Bettina Chang is the co-founder and co-executive director of City Bureau, a civic journalism lab based in Chicago focused on community engagement, participatory journalism and racial equity. City Bureau runs the Documenters program in Chicago, where we train and pay community members to attend government meetings and take notes for the public record. Previously, Chang served as executive digital editor at Chicago magazine, news editor at DNAinfo Chicago and associate editor at Pacific Standard magazine. She lives in Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood with her partner Darryl and large-headed dog Wolly.

As curator of religion and community history at the Chicago History Museum, Rebekah Coffman explores the central role of religion in shaping Chicago’s history and culture. In her work, Coffman explores connections between religious identity and our historic landscape. She has a wealth of knowledge in collections acquisition and research and has curated exhibitions, including the Religion, Art and Technology Lab’s digital series "Tangible/Intangible." As Ehlers Curatorial Fellow at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, she researched for and worked on exhibitions such as their 2014 groundbreaking exhibition "Sacred." Her graduate research centered on the adaptive reuse of religious buildings with an emphasis on their use as multicultural, interfaith spaces. She is a passionate believer in and advocate for the preservation and interpretation of local heritage through community-centered approaches.

Dr. Brenda Dixon is president and founder of Major Taylor Trail Keepers Chicago (MTTKC), a nonprofit dedicated to improving the well-being of neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side. The organization stewards the Major Taylor Trail, the longest rail-trail in Chicago. Dixon’s work at MTTKC involves collaborating with community leaders to drive engagement in South Side neighborhoods. She has over 20 years of experience in youth and community advocacy, education and research. Throughout her career, which includes time as a research and evaluation officer at the Illinois State Board of Education, Dixon has pioneered many new implementations and organizational “firsts.” Dixon has a doctorate in educational administration from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor’s in economics from the University of Massachusetts.

Deborah D. Douglas is director of the newly created Midwest Solutions Journalism Hub and a senior lecturer at Northwestern University. She is a founding co-editor in chief of The Emancipator, a digital platform that reimagines abolitionist newspapers for a new day. She previously served as the Eugene S. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Professor at DePauw University. Douglas is author of “U.S. Civil Rights Trail: A Traveler’s Guide to the People, Places, and Events That Made the Movement,” the first-ever travel guide to follow the official civil rights trail in the South. She is among 90 contributors to “Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019.” Among her many recognitions, Douglas received the Society of American Travel Writers 2021 Guidebook of the Year. A product of the Great Migration, Deborah D. Douglas is Northern-born and Southern-rooted. 

Raquel Flores-Clemons is the head of the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection, a unit of the Archives and Special Collections division of Chicago Public Library and the largest African American history and literature collection in the Midwest. She serves as vice-chairperson for the Black Metropolis Research Consortium, an association of archival institutions that provides broad access to its members’ holdings of materials that document African American and African diasporic culture, history and politics, with a specific focus on Chicago-related materials. An advocate for equity and access, Flores-Clemons is passionate about connecting communities and organizers to valuable primary resources and intentional in ensuring that historical gaps are filled by documenting and amplifying the often-underrepresented historical narratives and contributions of BIPOC communities. Flores-Clemons received a master of library and information science with a special collections certification and bachelor's in liberal arts and sciences from theUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and she also studied at Howard University.

Ben Helphand has a more than 20-year career focusing on mechanisms for communities to have a direct hand in the creation and stewardship of the built environment. He is the co-founder of the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail, an all-volunteer, community-based organization formed in 2002 to advocate for the conversion of the underused Bloomingdale rail embankment into the Bloomingdale Trail Park, a nearly three-mile-long elevated park and trail that opened in 2015. Helphand is also executive director of NeighborSpace, a nonprofit urban land trust that preserves and sustains more than 130 community-managed open spaces throughout Chicago, including neighborhood farms, allotment gardens, nature play areas and native habitats. He has been named a Chicago Community Trust Emerging Leader Fellow and a Next City Vanguard. He teaches urban and community agriculture at DePaul University and serves as a board member for the Chicago Housing Trust and Grow Greater Englewood.

Justine Ingram is a Chicago native and founder of HP Skate Meetup, a roller skate meetup based in Humboldt Park. She organizes events alongside her co-organizer Jessica Maldonado. Ingram founded the group in 2020 after working from home prompted a rekindled interest in skating. The group’s mission is to use skating as a liaison for community building by creating safe, accessible and inclusive recreational spaces. The organization also aims to be a platform for co-elevation of local businesses and skate organizations. During the colder months, the group partners with Chicago Park District, Garfield Park Advisory Council and the West Side Cultural Arts Council to skate indoors at the Garfield Park Gold Dome. Typically held once a month, these free meetups are open to all ages and levels.

Over her 11-year tenure as president and CEO, Bonnie McDonald has led Landmarks Illinois to become a statewide and national voice for relevant change at an inflection point for the preservation movement. The James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation awarded McDonald its 2020 Mid-Career Fellowship to inform, inspire and support preservation’s evolution through The Relevancy Project, a four-year interview and research initiative culminating in the recently published Relevancy Guidebook. Her policy work to incent preservation has led to over $6 billion in investment in existing buildings and over 30,000 new jobs. From 2018-21, McDonald chaired the board of the National Preservation Partners Network, and she currently serves as an appointee to the State of Illinois Route 66 Centennial Commission. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot appointed her co-chair of the Chicago Monuments Project Advisory Committee in 2020. McDonald and Landmarks Illinois proudly received the AIA Chicago Distinguished Service Award in December 2022. She holds a bachelor’s in art history from the University of Minnesota and a master’s in historic preservation planning from Cornell University.

Caroline O’Boyle has more than 35 years of experience as a leader and partnership broker in the arts, parks and open space sectors. At Trust for Public Land, she leads both regional and neighborhood projects that seek to improve community health and quality of life by increasing access to outdoor green space.

Aylen Pacheco is an architectural designer with a passion for equity in community development. During university, her passion for inclusive design led her to co-found Human Scale, a design-build nonprofit with the goal of using architecture to make a positive impact in underserved communities in Chicago. Pacheco’s interest in community-led projects also led her to join Beehyyve as an associate partner, a role in which she develops design and construction documents for high-rise, adaptive reuse, commercial and affordable housing projects. Throughout her career, Pacheco has worked with various architecture and development firms such as Studio Gang, Related Midwest and Gensler. As a young woman in architecture, Pacheco aims to bridge the gap between innovative design and socially just urban development.

Jen Sabella is co-founder and executive editor of Block Club Chicago. Before starting Block Club, Sabella was deputy editor and director of social media at DNAinfo Chicago, a site she helped launch in 2012. Before joining DNAinfo, Sabella was HuffPost’s Chicago editor and a breaking news reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times. Sabella also co-hosted The Girl Talk, a monthly conversation series and podcast featuring influential Chicago women. She lives on the South Side, not too far from where she grew up, with her wife and an excessive number of cats.

A native Chicagoan, Victor Salvo has been an activist for four decades. He’s helped establish several political advocacy groups and two charitable service-provider agencies, worked on numerous electoral campaigns, co-founded two professional associations and served on several boards. As co-founder and executive director of the award-winning Legacy Project, Salvo works to educate the public about the many roles LGBTQ people have played in the advancement of world history and culture. Through the Legacy Walk, the world’s only outdoor LGBTQ history museum and a Chicago historic landmark; The Legacy Project Education Initiative, the foundation of Illinois’ new LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum; and the Legacy Wall, a digitally interactive traveling installation, Salvo and the Legacy Project are committed to challenging the social and cultural marginalization that leads to demonization and bullying of LGBTQ people in society, especially youth. He was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 1998.

L. Anton Seals Jr., a South Shore native, is a multidimensional servant leader, organizer, entrepreneur, educator, community connector and impact producer. Seals is the lead steward (executive director) of Grow Greater Englewood, a social enterprise focusing on building an equitable and resilient local food system that fosters protections of vacant land in divested communities and connects residents with community wealth-building opportunities. Seals is a 2018 Next City Vanguard Fellow and 2010 German Marshall Fellow. He serves as a trustee for Woods Fund Chicago, a board member for Chicago Food Policy Action Council and Friends of the Park and chair of the South Shore Works Planning and Preservation Coalition. Seals is an asset-based community development institute trainer and has advised organizers, civic leaders and corporate and philanthropic organizations to push for a more racially just society.

Sasha-Ann Simons is an award-winning journalist and the host of WBEZ’s Reset, a daily midday talk show from Chicago’s NPR station. She comes to the Windy City from Washington’s NPR station, WAMU, where she was a program host, regularly behind the mic on newscasts and talk shows. Simons was also a national reporter, focused on issues of race, identity and economic mobility. Her accolades include a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, a Radio Feature award from the National Association of Black Journalists and multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. Simons has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ryerson University and studied film and television production at American University.

Hac Tran is an urban planner, community development professional and cultural producer born in Chicago. He holds a bachelor’s in political science from DePaul University and a master’s in urban planning and policy from University of Illinois Chicago. Tran is currently the cultural and communications manager at the Uptown Chamber of Commerce and co-founder of HAIBAYÔ, a creative cultural arts business that aims to energize the historic Asia on Argyle corridor through innovative cross-cultural, multi-generational collaborations. HAIBAYÔ has received several City grants, most recently to open a multi-use botanical retail and cultural event space on Argyle in 2024. Tran has been featured in WTTW’s Chicago by ‘L’ series, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Vocalo Radio’s Chi Sounds Like series, and he’s contributed to Infatuation Chicago. He has been a panelist for Choose Chicago and the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.

Amanda Williams is an artist who uses color and architecture to explore the intersection of race and the built environment. Her works visualize the ways urban planning and disinvestment impact the lives of everyday citizens, particularly African Americans. Williams has an ongoing practice of elevating seemingly mundane objects and spaces to a renewed status of importance. Williams’ recent public projects include "Redefining Redlining," where she planted 100,000 red tulips across several vacant lots in the shape of the houses that once stood; calling attention to racist home-lending practices; and "Other Washingtons," an intervention that obscures a statue of George Washington by mounting a large scaffold full of placards that highlight the biographies of historically significant Black Washingtons, but also everyday citizens who carry this Blackest surname in America. Williams is co-author of a forthcoming permanent monument to Shirley Chisholm in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

Annette Anderson is Friends of the Chicago River’s volunteer, event and canoe program manager. She graduated with a degree in history from the University of South Florida and is currently studying for a master’s in sustainable management at the University of Wisconsin. Her experience in community organizing, event management and paddling allows Friends to provide meaningful experiences with a lasting impact. She organizes Friends’ largest annual volunteer event, Chicago River Day, to engage people in improving river habitat, and she oversees the canoe program. Anderson focuses on providing equitable programming throughout the watershed, working with community leaders, reaching out to volunteers and addressing the unique needs and opportunities of each community. Now in her sixth year with Friends, Anderson continues to grow her contributions to the team by crafting compelling strategies and messaging as well as assisting with grant writing and reporting.

A Mexico City native, Romina Castillo has always been fascinated by urban communities and their relationship with the built environment. She is a graduate from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a master’s in urban planning and a bachelor’s in architecture. For the last 10 years, Romina has collaborated closely with Chicago communities focusing on equitable mobility, coalition-building and inclusive community engagement practices. In 2022, she joined the Chicago Department of Transportation as its first director of outreach and engagement, where she coordinates citywide engagement forums, manages the SAFE Ambassadors team, develops and implements best engagement practices and builds partnerships with stakeholders to support equitable and safe mobility initiatives and projects across the city. 

Val Free is a seasoned professional with a diverse career trajectory that spans over 20 years in corporate America before transitioning to community organizing in her neighborhood. With a strong passion for community and a commitment to fostering positive change, Free has dedicated the past decade of her life to building and strengthening communities. Her leadership and impact are evident in Chicago’s South Shore, whether serving as a community organizer or assuming the role of founder/CEO of the Neighborhood Network Alliance. Free has consistently demonstrated her exceptional talent for establishing partnerships, and her innate ability to bring people together and create a sense of unity has driven community growth and development. 

Yaritza Guillen is an urban planner, storyteller and unapologetic optimist with a strong focus on interdisciplinary practices, community-based design and story mapping. She has worked with nonprofits and designers to educate institutions on effective ways to collaborate with BIPOC communities on the South and West sides. She engages with multiple projects in an expanded capacity as a cultural producer and community planner. She produced Nuestra Herencia: Legacy Film Project, where she documented elders from her community and the positive effect green spaces had on them throughout the pandemic. She currently works as the stewardship coordinator at NeighborSpace.

Becky Lyons joined Friends of the Chicago River in April 2022 as director of equity and engagement. She leads all education and outreach programming, as well as the organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion work. Her focus is on building community and connecting people with nature in equitable ways. Lyons is an environmental educator and urban planner born and raised in Chicago, with a master’s degree in urban planning and policy from University of Illinois Chicago. She spent ten years in education at Lincoln Park Zoo and most recently worked for UIC's Freshwater Lab, where she launched the Backward River Festival to promote resource sharing and inspire a reimagining of and reconnection to the Chicago River.

Dr. Angelique Orr is an international psychologist and a learning and development professional with nearly three decades of experience. She is certified as higher education faculty and as a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practitioner. Dr. Orr has helped develop several initiatives in the United States and Cape Town, South Africa, including university-based initiatives for alcohol and drug prevention, violence prevention, leadership development, community organizing, political campaigns and coalition efforts that led to legislation and funding for Chicago’s South and West Side communities. Dr. Orr also served as a governor-appointed board member and committee chair for a nationally acclaimed Illinois diversion program. Currently, Dr. Orr is the director of Westside Rising, a nonprofit that works to engage West Side communities. Through her consulting firm, The PhoenixX Institute, Dr. Orr designs and administers training, DEI, and other learning and development tools that have impacted thousands of individuals. She serves as the curriculum designer, assessment and training administrator for the Community Leadership Fellows initiative. Dr. Orr is intentional about integrating passion projects into her activities. She enjoys traveling, dancing, acting, painting, home improvement, and spending time with her daughters, family, and friends.

Natalie Perkins is a vibrant advocate committed to helping neighborhoods discover the beauty and potential of built community through enhanced green and public programming. She’s used her passion for art, engagement and outreach to help bring people together in South Shore. She has worked diligently over the last eight years as the volunteer education coordinator at the South Merrill Community Garden, providing inclusive, experiential and exciting programmatic activation for the garden community. Currently, Natalie works as a senior steward for NeighborSpace urban land trust.

Juan Teague is an entrepreneur, activist and connector of people. Her natural interpersonal skills and business savvy have made her an effective social and civic leader throughout Chicagoland. Since 2009, Teague has operated her own production and events company, Juan & Only, producing and co-producing large-scale festivals and working to bring entertainment to predominantly Black communities in Chicago. Teague is a member of the National Independent Venue Association and the National Association for Catering and Events. She is also a mentor for students in the Grammy U program at New York University and Columbia College. Through her business Washington West, Teague partners with small Black- and Brown-owned businesses, connecting them with financial investors and other capital resources.

Alderman Bill Conway is a lifelong Chicagoan, Navy veteran, and former prosecutor now representing Chicago’s 34th Ward, which encompasses parts of the Loop, West Loop, South Loop, Greektown, and Little Italy. Conway serves on City Council’s committees on Budget and Government Operations, Environmental Protection and Energy, License and Consumer Protection, Special Events, Transportation and Public Way, and Zoning, and is the vice-chair of the Committee on Finance. Conway has been a reserve intelligence officer in the Navy since 2012. He was deployed with Air Force Central Command to Qatar and Afghanistan in 2017-18 and most recently to U.S. European Command Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, in 2021. He was recently promoted to Lieutenant Commander and is the only active military reservist in the City Council’s history. Conway previously worked as a prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office where he put violent offenders in jail, secured justice for victims of crime, and spent three years in the Public Corruption & Financial Crimes unit. Conway holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, a law degree from Georgetown University and a B.S. in accounting from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Bill was born in Chicago, raised on the North Side, and has lived downtown nearly his entire life. Conway and his wife Brittany are raising their three young daughters in the 34th Ward. He formerly ran Green Street Renewables LLC, a solar development company that helps schools and others develop solar solutions for their energy needs. He is an adjunct professor at DePaul University where he teaches renewable energy finance.

Chicago Votes is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization building a more inclusive democracy by putting power in the hands of young Chicagoans. They engage and develop a new generation of leaders by opening the doors of government and politics to young people from all corners of the city. Chicago Votes is changing laws to make Chicago and Illinois a better place to be young and, in the process, making democracy FUN. 

William Estrada is an arts educator and multidisciplinary artist. His art and teaching are a collaborative discourse that critically re-examines public and private spaces with people to engage in radical imagination. He has presented in various panels regarding community programming, arts integration and social justice curricula. He is currently a faculty member at the UIC School of Art and Art History and a teaching artist at Telpochcalli Elementary School. Estrada is engaging in collaborative work with the Mobilize Creative Collaborative, Chicago ACT Collective and Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative. His current research is focused on developing community-based and culturally relevant projects that center power structures of race, economy and cultural access in contested spaces that provide a space to collectively imagine just futures. “Multiples and Multitudes,” his first solo exhibition encompassing various works of art over the last 20 years, is currently on display at the Hyde Park Center until October 29. 

Kuumba Lynx believes in developing healthy hearts, minds and bodies that will in turn create strong, community foundations of love. The Kuumba Lynx Performance Ensemble presents, promotes and preserves hip hop-influenced narratives as a tool to reimagine and practice a more just world. These emerging artists seek to bring a variety of performers together to discover the complexity of their differences and to state their hope for a liberated future. The works presented, be they painful, bittersweet or comedic, are performed within the context of a community working toward transformation. 

Son Monarcas is a Latin folk fusion ensemble led by Mercedes Inez and Irekani Ferreyra. Like that of the monarch butterfly, they take you on a musical migration from the U.S. to Latin America by fusing indie soul with traditional son & cumbia. Son Monarcas comprises musicians and educators who are well-versed in the Afro-Mestizo genres of folk music from Latin America and blend the traditional with the contemporary by creating original pieces with the influence of various folk styles.