About Emily Lonigro
I’ve spent 25 years building things that matter—and helping others do the same.
I’m a founder, strategist, designer, and coach. I started my first company in 2004 because I believed business could be a force for good — and I’ve spent every year since proving it. What I know now that I didn’t know then: the clearest competitive advantage any leader has is knowing who they are and building from that place.
I work with women entrepreneurs and small business leaders at every stage — whether you’re just finding your footing or ready to lead at a whole new level. My role is to help you think clearly, build boldly, and stay true to yourself along the way.
The Longer Story
I grew up in journalism—I studied magazine journalism at Drake University, graduated magna cum laude, and came out with a deep belief in the power of a clear, honest story. Curiosity and a profound sense of justice began to shape my path then and still does today.
In 2004, I walked away from a marketing job that paid the bills but cost me something I couldn’t name yet, and started LimeRed. I wanted to build a company that did honest, rigorous work for people actually trying to change the world for the better. That’s what we set out to do, and it’s what we still do. LimeRed is now a Certified B Corporation, a WBE, and an LGBT-owned business — and it has been in the top 10% of international B Corps for governance and changemaking.
I also co-founded Even Made, a Chicago-based company that teaches home improvement skills to people historically excluded from the trades. We tripled it in three years, and I made a successful exit.
Beginning in 2019, I developed Nonprofit Board Match Chicago, an event I created to connect hundreds of local leaders to nonprofit boards where they can find community and purpose. This runs every other year and has made hundreds of introductions.
I’ve mentored startup founders at 1871, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and many other incubators. What I love most is helping people realize their vision on their own terms.
I currently serve as Secretary of the Skokie District 68 School Board, where I ran on equity, sustainability, and innovation. In this term, I am also the legislative representative in a local organization that monitors and advoactes for policy that benefits all of our students.
I also currently serve on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Foundation for Women, and in its North Chicagoland Giving Circle, where we collect our resources and give them to local organizations making grassroots change in our own communities.
In the past, I served for a few years as Business Leadership Chair for We The Change—an international network of women CEOs of B Corporations where I created an ran a year-long program on closing wage inequity in our own companies and in our communities.
I’m also a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alum, a former adjunct professor, a published writer, and the host of the Defy Convention podcast — two seasons of conversations with rule-breakers, risk-takers, and people doing things their own way.
I live in Skokie with my wife and three kids. Two things have been consistent throughout everything: my ability to choose the right thing no matter how hard it is, and my uncanny ability to create something out of nothing.