Conversations with Cara
presented by Aon

Dr. Kathleen St. Louis Caliento has spent the past two decades committed to urban education, student success, and dismantling social injustice. Before joining Cara Collective as President & CEO in 2021, Kathleen was the Chief Learning and Design Officer at the Academy Group, where she worked to help people rise above the effects of poverty, while demonstrating a professional commitment to access and equity. Prior to the Academy Group, she held several leadership positions at Spark, including Executive Director of Spark Chicago. Kathleen serves on the Boards of Adler University and Leadership Greater Chicago LFA Board.

Oreletta Garmon is the Program Navigation Coordinator for Equal Hope, Rush University Medical Center’s Breast Cancer Task Force that provides free or low-cost quality access to healthcare for all women. She is also a Cara graduate, first joining in the early ‘90s through Catholic Charities and the St. Sylvester Parish Family Shelter, where she was living with her five young children. Today she is a proud mother and grandmother and is an active member of Cara’s Alumni community, and remains a strong ambassador for this mission, educating and motivating others about this work any chance she can.

Ayesha Jaco is the Executive Director of West Side United (WSU), a collaborative between six Chicago hospitals that joined forces in 2017 with the mission of building community health and economic wellness on Chicago’s West Side. Under her leadership, WSU’s contributions to racial and health equity efforts in Chicago are referenced in the Harvard Business Review, MIT’s Sloan Management Review, and the New England Journal of Medicine. She is an award-winning Nonprofit Executive with a track record of building pioneering social impact brands and convening innovative community-led initiatives.

Dr. Suzet McKinney is a public health expert, medical executive, thought leader, strategic thinker and nationally recognized expert in emergency preparedness and response. As Principal and Director of Life Sciences for Sterling Bay, she oversees relationships with the scientific, academic, corporate, tech, and governmental sectors involved in the life sciences ecosystem. She also leads the strategy to expand Sterling Bay’s footprint in life sciences nationwide. She previously served as CEO and Executive Director of the Illinois Medical District. Within two years of leadership, Dr. McKinney accomplished a financial turnaround of the IMD, successfully retiring more than $40 million in debt.

James S. Williams Jr. serves as the Vice-President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Chicago Medicine (UCM). James is responsible for advancing equity and creating an inclusive organization supporting improvements in workforce, patient quality and community health metrics. James has 30+ years’ experience across revenue cycle, transplant, patient access, supply chain and business diversity. UCM’s equity work has been published in Academic Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. James is a life-long resident of Chicago and earned his master’s degree in Leadership with a focus on Equitable Organizational Change from DePaul University.