Remarks from the City

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  Kenya Merritt

  Kenya Merritt has over 20 years of experience as a public service executive with expertise in developing and leading large-scale neighborhood and economic development initiatives. She currently holds the role of Deputy Mayor of Business and Neighborhood Development where she is tasked with driving equitable economic development that deliver real results and transformation by promoting wage growth, entrepreneurship, and investment throughout Chicago. Previously she was the Program Officer with the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, overseeing the Foundation’s community investment portfolio, including the Foundation’s flagship initiative, the Chicago Prize. She’s also held dual roles as the First Deputy Commissioner and Chief Small Business Officer at the City of Chicago, where she was responsible for setting the City's small business agenda and strengthening programs that support business growth and invigorate communities in every corner of Chicago. She’s been at the forefront of rolling out the City’s $100M fiscal business support programs, assisting entrepreneurs through the re-opening and recovery, and has worked with nearly 100 business support organizations setting equitable standards and supporting essential workers through the pandemic. She has led Chicago’s efforts to invest over $50M through the Chicago’s Recovery Fund to support economic development initiatives that drive small business growth, build organizational capacity of local nonprofits, and create opportunities to access capital for food-based entrepreneurs. Kenya previously worked as the Chief Financial Officer with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the Department of Family and Support Services and as an analyst for the Office of Budget and Management. Throughout her career, she has worked to improve communities by forging partnerships to develop and implement initiatives and policies that range in the areas of financial management, arts administration, community, and economic development, each with the goal of making Chicago better. Kenya holds a MS in Public Service Management from DePaul University and a BA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a 2022 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. She is a resident of the Austin community and the proud mother of Caleb.

  City of Chicago

  Deputy Mayor

  Kenya Merritt

  Deputy Mayor

  City of Chicago

Keynote: Bringing Quantum to Illinois

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  Dr. Preeti Chalsani

  Dr. Preeti Chalsani is the inaugural chief quantum officer for Intersect Illinois, where she leads all business development efforts related to quantum in the state. Prior to joining Intersect, she served as the Director of Industry Partnerships for the Chicago Quantum Exchange in a joint position with the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

  Intersect Illinois

  Chief Quantum Officer

  Dr. Preeti Chalsani

  Chief Quantum Officer

  Intersect Illinois

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  Dr. Aaron Fluitt

  Dr. Aaron Fluitt is Senior Director of Technology Partnerships at PsiQuantum. In this role, he leads PsiQuantum's engagement with Chicago's world-class quantum technology ecosystem. He previously worked at Argonne National Laboratory and Boston Consulting Group. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, where he used high-performance computers to study protein folding and aggregation

  PsiQuantum

  Senior Director of Technology Partnerships

  Dr. Aaron Fluitt

  Senior Director of Technology Partnerships

  PsiQuantum

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  Michael Fassnacht

  A seasoned business executive, marketing and strategic thought leader with more than 30 years of experience, Michael joined Clayco, one of America’s largest fully integrated design and engineering centric builder and real estate development firm across the commercial, industrial and residential sector as its first ever Chief Growth Officer and President of Chicagoland in early 2024. Prior to this role between, Michael led as President and CEO World Business Chicago, the City’s economic development organization, with more than 100 C-Suite executives from all over Chicagoland on its business centric board between 2020 and early 2024. The organization’s core focus is on growing its industry sectors by supporting the expansion of existing Chicagoland based companies and by attracting new corporate relocations to the region, all with a focus on equitable economic prosperity across all 77 neighborhoods and the region. Additionally, Michael worked alongside the Mayor’s Office as the Chief Marketing Officer to ensure that all marketing, branding, and business development activities for the city were aligned with Mayor Lightfoot’s and then Mayor Johnson’s economic growth plan focused on inclusive growth across Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods. Michael Fassnacht has been a recurring figure in Chicago’s civic community and has led critical pro-bono work for the rebranding of the Chicago Public Library and its foundation, the city’s Amazon HQ2 pitch, the City’s Census 2020 activities and “Boards of Change”, an award-winning initiative to encourage residents to register to vote. Most recently, Michael served as a Co-Chair on Mayor Johnson’s transition sub-committee for Economic Vitaly & Equity. Additionally, he has been involved as a board member with Choose Chicago, Chicago Public Library Foundation, The Civic Consulting Alliance, CURRENT, The Poetry Foundation, and World Business Chicago while providing counsel to P33, and The Chicago Prize by the Pritzker/Traubert Foundation. Michael also serves as a 2022 Daniel Burnham Fellow. Prior to his most recent role, Michael served for more than 10 years as CEO & President at one of the city’s oldest and most successful advertising agencies, Foote Cone & Belding (FCB). He led his agency to unprecedented international creative recognition and strong above-industry topline growth over his tenure. Over his long career, he has been recognized as a global expert in building and marketing brands. He started his corporate success trajectory at Lufthansa Airlines in Frankfurt, where he led the airline’s frequent flyer program, Miles & More, before departing to Silicon Valley where he was a successful start-up entrepreneur. Michael was born in Germany and made his way stateside in college where he met his wife, Dr. Rhonda Duffaut. They currently reside in Chicago and have two children, Maya and Ryan.

  CLAYCO

  Chief Growth Officer & President, Chicagoland

  Moderator

  Michael Fassnacht

  Chief Growth Officer & President, Chicagoland

  CLAYCO

The Heart(land) of Innovation

The People and Policies Driving Key Science Leaders to Illinois

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  Steven Collens

  Steven Collens is CEO of MATTER, the premier healthcare incubator and innovation hub. MATTER opened in February 2015 and nurtures entrepreneurs and innovators building next-generation health IT, medical device, diagnostic and biopharma technologies. MATTER has worked with more than 800 healthcare technology ventures and the company partners with dozens of industry-leading companies, health systems and universities. Prior to assuming his current role, Steven was senior vice president at Pritzker Group, the investment firm led by Tony and J.B. Pritzker. In that capacity, he led the team that created 1871, Chicago’s center for digital startups, which became the top-ranked business incubator in the world in 2018. He previously worked at Abbott in a variety of domestic and international functions, including product management, policy and public affairs. In 2005, Steven helped found ConstantWellness.com to give patients control over their health data and allow healthcare providers to coordinate care of their patients. Prior to Abbott, Steven served as legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun. Steven holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a BA from Washington University in St. Louis. He chairs the board of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and serves on the boards of 1871 and the Chicago High School for the Arts. He is a member of ChicagoNEXT, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s council on technology and innovation, a Leadership Greater Chicago fellow, and a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Commercial Club of Chicago.

  MATTER

  CEO

  Steven Collens

  CEO

  MATTER

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  Dana Sun

  Principal

  Laedral

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  Jason Gorak

  Executive Director

  JP Morgan

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  Rebecca Motley

  Rebecca Motley’s professional background is in assisting startups with connections to resources, utilizing a wide network of contacts throughout the Midwest. Her consulting company, 51- enterprises, llc, works with all types of startup organizations, from retail to technology to life sciences, referring them to resources from funding to operations. She moved to Chicago from Champaign, IL, in early 2023 to run BioLabs Chicago, a life sciences incubator that was to open in Lincoln Park. Before BioLabs, Rebecca directed the operations of EnterpriseWorks, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s technology startup incubator. Her additional experience has been in municipal economic development, commercial real estate, non-profit and grant administration, and commercial lending. She has a B.S. in Economics and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  World Business Chicago

  Director, Life Sciences & Deep Tech

  Rebecca Motley

  Director, Life Sciences & Deep Tech

  World Business Chicago

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  Gary Pachucki

  Mr. Pachucki is Founder and Principal of the IBT Group LLC, which focuses on creative urban developments in metropolitan areas. Current projects include 1200 Fulton, a full-block creative office, retail and entertainment complex in the West Fulton Market area of Chicago. Mr. Pachucki is responsible for strategic management of all development activities for IBT Group including pipeline, acquisition, financing, planning, leasing and project execution. He has over 30 years of real estate experience and has been involved in the development of over ten million of square feet of office, residential and retail space throughout the country during his career. Prior to the formation of the IBT Group, Mr. Pachucki started and oversaw retail development in the Midwest for Opus Group of Companies, a family owned real estate company which was one of the largest privately held real estate companies in the country. Prior to OPUS he spent several years with Balcor as Vice president where he was responsible for an extensive national portfolio of 2,000,000 square feet of commercial space and 60,000 residential units. An architect by training, Mr. Pachucki spent several years with at the time the largest architectural firm in Wisconsin, Mochon, Schutte, Hackworthy & Juerisson, where he was involved in various aspects of the design process for institutional and commercial buildings including airports, schools and residential projects. Mr. Pachucki graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and also completed graduate level studies at the University of Wisconsin Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

  IBT Group

  Founder & President

  Gary Pachucki

  Founder & President

  IBT Group

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  Shyama Majumdar

  Shyama Majumdar, PhD, MBA, is associate director of science ventures at the Polsky Center. In this role, Shyama works with faculty, staff and students to facilitate the creation of science and technology-based ventures developed by innovators at the University. While she has a focus on life sciences due to her scientific background, she is passionate about technology startups in general. Prior to joining the Polsky Center, Shyama was a research assistant professor at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where she conducted Prostate cancer research. While at UIC she also worked as program coordinator at IllinoisVENTURES where she oversaw the running of the proof-of-concept fund that funds early stage technologies developed at the university. Prior to this Shyama worked as a consulting program manager at EnterpriseWorks where she helped develop and manage their accelerator program. Shyama earned a PhD and an MBA from the University of Delaware and conducted her postdoctoral research cancer biology at Harvard Medical School and University of Illinois at Chicago. Originally from New Delhi, India, Shyama now lives in the West Loop with her husband (MBA ’18) and two daughters. In her free time she enjoys cooking, reading, and binge watching TV series on Netflix.

  Polsky Center at the University of Chicago

  Interim Executive Director, Deep Tech Ventures

  Shyama Majumdar

  Interim Executive Director, Deep Tech Ventures

  Polsky Center at the University of Chicago

• Moderator

  Rodney Tonelli

  Economic Vitality Manager

  Village of Skokie

A Home for the Future

Designing, Developing, and Building Spaces for Modern Science

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  Nick Farina

  CEO

  EeroQ

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  Cathy Kwiatkowski

  Cathy Kwiatkowski is the Chief Operating Officer of the Illinois Medical District Commission (IMDC), which oversees the nation's oldest and most established medical district. She focuses on building a collaborative, efficient organization that drives team excellence and high-impact results. By strengthening operations, she helps drive innovation, forge key partnerships, and enhance the district’s ability to serve the 90,000+ people who come to the IMD each day—while supporting work that extends far beyond its borders. She brings over 20 years of leadership experience in strategic planning, public engagement, and communications. Prior to joining the IMDC, she served as a Senior Policy Advisor and Head of Communications for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, leading statewide strategy for more than 80 agencies. Before that, she held leadership roles with the City of Chicago, including Director of Public Affairs for the Department of Procurement Services, where she advanced opportunities for minority- and veteran-owned businesses, and at the Chicago Department of Aviation, overseeing strategic initiatives at O’Hare and Midway International Airports. Cathy has a track record of executing complex, multijurisdictional projects and developing programs that drive equity, innovation, and public impact.

  Illinois Medical District

  COO

  Cathy Kwiatkowski

  COO

  Illinois Medical District

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  Kate Timmerman

  CEO

  Chicago Quantum Exchange

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  Hans Thummel

  As Education and Science Principal at HDR, Hans Thummel brings over 40 years of architectural experience and knowledge of the Chicago/regional life science market to his role. He excels in leading multidisciplinary project teams and has directed significant projects for AbbVie, Argonne National Laboratory, Northwestern University, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. His work is celebrated for its impact and excellence, demonstrating his ability to manage complex projects successfully. Hans is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories, and the U.S. Green Building Council. As a thought leader and industry contributor, he has presented on topics such as adaptive reuse and building envelope at prominent conferences and published articles on the impact of COVID-19 on institutional research. His dedication to delivering high-caliber architectural design in support of research, learning, and discovery highlights his commitment to fostering equitable and empowered communities.

  HDR

  Education and Science Principal

  Hans Thummel

  Education and Science Principal

  HDR

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  Molly Phelan

  Molly is a partner in the Chicago Office of Siegel Jennings, a national property tax law firm. As a litigator and trusted advisor, she collaborates with Owners, Asset Managers, Acquisition teams and Tax Departments to identify, create and execute property tax reduction strategies. She becomes a member of her clients’ management team. Her goal is to maximize and protect the full potential of real estate assets, minimize related tax liabilities, and resolve disputes with tax authorities and government entities. Molly’s client experience ranges from family owned 1031 portfolios to national commercial investment funds, including special use properties such as hospital campuses to multi-million-dollar manufacturing facilities. Her comprehensive understanding of the commercial real estate market was developed in part through her time as a real estate broker in the Chicago area prior to starting her legal career. Molly regularly represents clients in hearings before review boards, local assessors’ offices, the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, and the circuit courts.

  Siegel Jennings

  Partner

  Molly Phelan

  Partner

  Siegel Jennings

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  Kate Shepard

  Kate oversees the Strategy team and leads the discipline’s effort to craft thoughtful positioning recommendations for clients across real estate, corporate, and product marketing. This includes in-depth market research, facilitating comprehensive client intake workshops, and developing the strategic foundation for entire brand campaigns. Kate is a charismatic team leader with an intimate knowledge of Neoscape’s clients. She purposefully asks the right questions to dig deeper and ensure strategic plans align with client objectives, setting their projects, brands, and products on a trajectory of success. A few notable life science projects Kate has developed a strategic foundation for include, locally, Beacon Capital Properties - 2 Harbor, King Street Properties - Pathway, Allston Labworks, 101 Cambridgepark Drive, and Boylston Properties - 100 Forge. Nationally, she has worked on Texas Medical Center (Houston, TX), Deerfield - Cure at 345 Park Avenue South (New York, mNY), Trammell Crow Company - Science Square (Atlanta, GA), and many more. She is co-chair of the Women of Neoscape group and an active member of ULI New York’s Young Leaders Group.

  Neoscape

  Director of Strategy

  Moderator

  Kate Shepard

  Director of Strategy

  Neoscape