12th Grade Chicago Expedition, July 13-19, 2025
Written by: Scott Wager
Back In March, eleven young women in the Future Women Leaders Program set their sights on Chicago as the destination for their second annual culminating trip. Why Chicago? Because it has a thriving food, arts, and culture scene- renowned for live Jazz performances, and would provide a unique, new experience for everyone. From the girls’ perspective, the purpose of the trip was to create clarity (of career and lifestyle preferences) through cultural experiences. From my perspective, it was more about building their independence and conversational confidence. So throughout March, April and May, the girls planned out what companies they wanted to visit, where we should stay, and what leisure activities would fill the time between business meetings. Then, on May 21st the girls successfully pitched the idea to Newark’s Board of Education- at a live-streamed public meeting.
The trip officially started at 10:50 pm on Sunday July 13, the time we had established for everyone to meet at Rochester’s Amtrak station. Anticipating a long and likely uncomfortable overnight train ride, everyone showed up tired, in their pajamas, and ready for sleep. The departure board showed that our train was delayed; our new departure time was 1:45 am! As the clock ticked past 1:00, family members conceded that they too were tired to stay and said their goodbyes. 
Some of the girls cozied into train station benches for some desperately needed sleep, a few watched movies on a vintage DVD player that Naomi brought along, and the others played a few rounds of UNO.
We rolled into Chicago’s Union Station around 11:30 Monday morning. Foggy-brained from exhaustion, yet buzzing with the excitement of exploring a new city, we bumbled our way out of the station in search of the ever elusive 7-day CTA pass (our most cost-effective option for public transit). Sensing a deteriorating mood within the group, we opted for a 1-day pass that would allow us to get to our Airbnb in time to shower, have lunch, and head back out for our first business meeting at Belvedere Trading LLC. The girls had initially planned to go grocery shopping once we checked into our new home for the week, but they wisely decided to have pizza delivered so they could relax and re-energize their brains before engaging in business conversations.
At Belvedere the girls were welcomed in and treated as if they were longtime employees arriving to celebrate and debrief a difficult business trip. They were ushered into a
large room that had been staged for a professionally facilitated panel discussion yet also had a ping-pong table, foosball table, and a café style kitchen. A few up-beat, casually dressed women directed the girls towards a buffet of upscale hors d’oeuvres and encouraged them to snack and mingle as the company’s female executives, employees and interns were summoned. Those casually dressed women turned out to be the panelists; Ashu- Chief Intel Officer, Jessika- Technical Lead, Melissa- Director of Trading, Haikin- Trader, Anya- Product Analyst, and Cienna- Technical Integrator. Through a facilitated conversation, each of the panelists described the essence of their role at Belvedere, the journey that led them towards it, and their insights on how to become successful and balanced as a women in business. There were three key themes that came from the panelists: 
1) Don’t be afraid to make a mistake; life is always about learning. However, when you do make a mistake, own up to it immediately and then focus on making the next best decision. 2) Networking is the key to opening doors of opportunity. Put yourself out there and try new things- if for no other reason than to gain experience. 3) If you don’t know something, get in front of it fast- the longer you wait, the harder it will be to ask. Share both your ideas and questions, even when others seem confident in their answers- confidence does not always equate to knowledge, and all too often is a bluff intended to preserve an ego.
Following the panel discussion, all of the women present were split into small groups for more intimate, free-flowing conversations with the girls.
On Tuesday, we had arranged for the the group to tour three of Lettuce Entertain You’s flagship restaurant/event spaces; RPM Italian, RPM Steak, and RPM Seafood to learn about the hospitality industry. None of us anticipated the VIP treatment and deeply personal conversations that our local connection, Emily, had curated for the girls! 
We began at RMP Italian, where restaurant manager Maddie greeted each person with a deliciously refreshing signature mock-tail, served in a chilled wine glass. As the girls sipped on their drinks, Maddie explained the history behind RPM Restaurants and shared her personal journey from improv-theatre to managing a high-end restaurant. Her story highlighted the importance of being adaptable and finding a way to say YES- to customers/clients and to new opportunities.
Next Emily walked us a few blocks down the road where Amanda, the vibrantly energetic manager & event planner of RPM Steak greeted the girls with freshly made, gourmet variants of caprese. As Amanda guided a tour of the main dining space, special event spaces, and an impressively organized kitchen, the girls inquired about what she likes and finds most challenging about her career. What she liked most was solving problems within a highly collaborative team (a work culture the women leaders of RPM strive to create). She shared that living in the suburbs of Chicago, commuting 90 minutes to and from work each day, was the biggest challenge she faced- that is until she decided to move into the city within walking distance to work. That move, she said, was a complete game changer; it gave her the work/life balance she needed to truly thrive. In response to the question, “What personal skill do you think makes you most successful?” Amanda responded: “Multi-tasking – not doing many things at one time, but keeping track of what needs to be done across a variety of projects so that everything flows smoothly.” Her stories reinforced Maddie’s themes of social networks opening the doors of opportunity and the power of saying yes to things that are within your business’ (or personal) capabilities.
After RPM Steak, Emily walked us to RPM Seafood’s riverside event space where she is responsible for planning events hosting upwards of 1,500 people. During her tour, Emily spoke about the role teamwork and open communications plays in the overall success of RPM Restaurants, as well as her individual career. 
She described the stark differences between working in a siloed workplace where “that’s not my job,” is the prevailing mentality, and a place like RPM where everyone is openly sharing ideas to help each person and restaurant be successful; “I’d never go back,” she commented.
Lastly, Emily walked the girls into a street-level event space where gourmet pizzas, house-cut parmesan-fries, and Caesar salad had been artfully laid out for lunch. “This is for us?” one of the girls asked in disbelief. “Yes, and while you eat three more of our female leaders are going to share their stories with you,” Emily replied.
First up was Josephine- RPM Culinary’s lead beverage designer. Josephine shared her story of being a hands-on-learner with an inherent drive for excellence and continuously learning. She spoke about how her desire to learn more about the drinks she was serving as bartender led her to become an expert in the chemistry of complex flavor profiles, and ultimately into her current career. She spoke with pride about how her niche skill allows RPM to serve unique, fresh, signature drinks (by the thousands) with the fewest possible steps for the bartenders. Josephine advised the girls to always strive for excellence, be reliable, and to stand up for themselves.
Next, Tanganay- head of finance for RPM Seafood shared a story that spotlighted how always being reliable and doing your very best can lead to opportunities you don’t even know exist! She described how a friend had recommended her to RPM’s owners for a position that she didn’t know existed, and once she did know, felt was far above her experience level.
Ultimately she said yes to the opportunity, and discovered that as long as you are trying your best, others will be willing to share their knowledge and advice. Her encouragement to the girls was: don’t be afraid to step into a role that you are not yet an expert in- growth comes from new experiences, and there are always people you can ask for advice.
Our last RPM speaker was Annie- head pastry chef at RPM Culinary. Annie shared her story of growing up as a foster child in NYC and stepping out onto her own at the age of 18. She spoke about the importance of knowing yourself, believing in your dreams, and always striving to learn. Like all of her RPM colleagues, and the women at Belvedere, Annie also credited networking, and word-of-mouth recommendations as the key that repeatedly opened invisible doors of opportunity.
Energized by the food and conversations at RPM Events, the girls decided to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening exploring the city’s river walk, Millennium Park, and shopping district. Along the way, we took pictures at The Bean (officially named Cloud Gate), listened to an orchestra play in an outdoor amphitheater, did a photoshoot with a street vendor offering vintage newspaper artifacts, and visited an art gallery that we mistook for a library.
As our walking tour of the city pushed into the evening, the group started to splinter. Some were hyper-fixated on shopping at stores inaccessible at home, while others were casually strolling along taking photos, and others were silently suffering with chaffed legs and sore feet. Hot, tired, and thirsty, everyone was getting a bit cranky and intolerant of navigational errors that resulted in more walking. As a conversation started about who would lead us back and which way to go, I abruptly announced that our next stop was the Airbnb, and I would lead the way. It was nearly 9 o’clock by the time Naomi and Armani were able to start cooking dinner and close to 11 when we had finished our meal and talked through some group travel safety concerns that Janean, Danielle, and I had identified throughout the day.
Wednesday’s schedule allowed us to take a casual tour (dress and pace) of the University of Chicago in the morning. While at the university’s athletic center, we took a chance and asked if somebody would be willing to give us an impromptu tour of the facility. Thankfully, the woman in charge, a former collegiate level basketball coach, said yes! She walked the girls around the entire Athletic complex explaining what programs the college offered, and shared her own story as a collegiate level athlete and coach. We couldn’t have asked for a more informative tour!
After a leisurely trip back to the Airbnb, the girls had some lunch and rested before getting ready to meet with Erin- Director of Behavioral Science at Conagra Brands, our last business meeting of the week. Up to this point we had been early to all of our scheduled meetings, which may have lulled some of the girls into thinking that it’s no big deal if we leave a minute or two late and there is always time for selfie-photo. So, we missed our scheduled train, arrived 7 minutes late for our meeting at Conagra, and learned an important lesson: when public transportation is involved, one minute can be the difference between being on time or unfashionably late!
Despite being late, the girls were welcomed as if they were the most important visitors of the day. Erin met the girls in the lobby and escorted them into an executive conference room with a stunning view of the Chicago River. She explained that three other women executives would join shortly, then gave an overview of herself, her role at Conagra, and Conagra Brands as a company. Just as Erin finished up her overview presentation, Kathyryn- Director of logistics, Michelle- Director of Research & development, and Jasmine- Intellectual property lawyer, entered the conference room. Each of the women described their current role and career journey, and also shared advice on what skills were most helpful for them along that journey. After their individual stories, questions from Maggie and Kalyn shifted to the women’s focus onto how they all work together to identify business opportunities, develop and deliver food products to meet those needs, and navigate all of the patents & trademarks before marketing the new product. They did an excellent job job of explaining how the company works as a whole, how their role supports the development of new business, and how diversity within the company leads to better decision making.
Midway through the meeting a storm had rolled into Chicago. With thunder and lightning exploding directly outside the conference room window, the girls they were visibly distracted (I’m sure thinking OMG, we are gonna have to walk back to the train in this!) Jasmine was also visibly distracted and messaging someone on her phone. As she set the phone down, she apologized to the girls for diverting her attention away from them. She then shared that her young child was caught walking home in the storm and she was asking their sitter to do an emergency pick up. This, I thought was fabulous lesson on mobile phone courtesy for the girls; it was clear (to me) that the girls felt slightly disrespected as Jasmine focused on her phone, and her apology gave them an example of how to acknowledge your actions and positively move past a potential conflict.
By the time we left Conagra, the storm had passed and our minds shifted towards dinner- Empanadas made by Hailey. We shared a communal meal together, talked about our plans for the next day, and by 10:00 pm everybody had gone to bed- tired from full days of walking and intense conversations.
Thursday, in my mind, was a day of play- kayaking through the heart of the city on a guided architectural tour. For some of the girls however, it was a day of stress and discomfort as they experienced kayaking for the first time. Our tour guide, Anthony, was a gregarious ecology professor who seamlessly blended local architectural and ecological history with uplifting stories of empowered women and the legacies of socially minded businesses. At various points as Anthony stopped to tell a story, Armani could be seen zooming back and forth behind him, giggling as she tried in vain to get the kayak to go where she wanted it to. 
She paddled with so much power, each stroke launched her into a new, unwanted direction. At our half-way point, in the heart of the city and 2.5 miles away from where we started, the girls’ joyful giggles began shifting towards whimpers of fatigue, and the inevitable question: “are we almost there?” When we were “finally there” out of the water and enjoying the lunches that we had packed, the girls did reflect positively on the experience. Not all will go kayaking again, but they enjoyed the stories Anthony shared and appreciated the novel experience they had with each other.
What the girls were truly excited about was dressing up for a night out and a fancy dinner Andy’s, where there would be a live jazz performance. The musicians were spectacular, the food was delicious, and the service was top-notch. Yet for me, the best part of the evening was seeing the expressions of pure joy and amazement on the girls faces throughout the entire experience! 
Our decision to attend the early performance left us aimless at 7:45 pm- far too early for the girls to call it a night. So, they lobbied for an opportunity to shop at the stores nearby our Airbnb. With building their independence in mind, we set a curfew at 9:45, asked them to always travel in pairs, and set them free. Respectfully, they all returned early.
By Friday we were confident that the group was truly looking after each other so we fully empowered them to choose what they wanted they wanted to do, and when they wanted to do it. Our only restriction was that we must be back at the Airbnb by 5:30 to clean up, finish packing, and leave for Union Station by 8:15. Their choice was to visit Chinatown for lunch and some shopping. 
Again, the girls did the navigation with Janean, Danielle, and I offering little more than moral support (and six very watchful eyes) along the way.
Once in Chinatown, all of the girls were psyched to shop, but we adults were in desperate need of some food. Janean corralled the girls on a street corner and established a plan to meet back up at the same location in 1.5 hours. While the girls shopped, the three of us enjoyed lunch at an authentic Chinese noodle shop. Again the girls respected our time constraints and were back at the meeting corner a few minutes early.
They were all excited to show what they had bought, but it was clear that some conflict had surfaced within the group- Aryel had separated herself, and several of the girls were actively collaborating to figure out why, and what to do about it. The idea of lunch brought unity back to the group. They settled on having lunch at the same noodle shop where Janean, Danielle, and I had just dined. Not wanting to sit through another lunch, we told the girls to go on their own and to call me when it was time to pay the bill. Janean took the time to explore the local library, while Danielle and I explored a few shops and casually debriefed the trip.
Refueled after lunch, the group set off to explore more of the area’s unique stores. By 3:30 they had shopped their way out of Chinatown and asked if they could do some more shopping in the neighborhood of our Airbnb. “Sure,” we said, “you know our timeline so whatever falls within that is okay.”
Most of them had packed the night before, so we agreed to a 6:00 pm return time, and set them free one last time. As they shopped, Janean, Danielle, and I put together a buffet dinner using the week’s leftovers. At 5:50, Janean received a call from the girls asking to extend their time to 6:30. Janean said no, explained why, and then hung up. To my surprise, at 6:01 they came bursting through the door. Giggling and gasping for air, they jointly described being in the store when Janean said no, and then running to get back on time. I was happy to see them practice their negotiation skills, and touched by the effort they took to to make good on their original agreement.
At 7:30 we gathered everyone on our quiet, distraction-free deck for a final trip reflection and a round of affirmations. Danielle asked each person to share who was the most influential person they spoke with. For Jade and Avé, it was Annie (head pastry chef at RPM) because her story showed that if you believe in yourself, and put yourself first, you can achieve your dreams- even if you have a difficult childhood. Aryel and Naomi shared that Josephine (RPM’s lead beverage designer) inspired them with her stories and advice about striving to be the best at whatever you do, and following the path that feels right for you. For Kalyn and Armani it was Belvedere’s panelists, because they all stepped into the unknown (options trading) and had powerful examples of why social networking is so important. Sakurako resonated with Anthony’s gregarious nature and appreciated his uplifting positivity. Maggie said that Erin (Conagra’s behavioral scientist) helped her see the type of marketing and business environment she wanted to work in. Hailey, in a tear jerker moment, shared that Janean’s kind nature and ability to support others had the greatest influence on her.
Next, I asked the girls to share their most memorable trip experience. Many shared that kayaking was the most memorable- either because it was difficult, or because they appreciated the history and unique perspective of the city. Others shared that it was popping out of the subway into the middle of a political protest, because the feeling of support was palpable and powerfully energizing. Kalyn thought the evening at Andy’s Jazz Club felt magical- like she was in a movie while Sakurako, a self-proclaimed band geek, just loved watching the musicians play.
Aryel, Ave, and Armani cited the afternoon with RPM because of the deeply personal stories, the behind the scenes look at what makes great restaurants great, and learning about specialized restaurant concepts. Jade’s most memorable experiences were how the women at Belvedere made her (and the group) feel special- like they belonged there, and her morning run with Danielle.
After Janean led a round of very thoughtful and heartfelt affirmations, we schlepped our luggage to the Division Street subway station for our final ride on Chicago’s Blue Line. Without hesitation, question or complaint, the girls helped each other haul heavy bags down long and narrow subway stairs, through turnstiles sized for people, not luggage, and finally onto our home-bound train.
What will I remember from this trip? The glow of confidence and joy the girls exuded as they traveled, dressed to the nines, to Andy’s Jazz Club; the kindness and compassion they showed each other, and everyone else we interacted with; and being referred to as both an adopted grandpa (Avé) and an amazing little butler (Armani).
