It’s been seven years since our last major redesign, and we felt the time had again come for change. While we’ve retained much of the structure of the magazine, you’ll notice a new look and feel throughout—some considerable alterations, and others more subtle. Hats off to our talented art director, Darren Jackson-Adams, who spearheaded the new look, along with the rest of our staff for their creative input.
The last 26 years (!!) of publishing iBi have certainly been an education for me. Many of our readers were just kids then—or not even born yet—and times sure have changed. “Like us on Facebook”… “Check out our YouTube channel”…? In 1989, we could not have imagined such things. And to produce a magazine like this would simply not have been possible for our small staff.
Our last significant redesign came in August 2008, also focusing on the realm of education. That issue featured a cover story and interview with Bradley President Joanne Glasser, just a year into her term. Dr. John Erwin, then-president of Illinois Central College, wrote an insightful article. Peoria Promise was in its infancy, and Quest Charter Academy did not yet exist. Ken Hinton was District 150 superintendent, and Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat was the incoming principal at Manual High School, which was about to undergo a significant restructuring.
Today, we look forward to greeting the next presidents of Bradley and ICC, and we welcome Dr. Desmoulin-Kherat, returning to District 150 this year as interim superintendent, and Dr. Nicole Wood, who was named executive director of Quest in May. I can’t help but point out that both of these highly-regarded leaders are 40 Leaders Under Forty alumni—from the classes of 2001 and 2014, respectively.
Nominations for the 22nd class of 40 Leaders are now underway (through September 11th), and our Alumni Social takes place August 6th at Dozer Park, where we’ll unveil our second annual Alumnus of the Year. (Alumni: get your tickets at peoriamagazines.com/events, while anyone in the community can nominate a rising star for this year’s class of young leaders at peoriamagazines.com/40-leaders.)
In these pages, we explore a variety of topics, from Montessori and Common Core to the impact of international students and the explosion of student loan debt. More and more, the future of education is paramount to the business community—which is why we’re seeing the Peoria Area Chamber, Greater Peoria EDC, CEO Council and others getting involved in projects like the Peoria Pathways to Prosperity initiative. We hope you enjoy this issue… and please send your feedback to [email protected]! iBi
