Past IN FOCUS Speakers and Tours

The 2011 selections are being tailored to this year's curriculum and will be announced closer to the start of the program. Past selections have included:

Business

Speaker: Florian Pfahler, leading organic restaurant entrepreneur, founder of Hannah's Bretzel;

Buildings

Tour: City Hall Green Roof, built in 2000 and featuring 20,000 plants from over 150 species;

Food

Speaker: Ken Dunne, Founder & Director of the Resource Center, a 35 year-old nonprofit organization dedicated to the economic and educational revitalization of city neighborhoods through recycling, urban gardening, and composting;

Planning

Speaker: Lindsay Banks, Programming Associate at Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, planning organization for Northeastern Illinois counties and creator of a comprehensive regional plan entitled GO TO 2040;

Conservation

Speaker: Lenore Beyer-Clow, Policy Director at Openlands, an organization that promotes land conservation throughout the state of Illinois;

Energy

Speaker: Barry Matchett, Co-Legislative Director at Environmental Law and Policy Center, a legal advocacy nonprofit working on energy and other issues throughout the Midwest;

Water

Speaker: Debra Shore, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, which oversees wastewater management and treatment for a 883 square mile area that includes the City of Chicago and 125 suburban communities and operates one of the largest treatment facilities in the world;

Government

Speaker: Sean Wiedel, Assistant Commissioner at Chicago Department of Environment, which has jurisdiction over energy management, air quality, permitting and enforcement, natural resources and water quality, urban management and brownfield redevelopment, government relations and policy, and community programming and education outreach.