Theme: Exposure

The world feels more polarized than ever. We’re constantly driven to rally for or against ideas and indiscriminately lash out at the unorthodox, unfamiliar, and unknown. We’ve been molded to think in black and white.

But, we live in a world of color, splattered with questions, vulnerability, doubt, and perspective. And though those qualities make our lives messy and uncomfortable, they also form the canvas on which our greatest achievements are painted.

This year, we challenge you to expose yourself to ideas that create our chaotic, but dazzling world of color – ideas that critique and question our faith in absolutes in the hope that we all may experience the chromatic wonder that is our humanity and move forward together.

Yellow Box
1635 Emerson Ln
Naperville, Illinois, 60540
United States

Adam Russo

Counselor

Adam Russo is the Chairman & CEO of Edgewood Clinical Services. Adam earned his Bachelor of Arts from Southern Methodist University and his Master of Social Work from Smith College. Adam formerly served as an administrator at a local behavioral health facility, and subsequently founded Edgewood Clinical Services in 2004. During his 15 years of post-Masters experience, Adam has provided clinical services to all populations in the inpatient, outpatient, and residential settings. He is skilled at connecting with young people in individual sessions, encouraging them to take an active role in their own treatment. He works with adults to name the current issues that are limiting their ability to be successful and then identifies ways to improve their situation. In his work with couples, he is able to clearly define the barriers that are affecting the relationship and set a clear plan for the future. He also works with children and adolescents who have been identified as having learning,

Dale Obrochta

Dale has a Masters in Communication and Training from Govenors State University. He is a corporate entertainer, trainer, keynote speaker, college educator, toastmaster, and entrepreneur who educates, entertains, and enlightens audiences. Dale Obrochta’s success started in 1984 when he helped an audience to engage their inner child and to be captivated by the twisted visual art called balloon entertainment. Dale’s passion for entertaining is fueled from working with world-class jugglers, unicyclists, magicians, clowns, balloonists, fire-eaters, theatrical entertainers, and vaudevillians. As a teenager, Dale worked with many amazing, technically talented individuals learning his trade through the open-sourced and freely-traded knowledge that is a standard feature of this type of professional group.

Daniel Geiter

Educator & President of Ward College

Daniel Geiter, Ed.D. has been involved in higher education as a student, intern, and employee since his 2008 return to college as an adult learner. He has spent the past seven years working in student work-study programs at Moraine Valley Community College and as both a Program Assistant in the African American Studies Program and a Research Assistant at Saint Xavier University. He recently defended his doctoral dissertation in the Higher Education and Organization Change Program at Benedictine University. As a convicted felon, Daniel has placed focus on issues relating to incarceration rates of African American men, a central point of his academic research. His belief is that the new frontier in research on underserved populations is no longer access to education. Currently, he serves as president of Ward College, a new institution of higher education on the South Side of Chicago dedicated to unleashing the potential of the whole student by setting the standard for virtue, responsi

Garry McCarthy

Law Enforcement Officer & Former Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department

Previously the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, Garry McCarthy is the President and CEO of GFM-Strategies. McCarthy is a career law enforcement officer, beginning his work with the New York Police Department in 1981 and rapidly rising through the ranks to become Deputy Commissioner of Operations in 2000. As principle crime strategist for the department, he oversaw significant decline in homicide rates to their lowest since 1962. His work ultimately gained him praise from the U.S. Attorney’s office and, in 2006, he was chosen to lead the Newark Police Department. Within his first year, the Department achieved a 9% reduction in homicide, the first reduction since 2002, as well as increased efficiency and professionalism and a 17% increase in arrests with reduced complaints against law enforcement officers. McCarthy has been awarded more than twenty Commendations for Valor. He served as the First Vice President of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and is a member of

Josh Stumpenhorst

Educator

Josh Stumpenhorst is a 6th grade teacher, athletic director and computer club advisor, and serves on numerous curriculum and technology committees at Lincoln Junior High School in Naperville. His inspiration for education innovation stems from the motivational theories written by Daniel Pink, where students choose and drive their learning activities. His successes have been acknowledge by Pink himself, as well as classrooms throughout country and world, who Josh helps guide. In 2012, he was recognized as the Illinois Computer Educators Educator of the Year and the Illinois Teacher of the Year. He was also awarded a California Casualty Teaching Excellence award by the National Education Association and was the Illinois Education Association’s Excellence in Teaching award winner. In 2013, Josh was named as a Pearson Foundation Global Learning Fellow. Josh is also the author of the book The New Teacher Revolution: Changing Education for a New Generation of Learners, which analyzes c

Lena Hatchett

Bioethics Researcher & Public Health Advocate

Lena Hatchett, Ph.D. is the Director of Community and University Partnerships in the Stritch School of Medicine and an assistant professor at Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics, both at Loyola University Chicago. She leads the institution in health equity research and education through program and policy development. Dr. Hatchett’s research interests are focused on community-engaged approaches to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities. On-going research includes Cook County Green Corps, which is a green job training program focused on urban agriculture. Related projects include the Urban Garden Connection which is a network of partners across suburban Cook County working to improve local policies that impact urban agriculture and local food systems. In partnership with local community organizations Dr. Hatchett also runs the Maywood Multicultural Farmers Market.

Mike Byster

Mike Byster is a mathematician, mental calculator, and math educator. With one of the fastest mathematical minds on the planet, his mission is to positively impact the lives and minds of students ages 9-99. From test anxiety and learning disabilities to head injuries and Alzheimer’s, Mike’s approach to learning turns the pressure off, making the process of learning a positive experience. Mike’s passion for math and memory has led him share his knowledge at over 16,000 classrooms, nursing homes, and businesses throughout the world, all for free. His book, The Power of Forgetting, shares his lessons on mental math, memory, focus, concentration and organization skills. His family-based, game show-style learning tool, Brainetics, is the winner of the 2008 Parent’s Choice Award, 2012 Mom’s Best Award, and 2015 Academics’ Choice “Brain Toy” Award.

Peter Himmelman

Singer, Songwriter & Television Composer

Peter Himmelman is a Grammy and Emmy nominated American singer-songwriter and film and television composer from Minnesota, who formerly played in the Minneapolis indie rock band Sussman Lawrence before pursuing an extensive solo career. Himmelman is also the founder of Big Muse, a company which helps individuals and organizations unlock their creative potential. Himmelman garnered his first solo deal on Island Records in 1985 after a video for the song Eleventh Confession made its way onto regular rotation on MTV. His first release entitled This Father’s Day was composed for Himmelman’s father David. “Stunning… ‘Eleventh Confession’ is a hauntingly beautiful track…” – Rolling Stone. In the early ’90s, he achieved significant alternative radio play with songs including The Woman With The Strength of 10000 Men, from his From Strength To Strength release. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2002 for his song Best Kind Of Answer, which appeared in the CBS series Judging Amy, for which

Richard Doss

Army Suicide Prevention Expert

Dr. Richard Doss is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and works for the Veterans Administration Vet Center. He is also a former Department of Defense Suicide Prevention Program Manager for the United States Army Reserve, training commanders, soldiers, and their families on suicide prevention and assisting over 13,000 soldiers in 26 states and Puerto Rico. Certified in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), Richard has trained hundreds of Soldiers and their families in the art of Suicide Awareness and Suicide Prevention.

Roger Anderson

Telemarketer Interceptor

Roger Anderson is a tinkerer, podcaster, and founder of the Jolly Roger Telephone Company, which works to disrupt the unsolicited telemarketing industry by creating unique ways to deal with auto and predictive dialers, soundboards, and cold callers. Having two land-line telephones for decades, Roger would often receive telemarketer calls and shrug them off. When his son became old enough to answer the phone, the boy received a call from a very aggressive telemarketer who said enough “bad words” for Roger to start looking for a solution. Since then, Roger has undertook a crusade to understand how auto and predictive dialing works and create technologies that circumvent, disrupt, trick, and challenge the unsolicited telemarketing industry.

Scott Tillema

Sergeant Scott Tillema is a FBI trained hostage negotiator, spending over 7 years as a negotiator with NIPAS-EST, the largest multi-jurisdictional municipal SWAT team in the United States. He is also a supervisor at the Schaumburg (IL) Police Department, where he has been a police officer since 2002. Scott held the role of adjunct professor at Argosy University – Schaumburg, teaching multiple courses in both the psychology and criminal justice programs. Through his interest in policing, psychology, and negotiations, he has developed The SECRETS Model of Negotiation, and actively teaches crisis communication to police officers throughout the Chicago region. Scott holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin with a triple major in behavioral science, political science and sociology. He also completed a Master’s degree in forensic psychology through Argosy University.

Seth Darling

Scientist & Molecular Engineer

Seth B. Darling is a scientist at Argonne National Laboratory and a Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in physical chemistry, he came to Argonne as the Glenn Seaborg Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in the Materials Science Division. Following his postdoc, Dr. Darling joined the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne as a staff scientist. His group’s research is motivated by humankind’s grand challenges and centers around molecular engineering with a particular emphasis on solar energy and water treatment. Dr. Darling has published over 100 papers and a popular book on climate change, holds several patents, and lectures widely on topics related to energy, climate, and water.

Tim Ryan

Hope Dealer & Drug Addiction and Rehabilitation Expert

Tim Ryan struggled with addiction for 30 years, being incarcerated for 7 years for drug-related convictions, overdosing 7 times, and being announced clinically dead 3 times. He lost his 20 year old son in 2014 to heroin and has attended 96 funerals since then. Painfully aware of the realities of drug addiction, Tim is now a recovering heroin addict and founder of the A Man in Recovery Foundation, working to expose the truth about addiction and work within communities to create solutions to drug addiction and instill the messages of hope and recovery. Tim has been featured in over 50 publications, from the front page of the Chicago Tribute to Newsweek, The Steve Harvey Show, and Dr. Drew. He has also assisted CNN on a series about heroin in our community airing Fall 2016.