Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Hybrid Luncheon
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
“The Vision and Strategic Priorities for Chicago Public Schools”
Speaker:
Pedro Martinez – Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Public Schools
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Hybrid Luncheon
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
“Reducing Gun Violence and Improving Public Safety in Chicago”
Speakers:
Jalon Arthur – Director of Strategic Initiatives, Chicago CRED
Jens Ludwig – Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Sybil Madison – Chief of Staff, City of Chicago
Thursday, July 14, 2022
Webinar
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
“Making Electric Vehicles Work for Commerce and Consumers”
Speakers:
Marc Bedard – Chief Executive Officer, Lion Electric
Marin Gjaja – Chief Customer Officer, Ford Model e
Wednesday, May 19, 2022
Hybrid Luncheon
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
“The Economy 2022: Forecasting the Impact of Inflation, the War in Europe, and the COVID-19 Pandemic”
Speakers:
Jeffrey R. Brown – Dean and Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professor of Business, Gies College of Business, University of Illinois
Austan D. Goolsbee – Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Hybrid Luncheon
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
“Chicago: Redefining Winning in Tech”
Speakers:
Penny Pritzker –Founder and Chairman
PSP Partners; 38th United States Secretary of Commerce; Chair, P33
Brian Barnes – Founder and Chief Executive Officer, M1
Dr. Pranav Gokhale – Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Super.tech
Dr. Christine Izuakor – Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Cyber Pop-Up
Moderator: Brad Henderson, Chief Executive Officer, P33
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
Webinar
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, City of Chicago
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Webinar
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Mark S. Hoplamazian, President and CEO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Webinar
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
General (Ret.) Stan McChrystal
Thursday, October 7, 2021
Webinar
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg
Monday, September 13, 2021
Webinar
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Governor JB Pritzker, State of Illinois
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Webinar and Annual Meeting
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
“Moving Forward: Implementing the Vision of the Obama Presidential Center”
Thursday, May 13, 2021
Webinar
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
“Outlook on the U.S. and Our Regional Economy” with Charles L. Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Webinar
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
“A Discussion with Mary Dillon: Leading in Retail through 2021 and Beyond”
Thursday, March 11, 2021
Webinar
10:00 A.M. – 11:00 A.M.
“A Discussion with China’s Ambassador Cui Tiankai”
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Webinar
9:30 A.M. – 10:30 A.M.
“Achieving Health Equity Through Innovation and Global Partnerships”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, and Sheba Medical Center Director General Yitshak Kreiss discussed the Chicago ARC Innovation Center, an open collaboration venture between Illinois and Israel. ARC stands for accelerate, redesign, and collaborate. With a proven and repeatable model based on Israel’s “Startup Nation” approach, and a market-driven strategy adapted for the U.S., the venture will fast-track health innovation and equity in Illinois, the nation, and internationally.
The recently announced Chicago ARC Innovation Center is a joint venture between Israel’s national hospital Sheba Medical Center, Kaleidoscope Health Ventures (KHV), and Farpoint Development. This initiative was engineered by Chicago-based KHV, a national health-focused venture development firm. The center will anchor the $7 billion, 100-acre Bronzeville Lakefront development on the historic site of the Michael Reese Medical Center.
Participants discussed how Illinois and Israel can fast-track groundbreaking research and innovation; foster collaboration between academic institutions, government, startups, and corporations to advance health equity and social justice; and spur inclusive economic development. COVID-19 has exacerbated health disparities and highlights the critical need to improve the U.S. healthcare system — especially in Chicago, which has the largest life-expectancy gap between two low- and high-income neighborhoods across 500 cities in the U.S.
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Webinar
12:00 P.M. – 1:00 P.M.
“COVID-19 Vaccination: Strategies for Distribution and Inoculation”
On January 26th, the Commercial Club hosted a webinar on the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in the Chicagoland area. The panel featured Dr. Allison Arwady, MD, MPH, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health; Dr. Kevin Ban, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Walgreens; Sol Flores, Deputy Governor for the State of Illinois; and Dr. Julie Morita, MD, Executive Vice President at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Former Member of the Biden Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board.
Commercial Club President Kelly Welsh started the program by introducing the panel. Each speaker provided a brief presentation to detail the work being done on each level — federal, state, city and the private sector. Following these presentations, Commercial Club chair Jenny Scanlon moderated a virtual fireside chat.
Information regarding the vaccines continues to be updated on a daily basis, so please continue to monitor the news and public health officials to stay up to date on the most current information. Below you will find some key takeaways from our panelists that we anticipate will remain true for some time, as well as links to the websites that were mentioned during the program.
Key Takeaways
- A return to pre-COVID activities will require patience and perseverance.
- We are experiencing supply issues, however more vaccine will become available, more sites will have the vaccine, and the systems for vaccination will run more smoothly.
- In Chicago, decisions regarding reopening will be based on the COVID-19 numbers and not based on the vaccine coverage.
- It is critical for people to continue to do the things we know will protect us and our loved ones – continue to wear your masks, socially distance, avoid large gatherings, wash your hands, and isolate and quarantine when recommended.
- Vaccine hesitancy is quite high across the country, particularly in low income and minority communities that have been the hardest hit by COVID-19. Employers can play an important role in educating their employees and empowering them, in turn, to educate their communities.
- This truly is an unprecedented effort that requires public/private partnership across federal, state, local, and private sector organizations. Transparency and information sharing is particularly important to applying best practices and learning along the way, particularly given the many complexities. The more unified the approach to COVID-19 distribution and vaccinations, the easier it will be for consumers to understand how, when, and where they can be vaccinated.
Websites Mentioned
- State of Illinois Vaccine Information
- City of Chicago Vaccine Information
- City of Chicago – Information for Employers
- Walgreen’s Overview of States’ Eligibility Requirements
- Walgreen’s Appointment Scheduling (for those eligible)
Jenny Scanlon closed the program by thanking all of our speakers for their time and thoughtful discussion as well as their efforts in dealing with the next phase of this pandemic.
We greatly appreciate all the continued efforts being made across our City, State, and Country as we move on to the next phase of tackling this pandemic. As we work together during this time, we strongly encourage all partners to maximize distribution and inoculation across all populations.