70

Michelle Boone

Age: 52

Occupation: Commissioner, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, City of Chicago

The mayor’s culture czar helped the Taste of Chicago turn a profit in 2013—for the first time in six years—and moved the Chicago Jazz Festival from the Petrillo Music Shell to Millennium Park, a leap in elegance and acoustics. Overseeing a $34.1 million budget, she’s aiming for another hit in October with the city’s inaugural Great Chicago Fire Festival.