Christyn S. Freemon is the founder and Chief Solutionist of Project Forward, a tech enabled commercial corridor development venture firm in Chicago, IL. Project Forward’s clients include various participants in the neighborhood real estate development ecosystem: emerging and established developers, funders and financial intermediaries. Her company has a target of securing $500M for 100 developments in underserved markets from 2022- 2028.

The revitalization projects that she works on include commercial corridor development, place making, adaptive reuse developments and program development for public/private partnerships. Ms. Freemon has helped her clients and partners secure over $100M in funding, including non extractive capital in the last 3 years.

As an advocate for community wealth building, Ms. Freemon is developing a community investment vehicle on the Westside of Chicago, allowing for more inclusive participation in real estate investment. Christyn has conducted numerous trainings and facilitations for for the likes of LISC (Chicago Milwaukee), Chicago Urban League, The Federal Reserve of Cleveland, The Federal Reserve of Chicago, Community Indicators Conference, TechCodes, REEX, Project REAP, Chicago Association of Realtors and others.

A graduate of Northwestern University, Ms. Freemon has participated in various task forces for the City of Chicago and Cook County, Illinois and nationally; she’s a Commissioner for the Social Innovation Commission of Cook County, and founding member of the Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative and founding member of Economic Justice League, an organization dedicated to fighting economic violence nationally.

Cathriona Fey is VP, Clean Energy Production & Manufacturing at the Illinois Economic Development Corporation. Prior to joining Illinois EDC, Cathriona worked in urban planning consulting and commercial real estate. She completed a fellowship with World Business Chicago supporting the Chicago Anchors for a Strong Economy (CASE ) initiative and interned for the Trust for Public Land as they began the conversion and development of the Bloomingdale Trail, also known as the 606.

Cathriona received both her Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Urban Planning degrees with a focus in Economic Development and Environmental Planning from the University of Iowa. Born and raised in Chicago, Cathriona resides in the city with her husband and two daughters.

Stefanie Hest is a Senior Director at the Corporate Coalition. She oversees the Corporate Coalition's work to create an equity fund for neighborhood development as well as the Invest Together initiative to bring more jobs to neighborhoods in collaboration with Just Act Partners in addition to setting our membership engagement strategy. She brings extensive experience in financial services to the Coalition. Prior to joining, Stefanie was a Senior Vice President at Northern Trust, where she focused on investment solutions for institutional clients in addition and led the Women’s Leadership Development initiatives. She currently serves as the Board Chair for Chicago-based nonprofit Share Our Spare.

Kelwin Harris is the Chief Civic Engagement Officer and Deputy Assessor with the Cook County Assessor’s Office, where he leads public participation and stakeholder outreach for the 1.9 million property owners in Cook County. Kelwin was previously a Senior Outreach Planner with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) where he led outreach for Chicago's official regional plan, ON TO 2050, and provided technical assistance to help communities find more equitable solutions to improve the quality of life of residents. Before CMAP, Kelwin held several roles in community development on Chicago’s Southside, including serving as Director of Social Services for St. Sabina Church and Catholic Charities. Kelwin started his career in Chicago in government relations as an Assistant to Mayor Richard M. Daley, where he managed the city’s public housing and human capital departments.

Kelwin holds a Bachelor of Science in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University, a Master in Urban Planning degree from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a Professional Certificate in Municipal Finance from The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He currently serves on the Boards of The Historic Pullman Foundation and MIKVA Challenge.

Casey McCormick, Founder and CEO of McCormick Compliance Consulting, a Milrose Company, has over 24 years of experience as an entrepreneur and is a leading authority in the USA on municipal approvals processes and construction permitting. Casey has managed over $25B+ in construction projects throughout his career. He has perfected a high-service model to keep projects ahead of schedule and teams updated on projects of all sizes. From tenant improvements to mega-developments, Casey's portfolio speaks for itself. Notable projects include the 17.5-acre One Beverly Hills, an environmentally advanced development featuring the Beverly Hilton, Waldorf Astoria, and Aman Hotel; the $450 million Echelon Studios in Los Angeles, a state-of-the-art film and TV production facility; as well as Halsted Pointe in Chicago, a multi-phase development with 2,650 residential units, office and retail space, and a hotel.

Erin Steva is Vice President of External Affairs at Chicago State University, overseeing the Government and Community Affairs and Marketing and Media Relations Departments. External Affairs raises the university’s profile and advances the institution’s mission through strategic relationships with employers, community institutions, decision-makers, and other stakeholders and targeted marketing and communications. Recent initiatives include launching a new brand identity, passing legislation to make a state scholarship package more equitable, securing nearly $2 million a year from public and philanthropic sources, and developing employer and community partnerships that have resulted in new programming for the community and CSU students.

Erin has 15 years of leadership in policy analysis, organization management, fundraising and advocacy. Her work has focused in the higher education, workforce, and community development sectors. Outcomes from previous positions include drafting Illinois’ youth apprenticeship policy which reflected feedback from stakeholders across Illinois including young adults; launching a smartphone application that connects housing insecure youth to life-saving resources; and building a coalition that secured community protections from urban oil drilling in Los Angeles.

Hubert Morgan is the founder of Stanhope Consulting. He has over 40 years of experience in regional and long-range planning, concentrating on civic democracy, showing a passion is public participation. Mr. Morgan specializes in reaching out to all demographics, especially those that have been historically underrepresented or disenfranchised in traditional planning processes. From providing the lead facilitation of large-scale forums to small strategic retreats, his goal is always the same, designing the process to be inclusive, engaging and outcome driven. He is recognized throughout the Chicago and Northwest Indiana region for his work on managing the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission’s 2040 Regional Framework Plan and Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission’s 2040 Comprehensive Regional Plan, both receiving the American Planning Association National Plan Award. Most recently he has worked through The Endeleo Institute and Trinity UCC in reaching out to and engaging residents along the 95th Street Corridor for the City of Chicago’s 95th Street eTOD Project.

Ryan Wangman is a Chicago-based commercial real estate reporter for Bisnow, where he covers topics such as property development, real estate market trends, and major deals within the industry. Before joining Bisnow in 2023, Ryan worked at Business Insider, where he specialized in personal finance reporting, with a focus on loans, debt management, and investment strategies. A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Ryan has previously contributed to the Boston Globe and served in various editorial roles at The Daily Northwestern. His journalistic interests include financial products, real estate development, and Chicago's dynamic property market.