A FIRST FRIDAY VIDEO CONVERSATION
Shortly after Mayor Lori Lightfoot spoke at First Friday’s March 6th, 2020 sold-out luncheon at the Union League Club in Chicago, the world shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. First Friday’s 2019-20 season was officially closed.
With no certainty as to when First Friday would meet again in-person, two decisions were made by its executive board: First Friday would stay connected to its supporters and live-streaming and pre-recorded videos would be the solution to this problem.
From April 2020 through May of 2022, First Friday video conversations were recorded and delivered to anyone with a smart phone or computer. A wonderful group of speakers made this project happen, along with a dedicated board and one special “tech angel.” First Friday is so thankful for everyone’s commitment to share these special conversations during a challenging time.
Click on the following speakers below to view these “Covid” videos!
Enjoy, stay well and God Bless!
Mellody Hobson
May 6, 2022
On the way from her sometimes tough childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her role as co-CEO of the first and largest Black-owned asset management firm in the country, Mellody Hobson has been clear about one thing. Her passions about financial literacy and leaving the world a better place have endured because of her Chicago roots and the many challenges she's overcome, not in spite of them. A childhood she has described as "youngest of six kids, single mom, evicted a lot, phone disconnected, cars repossessed, you name it" made her desperate to understand money. Today Hobson says that teaching financial literacy is as important as teaching reading and writing.
Annette Nance-Holt
April 1, 2022
Annette Nance-Holt made headlines and shattered the glass ceiling in 2021 when she became the first African American woman to be appointed Commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department. But to those who have known and worked with her, this is simply the latest--and most significant--moment in a career of passionate service to the City of Chicago that goes back more than three decades.
Rev. C.J. Hawking
March 4, 2022
The pandemic brought to light the conditions faced by the same working people who made it possible for the rest of us to safely work from home. Join Rev C.J. Hawking, Executive Director of Arise Chicago, as she outlines the challenges faced by Chicago's workers today, and explains how faith communities are raising their voices to call for fair treatment of working Chicagoans.
Lynn Osmond
February 4, 2022
Please join us for a memorable conversation with CAC President and CEO Lynn Osmond. Hear about 2021’s most inspired design, development and preservation efforts as Chicago gradually recovers and recalibrates in the wake of the pandemic. Then, consider what awaits us in 2022 and beyond.
Hermene Hartman
January 7, 2022
Hermene Hartman, publisher of Chicago's N'DIGO, insists that a strong, independent press is essential to a functioning democracy. But she has also long held that our local media has played a part in dividing our city by race and geography. Stories of Black leadership, innovation, service, and excellence are missing, she says. Chicago deserves better
Barbara Mahany
December 3, 2021
We think of December as the month that unfurls with festive acceleration, sometimes exhaustingly so. Too, it is the month of deepening darkness. Neither rapid-fire pacing nor day-by-day darkening seems apt for a meditative month. But consider the countercultural: Carve out stillness. Allow the deepening darkness to enfold you. Seek the flickering flame deep within. Listen for the stirrings of the divine, the One who awaits, the One who knocks at the inn of our heart. Will we make room? We must....In the stillness of winter, stirring assuredly comes.
Heidi Stevens & Shaka Rawls
November 5, 2021
Shaka Rawls, principal at Leo Catholic High School, and Chicago journalist Heidi Stevens will discuss how their first meeting five years ago started them on a shared path to better understand and proactively address topics of violence and the disconnect among Chicago’s various communities.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike
October 1, 2021
Dr. Ezike, Director of Illinois Department of Public Health will share her own personal story as a daily media fixture during the darkest days of the Covid-19 lockdown. We were lucky, then and now, to have such a competent physician keeping us focused on personal and social health during a very difficult time.
Father James Martin, S.J.
May 7, 2021
Father James Martin didn’t especially want to visit the Holy Land. As a Jesuit, he already read the Gospels every day; he had his own mental images of Bethlehem, Nazareth, and the Sea of Galilee. But he went. And something profound happened to him there, something Martin calls "life-changing." If you want to know more about Jesus, wherever you're at with your faith, James Martin has a message for you.
Rabbis Evan & Ari Moffic
April 9, 2021
Over the centuries, faith and traditions have been the common thread of worship shared by many religious groups and generations of families. Today, there's a shift in this balance. Families are witnessing their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews withdraw from their religious communities while questioning the relevance of their beliefs. With this increasing departure, how do we prevent a spiritual void for future generations?
Please join us as Evan and Ari discuss these critical changes found in every religious group around the world.
Wilton Cardinal Gregory
March 5, 2021
It all began when Wilton Daniel Gregory, a fifth grade student at St. Carthage grade school, informed his parish priest that he wanted to be a priest. Told by the priest that he was not even a Catholic, young Wilton Gregory responded with a question that began a most amazing journey: “Then what do I have to do?”
Please join us as Cardinal Gregory reflects, reminisces, and offers insight on key moments and highlights of his remarkable journey from a grade school in Chicago to a College of Cardinals.
Richard Moore
February 5, 2021
Within the space of one month in 1972, the family of young Richard Moore in Derry, Northern Ireland, would endure two family tragedies. One of them would profoundly change ten-year-old Richard’s life forever. Join us as Richard Moore, founder and CEO of Children in Cross Fire, tells his extraordinary story of what he has been able to see with the eyes of his heart and faith.
Mary Ellen Caron
January 8, 2021
Mary Ellen Caron, CEO of After School Matters shares how Chicago’s First Lady Maggie Daley dreamed up this program in 1991, with 260 kids making art in tents in the middle of the Loop. And how today, ASM has exploded, offering 26,000 program opportunities to teens from under-resourced neighbor-hoods across the city.
Dr. Caron, with her long history of service to Chicago, will also outline After School Matters' ambitious goals as the organization moves into its fourth decade. She will be accompanied by two alums of After School Matters, who will share how the program has made a difference in their lives.
Eboo Patel
December 4, 2020
Are you burdened with pessimism or hopelessness about the future of our country? Join us to listen to Eboo Patel, the internationally known founder of the Interfaith Youth Core. Patel defiantly claims that he is an American optimist. One place he finds abundant hope? The college campuses he visits each week, where young people of different faiths unite in feeding the hungry while striving for reconciliation and justice. Eboo will explore whether or not society can build an interfaith America.
Carol Marin & Mary Ann Ahern
November 6, 2020
The First Friday Club of Chicago welcomes Mary Ann Ahern and Carol Marin, distinguished guests and Chicago journalists, as they share their insights, wisdom and journalistic experience on the events surrounding the November 3rd Presidential and State of Illinois Elections.
Charles Matthews
October 2, 2020
Charles Matthews, president and CEO of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas speaks with First Friday Board Member, Maureen Murphy about his personal and professional journey from Macon to the c-suite, the challenges of delivering essential services during a global pandemic and the opportunities for change in the current social and political environment.
Father John Cusick & Bill Raleigh
SEPTEMBER 4, 2020
Please join Fr. John Cusick, chaplain and co-founder of First Friday, along with Bill Raleigh, first president of the club, as they share notes on 35 years of history of The First Friday Club of Chicago.
Father Steve Katsouros, S.J.
APRIL 28, 2020
Fr. Steve Katsouros, S.J., Founding Dean and Executive Director of Arrupe College, Loyola University, Chicago shares his own personal narrative on the growth of the Arrupe program, a two year college which helps students bridge the financial, academic and emotional readiness needed for higher education after high school. Fr. "K" reviews the past 5 years, and what's in store for the future of Arrupe with First Friday Board Member, Chuck Murphy.