Chaz Ebert is an active producer of television and movies, and the CEO of Ebert Digital LLC—publisher of the preeminent movie review site, Rogerebert.com. For twenty-four years, she shared a life with Pulitzer-prize winner, Roger Ebert. In their work to foster empathy through cinema and around the globe, they established the Ebertfest Film Festival and the Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies at the University of Illinois. Chaz has passionately continued to lead all established events, while endeavoring to nurture the next generation of film writers, critics, and filmmakers through the Roger Ebert Fellowship, launched in 2014 by Sundance Institute Founder, Robert Redford. She also continues to award the Golden Thumb and Ebert Humanitarian Awards at Ebertfest, and at the Toronto and Chicago International Film Festivals to filmmakers who exhibit an unusually compassionate view of the world.
As president of the Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation, Chaz’s civic passions include programs to help break the glass ceiling for women and people of color; and to provide education and arts for women, children, and families. As the founder of “Day4Empathy,” Chaz has become celebrated in the media and Chicago community for spearheading efforts for kindness-induced change. In her pledge to foster the FECK Principles of forgiveness, empathy, compassion, and kindness, she has also become a sought-out lecturer who has touched tens of thousands of attendees at events like Cannes; Telluride Film Festival; the Palm Springs Film Festival; Toronto, Chicago and Hawaii International Film Festivals; and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Her contributions have garnered her the 2022 FACETS Legend Award, 2022 Ruby Dee Humanitarian award at the Black Reel Awards, 2011 Focus Achievement Award from Women in Film Chicago and being named a 2019 Laureate of the Beethoven Spirit Award at the 10th Annual Beethoven Birthday Bash.
Previously an attorney, Chaz was named Lawyer of the Year by the Constitutional Rights Foundation. She was named the 2019 Beethoven Laureate for being "a humanist who promotes justice and a better world through the arts" by the International Beethoven Project. She currently acts as a life trustee of the Art Institute and serves on the boards of the Lyric Opera, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, After School Matters, the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, and the Honorary Board of Family Focus. She has also served on the Lawyers Committees of the presidential campaigns for President Clinton, President Obama, and Senator Hillary Clinton.
