- Pritzker Fellows
- Current Fellows
- Lynn Sweet
Lynn Sweet
Columnist & Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Sun-Times
Spring 2024 Pritzker Fellow
Seminar Series: "Inside the 2024 Democratic Convention in Chicago: What It Means for Chicago, Democrats & the Embattled Incumbent in the White House"
Lynn Sweet is the Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Sun-Times, covering politics from the city's precincts to the White House. She is often a guest analyst on a variety of television and radio news outlets. Sweet has a master's from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley. She also attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Sweet is a former fellow at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics. Sweet is in Northwestern University’s Medill Hall of Achievement and was named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the capital’s "50 Top Journalists." Sweet, a Chicago native, was raised in the city.
Seminars
"Inside the 2024 Democratic Convention in Chicago: What It Means for Chicago, Democrats & the Embattled Incumbent in the White House"
Let’s go deep and behind the scenes on the upcoming Democratic convention in Chicago, from its local impact, its costs and who pays them to what it will all mean for President Biden as he seeks a second term. Chicago Sun-Times Washington bureau chief and Chicago native Lynn Sweet was the lead reporter covering Chicago’s quest for the convention. She’s currently covering the run-up to the August convention, and her seminars will feature key players involved in the planning for what happens inside the United Center, where delegates will gather nightly and the outside activities - from parties, press conferences and protests to the care and feeding of the major donors, the constituency and allied groups.
In this seminar, we’ll start at the beginning with former Mayor and current IOP Fellow Lori Lightfoot, whose City Hall team was a crucial part of the negotiations with the Democratic National Committee. She’ll outline the critical pledges made by the city in the contract she signed last year. Then, we’ll be briefed by officials at the two groups doing the actual work of planning the convention out of an office in the West Loop - the Chicago Host Committee, which pledged to raise $84.697 million as part of the city’s winning bid, and the Democratic National Convention Committee Inc. We’ll discuss how Chicago is hosting the convention because of its union hotels, transportation, security and financing capacity as well as the ability to showcase “Blue Wall” battleground states beyond solid blue Illinois.
Special Guests: Lori Lightfoot, former Mayor of Chicago & IOP Pritzker Fellow; Natalie Edelstein, Communications Director, Chicago 2024 Host Committee; and Matt Hill, Communications Director, Democratic National Convention Committee
A key promise by Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison was that the economic impact of the convention would flow to Chicago’s 77 community areas – a very high, perhaps unrealistic, bar to meet. In this seminar, we’ll take a look at the outreach being made to up the odds that the vendors and venues come from Chicagoans who need the business the most.
Special Guests: Shuanna Sims-Davis, Chief Equity Officer, Chicago 2024 Host Committee & Keinna Barrett, Senior Advisor, Chicago 2024 Host Committee
This seminar will dive into the story convention officials never want told, the enormous convention donor maintenance operation and the perks the best donors get - from access to rooms at the top hotels to suites at the United Center. Guests will include a Chicago-based major Democratic fundraiser.
Special Guest: Mo Green, Senior Director of Civic & Community Engagement, Chicago 2024 Host Committee & UChicago Alum
So, how is the “show” produced? From soaring themes each night to the speakers and the design of the stage, it will all be in service to bolstering the Biden-Harris ticket. But, the reality is that the event is taking place as Chicago grapples with issues that could cast a shadow on the convention - a giant migrant crisis, crime and the potential for massive protests serve as the backdrop, too. Hear from Secret Service spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi, a former Chicago Police Department spokesperson, and Kitty Kurth and Kevin Lampe, Chicago-based political consultants who know the arcane political art of running the convention podium operations.
Special Guests: Anthony Guglielmi, Secret Service Spokesman; Kitty Kurth and Kevin Lampe of the Strategic Communications Firm Kurth Lampe Worldwide; and Peter Velz, Director of Media Logistics, Democratic National Convention Committee