2006), winner of Presstime’s 20 under 40 (2007), and Streewise’s 20 Most Inspiring Chicagoans (2020) He earned an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.S. from Michigan State University.

Paul M. Rand is the vice president of communication for the University of Chicago. He leads the development of strategic and digital communications in support of academic programs, University initiatives and institutional priorities. Rand has direct oversight of the Office of Communications and UChicago Creative, and supporting oversight of communications at Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Laboratory and UChicago Medicine.

Before joining the University, Rand was Chairman at Critical Mass/Zócalo (a division of Omnicom Group). He founded and led two successful agencies: Corporate Technology Communications, one of the nation’s largest independent public relations firms, and Zócalo Group, a full-service digital and social media agency. Both agencies were acquired by Omnicom Group. Rand was also the co-founder and president of the Capable Kid Counseling Centers, a nationally recognized system of outpatient mental health counseling centers, ultimately acquired by National Medical Enterprises.

In addition to his professional role, Rand is a trustee of Chicago Public Media and participates in several civic organizations including the Economic Club of Chicago and the Executive Club of Chicago. He is a member of Ivy+ and serves on the advisory board for the American Association of Universities (AAU).

Matt Richardson serves as an advocate for LJC’s people, their career paths, and firm culture. As a member of LJC’s executive leadership team, his focus is on integrating LJC’s operations with parent company Clayco and its enterprise of companies. He collaborates with Clayco peers and LJC colleagues in orchestrating LJC’s recruiting, hiring, and internship programs. Matt organizes annual leadership appointments and performance review processes while working with the executive leadership team to help facilitate compensation reviews and conversations. He is a liaison to the Culture Core Council’s Talent and EE:DI (Engagement-Equity-Diversity-Inclusion) Committees, advising these on their key initiatives. Matt also collaborates with the President, CEO, and Executive Chairman on special projects that sustain and advance the organization. He champions LJC’s culture, especially its values of integrity, humility, and fearlessness; and is a proponent of the firm’s broad-based community engagement efforts. He is honored to represent LJC as a Board Member for Chicago Public Media and WBEZ-Chicago.

Bill Rudnick serves on Cresset’s senior leadership team as Executive Managing Director, Chief Legal Officer. Bill has decades of experience counseling and representing entrepreneurial clients and advising on legal and business matters, including growth strategy, corporate and family governance, strategic planning, succession planning, and technology.

In the community, Bill dedicates much of his time to civic and charitable endeavors, and sits on the board of various family offices and family-owned businesses. In addition to his work with Chicago Public Media, Bill has been active in food banking for more than three decades, chairing the boards of directors of The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Feeding America, and The Global FoodBanking Network, which he co-founded. He is also a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and YPO Gold. Bill has received the Executive Leader Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Founder Award from the Greater Chicago Food Depository, and the Civic Leadership Award from Streetwise.

Bill received his BA, cum laude, in Philosophy from Tufts University, his JD from the Pritzker School of Law, Northwestern University, and his MBA, with honors, from the Booth School of Management, The University of Chicago. Bill and his wife, Lisa, have five children.

Bernardo Sichel serves as Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Shutterfly Inc. He was most recently a partner at McKinsey & Company where he led their consumer work in North America with a focus on strategy and corporate finance. He formerly led their consumer projects in Spanish-speaking Latin America for five years before moving to the United States. Bernardo is passionate about growth transformation and business building in the Consumer and Technology sectors as well as Latino economic development topics. He is based in and committed to a better Chicago.

Jessica Sieja is a wife, mother, philanthropist, and investor. She is the Founder of Alta Futures, an impact platform that provides grants and investments backing the best people and ideas improving our community, our country, and our planet. Alta Futures focuses on our local community in Chicago, improving US Democracy, and making investments to reduce the pace of climate change to help achieve our net zero ambitions.

David Sinski is the Executive Director of Heartland Human Care Services, the largest subsidiary of Heartland Alliance, the leading human rights, anti-poverty organization in the Midwest. As Executive Director, Mr. Sinski oversees a number of comprehensive program areas, including housing, healthcare, jobs, and justice. These programs serve a wide variety of clients, including individuals and families experiencing homelessness, justice involved youth, immigrants and refugees, and survivors of trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

Mr. Sinski joined Heartland in October 2012 from many years of experience working in leadership roles at After School Matters, Alternatives, Inc. and Mujeres Latinas en Acción. In addition to having served as a Trustee on the Board of Adler University, Mr. Sinski is currently on the boards of Illinois Partners for Human Services and Travelers Aid International.

Mr. Sinski holds an M.A. in Guidance and Counseling from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. He completed the Third Sector Interim Executives Academy in 2020 and is certified in Facilitating Transformation through Values by Corporate Evolution.

As CEO of The Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education Group (The CAFE Group), Liz Thompson is deeply engaged in the social innovation and philanthropic communities. The CAFE Group provides financial and programmatic support to Leaders of Color whose proximity to current and historic challenges in education allows them to influence philanthropic decisions and create meaningful and relevant solutions. By leveraging lived experiences and the genius within our communities, The CAFE Group creates a glidepath from College Intern to Established Leader designed to catalyze lasting systemic change.

Most recently, Liz received an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology where she was the commencement speaker for the graduating class of 2023. She was recognized as an inaugural Crain’s Chicago Business’ Women of Note and is a member of the distinguished Aspen Institute’s Pahara Fellowship. She has received the Chicago Public Media’s Amplifier Award, YWCA Chicago’s Community Leadership Award, the Outstanding Community Leader Award from The Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Dream Builders Award from the Chicago Child Care Society, and the John J. Dugan Award from OneGoal. She was featured in Make It Better Magazine as one of Chicago’s Top Black Women of Impact. She has appeared as a keynote speaker for the Grantmaker’s for Education Conference, The Walton Family Foundation, the National Center on Family Philanthropy, the Forefront Annual Luncheon, the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, and the Chicago Venture Summit.

Laura Van Peenan is Managing Director, Global Head of Alternative Private Equity for William Blair’s Investment Banking Group. She also chairs the firm’s Community Impact Steering Committee and is a founding member of the firm’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Council. In addition to Chicago Public Media, Laura is also a member of the boards of The University of Chicago Charter School, MAPSCorps, EarthHeart Foundation, HFS Chicago Scholars and The University of Chicago Women’s Board.

Laura received her AB from Duke University and her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. She has two young adult daughters.

Andrea Wishom is President of Skywalker Holdings where her responsibilities include the fiduciary, philanthropic, and creative aspects of a diversified family office. With a distinguished career as an award-winning veteran media executive spanning over two decades, she has emerged as a leader at the intersection of media and technology. She has been instrumental in launching and developing some of the most successful programming in television history for The Oprah Winfrey Show and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. As Executive Vice President Ms. Wishom played a key role in leading OWN to become a top 30 network within its first year and the #1 Cable Network among African American Women.

Ms. Wishom is the lead independent director at Pinterest and serves as a director for Tory Burch LLC. She previously served on the board of Nextdoor Holdings Inc. She serves on many civic boards, including The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, The Tory Burch Foundation and is on the Advisory board of The U.C. Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.