Kary McIlwain

Kary McIlwain is the SVP & Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Foundation at Lurie Children's Hospital. Kary has over 25 years of experience in the advertising industry, having worked at Young & Rubicam for 15 years, where they eventually became North American Managing Partner. In 1999, Kary became President & CEO of Y&R Chicago, where they were responsible for P&L, strategy and operations of full-service operation of a global agency network. Under Kary’s leadership, Y&R has revamped its creative product and was named top 10 “Creative Heavyweights” by Creativity magazine, grew year-on-year to become a major player not just in the Chicago market but in North America. In recognition of that growth and creativity, Y&R was named Agency of the Year in 2014 by The Chicago Ad Federation. In addition to being a results-oriented marketer, champion of creativity and growing a culture of ideas, Kary’s philosophy of making agency life as rewarding as possible resulted in exceptional growth and exceptionally low turnover. Kary’s experience runs from consumer packaged goods to retail, services, spirits and beer with clients including: AT&T, BMO Financial Group, Famous Footwear, Jim Beam, Johnson Johnson, Kraft Foods, M&M Mars, Miller Brewing Company, Procter and Gamble and Sears. Kary spent time in Strategy and Brand Planning, developed the discipline for Y&

Kary McIlwain has a MS in Integrated Marketing from Northwestern University and a BS in Journalism from Bradley University.

They are on a team with Brenda Davis - Interim CFO, Krista Tartoni - Chief of Staff to President & CEO, and Thomas H. Inge - Chair, Department of Surgery. Kary McIlwain reports to Thomas P. Shanley, President.