Carol L. Adams, Ph.D. – Founder and CEO of Urban Prescriptives, Inc.

Carol L. Adams, PhD., is founder and CEO of Urban Prescriptives, Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in program and organizational development for enterprises engaged in educational, social, political, and cultural practice. This venture merges the diverse experiences that comprise her remarkable career and her commitment to asset-based, culture-centered models for social change. Her past positions include: President; DuSable Museum; Director, African American Studies, Loyola University; Executive Director, House of Blues Foundation; Director, Center for Inner City Studies, Northeastern Illinois University; and Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Described as a Pan-Africanist and scholar-activist, the constant theme throughout her life has been her commitment to her people. Beginning as a civil rights activist and CORE president in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, continuing as a student at Fisk University, marching with the legendary Rev. C.T. Vivian, and on to Chicago, where her association with a group of social engineers called The Catalyst would define her remarkable career and her worldview.

An author, Adams’ memoir “That’s All She Wrote” is a lyrical exposé that chronicles her journey as she delved into the morass of societal and cultural contradictions that confound Black life in America. Her soon-to-be-published anthology, ”My Dad: The Man”, celebrates Black fathers through the eyes and words of 20 prominent daughters whose Dads were major influencers in their lives. She is also working feverishly to complete “Our Black Bag: The Catalyst Story”, a historical account of a group of legendary game-changers who set out to transform the socio-political landscape in Chicago, and did.

Dr. Adams studied at Lincoln University, Fisk University, Boston University, University of Chicago, and Union Graduate School, and certificate programs at Yale and Harvard Universities. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa key.

She is the proud Mother of Nia Malika Augustine, her bonus son, Vance Henry, and scores of mentees and former students who affectionately call her “Doc” or “Mama Carol”.

Her favorite word is “NEXT” and her mantra is “I thought I told you that we won’t stop!”

 

Dr. Peggy A. Montes – Founder and President of the Bronzeville Children’s Museum

Peggy A. Montes is a native Chicagoan who has devoted her life to serving her fellow citizens, especially women, girls, and disadvantaged children. She is noted for her philanthropic and volunteer successes in reaching goals for her beloved causes. Her main purposes are Empowering Women and Educating Children.

Not many teachers leave their profession to lead organizations and found institutions. However, she has done just that and is still moving creatively into the future. Best known as the Founder and President of the Bronzeville Children’s Museum (still the first and only African American children’s museum in the country), now celebrating its 27th Anniversary. She is also a seasoned civic, cultural, educational, and women’s rights activist. Peggy is a philanthropic leader and trailblazing volunteer who serves on several boards, commissions, and committees.

A lifelong volunteer, Peggy made history as the first female Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Building Committee at the DuSable Museum of African American History, where Dr. Margaret T. Burroughs was her mentor and best friend. During her tenure, she led the development and completion of the $3.5 million Harold Washington Wing. She now holds the position of Chairman Emerita. She has also been active in the Association of African American Museums as an officer and committee member on different committees.

Her museum involvements include co-founding member of the Chicago Art Institute Leadership Advisory Council, Member of the Black Creativity Council of the Museum of Science and Industry, twenty-seven years member of the Illinois Arts Council, and member of the Illinois Book Advisory Committee. She is also a founding member of Leadership Illinois – a women’s empowerment organization celebrating its 35th Anniversary that encourages women to become politically active.

She has served on the Board of Trustees of Provident Hospital from 1980 to 1987and helped spearhead the completion and opening of Provident Hospital in 1986.

 

Stacy Davis Gates – President, Chicago Teachers Union

Stacy Davis Gates took office as President of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) in July of 2022 and was just re-elected to her second term in May of 2025. She is an internationally recognized leader in labor, racial justice movements, and progressive politics, most known for her role in leading common good unionism, spearheading the campaign to expand democracy and win an elected school board, and leading the successful strategy to elect former school teacher and CTU organizer and, Brandon Johnson, as Mayor of the City of Chicago.

President Davis Gates is a high school social studies teacher spurred into union activity in 2008 when Arne Duncan closed the school in which she was teaching. Late CTU President Karen Lewis tapped Davis Gates to become the union’s Political and Legislative Director in 2011. In that position, she built coalitions and spearheaded legislative campaigns that established an elected school board for Chicago, the most substantial charter school accountability measures in the country, restoration of bargaining rights denied to Chicago educators for nearly three decades, and the creation of equity-based funding models that secured hundreds of millions of dollars in state resources for Chicago Public Schools.

Her leadership greatly expanded the union’s political vision, building political organizations like United Working Families and raising millions to elect progressive community leaders from Chicago to city, county, and state governments and the U.S. Congress, culminating with the election of CTU organizer and middle school teacher Brandon Johnson as Mayor of Chicago in 2023.

As CTU Vice President, Davis Gates helped lead a successful 15-day strike in the fall of 2019 that won key advances and laid the groundwork for the transformative contract that CTU members just approved with nearly 100% support that lowers class sizes, raises educator wages, initiates processes for green schools, creates LGBTQIA+ Safe Schools, sanctuary schools, and enshrines the right to teach Black history, among other advances. Davis Gates’ focus on community labor coalition and CTU’s outspokenness about racism, privatization, democracy, women’s rights, and other causes under her leadership have gained a national audience and made her a regular target of right-wing media, conservative activists, and corporate lobbyists.

In addition to her leadership at CTU, President Davis Gates also serves as the Executive Vice President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers, Party Chair of United Working Families, and board member of the Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE). She lives on the South Side of Chicago with her husband and three children.

 

McKinley Nelson – Founder, Project sWish

McKinley Nelson is a Chicago native, Whitney Young Magnet Alum, and attended Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He embraces the spirit of philanthropy and believes in paying it forward through his community work.

After the untimely death of nearly a dozen close friends due to the senseless gun violence in Chicago, McKinley faced mental health challenges. In 2018, he felt compelled to create Project sWish Chicago (PSC), a foundation and movement that focuses on mental wellness and while using basketball as the driving force to harness the power of what happens on the court to change and save lives.

Project sWish Chicago provides free weekly basketball leagues/open runs in underserved communities during statistically high crime times for young men and women to provide a safe haven to build community.

PSC also focuses on health equity with non-traditional therapeutic programs with licensed instructors (yoga, meditation, massage, and art therapy). PSC lastly provides life and career readiness through college tours, financial literacy, and Stop the Bleed in partnership with MEDCEP.

For the past six years, Project sWish Chicago (PSC) has impacted and reached more than 7,000 youth and young adults.

 

Jasmyne Rudan – Founder of Genesis Music and Arts

Jasmyne Rudan is a concert pianist, music educator, and founder of Genesis Music and Arts. A former youth pianist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Presidential Scholar at Fisk University, she launched the school’s first drumline and helped establish its full band. Now leading a team of 50 art instructors, Genesis Music & Arts serves over 1,000 students weekly and partners with major institutions like CPS, Steinway, and the CSO. Her work blends performance, entrepreneurship, and education to promote arts access, wellness, and community impact.