JOIN OUR FREE EVENT

YWCA Metropolitan Chicago’s Ambassadors Council will host a series of engaging fireside chats and small group discussions. Together, we’ll talk about important issues like gender, racial, and economic equality. Let’s come together to inspire each other and take meaningful steps towards justice and equity for all.

Tuesday, March 25, 2025
6:00pm – 7:30pm CT
YWCA Metropolitan Chicago Office

    • Nancy Cao, Director of Social Services Policy, City of Chicago

    • Amina J. Dickerson, Dickerson Global Advisors (Moderator)

    • Lisa M. Laws, Vice President of Operations and Market Growth, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

    • Katie Thiede, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Implementing Contraceptive Access Now!

OUR SPEAKERS

  • Nancy Cao is the Director of Social Services Policy in the Mayor’s Office, where she works on strategic initiatives and policy alignment with City departments and sister agencies. Since joining the Mayor’s Office in 2022, Nancy has played a significant role in developing the City’s guaranteed income programming and supported a variety of initiatives relevant to homelessness, cash assistance, and behavioral health.

    Prior the Mayor’s Office, Nancy was in the private sector developing partnerships, products and programs at diverse social enterprise startups, with a unifying theme of increasing economic security and mobility for lower-income households. She is an Ann Arbor, Michigan native and has her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley Haas. Since November 2023, she has also began her parenting journey as new mom to a sweet baby girl.

  • Amina J. Dickerson has a rich professional experience in philanthropy, arts management, cultural programming, and community engagement. She founded her coaching and strategic counsel practice. Dickerson Global Advisors (DGA), in 2010, with an emphasis on executive leadership, strategy, and organizational stewardship. DGA serves emerging and executive leaders, the philanthropic community, and non-profit organizations.

  • Lisa M. Laws is a dynamic leader at the forefront of infrastructure, innovation, and equitable growth, boasting over 15 years of experience driving operational excellence and transformational change across public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

    As the Vice President of Chicago Operations and Market Growth at Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Lisa spearheads major infrastructure initiatives while aggressively expanding the company's market presence. Previously, as the Director of Convention Center Operations for the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC), she expertly managed operations at McCormick Place for over 50,000 attendees, coordinated high-level security protocols with the U.S. Secret Service, and launched DNC DemPalooza, a festival showcasing over 90 vendors and 40 allied groups.

    Lisa's executive prowess includes serving as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), where she deftly managed a $3 billion budget, and as First Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), where she led over 2,000 cultural programs and implemented impactful policy reforms. As COO of 1871, she engineered a remarkable 40% boost in operational efficiency and empowered more than 1,000 startups.

    A passionate proponent of STEM education, diversity in leadership, and economic empowerment, Lisa actively serves on YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, Uniting Voices, and Artist Guide boards. She also takes pride in mentoring future leaders with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

  • Katie Thiede is a tireless champion for health equity and access to high-quality reproductive health care. With 20 years of experience at the helm of social change organizations, Katie has earned a reputation as an influential leader, disruptor, and reproductive health policy expert with sharp business acumen and a strong track-record of leveraging public-private partnerships to accelerate impact. She has spent the last 15 years of her career in Chicago leading reproductive health and rights organizations. Her experience, relationships, and tenacity enable her to drive ICAN!’s ambitious agenda, pursue innovative and scalable solutions, build effective coalitions and partnerships, and mobilize resources to advance ICAN!’s mission and vision. Launched in January 2021 as a new venture aiming to ensure all Illinoisans, including those who are BIPOC and those with fewer resources, have unfettered access to high-quality contraceptive care, ICAN! successfully advocated for adoption of a Medicaid Family Planning Program that expanded coverage for 1.2 million newly eligible Illinoisans. ICAN! is now scaling its model by guiding and resourcing states around the country to ensure equitable access to high quality preventive and primary care–including birth control. 

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