Beth Daley Ullem

After School Matters is a non-profit organization that offers Chicago teens innovative out-of-school activities through science, sports, tech, words, and the nationally recognized gallery programs. It provides these programs through a network of public and private partnerships that include the City of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Library, and community organizations throughout the city. It has been recognized nationally for its innovative approach to coordinating city resources and delivering unique and diverse programs. Its hands-on, project-based programs expose teens to rewarding careers and help them develop marketable job skills.

Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the US after Los Angeles County, California. The county has 5,231,351 residents,[1] which is 40.6 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than that of 29 individual U.S. states and the combined populations of the seven smallest states.[2] There are over 130 incorporated municipalities in Cook County, the largest of which is Chicago, which makes up approximately 54% of the population of the county. That part of the county which lies outside of the Chicago city limits is divided into 30 townships. Geographically the county is the fifth largest in Illinois by land area and shares the state's Lake Michigan shoreline with Lake County. Including its lake area, the county has a total area of 1,635 square miles (4,234.6 km2), the largest county in Illinois, of which 946 square miles (2,450.1 km2) is land and 689 square miles (1,784.5 km2) (42.16%) is water. Cook County is mainly urban and very densely populated, containing most of the City of Chicago and many suburbs. It is surrounded by the five collar counties.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. engages in the patient-focused medical innovations for heart disease and critical care monitoring. Its products are categorized into three areas: Transcatheter Heart Valves, Surgical Structural Heart and Critical Care. The Transcatheter Heart Valves portfolio includes technologies designed to treat heart valve disease using catheter-based approaches as opposed to open surgical techniques. Its portfolio includes technologies designed for nonsurgical replacement of heart valves. The Surgical Structural Heart portfolio includes tissue heart valves and heart valve repair products for the surgical replacement or repair of a patient's heart valve. The Critical Care portfolio products through hemodynamic monitoring system measures a patient's heart function and fluid status in surgical and intensive care settings. The company was founded by Miles Lowell Edwards in 1958 and is headquartered in Irvine, CA.

Tur Partners LLC provides investment and advisory services. The company was founded on May 19, 2011 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure in 2010. The CSO is one of five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five".