Theme: Full Spectrum

So many of us live in a single-color world. We go to the same places, performing the same activities with the same attitude and same views. But seeing the world as blue doesn’t mean it truly is. We’re all part of a spectrum only visible when challenging our perceptions, collaborating with others, and seeking knowledge. The reds, greens, and golds only appear when we pursue understanding and fight the pressure to succumb to what we think we already know.

This year, we challenge you to unearth your biases, question your perceptions, and see in colors both uncomfortable and unfamiliar. We are all individuals, but only through connection do we learn, evolve, and become a spectrum that truly beautifies the world.

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

Ben Bradley

Ben Bradley was born naked, helpless and incontinent. He eventually overcame those obstacles and is now managing director of Macon Raine – a B2B marketing agency that specializes in content development for complex sales cycles. He is an avid indoorsman, drives a minivan, enjoys gluten, soup, and long walks on the beach. He can prepare 5-minute rice in 4 minutes. He lives at the intersection of sales, technology and marketing with his wife, two children, and two dogs – an Australian Goathound (Lucy) and a Westphalian Loef Pinscher (Rosalee). He frequently lectures his children on a variety of topics.

Bob Rychlik

Slovakian Fujara Master

Born in former Czechoslovakia, Bob Rychlik is an internationally-recognized teacher, composer, and performer of the fujara, koncovka, and other traditional Slovak overtone flutes. He has performed at the Library of Congress and Kennedy Center, as well as at many U.S. folk festivals and Czech and Slovak ethnic festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad, including a 5-hour playing marathon at the Slovak Embassy. Bob has been promoting the fujara and its music in the western world, and connects fujara makers and players through his database. He co-organized 3 International fujara festivals in Slovakia, and has appeared with his fujara in film, on TV, and on the radio in U.S., Czech Republic and Slovakia, and has been teaching week-long fujara and koncovka course at CGOTH, McDaniel College, Maryland every year since 2011. In 2016 he also performed at the National Flute Association convention in San Diego

Craig Sampson

Human-centered Designer

Craig Sampson lives at the intersections. Technologist by training, human-centered designer by nature, and business professional by experience, Craig is founder of TBD Innovation and professor at Segal Design Institute at Northwestern University. Craig has focused his professional life on creating remarkable products, services, and businesses. He spent much of his career at IDEO, founding and leading the firm’s Chicago office. Craig is endlessly curious about people, and our experiences with the objects and people in our lives, leading to his creation of the experimental graduate course Designing Product Interactions. Craig is a collaborative and natural change agent who inspires others, connects the dots, and makes new dots

Daryl Davis

Jazz Musician & Unorthodox Racial Conversationalist

Davis has received the Elliott-Black and MLK awards as well as numerous other local and national awards for his work in race relations, and is often sought by media outlets as a consultant on the KKK and race relations. He is also an actor with stage and screen credits, appearing in the critically acclaimed HBO police drama, The Wire, and most recently, as the subject of the documentary Accidental Courtesy, which filmed his real life encounters with Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi leaders as he helps to dismantle racism across the United States.

Dr. Ed Ellison

Doctor of Medicine & Health Equity Advocate

Dr. Ellison is board certified in Family Medicine and is a diplomat of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He serves as executive medical director and chairman of the board for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, one of the largest self-governing medical groups in the country, setting the strategic direction and accountability for all aspects of patient care.

Dr. Volker Rose

Nanoscale Materials Physicist

Dr. Volker Rose is a physicist with the Advanced Photon Source and the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory as well as an Adjunct Professor of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Ohio University. He holds an advanced degree in physics and a doctoral degree from RWTH Aachen, Germany. Currently, his research focuses on the study of nanoscale materials by means of high-resolution x-ray microscopy techniques. He has published more than 60 journal articles and book chapters as well as given more than 50 invited talks at international conferences and higher institutions around the world. His work has been covered by media outlets including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Discover Magazine, Voice of America, and many more. Some of his research achievements include a prestigious R&D 100 Award in 2009, a Department of Energy Early Career Research Program Award in 2012, and a Pinnacle of Education Award in 2015

Hazel Wagner

Mind Mapper

Hazel Wagner, Ph.D., MBA, CMC is a lifelong learner. She has four college degrees including a Ph.D. in mathematics from Northwestern University, which she earned while raising three children. She’s published four books on mathematics and business, including Power Brainstorming and Business, Brains, and B.S. She’s a cancer survivor, a volunteer, an entrepreneur, a pioneer in Criterion Referenced Testing in education, and a researcher on how people learn difficult subjects in mathematics. Hazel has spoken and written on the subjects of critical thinking, innovation, decision-making, marketing, business strategy, and leadership, and taught related subjects for the American Management Association, Northwestern University, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Cardean University, and De Paul Graduate School of Business. Hazel specializes in a concept called mind mapping, teaching others how to use it to augment and enhance their memory, studies, planning, and more

Janet Derrick

Satiation Distribution Specialist

Originally from New York, Janet Derrick’s began her life as a transplanted Midwestern, working as Senior Vice President of Sales for News America Marketing in Chicago, managing a team of 30 people responsible for $300 million in sales. But her drive to make a meaningful difference in her community led her to volunteer with Naperville CARES, an organization that helped families coping with a financial crisis to stay housed. Her impact as a volunteer was significant and quickly led to a new career as the organization’s first Executive Director.

Lynne Franklin

Persuasive Communicator

After a boy threatened to kill her with a machete, Lynne Franklin decided to learn everything she could about persuasion. She became a neuroscience nerd, studying how the brain works and how to build rapport with people. She has since worked with organizations to use persuasive communication to increase their performance, productivity, and profit, and published a book about her personal research called Getting Others to Do What You Want. In addition to her marketing and consulting work, Lynne is a member of the National Speakers Association and President-elect of its Illinois chapter.

Matt Bray

YouTube Personality

Matt Bray grew up and has spent most of his life in Naperville. He’s the creator of the 100 Days of Dance, 100 People of Dance, and 100 People of Dance videos, all of which went viral on YouTube and Facebook. He’s also the creator of YouTube channel ProjectOneLife where he documents his life’s adventures and travels, exploring the one life he was given

Michaela Horn

A junior at Wheaton North High School, Michaela Horn is a cultural and philanthropic powerhouse. She plays piano and violin and is a member of the Wheaton North Sinfonia Orchestra and Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra, having performed with her school at venues in Beijing and Shanghai. She’s a member of the Wheaton North speech team. She also writes for the school’s Falcon Flyer newspaper. She’s stood on five continents. She’s organized a book and donation drive, distributing more than 3,000 books to schools and orphanages in Ghana. She referees children’s soccer, was an assistant chess instructor for a grade school chess team, and sponsors a fellow student in Ghana, providing financial and personal support. She’s also a junior counselor at the Camp Invention summer education program. And that’s all before 18 years old. Michaela was selected as a member of Oxford University summer educational program. She is looking forward to attending college after high school, possibly majoring in engineering.

Phil Boissiere

Psychotherapist

Phil Boissiere is an adult ADHD and couples counseling specialist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His goal-focused approach and use of evidence based practices, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and skills training form an empowering therapeutic process. Phil has pursued expertise in brain science, advanced training in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT), and adult ADHD specific training at the Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Academy.

Rad Uncle

Rad Uncle is a Wheaton, IL based improv team out of the Westside Improv Studio. The team is originally made up of Jeff ash, Matt Guglielmi, Josh Hepler, and Jason Parker, but also features Ann Marie Trepkowski and Ashley Whitehurst as players and Sally Hepler on piano. Collectively Rad Uncle makes up decades of improv comedy, performances, and acting experience, both on the stage and television. They are teachers, trainers, and directors in improvisational arts and are professionals at sharing the stories you never know didn’t occur.

Ralph Covert

Children’s Rock Performer

At the heart of the success of Ralph Covert’s thirty year career as a Grammy-nominated recording artist is his songwriting. His songwriting classes for the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago were used as the model for their songwriting department. He has released over two dozen albums between his kids music project Ralph’s World and his Rock n’ Roll band The Bad Examples, and has toured the world, including prestigious venues like the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, New York’s Central Park, the Milky Way in Amsterdam, and many festivals, including Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.

Richard Wistocki

Detective Richard Wistocki had been with the Naperville Police Department for 28 years, 22 as a SWAT sniper and 20 as an Internet Crimes Investigator. He is one of the founding members of the Illinois Attorney Generals High Tech Crimes Bureau (ICAC). Rich’s concentration is in teaching parents how to manage their children’s online activities, and instructing law enforcement officers across the country how to investigate internet crimes against children. He is an instructor for National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC), the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) and the State of Illinois North East Multi Regional Training Cenger (NEMRT). He is also the creator of the Illinois Sexting Law, Sexual Exploitation of Children Online, and the Swatting Law. Rich has also recently developed a case management and online training site for school administrators, SRO’s, juvenile officers, and states attorney’s for handling cases of sexting, cyber-bullying, and the new SB100 legislation

Robert Renteria

Civil Rights Leader & Educational Reformer

Robert Renteria is an international award-winning author, U.S. Army veteran, civil rights activist, and founder of the From the Barrio Foundation. His bilingual book series and program, From the Barrio to the Board Room, Mi Barrio and Little Barrio are taught to students in classrooms and youth prisons throughout 25 countries, sharing messages of hard work, dedication, and education to help build the next great generation. Robert is the first Latino to receive two national Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. awards for his work as a civil rights leader and voice in educational reform. He was also Chicago’s 2010 Latino Professional of the Year and has spoken at dozens of major government agencies, corporations, and educational institutions around the United States

Subhi Khanna

Hindi Pop Jazz Artist

Subhi is an Indian-American singer, songwriter and musician. Her music promotes cross-cultural exchange of creative dialogues. Her songs showcase a blend of her Indian roots and the prominent Jazz culture of Chicago. It was during her travels back and forth between Mumbai & Chicago that she composed the songs that became her debut album titled Shaitaan Dil (Naughty Heart). Her band consists of members from India, Mexico, Belize & America — all living in Chicago; blending the cultural diversity of our city and our nation into their music. Subhi’s debut album release was hosted by Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago and The Jazz Institute of Chicago as part part of the Jazz Club Tour 2017 and World Music Wednesdays series