Daily Whale Originals

Barack Obama Foundation Board Chairman Martin Nesbitt on Tuesday said his organization plans to make a final determination on the site of the Barack Obama Presidential Center by mid-2016 and is currently moving forward with the process of selecting an architect for the development.

In May, the Barack Obama Foundation announced the University of Chicago had been chosen to host the president’s library. While speaking at a City Club of Chicago event on Tuesday, Nesbitt said current plans for the presidential center include a library, archive and museum.

During a City Club of Chicago event on Tuesday, education leaders discussed the cause of the large number of Chicago school principals who have left the city in recent years and offered four solutions to retain top performing principals in the future. 

Chicago Public Education Fund President and CEO Heather Anichini said Chicago has steadily been losing many of its highest performing principals – 240 have either retired, left the profession, or been recruited to work in another school outside of Chicago. There are currently 680 public school principals in Chicago, she explained.

During a City Club of Chicago discussion on the causes of the Illinois budget stalemate and the effects the impasse is having on the state’s economy, panelists argued state spending related to court orders and consent decrees has been detrimental in that it has disincentivized lawmakers from balancing the budget. 

During a speech at the City Club of Chicago on Tuesday, Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership CEO Karin Norington-Reaves discussed her organization’s work with city agencies to grow the economy by helping individuals seeking employment find careers.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and then Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel established the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership in 2011. The organization offers workforce services for all job seekers and employers located in the city of Chicago and Cook County.  

A new report from the economic healthcare organization We Work for Health highlighted the large number of biopharmaceutical clinical trials conducted in Illinois and analyzed the positive effect these trials have on patient health and the economy.

We Work for Health compiled the report, entitled “Research in Your Backyard,” in conjunction with the Illinois Medical District, the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Organization (iBIO) and the nonprofit organization Cures Within Reach.