Don Thompson

The Business Council is a voluntary association of business leaders whose members meet several times a year for the free exchange of ideas both among themselves and with thought leaders from many sectors. In its most fundamental form, the Council seeks to foster understanding through discussion. It promotes learning, best practice sharing and networking by its members with a view to making a contribution to our society, the global economy and to business generally. Since its founding more than 75 years ago, The Business Council membership has consisted of a group of current or former chief executive officers from a broad range of companies. All major industries are represented among the members of The Business Council. Because schedule demands on senior business executives are extensive, the Council provides an especially valuable opportunity to discuss major subjects in a broader ranging forum than is normally available in the course of business activities. As part of its process, the Council invites leaders in government, politics, academia, science, medicine, technology and other sectors to address the Council and to participate in its discussions. Council members hope that these discussions result in better understanding by their invited guests as well as by the members themselves. Today, the Council meets three times a year in a collegial atmosphere to share and explore ideas.As a gathering of peers from many fields, the Council is entirely an educational and deliberative forum. It never takes positions as an organization and does not advocate any policy or course of action. Individual members sometimes do present their own views in public discussions. But they do so as individuals, rather than as representatives of the Council.

The Executive Leadership Council (ELC) is a national organization comprised of current and former African-American CEOs and senior executives at Fortune 500 and equivalent companies. For more than 25 years, the ELC has worked to build an inclusive business leadership pipeline and to empower African-American corporate leaders to make significant and impactful contributions in the global marketplace and their communities.

The Economic Club of Chicago was organized in 1927 "to aid in the creation and expression of an enlightened public opinion on the important economic and social questions of the day.” Equally important, through its membership policies, the Club works to identify upcoming young leaders to insure a continuum of knowledge and traditions within Chicago’s civic and business community as the torch of leadership passes from one generation to the next.