"We're not ascribing bad intent," says Shundrawn Thomas, president of Northern Trust Asset Management. "But ultimately, this is going to be measured in real outcomes, and real, meaningful progress—the representation actually has to go up, participation has to go up, the equity has to go up."

On the environmental issues posed by freight corridors running through resource-strapped communities

THE ASSIGNMENT: This four-story section from 2018 highlights some of the unique challenges facing women entrepreneurs. THE LEAD: It is, in one sense, a golden era for female entrepreneurs in America: There are 11.6 million women-owned businesses nationwide, or nearly 40 percent of all companies. The 114 percent increase in women-owned businesses over the last two decades far outpaces the overall growth rate of 44 percent, according to a 2017 American Express report.

THE ASSIGNMENT: Last fall, when Chicago Public Schools signaled its plans to double down on the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum as a means of boosting the quality of neighborhood schools, I looked into IB's global origins and its track record and potential in Chicago. THE LEAD: Senn High senior Shrda Shrestha is attending her neighborhood high school in Edgewater against pretty much everybody’s advice. ...

Starting Line is a 2013 text-and-video serial that I produced for Crain’s Chicago Business, tracking the colorful startup SocialCrunch as it participated in the three-month tech accelerator TechStars Chicago, culminating in a pitch to a roomful of A-list investors with millions of dollars at stake.

THE ASSIGNMENT: I wrote this profile about Tony Magee, the founder of Lagunitas Brewing, just before Lagunitas opened its HQ2 in Chicago. THE LEAD: Tony Magee is singing, but on a recent weeknight the crowd at Riverview Tavern in Roscoe Village hardly notices. They are talking, drinking, watching an NBA playoff game—anything but paying attention to the disheveled middle-aged white guy who is finger-picking old blues tunes on a classic Martin. Once he finishes his last song, he puts the guitar down and stands there alone. A few uncomfortable ...

THE ASSIGNMENT: A profile of the owners of a craft-cocktail bar on the Chicago-Evanston border, who lived above the bar—along with their baby. THE LEAD: Raising an infant while living upstairs from a bar sounds like a nightmare. Yet for Cody Modeer and Anne Carlson, it’s the glorious fulfillment of a dream. It helps that they own the place: the bar, the second-floor back office, and the third-floor apartment where they live. It also helps that their sophisticated crowd goes for craft cocktails and conversation, so the noise barely ever trickles upstairs ...

I wrote this article about Northern Illinois University basketball coach Mark Montgomery for Sports Illustrated's website in 2011.

THE ASSIGNMENT: This four-story package from 2014 examines the rise of corporations focused on social impact. THE LEAD: Tim Frick thought he was running a “good” business—that is, an enterprise that was both altruistic and profitable. At his 16-year-old Ravenswood Web design firm, Mightybytes Inc., Mr. Frick and his 12 employees compost and recycle, and everyone works surrounded by living, green walls made of plants that inch their way toward the ceiling. ...