The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce held its quarterly Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday, October 12 with a special appearance from Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. The Chamber’s Nominating Committee slated several additions to the Board of Directors and Executive Committe.

Nominated to the Executive Committee

Stephen Johnson
Regional Vice President | Walgreen Co.

Stephen Johnson is a Regional Vice president for Walgreen Co., the nationwide drugstore chain headquartered in Deerfield, IL. He is responsible for leading Walgreen’s retail pharmacy and healthcare operations for 700 locations representing 20,000 team members in the Greater Chicago/Wisconsin region. Johnson joined Walgreens in 1992. During his tenure, he has held various leadership positions. He was promoted to Operations Vice President of the St. Louis/Minneapolis region in 2007 and was named RVP for the Atlanta/Alabama region in 2009. Before moving to Chicago his most recent assignment was RVP for the Gulf Coast region from 2014 to 2021. He is passionate about DEI activities not just within the organization but also activities to increase health access within the community. He led his team to activate some of the first Covid vaccine clinics in Houston at local African American churches during the early stages of the pandemic. Before starting at Walgreens, Stephen spent 5 years in the Army National Guard while in college learning many of the leadership skills that he still uses today with his team. Stephen has been described as a calm, confident, and steady leader with a natural ability to manage and coach others. He also is a positive and trusting person who is able to build and maintain relationships with his team and peers. Stephen has been active serving on various leadership boards:
• Houston area American Diabetes Association
• Arthritis Foundation leadership board
• LLS executive leadership board
• Atlanta JDRF
Stephen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Illinois State University in 1989, and a Master of Business Administration from Georgia College and State University in 2003. Stephen resides in downtown Chicago with his wife Chandra and has two sons.

Matthew Summy
Vice President of Strategic Planning for Impact & Inclusion | Comcast

Matthew Summy serves as Vice President of Strategic Planning for Impact & Inclusion at Comcast Corporation. In this role, Matthew develops and drives strategy and measurement for the company’s community investment portfolio and corporate social responsibility initiatives in digital equity, economic mobility, civic engagement, and more. In addition, Matthew works closely with public, private, and nonprofit partners to build and shape initiatives and policies that help foster the development of a more connected and equitable world. Matthew joined Comcast in 2012 and previously served as Vice President of External and Government Affairs for the Greater Chicago Region. In this role, he was responsible for executing business, public policy, and regulatory initiatives at the state and local level, managing relationships with corporate and civic leaders, and cultivating community and social impact initiatives working with diverse stakeholders. Prior to joining Comcast, Matthew served as the CEO of the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC), where he developed public private partnerships to advance the Midwest’s profile and standing as a global center for entrepreneurship and innovation. He also co founded the Energy Foundry impact investment fund and served in leadership roles in government in Illinois and New York City. Matthew is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and serves on the boards of 1871/Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, the Civic Federation of Chicago, and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. He holds an MPA from New York University and BA from the University of Iowa.

Nominated to the Board of Directors

Jodi Bednar
Senior Partner, Energy & Utilities | West Monroe Partners

Jodi contributes to West Monroe as the head of our Chicago Energy & Utilities practice and will be the next Chicago Office Leader beginning in 2023. The Chicago office has more than 1000 employees and 10 consultant practices serving clients across the Midwest.She is a 30-year veteran with program and people leadership experience, assisting telecommunication and utility companies develop and realize their technology and IT strategies while providing guidance on managing through large complex transformations. Focused on delivering value and client satisfaction at one of the largest utilities in the country she is responsible for over 150 professional services engagements a year including business strategy, distributed energy resources, grid modernization, cybersecurity and long-term multi-year complex IT convergence and business transformation programs.Jodi strives to approach all ofher work with care and authenticity. She wants to make a difference in our firm, our practice, and our people that echoes beyond our walls. Passionate about making positive changes for the future, Jodi also enjoys yoga and personal adventure travel. She can frequently be found learning to play the ukulele or gardening in her home in the Chicagoland area.

Mike Deyle
Group Vice President | Target Stores Chicago

Mike Deyleis a successful executive with 17 years of retail leadership experience all spent within various areas of the business within Target Corporation. Currently, he leads the seventy-six stores in the Chicagoland area focused on bringing Target’s purpose ‘To help all families discover the joy of everyday life’ to life in stores each day. Mike began his career with Target in 2005 as an HQ Executive Intern within the Marketing Department. Prior to his current position, Mike held roles as a Store Director in Las Vegas, Group Merchandise Leader and District Senior Director in Southern California and Chicagoland area, and Group Vice President in the Southwest (AZ, NV, NM, El Paso.) In Mike’s prior role in Arizona, he stood up an enterprise-wide community cohort to support and impact community outreach programs across Phoenix. During his time in IL, he has been an active partner, alongside Target’s government affairs team, to Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA). He received his B.A. in Business from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. Mike and his wife, Courtney, keep busy with their three kids Dylan (9), Austin (7) and Lennon (5). They enjoy spending time watching them play basketball, baseball, dance and gymnastics. Their favorite vacation destination is the Yucatan region of Mexico.

Molly Hart
Public and Government Relations Consultant | AAA

Molly Hart is a public relations and government affairs professional with in-depth experience across a variety of disciplines and sectors including corporations, non-profit organizations and governmental agencies. Her roles have included fundraiser, lobbyist, speechwriter and spokesperson. Hart’s current position is at AAA –The Auto Club Group handling public and government relations; she also serves as spokesperson. Prior to joining AAA, Hart worked for National Express, a school bus company which transports over 1 million children every day across the United States. There she handled media relations and crisis management. In addition to National Express, Hart’s experience includes roles at Old St. Patrick’s Church, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (now Shirley Ryan AbilityLab), and Feeding America, as well as related positions in Washington, DC, working for a presidential administration and as a federal lobbyist. Hart graduated from the University of Dayton with a BA in Communications and received her Master’s Degree in journalism from Northwestern University/Medill School of Journalism.

David Harvey
Vice President, Southwest Business | Southwest Airlines

David Harvey became a Southwest Airlines Co-Heart in 1999. He spent the first eight years of his career in Technology serving Crew Management, Dispatch, Network Planning, Finance, Technical Operations, Fuel Management, and Marketing.He then spent five years leading Corporate Strategy with Enterprise PMO and Integrated Business Planning responsibilities across Fleet, Commercial, Customer, and Operations. In 2013 he supported Southwest’s first Chief Commercial Officer to build a Commercial Planning and Performance function across Network Planning, Marketing, Revenue Management, and Financial Planning & Analysis.In late 2013 he transitioned to Network Planning leading Network Strategy and Capacity Planning.In 2016 he was asked to lead a new Southwest department promoted to Managing Director of Business Development.Responsibilities included Regional Planning & Performance, International Strategy & Capacity, Airline Partnerships, and Corporate Sales.Then in 2018, he was promoted to Vice President Corporate Sales responsible for all selling and B2B distribution activities.In August of 2019 Southwest launched a new brand representing an enhanced distribution strategy, major channel investments, and scaling of the sales team to provide increased hospitality making him Vice President of Southwest Business.David is currently on multiple boards and appointments related to the Travel Industry and Business Travel including being a member of Global Business Travel Associations (GBTA) Allied Leadership Council as well as advisory positions with Business Travel News (BTN) and Travel Again, previously serving as a Representative Member of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism Infrastructure (NACTTI).BTN named Dave among the 25 Most Influential People in Business Travel in 2019, 2020, and 2021.He received his BBA from UT Austin in Management Information Systems and both his MBA in Operations Management and MS in Organizational Strategy from UT Dallas. David earned his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in 2007. He has five sons that keep him active outside Southwest and a beautiful wife that is an educator and writer.

Clayton Harris III
Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for the Central United States | Lyft

Clayton Harris III Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for the Central United States, Lyft Clayton Harris IIIis Lyft’s Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for the Central United States where he is focused on government relations, political outreach, policy recommendations and strategy in one of the technology company’s most critical markets. Clayton transitioned to Lyft from the Illinois International Port District (IIPD) as the Executive Director where he led the IIPD to an unprecedented resurgence where he was able to reduce debt over 60% and increased revenue more than 22% in four short years, truly transforming the IIPD into the Greatest Multimodal Port in North America. Clayton was formerly assistant to the Mayor of Chicago, Chief of Staff at the Illinois Department of Transportation, Deputy Chief of Staff over infrastructure for the State of Illinois, Chief of Staff to the Governor of Illinois and previously the Director of Government Affairs for the Midwest United States with CH2MHILL, a global engineering design/build consulting firm. Clayton received his Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Technology from Middle Tennessee State University and, while working at the Pentagon in Combat Systems Engineering in the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization earned his Juris Doctorate from Howard University’s School of Law. Clayton recently earned his Master’s in Public Policy at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy where he has been lecturing for the last twelve years. Clayton teaches Process and Policy in State and Local Government where his students learn the process in crafting “good” public policy. And, as a sign of the times Clayton was asked by the University and began lecturing on Policing Race in America: Black, White & Blue where his students address policing the Black body in America and how we arrived from 1619 to the point where police are still killing Black men in the street in 2021. Clayton resides on the southside of Chicago with his wife and two sons.

Nia C. Mathis
Region Vice President – State & Local Government Affairs | Verizon

Nia C. Mathis is region Vice President -State & Local Government Affairs at Verizon. In this role, Nia shapes public policy in 22 states across the central Midwest and New England in support of Verizon’s objectives. Nia has held several roles in Verizon’s legal department. She served as general counsel to Visible, which is Verizon’s flanker wireless brand and “start-up” subsidiary. She also served as general counsel to a 12-state operating region of Verizon Wireless that was responsible for more than $10B in annual revenue to the company Prior roles include supporting Verizon Wireless’ digital distribution channel as a marketing attorney; developing and launching smart cities and ‘Internet of Things’ connected solutions as a product attorney, and negotiating high technology commercial transactions. Prior to joining Verizon in 2008, Nia was an associate at Latham & Watkins in the M&A and telecommunications practice groups. She started her legal career as an associate in Wiley Rein’s broadcast and communications law practice. Nia attended law school at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Florida. Nia married her high school sweetheart and they reside in the Chicago “southland” suburbs with their five children. She is active in her local faith-based community and is passionate about fostering cultural change to ensure that the benefits of evolving technologies are accessible to all members of our communities and society.

Kim Morreale
President & CEO | Morreale Communications

Kim Morreale founded Morreale Communications in 2006, leveraging her unique background in journalism, government and business to develop strategic communications for c-suite executives, organizations and opinion leaders. Known as one of the fastest growing and highly respected, mid-size public relations firms in Chicago, Morreale has led the firm to achieve significant growth across key market with a 100% female and minority leadership team at 90% female and minority workforce. Clients rely on Morreale for her direct and level-headed approach to tackling complex and dynamic issues. She is well respected for converting diverse perspectives and high-level strategies into communications solutions that connect, engage and educate audiences in the areas of transportation, healthcare, utilities other and highly regulated industries. Morreale began her career as a news reporter and anchor for WIFR-TV in Rockford. Later working in Chicago newsrooms like NBC-5 Chicago and CLTV news, Morreale developed strong relationships with media throughout Illinois and brings a deep understanding of how to leverage media to shape and drive the public narrative. As the former Director of External Affairs and the spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Transportation, Morreale is seasoned at engaging lawmakers at the federal, state and local levels to impact policy and has spearheaded award-winning campaigns for public engagement, grass roots mobilization, coalition building and strategic communications. She is a distinguished recipient of the German Marshall Fellowship Award where she was one of 14 emerging leaders selected to represent the United States to build alliances and improve relations between the U.S. and European Union. Morreale’sleadership and commitment to excellence has led her firm to be a 16-time award winning agency, receiving national and world recognition for innovative public health and safety campaigns, visual storytelling, advocacy, and public engagement programs. Most recently, Morreale received two 2021 Gold Stevie® Awards for Community Involvement Program of the Year and Communications/PR Campaign of the Year by the Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Her forward-thinking leadership style, extensive professional network and strong business acumen has led to four consecutive years of growth that surpassed established projections and benchmarks. Morreale serves as the Public Engagement Committee Chair for the American Council of Engineering Companies and is a Board Member for the Supplier Diversity Committee for the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) and Illinois Technology, Engineering and Construction (ITEC), Kids Above All, Saint Juliana School Board member. Morreale is also an active member of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Morreale lives in Chicago with her husband of 14-years, Michael McAuliffe and their two children.

Tyler Prince
Executive Vice President, Worldwide Alliances & Channels | Salesforce

Tyler Prince Executive Vice President, Worldwide Alliances & Channels, Salesforce SalesforceRole As Executive Vice President of Alliances and Channels, Tyler Prince is responsible for growing the Salesforce global community of Consulting Partners, Digital Agencies, Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s), and Reseller partners. He drives sales and customer success through Salesforce’s world-class partner ecosystem. Career Highlights Prince brings a deep breadth of experience to his role with more than 30 years of delivering transformational capabilities to partners and customers across many industries. Prior to joining Salesforce, he served as principal and global Oracle practice leader at PwC. Prior to PwC, Prince held various management positions at Oracle, PeopleSoft, IBM and Andersen Consulting Giving Back American Cancer Society, leadership board member. Recipient of 2021 Impact Maker of Year Award from the American Cancer Society, North Central Region. Boards 1871 Board Member -1871 is a Chicago-based community of founders, leaders, innovators, and supporters that is advancing the world forward and shaping a brighter future. Education BA, Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Personal Avid sports fan, Chicago evangelist.

Javier Reyes
Chancellor | University of Illinois Chicago

Dr. Javier Reyes serves as interim chancellor of the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). As Interim Chancellor, Dr. Reyes leads Chicago’s largest University campus and only R1 public research university indicating the highest level of research activity. Interim Chancellor Reyes is committed to continuing to expand upon UIC’s inclusive campus culture, pioneering spirit, while realizing the vision to transform the world through eliminating disparities in economic opportunities, health, and education.Prior to his service as Interim Chancellor, Dr. Reyes became Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UIC on August 16, 2021. In this role, Dr. Reyes served as UIC’s chief academic officer who oversees matters of academic policy, strategic direction, enrollment management and academic resource planning. As Provost, Dr. Reyes initiated an overhaul of UIC’s budget model while also restructuring teaching innovation environments, which will position UIC for success amidst a new era of innovative and accessible education. He also led focused efforts to attract exceptional candidates from around the nation for leadership roles across campus including the Dean of the UIC School of Law, the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, the College of Business Administration, and others. Committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, he also outlined a bold vision to address gaps in racial equity across the institution, with a specific focus on increasing Black student enrollment, retention, and graduation rates, which will catalyze transformation in support of a more equitable future at every level of the campus.Before joining UIC, Dr. Reyes served as West Virginia University’s Milan Puskar Dean of the John Chambers College of Business and Economics and vice president for Start-up West Virginia. Under his leadership, the College of Business was named by former Cisco Systems CEO and alumnus John Chambers and focused on the growth of experiential learning, with an emphasis on synergies with engineering and the health sciences. During his tenure, the total enrollment within the college grew by 20% and new online degree programs were launched in Healthcare MBA, MS Economics and MS Cybersecurity. He also launched the Building Beyond fundraising campaign to construct a futuristic new home for the college, which will open in 2022.Previously, Dr. Reyes served in several roles at the University of Arkansas including the vice provost for distance education, the associate dean for undergraduate studies and executive education at the Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business, and as a member of the economics faculty. He also has served as an academic scholar in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, and as a research analyst for the investment firm Value Casa de Bolsa, headquartered in Mexico.Dr. Reyes received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the Instituto Tecnológicoy de EstudiosSuperioresde Monterrey and his doctorate in economics from Texas A&M University.

Ashley Rice
President and Co-Managing Partner | Cinespace Studios

A seasoned entertainment executive with over 25 years of experience in film and television production, Ashley Rice joined Cinespace Studios in 2022 as President and Co-Managing Partner. Ashley oversees day-to-day management of the business and focuses on client and government relations, marketing/communications, and CineCares, a division dedicated to supporting local communities and building initiatives that promote equity and inclusion through education and job training in Film and TV. She’s also tasked with the global expansion of the production platform.Previously, Ashley held the role of Executive Vice President of Production for Legendary Television. She managed Legendary TV’s Studio Operations including Physical Production, Post Production, Production Finance, COVID/Safety/HR/Risk Management and Production Labor and Legal. Since joining the company in 2014, Rice oversaw domestic and international animated and live action productions for distribution on broadcast, cable and streaming platforms including Carnival Row,Paper Girls, Lost in Space, The Looming Tower, Pac Rim: The Black andTomb Raider among many others.Prior, Rice served as the Vice President of Production at ABC Studios where she managed all aspects of production on a variety of series for Shonda Rhimes and Mark Gordon (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Scandal, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior) as well as other pilot and series productions.Rice has also worked as a Production Executive at HBO where she was a part of seriessuch as Carnivaleand Entourage.Ashley is a member of the Producers Guild of America, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and Women in Film. Rice hails from Toronto, Canada and currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons, Thomas and Henry who love baseball.

Carmen Rossi
CEO | 8 Hospitality Group

Carmen Rossi CEO -An attorney and restaurant entrepreneur. He is the founder and President of 8 Hospitality Group, a Chicago-based restaurant, hospitality-development and management company with over 15 unique concepts. Throughout the last ten years in hospitality, Carmen has successfully developed 15 restaurant ideas into successful brands that are at the center of Chicago’s booming restaurant and nightlife industry.

Gustavo Samulewski
Senior Director of Operations | S&C Electric Co.

Gustavo Samulewski is a change leader with a passion and enthusiasm for Manufacturing and Assembly. Inspires his team around a common purpose.Combining a disciplined “Run the Business” work ethic with a Continuous Improvement mindset around Safety, Quality, Delivery, Productivity, and Human Development.vCurrently, as Sr. Director of Operations for S&C Electric Company, Gus oversees Assembly Operations for three manufacturing sites, with direct responsibility for more than 80% of S&C Electric Company’s revenue, overseeing 650 team members with 8 direct reports. His S&C career started in 2013, as Engineering Supervisor in our Curitiba, Brazil location, quickly escalating to the Plant Manager lead for that site. In 2017, Gus relocated to the United States for a role in US Operations, leading different product lines and sites, until being promoted in 2021 to his current position.Before joining S&C, Gus worked 12 years for Robert Bosch Diesel Systems, in Curitiba-Brazil, leading various product Lines relocations, and working as a Manufacturing Process Engineer, performing various quality and productivity improvement projects.Gus has a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University Positivo, in Curitiba-Brazil.He is a Computer Science Technician and certified Six-Sigma Blackbelt with additional Leadership certifications from Harvard and Yale Business School.

Matt Sarosy
Sr. Director Store Manager, Macy’s State Street | Macy’s, Inc.

Graduate of The Ohio State University; held multiple leadership positions across Macy’s the past 11 years most recently as District Director of Operations before running the State Street Macy’s. Active member in the community and sit on the board of the Chicago Loop Alliance. In time away from work I enjoy time with my family, enjoying the outdoors, and running.

Chris Sweetland
President, Illinois and Wisconsin Region | The Huntington Bank

As president of the Illinois and Wisconsin Region, Chris Sweetland leads the diverse team of financial services professionals at Huntington Bank who are committed to looking out for people and delivering our purpose to make lives better, help businesses thrive, and strengthen the communities we serve. Sweetland is a financial services veteran with more than 35 years of diverse banking experience, with much of it spent helping middle market companies grow and thrive. He joined Huntington in 2010 and most recently served as Commercial Regional Manager. Prior to joining Huntington, he held various leadership roles within commercial banking at Wintrust Financial and American National Bank & Trust in Chicago. Active in the community, Sweetland is on the Board of Neighborhood Housing Services, Mercy Housing Lakefront and Junior Achievement of Chicago. He continues to be very active with the board of Nourishing Hope, a large food bank serving the northwest side of Chicago. He also supports Hesed House in DuPage County. Sweetland earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in German from Wabash College. He is the father of two daughters and lives in Naperville with his wife.

Keli Walbert
Executive Vice President, US Operations | Horizon Therapeutics

Keli Walbertjoined Horizon in 2018 and has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical and health care industry experience primarily focused on building integrated marketing teams and leading medicine launches. She led the launch of TEPEZZA and has responsibility for KRYSTEXXA, UPLIZNA, life-cycle management as well as consumer and digital marketing.Prior to joining Horizon, Keli was with AbbVie where she led the consumer, advocacy and patient services functions for the launch of a drug-device combination product, DUOPA. Prior to AbbVie, she built and led the consumer organization at Abbott (now AbbVie) for the launch of HUMIRA. Keli also held senior marketing and advertising leadership roles at the American Medical Association (AMA) and Draft Worldwide (now DraftFCB), a global advertising agency.Keli has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville and a master’s degree from Northwestern University.