People
In his more than 20 years as president of the Chicago Community Loan Fund, Calvin Holmes has guided the nonprofit to lend more than $1 billion, reaching more than 70 low-wealth Chicago-area communities and providing funding for affordable housing, commercial real estate, community spaces and social enterprise.
Stephen Peck, who served with the Marines in Vietnam, is president and CEO of the Los Angeles–based United States Veterans Initiative (U.S.VETS). The nation’s largest veteran services nonprofit, U.S.VETS runs 20 residential sites and nine service centers across the country, offering counseling, job placement, case management, employment assistance, and drug- and alcohol-free housing.
Michael Moreci has written two novels, Black Star Renegades and its sequel, We Are Mayhem. He’s also written for Lucasfilm and recently finished work on The Clone Wars: Battle Tales, a five-issue miniseries that ties into The Clone Wars TV show.
Igor Karlicic ’12 and Bhargav Maganti ’12 founded the Dallas-based sports tech company from Monarc. Their first creation is the Seeker, a smart quarterback that uses positional tracking technology.
Chicago Red Stars defender Kayla Sharples cherishes growth experiences on and off the pitch. Sharples, the 26th overall in the 2019 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) draft, was among the first professional athletes in the country to compete last summer through the NWSL’s 2020 Challenge Cup.
Ziwe Fumudoh ’14 has re-created appointment TV in the streaming era with her Thursday night Instagram Live show. In the sharply funny, confrontational and often wildly uncomfortable show, Fumudoh interviews celebrity guests to get at their implicit biases and start conversations about race and racism.
Lithium is the lightest metal on the periodic table and can charge quickly into a variety of electrode materials, making it uniquely valuable for batteries. Lilac Solutions aims to deliver a sustainable solution to the global lithium-supply problem.
Broadway actor Adam Kantor ’08 co-founded StoryCourse, which mixes food and theater, creating “a multisensory, delicious, profound, moving experience,” says Kantor. He and his StoryCourse team are now developing at-home interactive theatrical culinary experiences.
Rosa Li grew up drinking her Chinese grandmother’s herbal tonics. Li loved the health benefits — including reduced stress and increased immunity, “but they did not have the most approachable taste.”
Following leads from England to Australia to Mexico, Jim Berkenstadt ’78 traveled the world looking for Jimmie Nicol, the drummer who subbed for the Beatles’ Ringo Starr for two weeks in 1964, at the height of Beatlemania — then disappeared.
