3 Reasons Why Amanda Lannert Being an ITA CityLIGHTS CEO of the Year Finalist Is a Big Deal to Jellyvision

Hey, everyone! Our boss, Amanda Lannert, is up for a CEO of the Year award from some folks we really care about, and we’re really excited for her.

Now we know that this kind of announcement has the potential to get really boring really fast-especially if you’re not part of the Chicago tech company scene-so we’re going to do our best to explain why we’re so proud of Amanda.

For starters, we’re big fans of the Illinois Technology Association (ITA). That’s the organization that sponsors the awards, and its members include a bunch of our friends and neighbors in the Chicago tech community. The ITA’s mission, which is to elevate the local tech community and make Illinois a place for tech companies to thrive, is something we really believe in.

So there’s that.

Then there’s the award itself. Amanda’s a finalist for CEO of the Year, which, according to the folks at ITA, goes to a person “whose leadership, strategy, and ability to attract and retain talent has resulted in company growth and visibility.”

Now Amanda’s definitely raised the profile of our company, and anybody who works at Jellyvision can tell you that they have more coworkers (and customers!) today than ever before, but we think Amanda’s brand of leadership is special because, as she once told another business grown-up-and this is a direct quote-“I want us to grow without sucking…and to do good and be good in a very high-growth, fiscally responsible way.”

And that’s awesome.

Finally, we’re excited about the way the winner of this award is chosen. First, a nominee is scored by a panel of judges, and then-if they make it as a finalist-they have to win a round of public voting. Frankly, making it this far is an honor unto itself (seriously, the other four finalists are an impressive group of folks).

Once the votes are tallied, the winners will be revealed at the ITA CityLIGHTS Awards ceremony on Thursday, September 14 at Morgan Manufacturing in Chicago.

We’ll be sure to update our blog with results of the ceremony once it happens. See you then!