Marilynn Kelly Gardner is a visionary, strategist and passionate advocate for Chicago. As President and CEO of Navy Pier, one of the Midwest’s top-attended cultural destinations and leading mission-driven institutions, Gardner continues to build on her reputation as one of the region’s most respected leaders.

Appointed to her current role in 2011, Gardner has been the driving force behind transforming the Pier’s 50 acres of premier waterfront space into the multifaceted cultural destination it is today. Her stewardship has inspired nearly $380 million of philanthropic and private capital investment in Navy Pier’s current redevelopment. Since construction began in fall 2013, Gardner has overseen every aspect of the effort—from design and redevelopment to programming and fundraising. For Gardner, impactful endeavors—like programmatic partnerships, the Community Rides program, and the Pier’s first employer initiative, to name just a few—are essential to positioning the Pier in its second century.

Gardner has spent the better part of two decades establishing Navy Pier as one of the top-attended destinations in the Midwest, typically welcoming nearly 9 million annual guests. To ensure the future vitality and growth of the People’s Pier, Gardner led efforts to secure several multi-million-dollar gifts from prominent private and corporate donors. In 2014, Navy Pier received a historic $20 million legacy gift from the Polk family through their Foundation, the Pier’s single largest private gift. These funds were essential to revitalizing the Pier’s entrance, now Polk Bros Park, complete with an interactive fountain and two performance lawns making the Pier one of the most highly sought-after venues for arts and culture in Chicago. In 2015, under her leadership, Navy Pier secured a multi-year, multi-million gift from the Aon Corporation to underwrite the Pier’s summer firework series and Grand Ballroom, further establishing Navy Pier as a world-class programmatic destination. In 2018, two further multi-year partnerships enabled construction of the People’s Energy Welcome Pavilion and a revitalization of the Fifth Third Bank Family Pavilion. The Sable, a 220-room boutique hotel, will welcome its first guests in fall 2020.

Throughout her career, Gardner has proudly told the Navy Pier story to millions of Chicagoans and guests. She began at the Pier during its first redevelopment effort in 1994 as the Assistant Director of Public Relations. She subsequently held a variety of positions before leading the Pier’s transition to a nonprofit in 2011 and accepting the role of President and CEO, becoming the first female leader of Navy Pier. Due to her more than 25-year tenure at Navy Pier, Gardner’s distinct vision is apparent in all facets of the Pier’s continued growth and evolution.

Gardner has been featured as a guest speaker at events hosted by the City Club of Chicago, YPO Gold, Harvard Business School Alumni Organization, Global Cultural Districts Network, Urban Land Institute, and Choose Chicago. A lifelong Chicagoan, Gardner is a member of the Civic Committee, The Chicago Network, and Economic Club of Chicago. She shares her experience as a member of the Regional Advisory Committee of the Ireland Funds—America, the Magnificent Mile Association, and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. She also serves on the board of CURE (Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy).

Gardner attended St. Ignatius College Prep on the near west side of Chicago, where she now chairs the Mission and Academics Committee as a member of its Board of Directors. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., and currently serves on its National Alumni Board of Directors and as a longstanding valued mentor in the university’s alumni mentorship program.

In 2015, St. Ignatius recognized Gardner’s many contributions to the Chicago business community with the Alumni Business Leadership Award, the first to be awarded to a woman leader. She also received Marquette University’s ‘Communicator of the Year’ award in 2017. That same year, the Public Relations Society of America’s Chicago Chapter recognized her as the 2017 Chicago Skyline Executive of the Year. She is also the recipient of the Clarion Award from the Association of Women in Business, which recognized her extraordinary leadership in advancing Navy Pier’s Centennial Vision. The Executive’s Club of Chicago named her their 2018 Innovator of the Year, and Crain’s Chicago Business included her in their 2019 list of Notable Women Executives Over 50. Most recently, Chicago Magazine recognized Gardner as twenty-ninth among list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Chicago in May of 2020.

Prior to opening KOVAL Distillery, one of the largest independent and woman-owned craft distilleries in the US, Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart spent over a decade as a full professor in both the United States and Germany. In 2008, she gave up tenure in hopes of a different quality of life; one that would afford an opportunity for her to work with her husband, give up commuting, and return to the city she loved: Chicago.

As owner and president of KOVAL, she has spearheaded product development, distribution, and marketing, turning her family business into an international presence with availability in over 55 export markets. In light of the COVID-19 health crisis, she led KOVAL's transition into producing much-needed hand sanitizer for those on the front lines, including medical organizations, first responders, and community non-profits. Sonat is also involved in a number of philanthropic organizations, was named Illinois Business Person of the Year by the National Small Business Association, is a federally appointed member of the Illinois Export Council, and has been inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier.

Evan Kirkham is the Co-Founder and CEO of Colorcast, a live audio commentary app for sports fanatics, aspiring broadcasters, armchair quarterback, and everyone in between. Kirkham took home first place at the SXSW 2021 1-Minute Pitch Competition, is a thought leader in the social audio space, and is known to over-share on LinkedIn. Before founding Colorcast, Kirkham obtained his Juris Doctorate from SMU Dedman School of Law and practiced commercial litigation at the Dallas-based Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal. Kirkham is an adventurer, a hockey player, and a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan. He spends his weekends hiking the Texas Hill Country with his wife.

Keith D. Lampi has served as a Director and Chief Operating Officer of Inland Private Capital Corporation (“IPC”) since 2012, and was appointed President effective January 2015. Throughout his tenure, Mr. Lampi has helped to shape IPC into a market leader in the private real estate securities industry. As President of IPC, Mr. Lampi is responsible for directing the company's strategic growth plans, while ensuring that Inland's core principles, including its investor-focused approach, are reflected throughout the organization. During his career, Mr. Lampi has been involved in over $10 billion in real estate transactions across retail, office, industrial, student housing, self-storage, senior housing, hospitality, medical office and multifamily property types. Mr. Lampi also served as a manager of Inland Real Estate Services, LLC, Inland Residential Real Estate Services, LLC and Inland Venture Real Estate Services, LLC, since May 2016.

Mr. Lampi served on the Board of Directors of the Alternative & Direct Investment Securities Association (ADISA), the nation's largest alternative investment securities association, from 2014 to 2018. Mr. Lampi was elected as the 2017 President-Elect of ADISA and served as its President in 2018. In addition, he has previously held the positions of Secretary and Chairman of its Marketing and Membership Committee. He also serves as a Director of the ADISA Foundation, which assists with scholarships and special projects to grow the study and appreciation of the alternative and direct investment arena. Mr. Lampi was the recipient of the 2016 ADISA Distinguished Service Award, an award presented to individuals and companies that have provided exceptional service to ADISA, the alternative investments industry and the overall community. Mr. Lampi also was featured in the October 2013 edition of Real Estate FORUM Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40."

Mr. Lampi received his bachelor degree in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He holds Series 7, 24, 63, 79 and 99 licenses with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

JinJa Birkenbeuel is an award-winning strategist and creative executive with over 20 years of experience, including enterprise brand strategy and creative development of mid to large size organizations, establishment of visual identity systems and research, development and execution of customer and talent acquisition strategies. She is credited as a collaborating architect of Google’s Digital Coaches Program, Google’s training initiative for underrepresented US-based business owners.

The programs she has collaboratively designed for global technology companies have reached:
- 10+ international companies have revamped their online platforms
- 10+ international companies created new digital and social media strategies
- 1000+ businesses
- 100+ Black business owners
- 100+ LatinX business owners
- 100+ influencers and leaders in diverse communities
- Created new opportunity for the diverse leaders
- Helped 100+ workshop attendees pivot and up skill their offering to be better positioned for jobs

Currently JinJa is CEO of Birk Creative, one of the country's premier multichannel brand strategy, digital transformation and visual identity agencies. She is also the founder of The Honest Field Guide(™) podcast, where JinJa hosts discussions dedicated to winning in business with Grammy-Award winners, successful entrepreneurs, sports-team owners, best-selling authors and inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

She recently was awarded by Campaign USA the Female Frontier Award for "Transforming Technology" recognizing innovative and impactful women in advertising.

Prior to Birk Creative, JinJa was a senior brand strategist and creative at Andersen, Lipman Hearne, Field Museum and other small brand strategy businesses in Chicago.

Her specialties include writing, brand development, social media strategy, personal brand and thought leadership training, women's business initiatives, brand transformation, digital transformation, brand management.

As a personal brand trainer, JinJa Birkenbeuel, CEO of Birk Creative, is passionate about creating economic opportunities for businesses currently underrepresented on the web. Hands-on training workshops include curriculum development, training on applications, software and devices, digital marketing and advertising, social media strategy, personal branding and also education around tech innovations for small business.

JinJa recently launched Journey of Gratitude Books which represents the manifestation of her creative vision designed to help small American businesses that were severely impacted and vanishing overnight as a result of the U.S. government’s failure to protect entrepreneurs and innovators during the pandemic. The “Journey Of Gratitude” featured three hand-selected American and Midwestern women artists to give them visibility and complimentary copies of a custom-designed book, subsidized by Birk Creative.

JinJa also founded Birkdigital, which is a division of Birk Creative, which develops, designs and publishes high quality interactive eBooks, ePubs, and PDFs for corporate communications marketing and provides integrated digital publishing solutions to effectively elevate the company brand and market and advertise books.

JinJa is also a co-songwriter for her band Utah Carol, a band that blends equal parts country and alt-folk. They have released three albums with music that has been licensed by MTV, OWN, People.com, Borders Perrin and Norrander, Verve Life, Chevy and other film and advertising agencies.

JinJa is on the founding board of The Women in Entrepreneurship Institute at DePaul University's Coleman Entrepreneurship Center. It is the nation’s first comprehensive Institute for women founders that integrates academic learning, research, incubation, funding and public policy. She is also a founding member of The Jewish-Black Business Alliance, a foundation focused on economic justice and based on the social justice legacy of the American Jew and their advocacy of Blacks during Jim Crow.

JinJa Birkenbeuel is the mother of three school-age sons. She loves to write, cook, read and spend time with her husband in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago.

A casino executive for nearly two decades, Dawn Reynolds Pettit is currently the Vice President of Human Resources for Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana. Dawn’s passion for developing talent and instilling a passion for learning started at an early age. While pursuing her master’s degree from Purdue University Northwest in Organizational Communications, Dawn taught communication courses and would remain on with the college after graduating as an adjunct instructor for several years while working in the healthcare industry. A decision to join the gaming industry in 2001 would change the course of Dawn’s life as she began to forge a career as a female executive in a somewhat male dominated industry.

It was during this time Dawn’s passion ignited as an advocate for other females inside and outside the gaming industry. Through this, her work as a mentor began, including being a moderator for two Lean In Circles. She is a community advocate both personally and professionally and has served on local boards and partners with community organizations for charitable giving and volunteer efforts. Presently, Dawn is a Purdue University Northwest Board Member (College of Business & College of Humanities, Education & Social Sciences), Food Bank of Northwest Indiana and Girls On The Run.

Dawn has been recognized with an OnCon Top 50 HR Professionals Award (2019), Caesars Entertainment Excellence In Leadership Award (2011), and Northwest Indiana Influential Women Award in Tourism/Hospitality (2011).
She is a certified Lean In Moderator, Senn Delaney Culture Instructor and holds a Senior Human Resources Management certification.

Author to the published book, “The Highmore Circle,” Dawn enjoys a crazy yet very rewarding life with her family in Northwest Indiana.

Chad Collier, CEO and Founder of CarSaver

Dr. Brian W. Caputo - President of College of Dupage

Nine days after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1993, Geoff Alexander joined Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE). After two decades of working on multiple concepts within LEYE’s portfolio, Alexander took over LEYE’s three unit Wow Bao concept in 2009.

Under Alexander’s leadership, Wow Bao revolutionized the way diners would interact with restaurants by being a pioneer in technology and social media. More than a decade ago, Alexander implemented mobile ordering, self-ordering kiosks, bicycle delivery, domestic shipping, and made Wow Bao one of the first Chicago brick & mortar restaurants to take to the streets with its BAO-Mobile Food Truck.
Alexander has overseen Wow Bao’s inclusion into airports, NFL/MLB/NHL/NBA stadiums, university campuses, music venues, and more than 300 grocers sell Wow Bao’s frozen retail line.

In 2018 Alexander changed the landscape for fast casual dining by introducing Wow Bao 2.0 – a fully tech enabled front of the house environment, where guests order via an iOS or Android device, and pick up their food from an animated personalized cubby.

Shortly after being named to Nation’s Restaurant News 2020 Power List, Alexander evolved the restaurant industry once again by launching 300 Wow Bao Dark Kitchens in more than 130 cities in less than a year. This new extension of the business is not only allowing Wow Bao to grow a national footprint, it is also helping restaurant operators across the nation grow top line sales and increase bottom line profits.