Leadership Team & Advisory Board

Deb is responsible for overseeing the operations and management of Corporate Leadership Center and its two programs, CEO Perspectives and Leading Women Executives. Most recently, Deb was Vice Chairman and National Managing Partner, Center for Board Effectiveness, at Deloitte. She also has served as Deloitte’s Chief Inclusion Officer and as a member of the Deloitte U.S. Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Deb is a director of Dover, as well as a noted community leader, serving as a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago; trustee at Northwestern University and University of Denver; director of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Foundation; and chair of the Civic Consulting Alliance.

Cheryl is a director of three corporate boards: Aon plc, Morningstar, and HNI Corporation. She is a Cornell University Emeritus Trustee and Presidential Councillor, and a board member of the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. Cheryl was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of R.R. Donnelley and Sons Co. from 1995-2000. She is a frequent lecturer and panelist in university and business settings on subjects ranging from corporate governance, strategy and leadership and the advancement of women.

Sheila is a director of McDonald’s Corp and JLL Inc., where she served as Chairman of the Board from 2005-2020. She was the first woman on Northern Trust Corporation’s Management Committee, as President of Corporate and Institutional Services. Sheila is a founding member of the 30% Club in the US, which advances women on corporate boards; she served as an advisor on Education, Gender and Work at the World Economic Forum (Davos), and on the Advisory Board of Catalyst, the leading research organization on women in corporate roles. A frequent speaker on leadership and corporate governance, Sheila is the recipient of several business awards.

Prior to joining CEO Perspectives, Ken served as a senior principal with Deloitte. At Deloitte, Ken led significant client transformation assignments across a variety of industry sectors, including financial services and the public sector. Ken serves on the Board of Directors of SteelCloud, LLC, a leading cybersecurity provider, and chairs the board of advisors for the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University. Ken is a graduate of McCormick and of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Michelle will succeed Ken Porrello as the Executive Director of CEO Perspectives, effective January 2022. Michelle is the Founder & Principal of MMW Advisors, a strategic advisory firm that she established in 2020. Previously, she worked at USG as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, where she was a member of the executive committee. Michelle previously served at Motorola Solutions, Inc., for 18 years, culminating in her role as Corporate Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Secretary. Michelle serves on the Board of Directors for MKS Instruments, Inc., and is a member of the President’s Council for the Museum of Science and Industry - Chicago; a Board of Advisors member at Denison University; and a director for Logan Square Preservation.

Daniel is as an Academic Advisor to the program, having served as the first Academic Director for CEO Perspectives in 2005.  He is the 9th Chancellor of Vanderbilt University. Previously, he served as Provost of the University of Chicago. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research (CIFAR). Prior to joining the University of Chicago, Daniel taught at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of CityBase, an urban technology company.