Theme: "No Limits"

We love the idea of “No Limits” because it contains an intrinsic contradiction. It both inspires us to say — “Wow, there are no limits to what we can do differently to move forward, inspire positive change, innovate and evolve.” But it also forces us to question the reality that there are many issues in our society relating to a LACK of limits (e.g., how we treat each other, how obsessed we are with technology/social media, how we abuse food/alcohol/drugs).

Venue SIX10 at Spertus Institute
610 S Michigan Ave
Chicago, Illinois, 60605
United States

Ashley Slim Stevenson

Ashley Slim Stevenson, also known as Slim Freedom, is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and street performer based in Chicago. For years she has displayed her talent in the subways of Chicago to support herself. Recently, her performances have gotten the attention of YouTubers who have filmed her songs in “The Tunnels,” as Ashley refers to them. Many of these videos have reached tens of thousands of views. Her cover of “Landslide” received 15 million views since its release two years ago. Now with a team behind her, Slim Freedom will soon release a series of professional recordings of her covers and originals as she prepares her debut album.

Bill Bucklew

Innovator, Adventure Athlete, Charitable Entrepreneur

Bill Bucklew believes that most boundaries are illegitimate and the most profound advancements come from pushing beyond the perceived window of possibility. Bill is the Vice President of Product for The Papered Chef where he leads the innovation and development of their consumer solutions. Bill recently formed the Not for Profit UnCorked Adventures who’s first event had Bill walking coast to coast across America in 67 days (40 miles per day) to raise awareness for Parkinson’s disease, where he did over 40 television/media interviews. Bill’s NFP is currently working to bring disparate organizations together to significantly elevate the state of movement disorder patient solutions. Both Bill and his father are living with Parkinson’s disease.

Candi Carter

Executive Producer, Creative

Candi Carter is currently an Executive Producer for the iconic daytime TV show, The View on ABC. She spent 15 years producing award-winning television at The Oprah Winfrey Show. She volunteers her time working with the special needs community.

David Ansell

Physician, social epidemiologist and human rights activist

MD, MPH is a physician, epidemiologist, health activist and writer. He is the author of two books that highlight these inequities: County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago’s Public Hospital and The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills.

Francie Arenson-Dickman

Author, Analyzer, Essayist

Francie Arenson Dickman has been using her family as the source of writing material her whole life. Her personal essays have appeared in publications such as The Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, Today Parents, Motherwell Magazine, Brain Child Magazine, among others. She lives in the same suburb of Chicago in which she grew up, with her husband, twin daughters and dog, Pickles. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from The George Washington University School of Law. Her first novel, Chuckerman Makes a Movie, will be published by SheWrites Press in October.

Jason Saul

Evaluator, Social Entrepreneur

Jason Saul is one of the nation’s leading experts on measuring social impact. As the Founder and CEO of Mission Measurement, Jason advises governments, corporations, foundations and nonprofits on how to maximize the return on their social initiatives. Jason is the author of numerous books and articles on social strategy and measurement, including: Benchmarking for Nonprofits; Social Innovation, Inc.; and The End of Fundraising. Jason was awarded the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for leadership and public service and was selected as a Leadership Greater Chicago fellow. In 2008, Jason was recognized as one of Crain’s Chicago Business “40 under 40” business leaders, and in 2010, he was named by BusinessWeek as one of the Nation’s 25 Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs. Jason has a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, an M.P.P. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a B.A. in Government and French Literature from Cornell University.

Jennifer Holmgren

Scientist, Disruptor, Dog-lover

Jennifer Holmgren: When anyone has said something can’t be done, Jennifer has said: “watch me”. From establishing the technical and commercial viability of sustainable aviation fuels and now recycled carbon to products, Dr. Holmgren’s compassion and leadership inspire the Bioeconomy Sector to scale and succeed.

Kyla Guru

security-supergirl, STEMinist, changemaker

Kyla Guru is a 15-year-old high schooler and the founder/CEO of Bits N’ Bytes Cybersecurity Education. She aspires to be a catalyst for global change, being a 2018 Global Teen Leader, NCWIT AiC National Winner, & Stanford University #include fellow.

Mark Hyman

Physician, Activist, Teacher

Dr. Mark Hyman is a practicing family physician, a 11-time New York Times bestselling author, and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in the field of Functional Medicine. He is the Pritzker Foundation Chair in Functional Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. He is Founder and Director of The UltraWellness Center, chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine, medical editor of The Huffington Post, and a regular medical contributor in the media for CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, CNN, The Dr. Oz Show, and more.

Moran Cerf

Neuroscientist, Hacker

Moran Cerf is a professor of neuroscience and business (Kellogg), and a Sloan screenwriting Professor (American Film Institute). Prior, he worked as a hacker and cybersecurity expert. His hacking background led him to investigate the brain using unique methods. Notably, working with patients undergoing brain-surgery to study behavior, emotion, decisions and dreams. In addition to his academic career, professor Cerf is a science consultant for Hollywood films and TV. Recently, he was named one of the "40 leading professors below 40”.

Paige Leigh Baker-Braxton

Feminist, Psychologist, Humanitarian

Psy.D.was hired by Howard Brown Health to spearhead the development, implementation, and evaluation of the first LGBTQ-specific sexual assault response program in the nation: in.power*. In addition, Dr. Baker-Braxton is also a Clinical Psychologist with a private practice in Chicago specializing in LGBT mental health and trauma.

Rendel Solomon

Westsider, Community builder, Ownership advocate

Engineer turned MBA turned Private equity investor. Founded One Stock One Future NFP to fulfill a mission to create one million youth shareholders and instill a sense of Hope, Inspiration, Empowerment, and Opportunity through stock ownership.

Rick Smolan

CEO, photographer

Rick Smolan, CEO of Against All Odds Productions is a New York Times best-selling author with more than five million copies of his books in print. A former Time, Life, and National Geographic photographer, Smolan is best known as the co-creator of the "Day in the Life" book series. His global photography projects, which feature the work of hundreds of the worlds leading photographers and combine creative storytelling with state-of-the-art technology, are regularly featured on the covers of prestigious publications around the globe including Fortune, Time, and GEO.

The JuJu Exchange Music

The JuJu Exchange group.

The JuJu Exchange Quartet

The JuJu Exchange is a groundbreaking quartet led by Nico Segal - Grammy-winning trumpeter for Chance the Rapper and many more. With one foot in Jazz and the other foot in everything else, The JuJu Exchange is a musical partnership of childhood friends who came up through Chicago Public School music programs. Nico, Julian & Everett Reid and Lane Beckstrom use The JuJu Exchange as a way to build off of their past experiences in order to make a genre-bending style of music that looks to the future while addressing the problems of the present. Drawing from hip-hop, jazz, classical and pop music, The JuJu Exchange will take you where anything is possible. Their explosive live show is a joyous exchange between band members and the audience.

Tracy Palandjian

Builder, Connector, and Change-Maker

Tracy Paladijan: An accidental entrepreneur, Tracy Palandijan left the private sector to co-found Social Finance. The nonprofit is building a new model to finance social change, enlisting private capital and rallying uncommon partners around a common cause: results for our most vulnerable communities.