Exelon CEO Calvin Butler inspires Leo High School students to forge a better future

CHICAGO (WGN) — In the heart of Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood, at 79th and Sangamon, you’ll find Leo High School, where the past and present are intersecting to make a better future for students attending the educational institution now in its 99th year.

The 2025 Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Fair aims to help Leo Lions like sophomores Asa Harris and Justin Hunt consider the possibilities of entrepreneurship and more.

Enter Exelon CEO Calvin Butler, one of only eight Black CEOs of a Fortune 500 company. In his third year visiting with the students at Leo, the East St. Louis native shared his experience growing up in neighborhoods that closely resemble Chicago’s, and the motivation to forge a different path.

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“As the first one in my family to graduate from college and then to be sitting in this seat, it means something more than just running a large company,” Butler said. “It’s about, ‘What am I doing to give back to the communities in which we serve?’

“Which is why we are here at Leo High School. I want these young men to see that there’s opportunities, not everyone has to have family members that grow up and were CEO’s, lawyers and doctors and so forth. I just happen to be a lawyer, but you can do anything you want to if you focus and really drive toward excellence.”

This is part of Exelon’s bigger effort to get into Chicago schools. In conjunction with the Big Shoulders Fund, a Chicago nonprofit, Butler brought his team from Exelon and ComEd to mentor the young men. School principal Dr. Shaka Rawls says what the young men learn here is as important as any lesson they will receive in their four years at Leo. 

“He inspires each one of my students to try to be a little bit better,” he said. “We always say that we want to be 1% better here at Leo High School, and he shows them what 1% better every day could possibly be.”

Leo’s motto, Facta Non Verba, which means deeds, not words, resonates with students like Harris and Hunt, as does Butler’s story.

“It gives us inspiration,” Harris said. “It’s pushing us to the right path and leading us the right way. [Butler’s] backstory, it really enlightens us a little bit.”

Leo High School boasts a 100% graduation rate for the 12th consecutive year.