41st Annual Luncheon Program Book
Meet the Luncheon Speakers
Health in Motion: Black Girls Dance
Black Girls Dance® is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization founded by Erin Barnett that creates a place where girls of color feel seen, celebrated, and free to shine. Through high-quality dance training, performance opportunities, and scholarships, BGD welcomes more than 200 young dancers each season into a community built on confidence, friendship, and belonging. Guided by the belief that dance is the vehicle and empowerment is the destination, Black Girls Dance® helps its dancers grow skills that carry well beyond the studio, into school, relationships, and every dream they pursue. BGD is a proud grantee of Chicago Foundation for Women and the South Side Giving Circle.
Erin Barnett is a Chicago-born dancer, choreographer, director, producer, and the Founder and Executive Director of Black Girls Dance®, a nonprofit organization dedicated to instilling authentic confidence in girls through high-quality dance training and performance opportunities.
She began her training at the renowned Mayfair Academy and earned her B.F.A. in Theatre Arts from Howard University. Erin’s professional career includes performing with the internationally acclaimed Garth Fagan Dance and Philadanco!, an original cast member of Disney’s The Lion King in Las Vegas, as well as performing with Beyoncé.
Following her performance career, Erin returned to Chicago with a mission to pour into the next generation. Through Black Girls Dance®, she has built a thriving community serving nearly 300 students, creating a space where young dancers are trained with excellence and empowered to lead with confidence.
Health is the Lifeline: Co-Chairs' Welcome
Jessica Sohl and Joseph Niciforo are honored to serve as Co-Chairs of Chicago Foundation for Women Luncheon’s 41st Annual Luncheon, united by a shared belief that advancing women’s equity is everyone’s responsibility.
Jessica has been deeply involved with CFW for nine years, including serving as Chair of the Board of Directors. Professionally, she served as President of HC Technologies, overseeing the firm’s global operations and strategy. A lawyer by training, she previously served as counsel at Jump Trading and as Assistant General Counsel for the State of Illinois Office of the Comptroller. She has held leadership roles on the New York Federal Reserve’s Foreign Exchange Committee and the CFTC’s Global Markets Advisory Committee.
Joseph is the former Chairman and CEO of HC Technologies and a founding member and Investment Committee Chair of HC Private Investments, with a career spanning nearly four decades in global financial markets—including 17 years at Tudor Investment Corporation, where he became a partner, and 15 years on the boards of the Chicago Board of Trade and CME Group. He also serves on the Misericordia Advisory Board and the Feerick Center for Social Justice Advisory Council at Fordham Law School.
Everyday People. Extraordinary Power.
Remarks
Georgina Heard-Labonne is Chair of the Board of Directors of Chicago Foundation for Women. A trailblazing leader, she was the first African American graduate of DePaul University’s graduate school of Psychology and completed postgraduate studies at the Institute of Family Therapy in Maryland. Having led community mental health programs in Chicago, Baltimore, and Harlem, New York City, she then expanded her career into commercial aviation, leading human resources, workforce development, and corporate government affairs, followed by several government appointments and business/government consultancy work.
Georgina has served on the Chicago Workforce Board, the Illinois Governor’s Immigration Reform Task Force, the Illinois Housing Task Force, the Cook County Women’s Advisory Committee, and President Obama’s USDOT Transit Rail Advisory Committee on Safety. She also led the Cosmopolitan Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s oldest African American chamber. A sought-after speaker, Georgina has addressed conferences and global convenings on leadership development and workforce engagement initiatives, health advocacy, and civic responsibility.
Grantee Reflection
Scout Bratt is the Executive Director at Chicago Women’s Health Center (CWHC), where they’ve worked since 2010. They believe in popular education as key to building healthy, engaged communities and have spent the majority of their career facilitating queer-inclusive, gender-expansive comprehensive sexual health education in Chicago Public Schools, community-based organizations, and area universities. Scout brings extensive experience in community organizing and group facilitation to work that is rooted in bodily autonomy, collective care, and harm reduction. Scout holds a Master of Education in Youth Development from the University of Illinois Chicago.
Possibility Across a Lifetime
Call to Action
Keenya Lambert is President and CEO of Chicago Foundation for Women. Keenya is a Chicago native with 23 years of successful nonprofit experience in fundraising, advocacy, direct service, and executive leadership. Previously, Lambert served as Chief Development Officer for Nourishing Hope, where she exceeded revenue goals and secured the inaugural $1M Northern Trust Award. She also led development at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, supporting fundraising efforts to advance policies for people experiencing poverty.
Lambert is a member of Leadership Greater Chicago’s 2025 Daniel Burnham Fellowship cohort and was named to the 2026 Who’s Who in Chicago Business list by Crain’s Chicago Business. She has also held roles with the Chicago Urban League, KIPP Chicago, Arts Alliance Illinois, and Street Level Youth Media. At CFW, Lambert has grown the Foundation’s assets, helped shape its strategic direction, and strengthened partnerships statewide.
Featured Conversation: Health, Dignity, and the Power of Choice
The Lacks Family has become a powerful voice for health equity, bioethics, and justice while honoring the extraordinary legacy of Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta’s cells, taken without her knowledge in 1951, became one of the most important tools in modern medicine and transformed scientific research worldwide. Through public speaking and advocacy, her descendants share the family’s story and explore the intersections of race, consent, medical ethics, and scientific advancement while continuing to champion dignity, accountability, and equitable treatment in healthcare and research.
Jeri Lacks Whye is Henrietta Lacks’s granddaughter and the daughter of Henrietta’s middle child, David “Sonny” Lacks. She works at the Judiciary System of Baltimore in the Domestic Violence Unit. Jeri has visited dozens of campuses and communities around the country, sharing her perspective on the legacy of Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cells. She continues to keep her grandmother’s legacy alive while using her family’s story as a platform to address national issues including preventative healthcare, health disparities, literacy, and community trust. Jeri is one of three family members on the National Institutes of Health panel that oversees HeLa genome research applications. She was also among the family members who consulted on the HBO film adaptation of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, produced by Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball. Jeri continues to curate The Lacks Family Collection with artifacts from her grandmother’s life and legacy.
Veronica Robinson is Henrietta Lacks’ great-granddaughter. Veronica is a patient rights advocate who speaks on Henrietta Lacks’ legacy, their family’s experience in biomedical research, impact on participation, and ethics in this modern era of precision medicine. Veronica travels the country sharing the Lacks Family’s efforts to control their medical history and rebuild trust with the medical community, subjects she was honored to speak about in a 2018 TEDx Talk. Working with the National Institutes of Health, Veronica serves as both an All of Us Ambassador, advocating for access to precision medicine, and a Lacks Family Representative on the HeLa Genome Data Access Working Group. As a mentor for Baltimore City Public Schools, Veronica is committed to empowering the next generation. Inspired by Henrietta’s story, Veronica is currently studying at Baltimore City Community College to become a registered nurse to help make certain all people can access equitable and high-quality healthcare.
Dr. Jessica Shepherd, MD, MBA, FACOG, is a board-certified OB/GYN, Chief Medical Officer of Hers, and author of Generation M, the chart-topping book redefining women’s health. A leading voice in women’s wellness and longevity, she is a regular on Good Morning America and frequently featured on The Today Show, CNN, LIVE with Kelly and Mark, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and more. With a no-nonsense approach and deep medical expertise, she is helping women cut through the noise, take control of their health, and feel their best at every stage of life.
Melody Spann Cooper is an innovative entrepreneur and communications leader with over 30 years of experience in media management, marketing, and community engagement. Since becoming Chairwoman and CEO in 1999, Melody Spann Cooper has expanded Midway Broadcasting’s media assets, which include the legendary WVON, Chicago’s oldest Black-oriented radio station. Known for its social and political impact, WVON is considered one of the nation’s most storied media institutions. In 2013, Spann Cooper spearheaded the development of WRLL Radio, La Voz De La Comunidad Latina, which delivers content to Chicago’s thriving Latino community. In 2020, she led the company’s acquisition of VONtv, WVON’s digital streaming platform, which reaches over 100 million households.
Closing Remarks
Tanya G. Davis is a wife, mother, grandmother of 12, philanthropist, and author whose life’s work is giving and pouring into the lives of others. She serves on Chicago Foundation for Women’s Board of Directors and is Board Chair-Elect for 2027. She is a passionate advocate for women and girls, always willing to roll up her sleeves and serve however needed.
In 2007, Tanya, her husband Stephen, and their seven children established the William & Mary Davis Foundation to create opportunities in under-resourced communities and to advocate for those whose voices are often unheard. In 2010, Tanya launched A Purpose by Design, a mentoring retreat for teen girls from under-resourced communities. Tanya is also an active supporter of Tuskegee NEXT, an intensive 10-week program founded by her husband Stephen, which enables under-resourced youth to earn a pilot’s license. Tanya holds a bachelor’s degree in counseling from DePaul University with an emphasis on Narrative and a master’s degree in Narrative Medicine from Lenoir-Rhyne University.