Men’s Executive Speaker Series - Fall 2025
Wednesdays, Oct. 1 – Oct. 22 | 7:00-8:30 p.m.
The Men’s Executive Speaker Series invites men to deepen their leadership, professional impact, and personal growth through faith-based reflection. Across four weeks, participants will explore how spirituality can guide decision-making, resilience, and influence in every aspect of life.
This fall, the Men’s Series and the Women’s Series will cover the same four key topics (see below), each explored through the lens of faith and practical application.
Please note, Oct. 1 & 8 will be sessions open to both men and women.
Join other men from the parish for conversation, reflection, and community, and leave each session ready to lead with clarity, courage, and purpose.
SCHEDULE:
(Women & Men)
10/1 - Mindful Influence: Aligning Inner Well Being with Organizational Impact
Speakers: Claire McFarland and Cliff Barber - Claire: Founder and Managing Partner of Claire McFarland Law, Ltd; Cliff: CEO of Fillmore Linen Service LLC
10/8 - Sacred Rhythm: Synchronizing Faith, Focus, and Friendship
Speakers: Krista and JP Gallagher - Krista: President of Regina Dominican High School, JP: President & CEO at Endeavor Health
(Men only)
10/15 - Grounded Leadership: Cultivating Calm Confidence in Action
Speaker: James Tye - Head of Private Equity at Calamos Investments
10/22 - Dynamic Equilibrium: Balancing Inner Stillness and Outward Strength
Speaker: Chris Vallace - Partner at M3 Capital Partners
Meet Our Speakers:
Claire McFarland and Cliff Barber
Claire: Founder and Managing Partner of Claire McFarland Law, Ltd
Claire McFarland is an attorney with over thirty years of legal experience; she is Founder and Managing Partner of Claire McFarland Law, Ltd., a Chicagoland law firm specializing in estate planning, probate and real estate. In her community work, she focuses on issues of reparatory justice, particularly in relation to the racial wealth gap in America and the ways in which institutional discriminatory practices have contributed to this gap. Claire is committed to using her practice to address issues of health and wealth disparities and to work towards repair for the harms caused by systemic racism and discrimination.
Claire McFarland is a member of the historic Reparations Committee for the City of Evanston and sits on the board of the Reparations Stakeholders Authority of Evanston. She also is Vice President of the Descendants of St. Louis University Enslaved. Claire has received the William R. Ming, Jr. Award, honoring her “dedication and substantial contribution to the causes for civil rights and individual liberties”, from the Cook County Bar Association, the oldest Black bar association in the United States. A key reparations organization, the Descendants of St. Louis University Enslaved, also honored Claire with the 2024 Award for Excellence in Social Justice. Claire also has participated in the United Nations’ Forums for Peoples of African Descent as a community member, focusing on her reparations and restorative justice work.
Cliff: CEO of Fillmore Linen Service LLC
Cliff Barber is CEO of Fillmore Linen Service. A proud southside Chicago native, Cliff was most recently partner at Chicago Rises Fund, an impact investing fund. He comes to his current work at Fillmore Linen with a keen understanding of local Chicago communities and challenges; he most recently led the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Renew My Church initiative as Chief Strategy Officer. However, he also has deep knowledge of impact investing having helped develop the vision for a recently closed $29 million impact fund for a syndicate of minority-owned CDFIs from across the nation. Cliff has an MBA from Harvard Business School, a General Course degree in economics from the London School of Economics and a BSc in economics from Grinnell College. He lives with his wife Claire and five children in Evanston.
Krista and JP Gallagher
Krista: President of Regina Dominican High School
Krista Gallagher holds a B.A. from Duke University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In June 2024, she assumed the presidency of Regina Dominican High School, bringing a dynamic blend of leadership and marketing expertise, a wealth of professional experience, and a deep commitment to the school’s mission and values.
Before joining Regina Dominican, Krista built a distinguished career in the corporate world, serving as a consultant with McKinsey & Company and later as an executive with JPMorgan Chase.
JP: President & CEO at Endeavor Health
J.P. Gallagher is President and CEO of Endeavor Health, Illinois’ third-largest health system, serving 1.4 million patients across greater Chicagoland. He assumed this role in 2022 following the merger of NorthShore University Health System and Edward-Elmhurst Health. Before that, he served as President and CEO of NorthShore and held several leadership roles in hospital operations and administration.
Gallagher earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He serves on numerous healthcare boards and advisory councils and is Board Chair of the Gallagher Foundation, which provides scholarships and mentorship to young leaders in developing countries.
A native of Minnesota, he lives in Wilmette with his wife and three children and is active in his parish, Scouting, and type-1 diabetes advocacy.
James Tye is the Head of Private Equity at Calamos Investments, a global investment firm with pioneering capabilities in risk-managed and alternative strategies, with over $45bn in assets under management.
Before moving to Chicago in 2023, James was a Transaction Services (M&A) Partner at PwC in London, where he led teams of advisors working with global private equity firms and large cap corporates acquiring/divesting across the financial services sectors in Europe, North America and Asia. James served on both PwC’s Global Insurance Leadership Team and UK Financial Services Leadership Team.
Chris Vallace is a Partner at M3 Capital Partners, a leading global real estate investment and advisory firm. Chris serves on M3 Capital Partners' Board of Directors and Global Investment Committee.
He holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame.
Chris also serves on the Advisory Board for Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) as well as the Real Assets Committee for the Archdiocese of Chicago, and the Advisory Board of the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate at the University of Notre Dame.