Nominate
Todd Walton

• He's been an advocate for mental health awareness for more than twenty years, and it started at home. His brother lived with mental health issues, and that's what pulled Todd into the work and kept him in it.
• Ten years on the board of Donda's House / Art of Culture, the Chicago youth arts organization, where he's Communications Chair and where art is how a lot of young people work through what they're carrying. More than a thousand young people have come through those programs.
• Eighteen years publishing The Hip Hop Democrat, so people have somewhere to talk honestly about the things that weigh on them.
• He teaches and mentors constantly, and a lot of that is really just being a steady adult for somebody who doesn't have one.
• More recently he's been building toward residential care for adults living with developmental disabilities and mental health conditions, and advocating for a young Black man failed by the systems that were supposed to catch him. Both are still in progress.
• His faith isn't decoration, it's why he's still there with people long after it stopped being convenient.

Honestly the strongest answer here is personal, so if he's checked on you or sat with somebody through a hard season or made a room feel safe, that's worth more than any credential on this list.

• Founder and Principal of Project Baseline, his strategy practice, working with nonprofits, cooperatives and small businesses on how they're actually built.
• Special Advisor to Dr. Mae Jemison, the former NASA astronaut, supporting her global STEM and cultural exchange work.
• Long-term strategic partner to the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, where he worked with the late Rev. Jesse Jackson on programs sitting where civil rights and culture meet.
• Marketing innovation at Redbox, where he was Director of Marketing Operations and Customer Programs and worked in new business strategy and innovation, inside one of America's most recognized consumer brands at its peak.
• Founder of The Hip Hop Democrat, now in year 18, the longest-running independent platform sitting at the intersection of hip-hop and politics.
• Claude City Ambassador for Chicago, representing the city in Anthropic's ambassador program and teaching people here how to actually use AI. He's also Director of Innovation at The Desire Company.
• The Harold Washington Cultural Center is presenting him its Community and Technology Impact Award in 2026.

If you've worked with him, one concrete thing he did for your organization beats this entire list.

• Ten years on the board of Donda's House / Art of Culture, where he serves as Communications Chair and the programs have reached more than a thousand young people.
• He volunteered with Junior Achievement as an entrepreneurship instructor, teaching young people how a business actually works.
• Five years on the Art Institute of Chicago Associate Board as Communications Chair, opening the museum up to people from communities it hadn't reached.
• He's the architect of the Auxiliary Board framework and the Heritage in Harmony membership program at the Harold Washington Cultural Center in Bronzeville.
• Lead Curator for TEDxChicago, where he's produced two major events.
• The City of Chicago picked him in 2026 as a panelist for the DCASE Individual Artist Program, which decides grant funding for Chicago artists.

Names and specifics land hardest here, so if you served somewhere alongside him, say where.

• He taught entrepreneurship to young people through Junior Achievement, which is about as direct as mentoring gets.
• Between Donda's House and TEDxChicago he's spent years putting young Chicago talent in front of rooms they wouldn't have gotten into otherwise.
• He helped deliver Nexus Nairobi with Dr. Mae Jemison, bringing together participants from more than fifty countries, and he supports the 100 Year Starship initiative.
• More than a decade building between the United States and the African continent, including cultural and business exchange with the South African General Consulate.

If he introduced you to somebody or talked you through a decision or vouched for you when it counted, tell that story.