Draft:Louis Sandoval

Louis (Lou) Sandoval (born February 22, 1965) is an American entrepreneur, business executive, author, community leader and offshore sailor. He founded the Lake Michigan based marine dealership, Karma Yacht Sales. He also founded Halo Advisory Group, Halo Investment Group and Compass Boat Management, Inc. Sandoval was the first Hispanic chairman of the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac and later went on to serve on the board and executive committee of the club. He served as the sixty-ninth commodore of the Chicago Yacht Club and was inducted to the Lake Michigan Sailing Hall of Fame in 2021. Sandoval has navigated over thirty thousand nautical miles and won the Historic Race to Mackinac an unprecedented nine times with eight of those on his own boat- SV KARMA.

Born on Chicago's Southside to blue collar working class parents, Sandoval learned his work ethic and strong family values from his parents. He attended Our Lady of Hungary grammar school in the Burnside neighborhood of Chicago. Sandoval attended St. Francis De Sales high school and later obtained his B.S degree from De Paul University in biochemistry. He completed graduate studies at Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business Executive education program with a concentration in marketing.

After being accepted to medical school and later having a change of heart, Lou pursued a career in pharmaceuticals/biotech for the first part of his professional career. He later pursued his passion and purchased a Marine Dealership with a business partner and lead the operations of that business for fifteen years. Lou's later career would engage his passion for technology where he would work as a technology executive leading several start-up ventures at Brunswick Corporation and Knnected Inc. dba SupplyHive.

Recognizing the great gift that his parents had given him in being able to receive a strong education, Sandoval has always been an advocate for increasing educational opportunities for underserved communities. He credits his exposure to sailing and the sciences to his time as a Boy Scout in the Chicago Area Council where he would later serve on the leadership of the council and lead the initiatives to bring Scouting to the Latino community in the Chicago area. To this day, Lou remains passionately involved with the philanthropy with his primary causes being education, STEM awareness and youth organizations that create career awareness such as Scouting.