MASTER OF CEREMONIES Jacoby Cochran Host, City Cast Chicago

Jacoby Cochran is a writer, educator, and storyteller. He is the award winning host of City Cast Chicago, Chicago’s favorite daily news podcast! The podcast was named Best of 2021, 2022, 2023 by the Chicago Reader and Chicago Magazine calls it “the essential Chicago podcast.” You can also catch Jacoby on Chicago’s stages, TVs, and radios. As a performer, keynote speaker, and workshop leader, Jacoby has partnered with corporate clients (Google, Spotify, AT&T, Chicago Bulls, Best Buy, Samsung, Kohl’s); academic institutions (DePaul University, City Colleges, Syracuse University); and non profits (The Moth, Boys & Girls Club, American Writers Museum).

Jacoby remains dedicated to multimedia storytelling and helping other’s unlock their performance capabilities. Bookmark jacobycochran.com for live dates and schedule virtual & in-person workshops now.

Follow @cobycochran on Instagram!

Keynote Speaker Jonathan Eig Journalist & Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author

Jonathan Eig is the bestselling author of six books, four of them New York Times bestsellers. His most recent book, King: A Life, has been hailed as a “monumental…definitive” biography of Martin Luther King Jr. It was longlisted for the National Book Award and King was named one of the ten best books of the year by the Washington Post.

Jonathan’s previous book, Ali: A Life, won a 2018 PEN America Literary Award and was a
finalist for the Mark Lynton History Prize. His works have been translated into more than a
dozen languages. Jonathan’s first book, Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, won the Casey Award. His fourth book, The Birth of the Pill, will be staged soon as a theatrical production by TimeLine Theatre in Chicago.

Jonathan is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School. He began his writing career at age 16, working for his hometown newspaper, The Rockland County (N.Y.) Journal News and went on to work as a reporter for The New Orleans Times-Picayune, The Dallas Morning News, Chicago Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.

He’s since appeared on the Today Show, NPR’s Fresh Air, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He served as a producer on the PBS documentary Muhammad Ali, which was directed by Ken Burns. But his greatest claim to fame, according to his parents, is that his name once appeared in a Jeopardy question (which was solved correctly for $200).

Curba Merrill Friend of the Center Awardee Senator Ram Villivalam 8th District, State of Illinois Representative

State Senator Ram Villivalam was raised on the northwest side of Chicago. He is the son of Indian Immigrants. His parents came here in the 1970s. Though his father and mother were a civil engineer and a teacher in India respectively, they had to work minimum wage jobs, go back to school, and work their way to more than 25 years each of public service.

Senator Villivalam will always remember their struggles and the middle class values he grew up with.

Prior to being sworn into the Illinois General Assembly, Senator Villivalam spent four years advocating on behalf of home care for seniors and people with disabilities, child care for working families, Medicaid for those in need.

Senator Villivalam also worked at the federal level of government for U.S. Congressman Brad Schneider as his Outreach Director. In this role, he was responsible for outreach on a variety of policy issues and had duties that ranged from signing people up for the Affordable Care Act to organizing Job Fairs.

Senator Villivalam is honored to be an effective, proactive, and progressive voice for the people of the 8th District. He has and will continue to be focused on issues such as income equality, reducing gun violence, providing a quality education to children regardless of the zip code they reside in, and advancing immigrant, LGBTQ, and women’s rights.

Additionally, he is incredibly proud to be the first Asian American elected to the Illinois State Senate and the first Indian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly. He is currently the Chair of the Transportation Committee and also sits on the Energy and Public Utilities, Health Care Access and Availability, Human Rights, Licensed Activities and Pensions Committees.

Senator Villivalam serves his community in other roles that include being a past President of the Indo-American Democratic Organization (IADO) and previous Director on the Board of Gun Violence Prevention PAC.

Senator Villivalam lives with his wife, Elizabeth, and his sons, Rohan and Lokesh, in the North Mayfair neighborhood in the City of Chicago.

Corporate Partner of the Year Awardee PNC Bank Illinois Award accepted by Scott C. Swanson, President, PNC Illinois

Scott C. Swanson is president of PNC Bank in Illinois. He leads PNC’s overall growth strategy in the market, including the executive banking team, Corporate Banking, Asset Management and Retail Banking. In addition, he represents PNC and its 3,000local employees in the community and directs the company’s community engagement, including PNC’s Grow Up Great, a bilingual, early education initiative that has committed $11 million to multiple community based organizations in the Chicagoland area.

Swanson has 25 years of banking and other corporate experience. He joined PNC in February 2013 from Charter One and RBS Citizens, Illinois and Michigan, where he served as president and a member of RBS Citizen’s Executive leadership team.

Prior to Charter One in 2007, Swanson spent 17 years at JPMorgan Chase and its predecessors, the majority of which were in Chase’s commercial bank, and concluding as the national executive of Chase’s business banking operations. Swanson began his professional career at Arthur Andersen in its Tax Group.

Active in the Chicago community, Swanson serves as member to the executive committee of the Adler Planetarium (past Chair) and the Commercial Club of Chicago (current Treasurer) and serves on its Civic Committee. He serves on the boards of directors of The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce (past Chair), the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, World Business Chicago, the Big Shoulders Fund, the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center and the Executives’ Club of Chicago. He is a member of the Cook County Council of Economic Advisors, the Economic Club of Chicago, the finance council of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago and serves as a trustee of Neighborhood Housing Services.

Swanson earned his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, where he graduated with honors. He is also a graduate of the University of Illinois, where he earned a bachelor of science in finance.