Lectures For Lifelong Learners!

Kelli Marshall is a tour guide, educator, and public speaker who brings film history to life for audiences of all backgrounds. As the founder of Chicago Movie Tours, she helps visitors and locals discover Chicago through its rich cinematic history. Before launching her business, Kelli spent over a decade as a professor of film and media studies. Now, she brings her expertise and passion for teaching beyond the traditional classroom and into real-world and virtual experiences. Kelli holds a Ph.D. in Humanities, an M.A. in English, and a B.A. in English, with minors in history and French.

A lifelong Chicagoan and now a seasonal Florida resident, Dr. Stephen Z. Cohen holds masters and PhD degrees from the University of Chicago. For more than 40 years he was a distinguished educator at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago teaching social group work practice and group psychotherapy. An early expert in the field of gerontology and services to the elderly, he co-authored a book, The Other Generation Gap: The Middle Aged and Their Aging Parents, named ‘Best Non-Fiction of the Year’ by The Society of Midland Authors. He is fluent in Hebrew.

A tried and true presenter that always delivers, Dr. Cohen is also a consultant, entertainer, humorist, freshwater fisherman and lecturer. He’s been vetted and presented by prestigious Jewish and Yiddish arts, cultural, educational, fundraising and religious organizations at hundreds of venues across the country. With a demand for high quality programming and so large a winter population of Jewish residents and visitors, much of his work during the past 15 years has been in South Florida.

I’m a journalist, speaker and author of 19 books and more than 1,000 pieces on business, health, the environment, investing/retirement and personal finance. My “Keynes’s Way to Wealth: Timeless Investment Lessons from the Great Economist” has been translated into Chinese, German and Japanese. I’ve contributed to The New York Times, Forbes, PBS/Next Avenue, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Reuters. I’ve spoken all across North America and have been a frequent media guest.

As an active environmentalist, I’m a master naturalist and volunteer as a restoration steward and serve on the executive board/steering committee of the Chicago Wilderness Alliance. I am finishing my 20th book “The Natural Neighborhood.” I also publish an environmentally themed Substack newsletter entitled “Refinement.”

I am currently an elected county and forest preserve commissioner in Lake County, Illinois, representing central Lake County.

Having worked in conflict zones such as Iraq, the West Bank, and Ukraine, Alex Poppe depicts fierce and funny women rebuilding their lives in the wake of violence. She is the award-winning author of four books of literary fiction and the USA TODAY bestselling Breakfast Wine, a memoir-in essays about her wild ride through Iraq, recently named a first runner-up for the Eyelands Book Awards and a finalist for the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year and the American Writing Awards. Alex’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Literary Hub, HuffPost, and Informed Comment.

HuffPost calls Greg Schwem “Your boss’s favorite comedian” and after watching a hilarious performance from Greg, you will see why.  During a career as an award-winning television news reporter, Greg decided he enjoyed making people laugh more than depressing them on a nightly basis.  Leaving journalism for comedy, Greg quickly became a favorite on the corporate speaking circuit, performing humorous and inspirational keynote speeches for business heavyweights such as Microsoft, IBM, Southwest Airlines, McDonald’s and even The CIA.

When not on the corporate circuit, Greg performs on cruise ships worldwide.  His clean, wholesome comedic style has also made him popular at active retirement communities, private celebrations and some of the nation’s top comedy clubs.

Greg has appeared on Comedy Central, VH-1 and, in the middle of the pandemic, starred in his own Drybar Comedy special, You Can’t Quarantine Laughter. He has shared the concert stage with the likes of Celine Dion, Keith Urban, Styx and Julio Iglesias.  In 2024, he underwent successful stage 2 colon cancer surgery and chronicled his journey into a third Amazon bestseller, Turning Gut Punches into Punchlines:  A Comedian’s Journey Through Cancer, Divorce and Other Hilarious Stuff.  Greg also writes the nationally syndicated Humor Hotel column for the Chicago Tribune syndicate.