Month: October 2022

Kate Smith is Assistant Athletic Director for the David G. Kabiller NU for Life Program at Northwestern University.

Smith leads the Wildcats industry-leading professional development program for student-athletes following nearly a decade of experience in Evanston as Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Her leadership tenure helped the world-renowned business school, from which she also earned her MBA, increase both the quality and diversity of its student population.

Prior to Kellogg, Smith was a senior director of marketing for Gatorade, one of several leadership roles she held over a 14-year marketing career working for some of the biggest consumer brands in America at P&G, General Mills, and PepsiCo.

Smith holds her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. And as a graduate of the University of Illinois, she had a decorated career on the Illini women’s basketball team, serving as a captain and earning three Academic All-Big Ten awards as well as the Big Ten Medal of Honor, the Conference’s most prestigious recognition.

Amanda Vinicky is a correspondent and segment host who focuses primarily on Illinois government and politics—though her insatiable curiosity leads her to cover a little bit of everything. Vinicky joined “Chicago Tonight” in 2017, after spending a decade as the Statehouse Bureau Chief for NPR Illinois and the Illinois Public Radio network. She also co-hosted WSEC-TV’s “CapitolView,” and was a regular analyst on the “State Week” roundtable. Her work and analysis has been featured on shows including NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered” and “The Takeaway,” and she’s garnered top honors from the Illinois Associated Press and the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors. Vinicky received her master’s degree in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois Springfield and has degrees in political science and journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She began her career in the Chicago suburbs (where she grew up) as a newspaper reporter. She loves mustard, hot sauce, podcasts, yoga and traveling (though she doesn’t do nearly enough of it). Vinicky’s always looking for stories to tell, foods to try, books to read and new places to discover, so get in touch: @AmandaVinicky, avinicky@wttw.com, 773-509-5461.