Officers & Directors

As vice president of investor relations and communications, Heather Kos is responsible for the global investor communications program of Univar Solutions (NYSE: UNVR), a Fortune 500 global chemical and ingredients distributor and specialty services provider. Previously, Kos was vice president of IR and corporate communications for Ingredion (NYSE: INGR) and spent 17 years in various roles at Navistar (NYSE: NAV), where she managed communications related to activist campaigns and Navistar’s 2007 NYSE delisting. Kos earned an MBA from DePaul University and bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University. She is a CPA in the state of Illinois, certified management accountant and NIRI Investor Relations Charter (IRC) holder. Kos is an active member of NIRI’s Senior Roundtable, Certification Council and Editorial Advisory Committee.

Shawn Alcaraz is director of investor relations at Weber Inc. (NYSE: WEBR), an American manufacturer of charcoal, gas, and electric outdoor grills with related accessories. Alcaraz has more than 20 years of experience in investor relations and corporate communications. His previous experience includes investor relations roles at Adtalem Global Education (NYSE: ATGE) and Zebra Technologies (Nasdaq: ZBRA) and corporate communication roles at General Motors (NYSE: GM). He received an MBA from Kellstad Graduate School of Business at DePaul University and a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University, and holds a NIRI Investor Relations Charter (IRC) designation.

Jeremy Cohen is senior vice president of investor relations and financial communications at Edelman, where he works closely with clients across numerous sectors, including financial services, industrials, consumer, healthcare and technology. His background includes experience with special situations, M&A, ESG communications, crises, public relations and investor relations. Before joining Edelman, Cohen worked at in-flight technology pioneer Gogo and at Morningstar. Cohen was named to NIRI's inaugural 40 Under 40 class in 2019. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

Barbara Noverini, CFA, is director, investor relations for the Chicago-based fast-casual restaurant concept, Portillo’s (Nasdaq: PTLO). As part of the company’s finance leadership team, she executes the investor relations and corporate responsibility programs. Prior to joining Portillo's, she was head of investor relations for Morningstar. She joined Morningstar in 2011 and previously served as a senior equity analyst, industrials. Earlier, she worked as a senior research director for broker-dealer DeMatteo Monness. She holds a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and master's degree from the University of Illinois.

Christine J. Hanneman is currently senior director, investor relations at ACCO Brands. ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE: ACCO) is one of the world's largest suppliers of select categories of branded academic, consumer and business products.

From 2000 – 2011, Hanneman was vice president of investor relations for Pactiv Corporation, a specialty packaging company, until Pactiv became a private company when it was acquired by Reynolds Group Holdings Limited.

She headed investor relations for Tupperware Corporation from the time of its spin-off from Premark in 1995 until 2000, initially as vice president of financial relations and later as vice president, financial relations and treasury. Hanneman was responsible for Premark International’s investor relations program from 1990 to 1995 after holding a variety of assignments in the finance and treasury areas.

Hanneman earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Roosevelt University, and an MBA with a concentration in finance from DePaul University. She has served on the NIRI-Chicago board since 2001, including as vice president and treasurer from 2003 until 2009. She also served on the Steering Committee for the NIRI Senior Roundtable and is a past chairperson of MAPI’s Investor Relations Council.

Maryellen Thielen is a public/investor relations executive, award-winning communicator and skilled media strategist with a gift for strengthening corporate brands and influencing stakeholder perceptions. By providing counsel to the C-suite and across organizational lines, she aligns interests, shapes key messages, achieves business objectives and attracts capital in the equity markets. Thielen has developed and managed investor and public relations programs for companies in the financial services and healthcare industries, among others. She has received numerous awards for investor relations, communications management, annual reports and other publications. Thielen has a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Chicago and an MBA from Northern Illinois University. She holds an APR (Accredited in Public Relations) from the Public Relations Society of America and an ABC (accredited business communicator) designation from the International Association of Business Communicators. She has served as NIRI-Chicago president, executive vice president and vice president of communications.

Rob Cherry is vice president of investor relations for Methode Electronics (NYSE: MEI). Previously, he was vice president of investor relations with corporate development responsibilities for Regal Beloit Corp. (NYSE: RBC). Earlier in his career, he worked for FMC Technologies and United Conveyor Corp. Cherry earned an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Mike Steele is vice president of investor relations at Zebra Technologies (Nasdaq: ZBRA), a global leader in designing and marketing enterprise asset tracking and monitoring solutions. Previously, he headed IR at Office Depot (Nasdaq: ODP) and a company it acquired in 2013, OfficeMax. Earlier in his career, Steele held roles at other companies in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, treasury, partnership marketing and commercial banking. He holds a CFA charter and NIRI Investor Relations Charter (IRC) designation. Steele earned his MBA from Loyola University Chicago and bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University.

Victor Jendras is director of sales at Morrow Sodali. Previously he was managing director of corporate sales at Q4 Inc.

Earlier in his career, Jendras worked as an equity research analyst at Zacks Investment Research, a mutual fund accountant at Northern Trust, a VP and senior analyst at MZ Group and product specialist at NASDAQ OMX. He received his bachelor's degree in international business from Bradley University. He joined the NIRI-Chicago board in 2017 and is also an active member of the Rocky Mountain and Twin Cities NIRI chapters.

Brooks Rennie is director of investor relations at Byline Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BY) and holds additional responsibilities related to environmental, social and governance matters. Previously, Rennie was assistant vice president of investor relations at U.S. Bancorp and an investor relations and corporate strategy officer at TCF Financial Corp. In addition to his role on the NIRI Chicago board, he has served on the NIRI Twin Cities board since 2018 – most recently as treasurer – and is pursuing an MBA at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, DePaul University. He was named a NIRI 40 Under 40 honoree in 2019.

Stacie Selinger is managing director, head of investor relations, GCM Grosvenor Inc. (Nasdaq: GCMG), which includes responsibilities for strategy, corporate development and service on the firm’s environmental, social and governance committee and diversity, equity and inclusion committee. Earlier, Selinger was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and received a bachelor’s degree from Washington University, St. Louis. She was honored as one of NIRI’s Rising Leaders Under 40 in 2022.

Ruth Venning is responsible for day-to-day IR communications, strategic planning, analytics, ESG disclosure, governance outreach and the proxy statement for Horizon (Nasdaq: HZNP). Her investor relations, financial and/or corporate communications experience includes roles at Hospira (acquired by Pfizer in 2015), Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE: TDS) and United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAL). Venning is a NIRI Investor Relations Charter (IRC) holder and holds an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, a master’s degree from Northwestern University and bachelor’s degree from Earlham College. Venning is chair-elect of the NIRI board, has served on the NIRI board since 2018 and NIRI-Chicago board since 2004, and is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and Women in Bio.