Charles L. Evans has served as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago since September 2007. In that capacity, he serves on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Federal Reserve System’s monetary policymaking body. Before becoming president in September of 2007, Evans served as director of research and senior vice president, supervising the Bank’s research on monetary policy, banking, financial markets, and regional economic conditions.

His personal research has focused on measuring the effects of monetary policy on U.S. economic activity, inflation, and financial market prices and has been published in peer-reviewed journals.

Evans is active in the civic community. He is a trustee at Rush University Medical Center, a director of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a governing board member of Econ Illinois, a member of the Economic Club of Chicago board of directors, and a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago and Civic Consulting Alliance board. Evans has taught at the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, and the University of South Carolina. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Virginia and a doctorate in economics from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Gerard M. Anderson is executive chairman of DTE Energy. DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. DTE Energy’s operating units include an electric utility serving 2.2 million customers in southeastern Michigan and a natural gas utility serving 1.3 million customers in Michigan. The DTE Energy portfolio also includes nonutility energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects, renewable resources, natural gas pipelines, gathering and storage, and energy marketing and trading. As one of Michigan’s leading corporate citizens, DTE Energy is a force for growth and prosperity in the 450 Michigan communities it serves in a variety of ways, including philanthropy, volunteerism, and economic progress.

Anderson joined DTE in 1993 and held various senior executive leadership roles throughout the enterprise until being named president in 2004, CEO in 2010, and chairman in 2011. He was the architect and leader of the company’s strategy to focus on cost and operational excellence in the utility business and develop its nonregulated businesses. As CEO he focused on building a positive, highly engaged culture—and on deeply connecting DTE Energy to the communities it serves, enabling it to act as a force for good. In 2019 Anderson was elected executive chairman to serve as an advisor to DTE’s CEO on business issues and focus on DTE’s community, state, federal, and broader industry roles.

Prior to joining DTE Energy, Anderson was a senior consultant at McKinsey & Co., an international management consulting firm, from 1988 to 1993, with a focus on the energy sector and financial institutions. In the mid-1980s, he was employed with an economic forecasting group, The Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics, and the U.S. Congressional Budget Office. Anderson also worked at RTKL Associates, Inc. and The Collaborative, Inc., serving as an engineer and project manager from 1981 to 1985.

Anderson is a vice chairman of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) board and co-chairman of the EEI Committee on Environment. He is the founder and leader of the Detroit Regional CEO Group. He chairs both the recently formed Detroit Regional Partnership and the Detroit Economic Club. He also chairs the Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM). In addition, Anderson is involved in various local community and civic activities, including serving on the boards of trustees of The Nature Conservancy (Michigan chapter), the Henry Ford, the McGregor Fund, the Downtown Detroit Partnership, and the West Michigan Policy Forum. He serves on the board of directors of The Andersons, a publicly traded company.

Anderson earned a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering at the University of Notre Dame. He also earned a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan.

Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist has dedicated his career to fixing problems for hardworking families. From spearheading campaigns for equality and justice to harnessing technology to solve everyday problems for Detroiters, his focus has consistently remained on serving the public by getting things done.

Bringing Michigan’s state government fully into the twenty-first century is a top priority for Gilchrist. He brings a lifetime of experience to the task, receiving his first computer at age five and setting up a computer lab in the community recreation center using computers that he built himself at age 16. Gilchrist studied computer engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan and later had a successful career as a software engineer at Microsoft, helping to build SharePoint into the fastest-growing product in the company’s history.

During his time in Seattle, Gilchrist served as social media manager for the 2008 Obama campaign in Washington, where he helped launch a national text message program to recruit volunteers. He later served as the first director of new media at the Center for Community Change in Washington, DC, and spent three years as national campaign director at MoveOn.org, where he spearheaded equity and justice campaigns, including fighting to expand Medicaid in states such as Michigan.

This eventually led to his serving as the first-ever director of innovation and emerging technology for the City of Detroit, where he used public data and technology to address everyday concerns the community was facing—including an app to report such issues as broken fire hydrants, potholes, and broken streetlights. This mindset of harnessing technology to solve problems will play a critical role in finding solutions to improve the lives of people across the state.

A native of Detroit, Gilchrist’s parents are proud lifelong Detroiters. His mother worked at General Motors for 32 years, and his father worked in defense contract management for the Department of Defense. His family was active in the community, including serving in leadership roles within their various neighborhood associations as well as the church. Gilchrist began speaking at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Detroit at age four and later honed his skills under Dr. Frederick G. Sampson at Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church.

Wright L. Lassiter, III is the president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System, overseeing the $6.5 billion health system comprising six hospitals, a health plan, and a wide range of ambulatory and retail and related health services with more than 250 locations and 32,000 employees.

Lassiter joined Henry Ford in December 2014 and assumed the role of president & CEO in 2016. Since his arrival, he led the board and senior management through a comprehensive strategic planning effort to position Henry Ford for the future. Under his leadership, Henry Ford has completed two successful mergers, expanding its geographic footprint and generating an additional $1 billion in revenue. The system has significantly increased its quality and financial performance, earning top honors in several publicly reported quality programs and receiving both outlook and ratings upgrades from Moody’s and S&P services. With a major focus on collaboration, the system has inked major partnerships with a host of organizations, including the Detroit Pistons, General Motors, Syapse, Presbyterian Villages of Michigan, and Beckman Coulter.

A seasoned health care executive, Lassiter has nearly 30 years of experience working in large, complex health systems, including Dallas Methodist Health System and JPS Health Network in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to joining Henry Ford, Lassiter was CEO of Alameda Health System in Oakland, California, where he was credited with leading the expansion and turnaround of the $865 million public health system, achieving eight years of positive financial performance, The Joint Commission Top Performer status, significant increases in patient engagement, and reductions in patient harm.

Lassiter’s work has received many national accolades, most notably Top 25 Minority Healthcare Executives in U.S. Healthcare (2012, 2016, 2018, and 2020) by Modern Healthcare; 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare (2016, 2017, and 2018) by Modern Healthcare; Crain’s Detroit Top 10 Newsmakers (2017), Top Blacks in U.S. Healthcare (2014) by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions; and 20 People Who Make Healthcare Better in the U.S (2011) by HealthLeaders. In 2011, Fast Company prominently featured Lassiter’s work to rebuild Alameda.

An avid community leader, Lassiter currently serves on the boards of the America’s Essential Hospitals (past chair), Association of American Medical Colleges-Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems, Arsenal Capital Partners, Business Leaders of Michigan, Detroit Economic Club, Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce (first chair), Detroit Children’s Fund, Downtown Detroit Partnership, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (deputy chair), LeMoyne College, Invest Detroit, Motown Museum, and Quest Diagnostics. He was recently selected as chair-elect designate of the American Hospital Association.

Lassiter received his master’s degree in healthcare administration from Indiana University and completed his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from LeMoyne College.