Chicago women to watch
Whole lotta movin' & shakin' going on, and our choices are right in the middle
We'd call them "it" girls, if they hadn't already outgrown that label. They're artists, consultants, entrepreneurs. There's an athlete and a doctor. A comedian. They're all 30 years old and younger, and they've all moved mountains during what was supposed to be their aimless phase.
Pay attention. These are women to watch.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
PHOTO GALLERY
Women to watch
She is also a senior at Whitney Young High School and a political activist, but Cunningham is getting the most notice these days for her singing and songwriting with the rock quartet the Audians. Despite her youth, she's already played Metro, Hideout, Uncommon Ground -- and Millennium Park. Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis calls Cunningham "incredibly powerful and self-assured." She's certainly found her voice.
She planned to find work in a fancy restaurant. But she couldn't ignore the long lines at the soup kitchen in her Uptown neighborhood, and took a job instead as the cook at a women's day shelter. Now the chef instructor at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Urban helps train the unemployed, and produces more than 10,000 meals a week for children's after-school programs. That's just for starters. Urban also is a drummer with the Scott Free Trio, and opened the gay-friendly Cafe Too at 4115 N. Sheridan.
(At left): The founder and president of Sitar Capital Group is merging with Onyeagoro's firm to create TriVentures Consulting Group. Sitar championed startup, small and emerging businesses, coming up with more than $5 million in financing since 2006. Hickman has worked on behalf of women (the Women's Self-Employment Project), minority businesses (Chatham Calumet Paint and Wallpaper) and even Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, helping to design a micro loan program to reduce poverty there. Together, Onyeagoro and Hickman just may save the world.
The CEO of O-H Community Partners serves as a consultant for not-for-profits, foundations and government agencies. Translation? She's helped raise millions for worthy projects. Onyeagoro graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and worked for McKinsey & Co., the Monitor Group and Pritzker Realty Group before striking out on her own.
(Fun fact: She speaks Spanish, Japanese and Igbo.)
Ironically, she's the older sister of Flosstradamus DJ Josh Young. But if Kid Sister raps it, you believe it. The native South Sider is getting exposure everywhere from the Coachella festival to the cover of URB magazine to MTV. The drawling diva -- a k a Melissa Young -- co-starred with Kanye West in the video for her single "Pro Nails." You could say that she's groomed for stardom: "Toes done up, fingernails matchin' ..."
There's nothing quite like honing your comedy chops on a cruise ship -- or achieving cult fame on a commercial for Sonic's Cookie Dough Blasts. Now safely a member of Second City's touring cast, Rich can laugh at it all. The Northwestern graduate majored in psychology and minored in creative writing, both of which serve her well when she improvises at the iO theater. Her hero? Her cat, who throws up on the tile rather than the rug.
The classically trained ballerina was snapped up by the fashion industry, putting that perfect posture to work on the runway for Calvin Klein, Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Valentino and more. The Chicago native is on the February cover of Teen Vogue -- shot by Patrick Demarchelier, no less -- and was named V magazine's Top Model for Spring 2008. Next stop: Fashion Week. If it weren't so out of style, she'd be smiling.
At Contraveos' level, the word "bartender" really doesn't cover it. She is a chemist, a liquid gourmet, a magician. She operates out of River North's La Madia, but the world is her martini glass -- she won the 2007 Marie Brizard Cocktail Challenge in New York, and jetted to Bordeaux, France, for another competition in December. Never craved cucumber in a cocktail? Then you haven't tried her signature drink, the Citrine. Cheers!
Three generations of women in Avner's family were struck by breast cancer. So when Avner, fresh out of the University of Michigan, tested positive for a gene associated with the cancer, she struck first. She opted for a double mastectomy. Now her nonprofit organization, Bright Pink, helps to educate other young, high-risk women. The River North resident's mantra is "Be Brilliant. Be Bold. Be Bright Pink." Never has advocacy been so chic.
Hays is always behind the velvet rope. Two to three times a week, you can find her coordinating a fashion show, a club opening or an anniversary party at venues such as Enclave and Chaise Lounge. After gaining experience at three Chicago firms, she created Grace Public Relations, named after her grandmother. Her VIP guest lists have included Vince Vaughn, Jamie Foxx and Ashlee Simpson. Want to know the coolest hot spot? Hays knows -- sometimes a year before it even opens.
