We Are A Non-Partisan Government Research Organization

Dorothy Abreu is a Senior Vice President for PNC, Public Finance, managing large government and non-profit relationships across Illinois and Missouri.

Elizabeth Q. Betten is a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Healthcare Team at Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP). Elizabeth joined MDP in 2004 as an Associate and re-joined after business school in 2008.

Elizabeth Coolidge joined UBS Financial Services Inc. in 2017 as Managing Director and Head of the Public Finance Midwest Region. She has more than 30 years of experience in public finance, having begun as an institutional bond salesperson at a local bank. 

Jason Cummings is a Cloud Advocate for Google and leads Local Government and Education in Illinois. He cultivates relationships with Public Sector leaders to understand their strategic business goals and advises them on positive outcomes that can be driven through the adoption of cloud technology.

Christa A. Hamilton serves as president and CEO of UCAN, a 156-year-old youth services organization that annually provides a continuum of services to and impacts thousands of children, youth and families around Chicago. UCAN’s promise is to advocate for and provide opportunities that change lives through impactful programs, consistent presence and unrivaled diversity and inclusion.  
 

In 2010, Julie was named the cabinet-level Director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, with a $20.5 billion budget and a staff of 2,200. She and her team were successful in redesigning the Medicaid healthcare delivery system, implementing the Affordable Care Act...

Adam Hoeflich is a partner at Bartlit Beck LLP and a Professor of Practice at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. He focuses on high-stakes problems that corporations and individuals face in the courtroom, in the boardroom, and in their personal lives.

A proud native of Chicago’s South Side, Adrienne Irmer has been a passionate champion of social causes for over 20 years. Adrienne currently serves as the Associate Vice President for External Affairs at Illinois Tech.

Since stepping into her position as NAMI Chicago's leader in 2014, Alexa James has dedicated herself to making NAMI Chicago a leading voice in the conversation around mental wellness, the challenges of the mental health system, and mental health education in Chicago and beyond.

Kandace Lenti has over 30 years of commercial banking experience with over two decades serving government, nonprofit and healthcare clients. Kandace joined Wintrust in June 2011 as chief credit officer, spear-headed the formation of the Government, Nonprofit, and Healthcare group in 2012, and became managing director of this group in 2013. 

Paul Luu is Chief Executive Officer of the Chinese American Service League (CASL). He has been part of CASL’s mission to catalyze the transformation of individuals, families, and the community for an equitable future since 2017. 

Dr. Suzet M. McKinney is a commercial real estate executive, corporate board director, public health expert, medical executive, thought leader, strategic thinker and nationally recognized expert in emergency preparedness and response.

Recognized as a “nonprofit disruptor,” Dorri McWhorter serves as President & CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. As part of the organization’s continued transformation, Dorri’s vision for the Y is to establish presence and impact in every Chicago neighborhood, across the Midwest, and around the globe.

Scott focuses his practice on counseling and representing public bodies in the broad range of matters that fall within the fields of board governance and government operations.  Scott consults with clients regarding board meeting procedures as well as compliance with the Open Meetings Act (OMA) and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and represents them in litigation involving these laws.  Scott also counsels and negotiates on behalf of public sector clients in all manner of operational issues, including annexations and detachments, budgeting, bidding, finance, contracting, construction law, tax levies, real estate, revenue protection and property tax litigation.  He regularly appears before administrative tribunals, including the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB), as well as state and federal courts on these issues.

Donovan Pepper is the Senior Director of Government Relations and Civic Engagement for Walgreens. He has been with Walgreens for 18 years. Prior to this tenure, he has handled government relations for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Restaurant Association, SBC/Ameritech and Amtrak.

Gil Quiniones leads ComEd, an Exelon company, which powers the lives of more than 4 million residential and business customers in Chicago and across most of northern Illinois. He is responsible for the management of an electric grid that delivers safe, reliable electricity to those customers and for empowering them to manage their energy use.

Brian Septon is the founder of Septon Strategies. Prior to this, he was a principal and consulting actuary at The Terry Group. Brian provides advice and expert testimony on pensions, with a particular focus on public sector retirement programs. He is an established national leader in identifying and modeling the risks that accompany public sector pension programs, and in developing related policy solutions. In Illinois Brian has been called upon by government officials and civic leaders for his expertise and insights on the state and local pension programs.

Sarfraz is an energy industry leader who’s held a variety of roles over more than two decades leading the development and execution of a diverse portfolio of projects spanning research, supporting operating nuclear reactors, engineering, project management, business development, and mergers/acquisitions. In his current role, he helps realize the growth objectives of Constellation through mergers/acquisitions and strategic projects. Constellation signed a $29bn dollar acquisition of Calpine in January of 2025. 

David Vitale serves as the chairman of several Duff & Phelps closed end funds. Previously Mr. Vitale served as the chairman of Urban Partnership Bank, a newly formed bank serving the financially underserved neighborhoods of Chicago and Detroit. 

Simon Wlodarski is Senior Vice President, Senior Public Policy Lead at Bank of America and is a member of the Bank's U.S. State and Local Government Relations Team, overseeing State/Local Government Relations for the company in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Colorado. In this national role with the company, Simon works on public policy issues impacting the financial services industry.

Jill Wolowitz oversees the teams responsible for federal government relations and health policy, corporate communications, human resources, corporate security and facilities.

Under Jill’s direction, HCSC relaunched a modernized annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) report in 2021 and redesigned the organization’s community investment programs by utilizing a framework that amplifies the impact of all five state plans.