Designing Legacy: Purpose, Foresight, and Philanthropy Across Generations

Susan Crown is a business executive and philanthropist with a strategic, results-oriented approach. She is Chairman of Owl Creek Partners, Chairman and Founder of the Susan Crown Exchange (SCE), and Chair Emeritus of Rush University Medical Center and Rush University System for Health.

Owl Creek Partners is a private equity company with focused investments in real estate, securities, educational services, manufacturing, and consumer products. The Fund seeks opportunities to invest with female leadership, although the primary objective is to participate in companies and funds in new markets with high potential.

Unlike most foundations, SCE uses “the exchange model” - a non-traditional approach to grantmaking by fostering partnerships and collaborations to create social change. SCE’s mission is to help youth develop the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly changing, highly connected world. SCE is focused on three areas: Social and Emotional Learning, Tech and Society, and Youth Sports as a channel to support the development of lifelong skills. These programs are carried out by convening and supporting the best and brightest in each area and sharing learnings with the field at large.

Rush is an academic health system whose mission is to improve the health of the people and the diverse communities it serves through the integration of outstanding patient care, education, research, and community partnerships. The Rush system comprises Rush University Medical Center, Rush University, Rush Copley Medical Center, and Rush Oak Park Hospital, as well as numerous outpatient care facilities. Susan led a $1 billion effort to transform the medical center campus, including the development of Chicago’s first LEED-certified hospital, which won the World Architecture Prize for best designed health care facility in 2014.

She is the first woman board member of Illinois Tool Works (ITW), a multi-faceted manufacturing and engineering business with a market cap in excess of $75 billion. She also serves as a board member of Northern Trust Corporation and formerly served as a director of Baxter International.

Susan Crown graduated with honors with a B.A. from Yale University, earned an M.A. from New York University, and attended the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She has been married for more than 40 years to William C. Kunkler III. They have two adult children.