Family Service Center (FSC)

No Shame on U: Cover My Mental Health: Overcoming Insurance Obstacles for Care
2025-05-01 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Zoom
Cover My Mental Health: Overcoming Insurance Obstacles for Care
May 1, 2025
7pm CT
Via – ZOOM
Has your insurance ever denied mental health treatment deemed necessary by a professional? Been told your medication isn’t covered, even though you rely on it? If you’re tired of fighting insurance battles alone, this talk is for you. Cover My Mental Health, a nonprofit organization, provides no-cost resources to help individuals and families effectively advocate for the care they deserve. This presentation will introduce practical strategies for challenging insurance denials and overcoming obstacles to treatment. Led by Joe Feldman, founder of Cover My Mental Health and a parent who successfully fought for his children’s mental health care, this session will equip you with the tools to push back against insurer roadblocks and secure the coverage you need.
Presented by:
Joe Feldman, MBA
Founder and Director, Cover My Mental Health
FREE and VIRTUAL!
Register HERE!

[FAN] Dream School: Finding the College That's Right for You
2025-09-03 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 7:00 PM CT, Dream School: Finding the College That’s Right for You, a FAN webinar featuring Jeff Selingo (FAN ’20, ’21, ‘22), in conversation with Frank Bruni (FAN ’15).
REGISTER: www.bit.ly/Selingo25FANWebinar
BONUS BOOK GIVEAWAY! FAN is giving away copies of Dream School to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
Attending college has long been a rite of passage for millions of teens and a bedrock of the American dream. But that well-worn path has lately taken a wrong turn, denying admission even to super-achievers and putting intolerable stress on family finances. Now, in Dream School: Finding the College That’s Right for You, Jeff Selingo (FAN ’20, ’21, ’22) shifts the spotlight from how colleges pick students to how students can better pick colleges.
With test-optional policies and grade inflation leveling the playing field for applicants, getting into prestigious schools has become a kind of lottery. “Plan A” may work out, but increasingly it isn’t—so Selingo urges families to ditch the “Top 25 or bust” mindset and look beyond the usual suspects. Hidden-gem schools with incredible value and rich opportunities are waiting to be discovered.
Backed by unparalleled research—and an eye-opening survey of more than 3,000 parents—Dream School reveals what really matters in a college: strong job prospects after graduation, hands-on learning experiences, and a sense of belonging. To help students find their perfect match, Selingo highlights 75 accessible and affordable colleges that will satisfy those priorities.
Organized into three easy-to-digest sections, Dream School explains why elite college degrees turn out to matter less than you think, why many parents and students are choosing value over prestige, and how to make sure the degree really pays off.
Selingo is a New York Times bestselling author of three books on education and the job market. For more than twenty-five years, his in-depth reporting and storytelling have provided practical insight about the future of higher education and the workforce to university leaders, corporate executives, as well as students and parents.
Selingo will be in conversation with prominent New York Times journalist Frank Bruni (FAN ’15), author of Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be, about the college admissions mania; The Beauty of Dusk; and most recently, The Age of Grievance. He is the Eugene C. Patterson Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy at Duke University, teaching media-oriented classes in the Sanford School of Public Policy.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.

Screenagers Under the Influence
2025-09-09 18:30 - 20:30 | Wilmette Theatre, 1122 Central Ave., Wilmette, IL, United States
FREE MOVIE SCREENING + Panel Discussion to Follow.
A must-see for parents, caregivers, and youth ages 12+.
Addressing vaping, drugs & alcohol in the Digital Age.
6:30pm Doors Open | 6:45pm Movie | 8pm Panelist Discussion
Popcorn & Goodie Bags for all Guests!
Scan QR code in flyer to register!

FSC & GPL: Back-to-School Without the Meltdowns: Study Strategies That Actually Work
2025-09-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Glenview Public Library, 1930 Glenview Road, Glenview, IL, 60025
Join us! We hope to see you at the Glenview Public Library for our 90-minute workshop to ease the back-to-school transition for kids and the grownups who support them. We’ll have brain-based strategies to build focus, reduce stress, and boost confidence as you settle into back-to-school routines.
When: Monday, September 22, 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Where: Glenview Public Library Community Room (1930 Glenview Road, Glenview)
Register here: https://glenviewpl.bibliocommons.com/…/68b9a076cefea328…
All caregivers welcome! Supervised activities and snacks for kids will be provided. Register today!

Topics to be covered:

Study tips that align with how brains actually learn
Simple tools for emotional regulation and motivation
How to troubleshoot tricky transitions and make routines work
Ways to support neurodivergent learners, including those with ADHD and anxiety
Parents and caregivers will leave with ready-to-use techniques, a better understanding of how learning and regulation work together, and resources to access additional support if needed.

[FAN] Mastery: Why Deeper Learning is Essential in an Age of Distraction Ulrik Juul Christensen, MD
2025-09-25 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Thursday, September 25, 2025, 7:00 PM CT, Mastery: Why Deeper Learning is Essential in an Age of Distraction, a FAN webinar featuring Ulrik Juul Christensen, MD, and Tony Wagner, Ed.D., in conversation with Fernande Raine, Ph.D.
REGISTER: Click here to register
BONUS BOOK GIVEAWAY! FAN is giving away copies of Mastery to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
How much information is forgotten almost immediately after it is taught? How many students graduate from high school unprepared for careers where lifelong learning is essential to succeed? These problems stem from an educational system that uses time spent in a classroom and the results of standardized, multiple-choice tests as proxies for actual understanding. In their new book, Mastery: Why Deeper Learning is Essential in an Age of Distraction, educators Tony Wagner, Ed.D., and Ulrik Juul Christensen, MD, call for a radical new system of learning, where students progress individually when they demonstrate that they can use what they have learned—no matter how long it takes to get there. This is called mastery learning, and it is the future of education.
This book shows how mastery learning is already being used in the United States and around the world, from kindergarten to college and in the workplace. Through conversations with teachers, students, parents, policymakers, and employers, Wagner and Christensen show how mastery improves motivation and prepares students for productive work, an engaged civic life, and personal growth and well-being. They also outline the challenges of adopting mastery learning and how to overcome them. Mastery is an urgent call to action to transform education for all.
Christensen is a globally recognized authority in learning technology, and a co-founder of Area9 Group, a leader in personalized and adaptive learning. His current focus is on Area9 Lyceum, which has integrated the group’s educational investments and technologies to develop the fourth-generation adaptive learning platform and to pioneer four-dimensional education.
Wagner currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute. He was the founder and co-director, for more than a decade, of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is the author of eight books, including the international bestseller The Global Achievement Gap.
Christensen and Wagner will be in conversation with Fernande Raine, Ph.D., a historian, serial entrepreneur, and Founder and Co-Lead of History Co:Lab.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.

[FAN] Parenting Anxiety: Breaking the Cycle of Worry and Raising Resilient Kid
2026-01-22 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Thursday, January 22, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT Parenting Anxiety: Breaking the Cycle of Worry and Raising Resilient Kids A FAN webinar featuring Meredith Elkins, Ph.D., in conversation with Rebecca Jenkins
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/ElkinsFANWebinar
Bonus After-Hours Event: FAN donors are invited to attend a private After-Hours event hosted by Elkins that will start immediately after the webinar. Details on the webinar registration page.
Parenting is hard—especially for families navigating anxiety. Today’s parents face an overwhelming volume of advice shaped by rigid cultural ideals of what “good” parenting looks like, particularly when it comes to managing children’s fears and worries. How do you raise resilient children in an age of uncertainty? How do you parent effectively when you yourself are anxious?
Much of the advice parents encounter, unfortunately, encourages responses that can increase the long-term risk of anxiety in children. In trying to protect kids from discomfort, well-intentioned parents may block experiences children need to build courage, confidence, and resilience.
In her new book Parenting Anxiety: Breaking the Cycle of Worry and Raising Resilient Kids, Meredith Elkins, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and faculty member at Harvard Medical School, brings clarity to this increasingly urgent conversation. Drawing on her clinical work with children and families—and her own experience as a parent—Dr. Elkins helps parents rethink so-called “negative” emotions such as fear, sadness, and guilt, and understand how modern parenting pressures contribute to anxiety in both children and adults. She encourages families to clarify their values and adopt a “love and limits” approach—balancing compassion with healthy boundaries while resisting the urge to shield children from every discomfort.
Dr. Elkins offers concrete, evidence-based guidance for families experiencing everyday anxiety as well as those coping with anxiety disorders. This indispensable resource provides a clear roadmap for helping both children and parents build adaptability, emotional flexibility, and resilience across all stages of development.
Dr. Elkins will be in conversation with Rebecca Jenkins, superintendent of Libertyville D70 in Libertyville, IL. Jenkins has presented about leadership at the National Conference on Education by the American Association of School Administrators, the award-winning PowerTrip conference for women in education; at the Illinois Association for Superintendents; and with Google at the ASU+GSV summit, a global meeting for leaders in education, technology, and workforce development.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Alliance for Early Childhood, The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Barrington D220, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Chiaravalle Montessori School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, The Cove School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Lake Forest Community HS D115, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic HS, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Near North Montessori School, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican HS, Resurrection College Prep HS, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Sacred Heart Schools, St. Bernard’s School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson HS D125, Township HS D113, Township HS D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette D39, Wilmette Public Library, Winnetka D36, Wolcott College Prep, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History
2026-02-26 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT. Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History. A FAN webinar featuring Helen Zoe Veit, Ph.D., in conversation with John Waller, Ph.D.
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/VeitFANWebinar
Bonus Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of Picky to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on
the webinar registration page.
Are children naturally picky, or did pickiness develop over the past century? Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History by historian Helen Zoe Veit, Ph.D., is an eye-opening investigation into why American kids no longer eat broadly and with gusto. As an award-winning historian of American food, Veit demonstrates compellingly that mass childhood pickiness is a cultural invention – not a biological inevitability.
Pickiness used to be almost nonexistent. Well into the 20th century, Americans saw children as joyful omnivores who were naturally curious and eager to eat. Kids in the past loved spicy relishes, vinegary pickles, and bitter greens. They spent their allowances on raw oysters and looked forward to their daily coffee. American parents of the past assumed children could enjoy the same food as adults, and they almost always did.
Pickiness used to be almost nonexistent. Well into the 20th century, Americans saw children as joyful omnivores who were naturally curious and eager to eat. Kids in the past loved spicy relishes, vinegary pickles, and bitter greens. They spent their allowances on raw oysters and looked forward to their daily coffee. American parents of the past assumed children could enjoy the same food as adults, and they almost always did.
Veit is an associate professor of history at Michigan State University and the director of the “What America Ate” and “America in the Kitchen” projects. She was an advisor for HBO’s The Gilded Age, and her work is often cited in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and more.
Veit will be in conversation with John Waller, Ph.D., Associate Professor of the History of Science and Medicine at Michigan State University who has published seven books spanning science, medicine, and social history, and has just completed a major study of group dynamics across the past 12,000 years of human history.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Alliance for Early Childhood, The Avery Coonley School, Baker Demonstration School, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Chiaravalle Montessori School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Lake Forest Community High School D115, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Near North Montessori School, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Sacred Heart Schools, St. Bernard’s School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Wolcott College Prep, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most
2026-03-02 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Monday, March 2, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most. A FAN webinar featuring Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., in conversation with Daniel Pink (FAN ’18, ’22).
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/SLFANWebinar
Bonus Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of How to Feel Loved to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
Why, in an age of constant connection, do so many of us still feel lonely, anxious, or unseen? In their new book, How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets Get You More of What Matters Most, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D. — the world’s preeminent expert on happiness — and Harry Reis, Ph.D., one of the world’s leading authorities on relationships and connection, reveal the simple yet powerful shifts that can transform how we experience our closest relationships.
The authors argue that the problem isn’t the number of friends we have or how busy our social calendars are — it’s that too often, our interactions don’t leave us feeling genuinely loved. We may worry that if people really knew us — our flaws alongside our strengths — their affection would disappear. Or we may quietly conclude that we’re simply not lovable enough.
How to Feel Loved offers a liberating alternative. You don’t need to reinvent yourself, impress others, or bend over backward to earn love. Instead, the key lies in shifting how you approach your next conversation. The authors present five practical mindsets that can fundamentally change the way you relate to others — habits that, with practice, will help you create relationships where you feel deeply known, valued, and loved.
Lyubomirsky is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and the author of the bestselling The How of Happiness and The Myths of Happiness (published in 39 countries). She has been featured across a wide range of media, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic, as well as the Today show, NPR, and CNN.
Lyubomirsky will be in conversation with Daniel Pink (FAN ’18, ’22), the author of seven bestselling nonfiction books ranging from human motivation and the science of timing to a graphic novel career guide. His deeply researched works have been translated into 46 languages and have sold more than five million copies worldwide.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Alliance for Early Childhood, The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Township HS D202, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Lake Forest Community High School D115, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Magnetar Capital, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Wolcott College Prep, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation
2026-03-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave, Evanston, IL, 60201
The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation A FAN in-person featuring Rep. James E. Clyburn, in conversation with Natalie Y. Moore. Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave., Door 6, Evanston, IL 60201
No registration required.
Bonus Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of The First Eight to attendees, while supplies last.
Today, South Carolina Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-06) is renowned as a Democratic kingmaker and one of the most distinguished Black political leaders in American history. But behind him stand eight other remarkable men: the first Black politicians elected to Congress from his home state, who blazed the path for his own ascent. Since arriving in Congress in the early nineties, Congressman Clyburn has been guided by their wisdom and example — and sobered by their struggles, particularly against the enduring demon of American racism.
South Carolina’s first eight Black congressmen all rose to office in the wake of the Civil War and emancipation — only to see their gains extinguished as the dark veil of Jim Crow fell across the South. It would take nearly a century before the ninth Black representative from the state, Clyburn himself, was elected.
In The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation, Rep. Clyburn brings these men’s stories — and their message of liberty — to the nation they served. Among them: Joseph Rainey, born enslaved in 1832, who became the first Black politician elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in American history; Robert Smalls, celebrated for his extraordinary Civil War heroism, when he commandeered a Confederate vessel and delivered it — and his freedom — to the Union; and Richard Cain, editor of a widely read newspaper for Black South Carolinians and a figure deeply associated with Emanuel AME Church, one of the oldest and most distinguished Black churches in America, and where nine Black congregants were murdered in a racist mass shooting in 2015.
Through the trials, tribulations, triumphs, and setbacks all nine men faced, Rep. Clyburn illuminates a whole new way of understanding the arc from the Civil War to the present day.
The First Eight is a singular blend of history and memoir — at once a monument to eight trailblazing Americans, a meditation on progress, and a clear-eyed reckoning with how far we have yet to go in our nation’s ongoing struggle for true democracy.
Rep. Clyburn will be in conversation with Natalie Y. Moore, an award-winning journalist and author and senior lecturer and director of audio programming at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded but not live streamed and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Near North Montessori School, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child's Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Food
2026-03-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Friday, March 13, 2026 | 12:00 PM CT (Note earlier-than-typical start time) Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child’s Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods A FAN webinar featuring Michaeleen Doucleff, Ph.D., in conversation with Heidi Stevens.
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/MDoucleffFANWebinar
Bonus Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of Dopamine Kids to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
Nearly everything you’ve heard about dopamine is wrong. It’s not the molecule of happiness — it doesn’t give us pleasure; it gives us motivation. Today, unprecedented “dopamine surges” pull us toward technology and ultraprocessed foods like magnets, many times a day, and neuroscientists have now begun to understand how these surges alter our choices, habits, and moods — driving adults and kids toward activities that bring no real enjoyment and leave us feeling sad, lonely, anxious, and depressed.
When Michaeleen Doucleff, Ph.D. (FAN ’21), set out to address her own family’s screen time and dependence on processed foods, she discovered that study after study refuted nearly everything the media claims about dopamine. She took that new neuroscience and merged it with practical experience to shift the power dynamic back to families — so that instead of devices and foods controlling us, we control them. The result is Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child’s Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods, a five-step operating manual for habit remodeling that helps parents create boundaries, replace screen time with equally enticing alternatives, remove triggers, and celebrate new choices — ultimately weakening the neurological pull of devices and making dopamine work in a family’s favor.
Doucleff’s research culminates in a four-week plan to build screen-free sanctuaries that protect conversation, focus, sleep, and adventure. Where Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation sounded the alarm about screens, Dopamine Kids is the handbook for solving the problem — teaching kids a healthy relationship with technology and food while meeting their genuine biological and emotional needs. Doucleff has a chemistry doctorate from UC Berkeley, a postdoctoral fellowship at the NIH, more than a decade covering children’s health for NPR’s science desk, a Peabody Award, and the New York Times bestseller Hunt, Gather, Parent.
Doucleff will be in conversation with Heidi Stevens, Director of External Affairs for the University of Chicago’s TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health. She writes a weekly nationally syndicated column, “Balancing Act.” Stevens has been a FAN board member since 2021.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Alliance for Early Childhood, The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Township HS D202, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Lake Forest Community High School D115, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Magnetar Capital, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Wolcott College Prep, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] The Creativity Choice: The Science of Making Decisions to Turn Ideas into Action
2026-03-17 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
The Creativity Choice: The Science of Making Decisions to Turn Ideas into Action
A FAN webinar featuring Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Ph.D., in conversation with Marc Brackett, Ph.D. (FAN ’19, ’25).
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/PringleFANWebinar
Anyone who has ever participated in a brainstorming session knows that most of us do not lack ideas. Yet many people never breathe life into them. To turn inspiration into real achievement, you must decide to act—and then decide to act again and again, despite obstacles, until your thoughts take shape and come to life. This is what psychologist Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Ph.D., calls the creativity choice.
In her new book The Creativity Choice: The Science of Making Decisions to Turn Ideas into Action, Pringle—a senior research scientist at Yale University’s Center for Emotional Intelligence—draws on twenty years of research to dispel one of our most stubborn myths: that creativity is an innate gift reserved for the Albert Einsteins, Steve Jobses, and Coco Chanels of the world. In fact, creativity is a decision. And it is one that anyone can learn to make.
With stories ranging from an entrepreneur who built a national nonprofit, to a YouTuber who turned a hobby into a professional career, to a business leader who established a company culture of innovation, Pringle illuminates
how people make creative ideas happen. She shows what it takes to get started, the psychological and emotional tools needed to navigate the creative process, and the social conditions that allow creativity to flourish—from the casual relationships that spark unexpected ideas, to the close bonds that sustain risk-taking and perseverance.
Among her key insights: problem finding matters more than problem solving; emotions are not obstacles to creativity but valuable information that can be strategically harnessed; and the difference between a one-hit wonder and a consistent innovator often comes down to the quality of one’s social network. Pringle also explores why people who genuinely want to be creative so often avoid it, and how accepting the anxiety that accompanies originality is itself the first creative act.
Pringle studies the role of emotion, emotional intelligence, and self-regulation in creativity and well-being, as well as how to use the arts (and art-related institutions) to promote emotion and creativity skills. She will be in conversation with Marc Brackett, Ph.D. (FAN ’19, ’25), the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, a professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University, and the author of the 2019 bestselling book Permission to Feel and 2025’s Dealing with Feeling.
This event is suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Alliance for Early Childhood, The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Barrington D220, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, The Cove School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Magnetar Capital, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, UChicago Network for College Success, Wilmette Public Library, Winnetka D36, Wolcott College Prep, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] A Life of Art, Music, and Changing the Culture
2026-03-19 19:00 - 20:00 | Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave, Evanston, IL, 60201
Thursday, March 19, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
Everybody’s Fly: Art, Music, and Changing the Culture
A FAN in-person featuring Fab 5 Freddy, in conversation with Theaster Gates
Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave., Door 6, Evanston, IL 60201
No registration required.
Bonus Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of Everybody’s Fly to attendees, while supplies last.
Blondie’s declaration on their 1980 hit “Rapture” introduced listeners around the world to Fred Brathwaite, also known as Fab 5 Freddy, a pioneering cultural icon whose fearless creativity reshaped the worlds of art, style, and music. Next spring, Viking is proud to publish his electrifying memoir Everybody’s Fly: A Life of Art, Music, and Changing the Culture.
Everybody’s Fly is an essential, street-level cultural history from one of our most curious, passionate, and inspiring minds still working today. Picking up where Patti Smith’s (FAN ’19) Just Kids leaves off, it offers an intimate look into how New York’s underground art and music scene—guided by Fab’s singular vision of what could be possible— irrevocably transformed mainstream culture from the late 1970s to today.
Because Fab doesn’t just have a great story—he is the story. Name a seismic cultural shift of the last five decades, and chances are, he wasn’t just there—he was making it happen. He’s the graffiti artist who turned subway tags into fine art, showing his work most recently at the Saatchi Gallery in London; the visionary behind the first hip-hop movie; the bridge between Jean-Michel Basquiat and the downtown punk scene; the first person to take rap global on MTV as the original host of Yo! MTV Raps; the director behind iconic music videos for Snoop Dog, Nas, Queen Latifah, and KRS-One; and, of course, the inspiration for the opening rhyme of Blondie’s number one smash hit “Rapture”—the song that propelled hip-hop from the Bronx to popular culture for the first time. With a spirit of joyful creativity, he shattered racial and artistic boundaries, bridging worlds and bringing underground movements to the mainstream.
Vibrant, rhapsodic, and compulsively readable, Everybody’s Fly is a love letter to the art of seeing, a fascinating account of an inimitable creative life, and a celebration of what it means to shape culture.
Fab will be in conversation with Theaster Gates, world-renowned artist, archivist, social innovator, and professor and Special Advisor to the President at the University of Chicago. Gates creates work that focuses on space theory and land development, sculpture, and performance.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded but not live streamed and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Lake Forest Community High School D115, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America Brian Goldstone, Ph.D.
2026-04-14 19:00 - 20:00 | Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave, Evanston, IL, 60201
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America A FAN in-person keynote address by Brian Goldstone, Ph.D. Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave., Door 6, Evanston, IL 60201
No registration required.
Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of There Is No Place for Us at the event, while supplies last.
The working homeless. In a country where hard work and determination are supposed to lead to success, there is something scandalous about this phrase. But skyrocketing rents, low wages, and a lack of tenant rights have produced a startling phenomenon: People with full-time jobs cannot keep a roof over their head, especially in America’s booming cities, where rapid growth is leading to catastrophic displacement. These families are being forced into homelessness not by a failing economy but a thriving one.
In a gripping and deeply reported book, There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America, Brian Goldstone, Ph.D., plunges readers into the lives of five Atlanta families struggling to remain housed in a gentrifying, increasingly unequal city. Maurice and Natalia make a fresh start in the country’s “Black Mecca” after being priced out of DC. Kara dreams of starting her own cleaning business while mopping floors at a public hospital. Britt scores a coveted housing voucher. Michelle is in school to become a social worker. Celeste toils at her warehouse job while undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer. Each of them aspires to provide a decent life for their children—and each of them, one by one, joins the ranks of the nation’s working homeless.
Through intimate, novelistic portraits, Goldstone reveals the human cost of this crisis, following parents and their kids as they go to sleep in cars, or in squalid extended-stay hotel rooms, and head out to their jobs and schools the next morning. These are the nation’s hidden homeless, omitted from official statistics, and proof that overflowing shelters and street encampments are only the most visible manifestation of a far more pervasive problem.
Goldstone is a journalist and author whose longform reporting and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, and The New Republic, among other publications. There Is No Place for Us was a finalist for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, named one of the 10 Best Books of 2025 by The New York Times and The Atlantic, and selected as one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year. He has a Ph.D. in anthropology from Duke University and was a Mellon Research Fellow at Columbia University. In 2021, he was a National Fellow at New America.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded but not live streamed and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Connections for the Homeless, Countryside Day School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Near North Montessori School, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] An Objective Look at Meditation Methods and Enlightenment
2026-04-16 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Thursday, April 16, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
An Objective Look at Meditation Methods and Enlightenment
A FAN webinar featuring Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D., in conversation with Mary C. Commerford, Ph.D.
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/AronFANWebinar
For this event, clinical and research psychologist Elaine Aron, Ph.D., author of the international bestseller The Highly Sensitive Person, will discuss her new book Spirituality Through a Highly Sensitive Lens: An Objective Look at Meditation Methods and Enlightenment. In it she offers the first ever objective overview of meditation methods and paths to enlightenment.
Why spirituality through a “Highly Sensitive Lens”? This is not a book or a talk just for highly sensitive people (HSP), though Aron is one. She reflected on meditation and enlightenment for years and saw a huge need for objective, complete information on all the many kinds of meditation and on all views of enlightenment. There were no books that fully described all forms of meditation and that provided the necessary information to make an informed choice. Further, most people do not realize that every form of meditation began with the purpose that you, the meditator, would reach nirvana. God Realization. Enlightenment. Awakening. Yet meditation teachers often do not talk much about it. They are apprehensive that students will see view it as unattainable or will aim for it and be disappointed.
Aron wants meditation and enlightenment discussed together, as they were meant to be. She maintains that a spiritual supernova exploded in the Sixties, but like a distant supernova, its light has only now reached us. Many
people began meditating back then, and while many stopped, some continued for fifty or more years. Suddenly more people, both meditators and others, are “waking up” to a state of profound inner peace, unshakeable calm, and clearer focus. There are hundreds of books and websites about this person’s enlightenment and that person’s method of getting there, but no overview of this chaos or the actual research on it.
But what about all those unethical spiritual teachers you hear about? Aron is very interested in this issue, explaining that one can “wake up” and still need to “clean up” your complexes. She addresses both in every chapter, and how to avoid being a casualty, whether due to tendencies in a teacher or in yourself.
Aron will be in conversation with Mary Commerford, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, and instructor at an analytic training institute in NYC. She was for 21 years the director of the counseling center at Barnard College. Before switching to clinical psychology, trained in ministry at Yale University Divinity School, working subsequently as a chaplain. She has been a member of a meditation community for over 40 years.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel. Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Township HS D202, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again
2026-04-29 19:00 - 20:00 | Regina Dominican High School, 701 Locust, Wilmette, IL, 60091
Wednesday, April 29 | 7:00 PM CT
The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again
A FAN in-person featuring Mary Claire Haver, MD, in conversation with Heidi Stevens
Regina Dominican High School, O’Shaughnessy Theater, 701 Locust Rd., Wilmette, IL 60091
No registration required.
Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of The New Perimenopause to attendees, while supplies last.
For many women, the years leading up to menopause arrive without warning and without a name. Anxiety, fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, disrupted sleep, volatile moods, and changes in sexual health can surface as early
as a woman’s mid-thirties — well before menstrual irregularity signals that anything hormonal is underway. Too often, those symptoms are dismissed by physicians or misattributed entirely. Mary Claire Haver, MD, has spent her career changing that.
In her new book The New Perimenopause: An Evidence-Based Guide to Surviving the Zone of Chaos and Feeling Like Yourself Again, Dr. Haver, a board-certified OB/GYN, a certified culinary medicine specialist, a certified menopause provider, and the founder of The ‘Pause Wellness, maps what she calls the hormonal “zone of chaos” — the years of endocrine fluctuation that precede menopause and generate an outsized toll on women’s daily lives. The symptoms are real, they are physiological, and they are manageable. Her book gives women the science, the clinical tools, and the language to insist on care that addresses what their bodies are doing.
The New Perimenopause delivers clear, science-backed explanations of what’s happening in the body across every dimension of the perimenopausal transition — menstrual changes, energy, mood, sleep, and sexual health — alongside a frank account of why addressing these changes now constitutes preventive medicine for the decades ahead. Haver walks women through the latest research on progesterone therapy, including both its benefits and side effects, and equips them with practical tools: checklists, questions to bring to the doctor’s office, and strategies for navigating a medical system that has historically underserved women in midlife. Whether or not a woman has yet noticed any symptoms, the book removes the mystery from this transition and restores the sense of agency that too many women lose during it.
Haver, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The New Menopause and The Galveston Diet, will be in conversation with Heidi Stevens, Director of External Affairs for the University of Chicago’s TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health. She writes a weekly nationally syndicated column, “Balancing Act.” Stevens has been a FAN board member since 2021.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded but not live streamed and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Beacon Academy, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Wintrust Financial, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work
2026-05-07 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Thursday, May 7, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
How to Start: Discovering Your Life’s Work
A FAN webinar featuring Jodi Kantor, in conversation with Jennifer Breheny Wallace (FAN ’23, ’26).
REGISTRATION: www.bit.ly/KantorFANWebinar
Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of How to Start to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
Before Jodi Kantor became a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist whose reporting toppled media magnates and sparked reform worldwide, she was kicked off her college newspaper.
That early stumble is central to her new book, How to Start: Discovering Your Life’s Work, a guide for young people navigating political upheaval, skyrocketing costs of living, and the unsettling unknowns of AI. Kantor has spent her career anticipating uncomfortable truths about the changing workplace. Now she turns that same unflinching eye toward the question facing a generation: how is anyone supposed to find and start their life’s work?
Kantor sets aside platitudes and false hope in favor of something more useful. Work, she argues, is not just how we spend our time. It’s our engine of progress: how cancer therapies get invented, political campaigns get won, thrilling art gets made and finds its audience. Against that backdrop, she offers two organizing principles to help young people discover their calling: craft and need. Paired together, they provide a framework for the hardest early-career decisions: how to think about money, how much risk to take on, when to push back against conventional wisdom.
Powerful and provocative, How to Start is a statement of faith for uncertain times, offering wisdom, strategy, and a set of aspirations built to launch careers and sustain them for a lifetime.
In addition to her 2017 Pulitzer, which she shared with Megan Twohey (FAN ’19) for their reporting on Harvey Weinstein, Kantor has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Columbia Alumni medal, the George Polk Award, and Time Magazine’s list of 100 most influential people of the year. In 2025 she joined the New York Times’ Washington bureau’s Supreme Court team full-time.
Kantor will be in conversation with Jennifer Breheny Wallace (FAN ’23, ’26), an award-winning journalist and bestselling author of Mattering and Never Enough. She is the founder of The Mattering Institute and co-founder of The Mattering Movement, a nonprofit whose mission is to create cultures of mattering in schools and educational spaces.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with Avoca D37, Barrington D220, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Lake Forest Community High School D115, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Magnetar Capital, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, Wilmette Public Library, Wolcott College Prep, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] Backtalker: An American Memoir
2026-05-08 19:00 - 20:00 | Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave, Evanston, IL, 60201
Friday, May 8, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
Backtalker: An American Memoir
A FAN program featuring Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, in conversation with Beth E. Richie, Ph.D. Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave., Door 6, Evanston, IL 60201
No registration required.
Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of Backtalker at the event, while supplies last.
In 2026, Critical Race Theory and intersectionality are among the most talked about and most misunderstood topics of the day. To truly understand where these ideas came from, you must start with the woman who founded them: Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw.
Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA and Columbia Law Schools, Crenshaw is widely recognized for coining and developing both CRT and intersectionality. Her new book, Backtalker: An American Memoir, is the powerful and intimate story of how a spunky little girl from Canton, OH came up with a new way to look at the world and forever changed the way we talk about race, gender, and social justice. The examples from her own life, recounted with warmth, humor, and insight, illuminate how intersectionality emerged not from abstract ideas, but from lived experience.
Evoking each time and place like a gifted novelist, Backtalker takes readers from a Canton elementary school classroom to the back door of a Harvard club, and behind the scenes of some of the most consequential moments in race and gender over the last half century: the Anita Hill hearings, the launch of My Brother’s Keeper, the movement against police violence.
In a moment when her life’s work faces erasure and disinformation, Crenshaw’s story is both a call to action and a lesson in how understanding the past charts a course for the future.
Crenshaw will be in conversation with Beth E. Richie, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Criminology, Law, and Justice and Black Studies and the Inaugural Chair in Social Sciences and the Humanities at The University of Illinois at Chicago. The emphasis of her scholarly and activist work has been on the ways that race/ethnicity and social position affect the experience of violence and criminalization, focusing on the experiences of Black women and gender non-conforming people.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded but not live streamed and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with Avoca D37, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Kenilworth D38, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Lycée Français de Chicago, Magnetar Capital, Near North Montessori School, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, UChicago Network for College Success, Wilmette Public Library, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better
2026-05-15 19:00 - 20:00 | Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave, Evanston, IL, 60201
Friday, May 15, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better
A FAN program featuring David Epstein (FAN ’16, ’20), in conversation with Megan Twohey (FAN ’19)
Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave., Door 6, Evanston, IL 60201
No registration required. Post-event reception in ETHS’s Alumni Hall, 8:30-9:30 PM CT, open to all.
Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of Inside the Box at the event, while supplies last.
We live in a world that gives us seemingly infinite choices and prizes freedom above all else. We have an unprecedented number of options regarding what to do, who to be, and how to spend our time. All that choice is wonderful; it is also overwhelming. The irony is that total freedom can be paralyzing, and unlimited resources don’t necessarily lead to the biggest breakthroughs. In fact, overvaluing complete freedom can be disastrous for everything from starting a company to harnessing creativity to finding personal satisfaction.
In his new book, Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better, bestselling author David Epstein (FAN ’16, ’20) argues that all of us—individuals, businesses, institutions, even societies—can benefit from narrowing our options. He dives into the science and practice of constraints, exploring exactly when and how guardrails can be beneficial, whether we’re working with limited resources or using self-imposed boundaries to tap unexpected wells of focus and innovation.
Original, galvanizing, and deeply researched, Inside the Box tells absorbing stories of people and organizations that embraced constraints to transform themselves, and the world—as well as a few that struggled from a lack of limits. Epstein reveals how boundaries create breakthroughs, and how setting the right constraints can help you become the most creative, productive, and satisfied version of yourself.
Epstein will be in conversation with Megan Twohey, an investigative reporter at The New York Times who seeks to expose hidden truths and hold powerful individuals and institutions to account. She is the coauthor, with Jodi Kantor (FAN ’26), of She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement, which takes readers behind the scenes of the Harvey Weinstein investigation and was adapted into a film. Twohey and Kantor shared a Pulitzer Prize for public service for their reporting.
Both featured guests are ETHS alums: Epstein is ‘98, and Twohey is ‘94.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Avery Coonley School, Avoca D37, Baker Demonstration School, Barrington D220, Beacon Academy, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Brickton Montessori School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Countryside Day School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Lake Bluff D65, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, North Shore Country
Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Roycemore School, St. Bernard’s School, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, UChicago Network for College Success, Wilmette Public Library, Wolcott College Prep, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] Churn: The Tension That Divides Us and How to Overcome It
2026-05-18 19:00 - 20:00 | Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave, Evanston, IL, 60201
Monday, May 18, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
Churn: The Tension That Divides Us and How to Overcome It
A FAN program featuring Claude Steele, Ph.D. (FAN ’14), in conversation with Marcus Campbell, Ed.D.
Evanston Township High School Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave., Door 6, Evanston, IL 60201
No registration required.
Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of Churn at the event, while supplies last.
Nearly two decades after Whistling Vivaldi, legendary social psychologist Claude M. Steele, Ph.D. (FAN ’14), returns with Churn: The Tension That Divides Us and How to Overcome It, an equally ambitious work examining the mental agitation and physical stress we experience in diverse settings, and the surprising role trust-building plays in reducing it across identity divides.
Opening with a striking vignette of a parent-teacher conference between a well-meaning white teacher and the concerned Black parents of a seventh grader, the book demonstrates how churn threatens the trust essential to teaching and mentoring the young. Drawing on decades of psychological research, Churn is rich with examples: a young woman entering a boardroom as one of only a few women; a white male feeling conspicuous during diversity training; a Chinese grandmother shopping where anti-Asian violence has occurred; and lessons from remarkable student outcomes at Georgia State University.
Too often, we navigate the tensions of diversity by pretending they don’t exist, avoiding connection across what can seem like wide chasms of difference. Steele charts a different path, one rooted in seeing the full humanity in human difference. He offers concrete practices, “a game played on the ground,” for building trust across all kinds of divides: between individuals, in classrooms, boardrooms, and entire institutions.
Carefully intertwining research with anecdotes drawn from Steele’s own biracial background, Churn is essential reading for anyone committed to fostering community. Filled with hard-won hope, Steele’s summa work teaches us how to work through the churn suffusing our lives.
Steele will be in conversation with Marcus Campbell, Ed.D., superintendent of Evanston Township High School District 202. Dr. Campbell was previously the Assistant Superintendent/Principal at ETHS, responsible for providing leadership in the development of district strategy and organizational change, including effective instruction practices, impactful diversity and equity initiatives, and responsive programs and services.
This event is suitable for youth ages 12 and up. It will be recorded but not live streamed and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
Sponsored by FAN, in partnership with The Alliance for Early Childhood, Avoca D37, Bennett Day School, Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, British International School of Chicago, Catherine Cook School, Compass Health Center, Connections for the Homeless, Countryside Day School, Evanston Scholars, Evanston Township HS D202, The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Family Service Center, Foundation 65, The Frances Xavier Warde School, Francis W. Parker School, Glencoe D35, Glenview Public Library, Gorton Center, Hyde Park Day School, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Kenilworth D38, Latin School of Chicago, Leo Catholic High School, Libertyville D70, Lycée Français de Chicago, Magnetar Capital, Near North Montessori School, North Shore Country Day, Northwestern University Office of Neighborhood and Community Relations, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, Pope John XXIII School, Regina Dominican High School, Resurrection College Prep High School, Rogers Park Montessori School, Sacred Heart Schools, Santa Clara University School of Law, Science & Arts Academy, The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, Stevenson High School D125, Township High School D113, Township High School D214, TrueNorth Educational Cooperative #804, UChicago Network for College Success, Wilmette Public Library, Wolcott College Prep, Woodlands Academy, Youth & Opportunity United.

[FAN] A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection
2026-05-21 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Thursday, May 21, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection
A FAN webinar featuring Nicholas Epley, Ph.D., in conversation with David Brooks.
REGISTER: www.bit.ly/EpleyFANWebinar
Book Giveaway: FAN is giving away copies of A Little More Social. to randomly selected Zoom attendees. Details on the webinar registration page.
There’s a paradox at the core of human life. We are a uniquely social species — and connection is genuinely good for us — yet we routinely choose isolation over engagement. We avoid the stranger in the next seat. We stay stuck in small talk. We hold back gratitude we genuinely feel. Every day, we pass up chances to connect with strangers, colleagues, friends, and family, forfeiting the happiness and health that come with a richer social life.
Nicholas Epley, Ph.D., the John Templeton Keller Professor of Behavioral Science and faculty director of the Roman Family Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, has spent his career studying how we connect. In his new book, A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection, he explains that our social fears are built on expectations that are reliably too pessimistic. We overestimate the awkwardness of a conversation with a stranger. We underestimate how much a small gesture of appreciation will mean to the person who receives it. We reach for our phones when what we want is a real exchange.
Epley’s great insight is that the fix doesn’t require a personality overhaul. Introverts and extroverts alike benefit from nudging themselves toward slightly more social choices. Small acts, consistently practiced, have an outsized effect on the parts of life that matter most. Bridging the gap between two people is easier than we think, and the rewards are larger than we expect.
Epley will be in conversation with David Brooks, staff writer for The Atlantic and the inaugural Senior Presidential Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs. He is the author of several #1 New York Times bestsellers, including The Social Animal, The Road to Character, and The Second Mountain. His most recent book is How to Know a Person.
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