Luis Gutierrez is founder and CEO of Latinos Progresando, a member of the Upswell Accelerator, and presenter of the Upswell workshop, “A Made-in-Chicago Model for Collaboration.” Find out how his positive outlook impacts his life, his work, and his advice for humanity.

Q: If you could have dinner with any living person, who would that be and why?

LG: The first person who comes to mind is Lori Lightfoot. She’s made history, you know? She’s the first African-American woman to be mayor of Chicago. The things she’s been talking about in terms of equitable, transparent work and really hearing from people in communities, that’s something that’s refreshing for a lot of folks in communities. I’d like to hear more about her vision for how this is going to work in the city and how we can look at not just our own community, but our partnerships within the city as a whole. So I’d love to have dinner with Lori. If you can set that up, please do it!

Q: What would you change if you could get a “do over” in your life?

LG: Nothing! My life is my life, and I love it. It’s cool.

Q: What’s one thing you’re deeply proud of – but would never put on your résumé?

LG: One of the things that really makes me smile is when I see people coming together – particularly people who have been touched by our organization – having conversations and taking on and leading projects on their own. I say this because I started this organization and I used to sit in an office by myself trying to figure things out. So, to see the next generation of leaders doing their thing is completely amazing to me, and to be able to sit back and take a look at them and see them in action is inspiring.

Q: What’s more important – doing the right thing, or doing things right?

LG: Doing the right thing! If you’re doing the right thing, your approach may not be the best, but you’re only going to have the best interests of people in mind. You can do things the right way and use that for things that aren’t good for people. So I always feel that when you meet people who are doing things for the right reason, it’s inspiring. You can bring some of the things that you’ve learned to that conversation that will hopefully put people on the path to doing things the right way, but doing the right thing is always important.

Q: Is humanity headed in the right or wrong direction?

LG: It is the responsibility of good people to stand up and do the right thing. In life throughout history, there are always going to be people who are out there taking advantage of others, and there are always going to be good people who are always trying to help. I think there are more good people in the world, and we all just need to continue to stand up, make our voices heard, look out for each other, and continue to walk the path of making this world a better place.

A Made-in-Chicago Model for Collaboration is happening Wednesday, November 13 from 4:30-5:30pm.