2026 Conference
THE RIPPLE EFFECT
April 18th, 2026
Speaker Lineup
Claudia Haase
Researcher
Claudia Haase is a researcher who has been studying emotions, relationships, and life-span development for over 20 years. She earned her PhD from the University of Jena, Germany, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley. She is now an Associate Professor of Human Development and Social Policy and the Associate Dean for Well-Being at Northwestern University’s SESP where she directs the Center for Life-Span Development. She also co-directs the Center for Responsible Technology, Policy, and Public Dialogue as well as the Chicago Consortium on Longevity. Claudia likes connection!
Dr. Kyle MacQuarrie
Pediatric Oncologist
Dr. MacQuarrie is a pediatric oncologist and physician-scientist with Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Both his clinical and research interests focus on children with solid tumors, in particular those with sarcomas.
Punit Kaur
Product Management Leader
Punit Kaur is a product management leader, speaker, and musician who brings a deeply human lens to leadership. A Harvard-trained product manager and mother to a child with special needs, she reframes caregiving not as a story of sacrifice, sympathy, or pity, but as a powerful laboratory where empathy, influence, and resilient leadership are forged.
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Dean Karlan
Economist and Professor
Dean Karlan is a Professor of Economics and Finance at Northwestern University and Co-Director of the Global Poverty Research Lab. He is a development and behavioral economist, former Chief Economist of USAID, founder of Innovations for Poverty Action (a research and policy nonprofit that discovers and promotes effective solutions to global poverty), and a former member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the M.I.T. Jameel Poverty Action Lab. Previously, he was on faculty at Yale University (2005-2017) and Princeton University (2002-2005).
Nicholas Henner
High School Math Teacher
Nicholas Henner is an equity driven educator, with a passion for making math accessible (and fun!) for everyone.
Jennifer Swanson
Author and Science Communicator
Jennifer Swanson is an award-winning children's author, speaker, teacher, podcaster, and science communicator. Jennifer has a B.S. in chemistry from the U. S. Naval Academy and an M.S. Ed in K-8 science from Walden University, and was a middle school science teacher for over fifteen years. She has spoken at many events across the country, including the Library of Congress, several Smithsonian Institutions, the World Science Festival, and much more. Jennifer grew up in Central Illinois, but now lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband and her Bernese Mountain dog, Tibs.