Ashish Sharma leads the Climate Hub at the Discovery Partners Institute, part of the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has a joint appointment at…
Gia Biagi is secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation. Chicago might have too many nicknames. We’re the Windy City. The City of the Big Shoulders. City in…
Daniel Holz is a professor of physics at the University of Chicago, studying black holes. He is also chair of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the…
Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune every other Wednesday. Write to her at LauraLauraWashington@gmail.com. The future of Chicago resides…
Tracy Baim is executive director of Press Forward Chicago, a pooled fund for local journalism based at The Chicago Community Trust. She co-founded Windy City Times in 1985 and was…
Tonika Lewis Johnson is a Chicago-based photographer and social justice artist. She was the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 2025. Imagine discovering that someone else…
Mary Schmich, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former Chicago Tribune columnist, is host of the podcast “Division Street Revisited.” A couple of years ago, I was at a party when someone asked,…
Neighborhood #1: Far North Side ROOTED: The Center for Living Lineage Team: Rooted Together Lead Organization: The Doula, Part Inc. Zuri Thompson — Lead Visionary and Systems Designer; community investment…
1. Chicago Signal Team Name: Chicago Signal Key Contributors: Alex Kelleher – Founder & CEO, Quantum Rise; Concept Lead Roman Kelleher – Co-creator; Design Inspiration & Origami Concept Quantum Rise…
WONDERWAYS! Reimagining Chicago’s Boulevards as a Network of Climate Commons Horizon Lines Finalist By MKSK Key Contributors: MKSK | Donny Zellefrow, AICP – Associate, Urban Designer MKSK | Donny Donoghue,…