Don & Liz Thompson on 45 Years of Partnership in Love and Business | Enduring Excellence

Don and Liz Thompson grew up four blocks apart on Cleveland Avenue and didn't discover the connection until they sat next to each other in a Purdue calculus lecture in March 1981. In this Enduring Excellence conversation at the University of Chicago's Graham School, Dean Seth Green welcomes Don and Liz Thompson before handing off to host Tyler Mathisen, who walks them through how Cabrini-Green and Cleveland Avenue shaped them as electrical engineering students, parents, and eventual founders of Cleveland Avenue LLC and the Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education. They describe growing up surrounded by neighbors who stretched pennies, schooled them in resourcefulness, and revealed the genius that lives in every zip code. Don traces his path from Ameritech and Northrop Grumman through working from the bottom up at a Chicago McDonald's franchise to the top job at the world's largest restaurant company, and talks about walking into rooms as the first Black CEO of McDonald's. Liz describes leaving a fiber optic project at Ameritech for a 50 percent salary cut at City Year, then leading City Year Chicago and a Montessori school in Denver. The conversation moves through Don's 2015 departure from McDonald's and the founding of Cleveland Avenue LLC, a six-fund investment platform that has put roughly $2 billion behind companies including Beyond Meat, Farmer's Fridge, Bear Robotics, Open Water, Partake, and Hero Foods. Liz outlines the 1954 Project, which gives five education leaders $1 million in unrestricted capital each year and draws applications from every state. They argue for unrestricted belief over transactional giving, for sponsorship over mentorship, and for bringing love and faith into corporate America rather than checking them at the door. Audience questions cover patriotism and democracy, building a business on love as a brand, supporting young people through affirmation, and the difference between opening a door and being the elevator that comes back to bring people up. Chapters: 0:00 Seth Green welcomes the room 4:13 Tyler Mathisen opens the conversation 10:39 Cabrini-Green and the genius next door 15:57 Keeping Cleveland in the brand 21:32 Diverging paths and family choices 30:39 Fry cook to McDonald's leadership 33:58 Race in the corporate boardroom 38:21 Liz's pivot to social innovation 42:31 Building Cleveland Avenue after McDonald's 47:07 The 1954 Project and unrestricted capital 58:37 Patriotism and the American promise 1:01:21 Building a business on love 1:09:34 Sponsors and being the elevator 1:12:36 Advice to a younger self About Don and Liz Thompson Don Thompson is Founder and CEO of Cleveland Avenue, LLC, a Chicago-based investment firm he co-founded in 2015 with his wife and business partner, Liz Thompson, focused on lifestyle consumer brands and high-growth companies. He previously served as President and CEO of McDonald's Corporation, where he led the company through global transformation and became one of the first African American CEOs of a Fortune 500 company. Together, the Thompsons established The Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education (The CAFE), which advances educational equity and leadership development for students and professionals from underrepresented communities. Don holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and currently serves on the boards of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., The Northern Trust Corporation, and Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. Liz Thompson is CEO of The Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education Group (The CAFE Group), which resources Leaders of Color working to drive systemic change in education. She was the founding Executive Director of City Year Chicago in 1993 and later led Family Star Montessori School in Denver before co-founding Cleveland Avenue, LLC with her husband Don. Liz holds an Electrical Engineering degree from Purdue and spent ten years at Ameritech earlier in her career. She currently serves as a Director of Lamar Advertising Corporation and Chicago Public Media/WBEZ, and holds an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. About the host: One of the country's most respected business journalists, Mathisen has hosted or co-hosted many of CNBC's flagship programs, including Power Lunch and Nightly Business Report. He also served as Managing Editor of CNBC Business News and Vice President of Events Strategy. His reporting has spanned the tech bubble, 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and the Covid-19 pandemic, and he's produced award-winning documentaries and interviews with leaders across business, sports, and government. About Enduring Excellence: Enduring Excellence is a speaker series presented by the University of Chicago Graham School and moderated by longtime CNBC anchor Tyler Mathisen. Learn more at: https://graham.uchicago.edu/enduring-excellence/