Richard J. Mark is Chairman and President of Ameren Illinois, which has over $3.2 billion in annual revenue and delivers energy to 1.4 million electric and natural gas customers. Joining Ameren in 2002 as Vice President of Customer Service, he quickly rose to the position of Senior Vice President of Ameren Missouri Energy Delivery, becoming the first African American in that position. He was appointed President of Ameren Illinois in 2012. His prior experience includes six years as President and Chief Executive Officer and five years as Chief Operating Officer of St. Mary's Hospital in East St. Louis. He also led the East St. Louis District 189 Financial Oversight Panel.

Richard has been instrumental in shaping regulatory policy that is transforming the energy sector in Illinois. He led a bold initiative that expanded access to energy efficiency programs and cost-saving tools for all customers, while paving the way for greater access to renewable energy. Under his direction, Ameren Illinois is modernizing the Illinois electric grid, installing smart technologies, improving reliability, and creating thousands of jobs in communities throughout central and southern Illinois.

Richard has received three honorary doctorate degrees for his civic and community work along with numerous awards and honors. In 2019 he was awarded the Senator Richard H. Newhouse award from the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Foundation and the Leadership Award from the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. In 2018 he received the Leadership Award from the Springfield NAACP, the Visionary Award from the Foundation Fighting Blindness, and was named one of the Most Powerful Executives in America by Black Enterprise Magazine. In 2017, Richard received the Heritage Award from the Illinois Legislative Sportsman Caucus. Other honors include Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce's Outstanding Corporate Leadership Award (2015), African-American Career World magazine's Top 10 national business leaders (2015), a Telly Award for Ameren’s Employee Communications video magazine (2015), and Who’s Who in Energy recognition by the St. Louis Business Journal (2015). He was named one of Savoy Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America for 2016 and 2014.

Richard achieved fellowship status from the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) in 2017. He serves on a variety of boards and organizations including Tenet Healthcare, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation Board, Madison Mutual Insurance Board, Leadership Council of Southwestern Illinois, Fontbonne University, the St. Louis Police Foundation and the St. Louis Regional Business Council.

Recognized by the Obama White House as a Champion of Change and a Forbes Under 30 Honoree in Law and Policy, Jamira has made it her mission to employ her personal experiences as the driving force to improve the lives of others. From implementing anti-violence programs throughout the City of Philadelphia when she was just a high school student, to organizing youth trainings around the world as an appointee to the United Nations Global Education First Initiative; Youth Advocacy Group, Jamira’s ardor for personal and social advancement is undeniable. Jamira leads with expertise on workforce development, social justice, youth engagement, education reform and corporate social responsibility to authentically reshape communities and disrupt the status quo. In 2018, Jamira was the first United States citizen awarded the Global Leadership Award for Vital Voices and selected as an MIT Media Lab Fellow.

Today, she works as a next-gen social impact consultant and Head of Youth Engagement and Skills for the Global Business Coalition for Education; working to create collaborative relationships among youth, bilateral agencies, governments, and business leaders to enable innovative ways to educate, engage and activate young people around the world. Prior to the Global Business Coalition for Education, Jamira was the National Deputy Millennial Vote Director for Hillary for America, former manager at Amnesty International USA overseeing the U.S. justice portfolios addressing gun violence, police accountability and criminal justice reform. For more information follow her on Twitter/ Instagram @JamiraBurley or visit www.jamiraburley.com.

Dr. Patrick Sullivan has been working as a Program Manager at SEDAC since June of 2017. He has a PhD in Human and Community Development and has extensive experience in project management and evaluation, research design, and data collection and analysis. During his time at SEDAC he managed the Public Housing Authority research project that identified barriers and potential solutions for increasing PHA engagement in utility sponsored energy efficiency programs.

Dr. Robin L. Jarrett is Professor Emerita of Family Studies in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, and emerita faculty member in the Department of African American Studies at the University of Illinois-Urbana- Champaign. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Department of Sociology. Her research interests include positive child and adolescent development, ethnic-racial group families, family functioning and resilience, and inner-city communities.

Dr. Jarrett uses ethnographic field methods (participant observation, intensive interviewing, photo documentation, GIS) to examine family coping strategies among inner-city families with preschoolers and adolescents. For nearly three decades, she has conducted research in Chicago neighborhoods and with low-income African American families. Dr. Jarrett has been a member of key groups that focus on family well-being, positive child-youth development and supportive community processes, including the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Family and Work Policies, Board on Children, Youth, and Families; the Social Science Research Council's Working Group on Communities and Neighborhoods, Family Processes and Individual Development; National Institutes of Health Study Section on Community Influences on Health Behavior; and National Institute of Mental Health Family Research Consortium III.

As the Publications Coordinator for SEDAC, Linda Larsen believes that sustainable ideas need to be communicated clearly and persuasively so that people are empowered to make positive changes. Linda does a little bit of everything at SEDAC. She develops and delivers educational content; writes blog posts, grants, and reports; engages in qualitative research; helps with program management; oversees SEDAC’s diversity and inclusion initiative; and manages the website and newsletter. In addition to her work at SEDAC, Linda collaborates with professors in environmental design fields to research and promote the human health benefits of access to green infrastructure.

Linda is also the co-director of the Education Justice Project’s Reentry Guide Initiative, where she supervises the production and distribution of tens of thousands of reentry guides for people leaving prison and for family members, friends and service providers who support them.

Dr. Brian Deal is the Executive Director of the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC) and a Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Illinois. His scholarship and teaching revolve around issues of energy, climate, and urban systems sustainability. He has been actively engaging energy and building energy research, analysis, and applications for over 3 decades through work supported by a host of regional, state, federal, and international agencies. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center at the University of Illinois, a public private partnership dedicated to reducing the Illinois energy footprint through analysis, awareness and technology infusion.