2020 Summer Speakers

Prior to establishing Chicago Psychotherapy in 2014, Dr. Adelman served on the clinical staff and teaching faculty of The Family Institute at Northwestern University. Dr. Adelman has taught and trained graduate students at Northwestern University since 2013. She was previously an Assistant Clinical Professor within The Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies at Northwestern, and currently serves as adjunct teaching faculty within the Counseling Program at The Family Institute. In addition, Dr. Adelman served until 2019 as the Director of Student Wellness and Support Services at a private Montessori school in Chicago, and continues to consult regularly with several Chicago-area schools on issues related to student and faculty wellness.

Dr. Adelman has published book chapters and journal articles across a range of clinical topics, including anxiety disorders, pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), depression, non-suicidal self-injury, peer relationships among youth, couple-based interventions for psychopathology, and social construction. Her public speaking and teaching focus on the dissemination of gold-standard research and clinical practices into settings in which these ideas can impact people’s daily lives. Dr. Adelman has presented regularly at national conferences and has spoken to both clinical and non-clinical audiences on a wide variety of topics, including: anxiety, OCD, fostering resilience, educating for adaptability, constructive communication practices, psychological safety, evidence-based treatments, and mental health trends. Dr. Adelman also offers educational workshops for parents and clinicians, with a particular focus on building contexts that support anxious children and promote the development of resilience.

Dr. Adelman is also the co-developer of “Frameworks for Change,” a program aimed at helping organizations and communities work towards making meaningful changes. She has served, both nationally and internationally, as a public speaker and consultant to schools, executive teams and communities seeking to make constructive changes to their group cultures and communication practices.

Caroline is a founding partner of Have Her Back Consulting (HHB), a female-owned business backed by IPG.  She works with brave companies to tackle equity and diversity differently, leveraging her creative craft to solve inequity in unique ways that inspire and deliver impact.  She was named in 2019 a Top 25 Innovator by the Holmes Report.  More recently, she’s co-written a byline in Fast Company and Have Her Back Consulting’s research on equity in the times of Covid-19 has been featured in Forbes and Entrepreneur.   HHB currently represents some of the biggest and fastest growing companies in the world, helping them move from good intentions to intentional actions.

Prior to HHB, she spent her 25-year career as a creative leader, most recently as Chief Creative Officer at Golin where she delivered award-winning creative campaigns – from Cannes Lions to PR Week to Clios for McDonald’s, Clif Bar, Unilever among others. Prior to that she served as a creative leader at Edelman.  She was inducted into PR Week’s Hall of Femme in 2019.

Prior to HHB becoming it’s own company, Caroline was the creator of the Have Her Back mission, which launched in 2018 as a progressive stance – and call out to the marketing industry – to welcome female creatives back and propel all women’s careers forward with tangible actions toward shared empowerment. The Have Her Back mission received honors from the Holmes Sabres, Campaign Power of Purpose Awards and IPG’s Inclusion Awards. In 2018, she was honored by the 3% Conference with the Three Cheers Award for advancing diversity and was also recognized as an inaugural Female Frontier Award recipient as a Champion of Change by Campaign US.

YOU MAY NOT KNOW…

Caroline is the mother of three teenage boys and she feels a particular responsibility to raise good men. Contrary to popular belief, her career thrived as a creative when she became a parent and she believes her parenting is stronger because of her career as a creative. While she wouldn’t trade being surrounded by her sons and husband for the world, she did just bring more equity into her family with the addition of a beloved female Alaskan Malamute named Billie.

@caroline.dettman @haveherback

Cara holds an honors degree in Theatre Arts from Cornell University, an MFA in Acting from the Old Globe/University of San Diego, another MFA in Television and Screenwriting from Stephens College, and is a proud member of SAG/AFTRA. She’s worked with numerous theaters across the country including Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the American Theatre Wing, Lookingglass Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, the Atlantic Theatre Company, Epic Theatre Ensemble and The Old Globe of San Diego. Her debut feature film “Dragonfly”, which she wrote and starred in, is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. You may also have seen her in “They’re Out of the Business”, “Chicago Med”, “As The World Turns”, or during a commercial break. A Minnesota native, Cara now lives in Chicago with her husband Ben and children Eliana and Micah.

He directs the treasury’s combined $32 billion investment portfolio, $300 billion in related banking operations and financial services, and a ~$4 billion agency budget and financial reporting unit. In this leadership role, Rodrigo leverages investment innovation, governance, stakeholder capitalism and equity, diversity, and inclusion to maximize investment returns and bolster the Illinois macro and micro economies.

Rodrigo was previously the Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and a member of the Illinois Cabinet, and has also worked for Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Rodrigo holds an undergraduate degree with a major in finance from Northeastern Illinois University, two post-graduate degrees, one with a focus in finance from the University of Illinois and one with a focus in public policy from Northwestern University, and has also completed a senior executives program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He is an Adjunct Lecturer at Northwestern University and is a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP®), an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®), and holds SASB’s FSA credential.

Rodrigo serves on the executive committee and chairs the investment committee for the endowment at Northeastern Illinois University Foundation, serves on the investment committee for the endowment at Youth Guidance/Becoming a Man, serves as the treasurer on the board of directors for The Thirty Percent Investor Coalition and is the chairman emeritus of Student Veterans of America. He also serves on the advisory councils for Angeles Investors, the Private Directors Association, the Milken Institute’s Global Capital Markets group and the Aspen Institute’s Latinos in Society program. He is a Marshall Memorial Fellow, an ACPYL Fellow, a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, Chicago Council on Global Affairs Emerging Leader, a U.S./Mexico Leaders Fellow, a Truman Partner and an Atlantic Council Millennium Leadership Fellow. Rodrigo is a Fellow of the 2019 class of Aspen Global Finance Leaders and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

He is a dedicated public servant, an investment platform innovator, an angel investor and an economic systems architect battling the many challenges afflicting communities in need.

Alison knows you can’t change behavior without experiencing how the change makes you feel. Therefore, Alison uses all her experience as a theater director to infuse her programs with fun, interactive and fast-paced exercises. You will be surprised at how quickly you are “Listening With Your Eyes!”

At Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Levy serves as the head of gastroenterology education for residents and medical students. Most recently, he founded a gastroenterology clinic for refugees resettling in Chicago. Dr. Levy has served on the American College of Gastroenterology’s Patient Care Committee, Public Relations Committee, and FDA Related Matters Committee. During the COVID-19 crisis, Dr. Levy started the online series “Concerts & Cocktails” organized by musicians and medical workers on the front lines.

Previously, Levy created a national health education campaign, “Music Inspires Health,” which teamed up music celebrities, physicians, and public health experts. Through a grant from Panavision, he produced health education short films about HIV prevention. Using these PSAs, he worked with Kaiser Permanente to organize a national concert tour. An avid cellist, Levy founded the Music Suppressed by the Third Reich International Conference exploring music banned in Nazi Germany while in college. He was subsequently awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to continue this research in Paris with advisors at the Sorbonne, the Bibliothèque Nationale, and the Orchestre de Paris. A native of Savannah, Georgia, Levy received a BA in music from the University of Virginia and his MD from Emory University.

Dr. Levy has received numerous awards for his innovative community efforts, including the Outstanding New Researcher Award at the CDC’s 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference and Hillel International’s Elie Wiesel Award for Jewish Arts and Culture.  In 2013, he was named to Gambit magazine’s (BestofNewOrleans.com) “40 Under 40” list. Dr. Levy completed the Emerging Leaders Program at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in 2018 and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Soundpost Series.

He also serves as the Spokesperson for Guardian Life in their Equal & Able partnership.

“Dr. O” was born in Nigeria before immigrating to the US at a young age. He attended High School at Deerfield Academy and college at Stanford University where he also ran Track & Field serving as captain his last two seasons and achieving Academic All American recognition.

He then earned his MD from the University of Michigan before matching into Orthopedic Surgery at Yale. At the beginning of his 3 rd year he experienced a spinal cord injury, paralyzing him from the chest down. After two surgeries and intense rehabilitation, he was blessed with some return of motor function.

He went on to earn a Master’s in Engineering, Science, and Technology Entrepreneurship from The University of Notre Dame, and completed his Family Medicine Residency at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana. He served on the St. Joseph County Board of Health, appointed by former Mayor Pete Buttigieg; and is the VP of the River City Challenged Athletes, a non-profit supporting the local adaptive sports teams. He was featured on Robin Robert’s Good Morning America Series “Thriver Thursday,” and has a catch phrase, “Disabusing Disability Ⓡ ,” hoping to demonstrate that DISability doesn’t mean INability. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honors Society, received Michigan Medicine’s Distinguished Early Career Alumni Award in 2020, and was given the “A Teacher’s Teacher Award” by the Academy of Medical Educators.

He speaks around the country on topics related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, including, but not limited to the lack of black male physicians and creating a health system that is accessible and inclusive to both patients and providers with disabilities. He is leading efforts to create an adaptive sports program, providing access to physical fitness and recreational and competitive sports for all.

Additionally he serves as the Director of Operations for Ruca.co, a global design and development studio and small business incubator. His curiosity for contributing to the betterment of the world lies at the nexus of strategy, technology and finance.

Since the onset of the COVID crisis, Megan has led several initiatives to support healthcare workers and vulnerable communities. She operated a COVID hotline at PCC where she and other providers fielded over 4,000 calls regarding physical symptoms, emotional stress, and financial insecurity. She also commissioned cloth masks for her fellow providers and several PCC patients. Most notably, she organized a team of students and activists- The Charger Squad- to launch a nationwide effort to equip hospital rooms with cell phone phone chargers.  The Charger Squad believes that providing patients with this critical lifeline during an isolated admission can improve patient outcomes- both psychologically and physiologically. Megan’s initiative has been featured in Forbes, CBS Chicago, and WTTW. To learn more or to support this initiative, please visit chargersquad.org.

He sits on the Elementary Education Appropriations, Criminal Judiciary, Transportation & Firearm Safety Committees.

Buckner was raised on the Southside of Chicago. He graduated from Morgan Park High School and from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign where he played for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team. Buckner also has a law degree from the DePaul University College of Law. After college, Buckner worked for Senator Dick Durbin in Washington D.C. and Mayor Mitch Landrieu in New Orleans. He then worked in community relations for the Chicago Cubs. In 2015, he was appointed Executive Director of World Sport Chicago; a nonprofit that grew from the Chicago bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

From 2015-2018 he served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Chicago State University. Buckner has also served as an adjunct professor in the Undergraduate College of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and has been a contributor for Crain’s Chicago Business and the political magazine the Hill.

He is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Business Leadership Council and the Illinois Advisory Board of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.

In addition, he is one of the firm’s leaders in helping clients across energy and natural resource sectors (agribusiness, utilities, mining, oil & gas, and chemicals) in developing and implementing sustainability strategies that improve shareholder value as well as environmental, social, and economic outcomes. In addition to public and private companies, Sasha has advised NGOs and industry collaborations on these topics.

Sasha’s insights have been published in a number of Bain Briefs, as well as the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

In his spare time, Sasha dedicates time to causes he cares about, especially public education, as well as spending time with his wife, Mia, and four children, Tabytha, Thiesson, Kempson, and Aubrienna.

Sasha holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, as well as a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan.

As such, she has spent her career working in schools that draw from throughout the city; she currently teaches at Northside College Prep High School, where her priorities include teaching banned books, advocating for the inclusion of more comics and graphic novels, working to diversify authors and texts in the curriculum, and creating more spaces and opportunities for student voices in school-based decisions.

Nora also researches and organizes against white nationalism, as she has since she was a teenager in Chicago’s punk scene. Lately, this means speaking to law enforcement and other government agencies, school administrations, community groups, and media outlets about the intersection of bigotry and youth culture. She recently co-authored Confronting White Nationalism in Schools, a toolkit designed to help schools thoughtfully and effectively respond to incidents of racial hostility and proactively strengthen school communities. This project has been featured in the Washington Post, The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, NPR, and The Chicago Tribune, as well as at conferences and panels across the country.

Weekends are for roller derby. After playing competitively for several years, Nora coaches the Chicago Riots, Chicago’s only youth roller derby team. She teaches young skaters to hip-check one another as a way to learn leadership skills, collaboration, body confidence, and inclusivity.

She is cheered on in all of these efforts by her husband, Matt, a Chicago firefighter, and their two sons, Kevin and J.D.

a Disruptive Event Responder through R3 Continuum in Illinois and Wisconsin, a certified Traumatologist through The Green Cross, a certified Disaster Mental Health responder through the Red Cross, an instructor for both organizations, and adjunct teaching of Disaster Trauma and Compassion Stress Management at Moody Theological Seminary in Chicago.

She’s also been a social worker in a Level One Trauma Center/Emergency Department in Indianapolis, provided justice-oriented services in Rwanda, Cambodia, Nepal, and Cuba as a writer and photojournalist through a local non-profit, and has developed macro and micro counseling programs with schools and local organizations in Belize. To date, the biggest disaster she’s managed is 3 kids under 3 with a set of twins. She’ll get the outcome measures on that one in a couple decades.

An expert on the complicated relationships between political institutions, societies, businesses, and security organizations, Cécile provides her expertise to businesses and non-profit institutions and appears frequently in the national and international media.

Prior to settling in Chicago, Cécile was a U.S. diplomat for over 25 years, including tours in Japan, Thailand, Pakistan, and Israel.  Cécile served as the political advisor to the half of the US Marine Corps posted in the Pacific, as a foreign policy fellow in the office of former Senator Joseph Lieberman, and as the senior US representative to Scotland. She is a former national security affairs fellow at the Hoover Institute.

In philosophy, Kleinfeld’s research focuses on the idea of “embodied ethical life,” as developed in the socio-theoretic tradition of Hegel, Weber, and Durkheim. In criminal law and procedure, Kleinfeld has developed a theory known as “reconstructivism,” which holds that the chief office of criminal law is not to dole out retributive justice, nor to optimize crime and cost control, but to reconstruct a violated normative order in the wake of a crime. Kleinfeld is also involved in practical criminal justice reform. In this vein, he defends children accused of homicide in the Northwestern Juvenile Criminal Defense clinic and assists in litigation efforts meant to reform American criminal law through the courts. He has also developed a view of criminal justice reform known as “democratization,” which holds that the root of the American criminal justice crisis is a set of bureaucratic attitudes, structures, and incentives divorced from the American public’s concerns and sense of justice, and that the primary solution is to make criminal justice more community-focused and responsive to lay influences. Working with others, he has developed a number of policy proposals meant to reform American criminal justice in a democratic direction.

Kleinfeld holds a JD from Yale Law School, a PhD in philosophy from the Goethe University of Frankfurt (supervised by Axel Honneth, Klaus Günther, and Rainer Forst), and a BA in philosophy from Yale College. He clerked for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; Judge Janice Rogers Brown on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; and President (chief justice) Aharon Barak of the Supreme Court of Israel. He worked as an Associate at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in Frankfurt, Germany, in the area of corporate criminal law. Before law school, he worked as a Senior Research Analyst at the White House’s Council on Bioethics.

As founder of Healthy Hood Chicago, Tanya leads a robust portfolio of programs aiming to engage, educate, and empower youth and families in personal and community health, wellness and social justice initiatives. Through her partnerships with Rush Medical Group, the city of Chicago, brands and other local not-for-profit organizations, Tanya inspires sustainable, healthy lifestyles through co-sponsored programming, event production,  creative engagement strategy and community outreach projects.

Katie has performed all over the world, from TBS’ Just for Laughs to Ireland’s Cat Laughs Comedy Festival. Commercial credits include: Discover Card, Wal-Mart, Sonic Drive-in, Lexus, and more.

She is an award-winning copywriter, creating campaigns such as KFC’s “I Ate the Bones” and Big Lots’ “Stand-Up Mom.” She has also written and consulted on many award shows such as The Emmys, The Academy Awards, The Golden Globes, The ESPYs, and NFL Honors   You can hear her writing on NPR’s Live From Here or actually hear her voice as Betsy DeVos on Showtime’s Our Cartoon President.  Katie currently lives in New York City were she finished her sixth season as a writer for Saturday Night Live.