“Why Waste? The power of fermentation to transform our food” The central Illinois region is quickly becoming a hub of bioprocessing and precision fermentation, with the iFAB tech hub recently established between UIUC, ADM and other partners. Sitting at the heart of commodity agriculture and grain processing, Bloomington is well-positioned…

“The Messy Middle: Where Success is Earned” My Big Idea—that success is earned in the messy middle—is deeply relevant to the Bloomington-Normal community because we’re a community built on growth, resilience, and reinvention. We’re home to universities where students are navigating their own messy middles, to Fortune 500 companies where…

“The only metric that matters is “one heartbeat” Bloomington-Normal is home to a thriving corporate, academic, and entrepreneurial community where productivity and performance are highly valued. At the same time, like many communities, it faces the growing challenges of burnout, mental health struggles, and disconnection. My Big Idea, treating life…

“Reclaiming our Humanity in the Age of the Algorithm” When an algorithm mistook his tiny Chicago balcony for an influencer, JD Miller received 120 pounds of steak rub at his door. Realizing we’ve outsourced social judgment to machines optimized for speed over truth, Dr. Miller draws on network theory and…

“Evil is Dead,” Bloomington-Normal is a community built on education, creativity, and conversation, home to two universities, countless storytellers, and people who care deeply about understanding one another. My idea challenges us to see beyond labels of “good” and “bad” and recognize the complexity in every person. In a diverse,…

“Antidepressants, Wine, and Birth Control Pills: The Prescription Pad of Misogyny.” There will be 1.2 billion women in menopause by 2030. Only 4% are getting proper menopause care and we are not talking about it. The majority of women on this planet, will at some time go through a major…

“Why all our values are making us sick” Midwesterners place on values and the often unspoken challenges that come when we face conflicts in acting on those values. While values play a central role in communities globally, ‘Midwest values’ is a set of expectations that can be difficult in times…

“Embracing Your Inner Salesperson” Many people want a different life or want to see change in their life or in the world and they’re not sure how to make it happen. Most people are looking outside of themselves for the answer. This big idea of embracing your inner sales person…

“Everything I learned about tech business started over a lap dance” The data is clear–teams with high psychological safety outperform their peers across every metric, but we can’t create that safety when leaders themselves are operating from fear and image management. This is especially true for women, who will continue…