Our Judges

Christen Carter, President/Owner | Busy Beaver Button Co.

Owner Christen Carter started Busy Beaver out of her college apartment in 1995, making merchandise buttons for Guided By Voices. Twenty years later, Busy Beaver has evolved into a 25-person custom button mecca, creating more than 85,000 designs and producing tens of millions of buttons for clients ranging from breweries to museums to individual consumers. Christen also serves as president and co-curator of the Busy Beaver Button Museum on Armitage Avenue, which shares a history of people and their thoughts, feelings and expressions through buttons. She is committed to the value of community and making change.

Karen Carter, Employer Solutions Executive | Advocate Aurora Health

Karen Carter is an account executive who has held diverse leadership roles in quality, project management, manufacturing, business development, marketing and managed care. Her enjoyment of continuous learning, innovation, teamwork, and working on launch teams is fueled by her diverse background and her progressive leadership roles with Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie and currently as an Employer Solutions Executive with Advocate Aurora Healthcare. She graduated with honors in Chemistry from the College of the Holy Cross and holds an MBA from The Ohio State University. She is certified as a Quality Auditor (American Society for Quality), Quality Engineering (American Society for Quality) and Practical Improvement Science in Health Care (HarvardX). Additionally, she holds a Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification (University of Wisconsin) and completed training as an Innovation Champion (WHATIF) and Creative Thinking (Abbott Laboratories/Decision Strategies, Inc.).

Margarita Geleske, Executive Director | INCubatoredu

Margarita Geleske developed her marketing and advertising career at the Leo Burnett Company. Since retiring, she has focused on raising her sons and matters that impact children. She serves as a trustee for the Barrington 220 Educational Foundation, and helped establish the INCubatoredu program at Barrington High School. She believes the combination of community business experts and educators creates an authentic learning environment for students, and she encourages all high schools to offer the program.

Larry Moats, Owner | Moats Office Properties

Larry Moats is a businessman with a strong public service background. He began his first business as a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago and, under his ownership, Moats Office Properties – a family-owned business that owns and operates office buildings across the northwest suburbs – continues to flourish. Additionally, his electrical contracting business provides power, control systems and other services to organizations including Great Lakes Naval Base and Fermi National Accelerator Lab.

Zeeshan Tejani | Entrepreneur

Zeeshan Tejani is an award-winning serial entrepreneur with experience in various industries, including IT, real estate and health and wellness services. Initially a managing partner with Jackson Hewitt, he later moved to real estate investment and property management, joining a River North-based firm as portfolio manager. He worked his way up to director of business development and became an advisor to the cofounders of Showinghero.com, a SaaS tech startup that he continues to serve as an advisor, board member and partner. He also is cofounder/broker with Advanced Property Group, a commercial real estate firm, and opened Fastest Labs – a drug, alcohol and DNA testing clinic in Elk Grove Village – in 2017.