Luke Tanen

Executive Director, the Chicago Innovation Awards

Luke Tanen is the Executive Director of the Chicago Innovation Awards, the region’s foremost recognition of the most innovative new products and services introduced in the Chicago region, regardless of industry or company size.

Luke oversees a yearly series of events and activities aimed at celebrating, educating, and connecting Chicago’s innovation community, including the annual Chicago Innovation Awards ceremony, which is attended by more than 1500 civic, business, and cultural leaders and supporters of innovation.  Luke is also responsible for supervising the entire awards judging process, a complex task that iteratively narrows down a pool of hundreds of nominees to the final honorees.

Luke’s recent book, Innovating…Chicago-Style: How Local Innovators are Building the National Economy profiles the stories of 80 Chicago region innovators who have launched groundbreaking new products and services in the marketplace.  He has appeared in local and regional television, print and radio discussing Chicago’s rise as a hub of innovation.

Luke is a graduate of Northwestern University and is currently enrolled in the MBA program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.