Reporter, Business & Innovators
Daniel Okafor covers business and the Innovators section for The Evanston Edge.
On the business side that means openings and closings, landlords and leasing, the downtown and Main-Dempster business districts, local employers large and small, and the economic side of institutions like Northwestern University and Rotary International.
For Innovators he writes profiles of people with Evanston ties who invented, founded or built something: scientists in Northwestern’s labs, founders of local companies, and figures from the city’s past whose work still shows up in daily life. Profiles are built from public records, published research and other documented sources.
Beat: business, startups, research and the people behind them. Send business tips through the tips page.
Recent work by Daniel
- Bob Galvin and the Motorola He Steered from Evanston RootsOct 29, 2026
- Alpha Phi in Evanston: A National Sorority’s Office and the Town EconomyOct 12, 2026
- William Deering, the Reaper Maker Who Settled in EvanstonOct 6, 2026
- Adrian Smith, the Architect Behind Some of the World’s Tallest TowersSep 25, 2026
- Evanston Made Connects Local Artists and Makers With ShoppersSep 19, 2026
- Evanston Thrives: The City’s Plan to Rework Its Retail DistrictsSep 7, 2026
- Alice Riley and the Founding of the Evanston Art CenterSep 2, 2026
- The North Shore Line, the Electric Railway That Linked Evanston to MilwaukeeAug 27, 2026
- Robert Slimbach Drew the Typefaces on Your ScreenAug 21, 2026
- Kellogg’s Footprint on Evanston’s EconomyAug 4, 2026
- Lorraine Morton: A Teacher Who Became Evanston’s Longest-Serving MayorJul 29, 2026
- When Evanston Made Steel Tubing: The Clayton Mark StoryJul 24, 2026
- Hecky Powell Fed Evanston and Fought for the NeighborhoodJul 18, 2026
- Legacy.com and the Business of Online RemembranceJul 12, 2026
- ZS Associates: The Consulting Firm Evanston Quietly HostsJul 1, 2026
- Dale Mortensen and the Economics of Why Job Searches Take TimeJun 25, 2026
- Desks for Rent: Evanston’s Coworking OptionsJun 19, 2026
- Sir Fraser Stoddart’s Molecular Machines Found a Home in EvanstonJun 14, 2026
- Chad Mirkin, the Northwestern Chemist Who Turned Nanoparticles into CompaniesMay 22, 2026
- Howard Street, the Border That Shops ShareMay 16, 2026
- Gwynne Shotwell’s Evanston Roots and the Rocket BusinessMay 10, 2026
- Who Runs Downtown Evanston, and What Does It Do?May 5, 2026
- A Mile of Independents: The Main-Dempster DistrictApr 23, 2026
- J. Allen Hynek, the Northwestern Astronomer Who Took UFO Reports SeriouslyApr 18, 2026
- Evanston’s First Craft Brewery and the Joke in Its NameApr 12, 2026