Groundbreaking of Justice of the Pies. Photo Credit: Eddie Quinones.
Partnerships & Initiatives
Through the years, the Trust has created many types of initiatives to help our region—and its foundations, businesses, civic leaders, and individuals—most effectively engage with the issues they care about. Through special task forces like these, we tackle issues of concern from innovative angles, or harness the power of civic collaboration for greater impact.
Signature Initiatives
As we invest the resources of generations of donors into serving our community, we engineer creative approaches to amplify the impact of our grantmaking.
| Affinity Funds | Affinity funds are groups of donors united by a shared heritage, identity, or common interest. They offer an efficient way to support a specific group of people and the nonprofits that aid them by leveraging contributions through collective giving. |
| On the Table | The Chicago Community Trust’s “On the Table” was an annual forum designed to bring people together to make good things happen. |
| Unity Fund | Unity Fund is a collaborative effort that gathers contributions from generous donors to support nonprofit organizations addressing the Chicago region’s most urgent needs. |
Project Partnerships
In a rich ecosystem of nonprofits, businesses and civic institutions, the Trust builds partnerships that can kickstart creative solutions or accelerate progress toward addressing the most complex challenges.
| Arts Work Fund | Strengthens the management and operations of small arts and cultural organizations in Chicago and Cook County. |
| Benefit Chicago | A powerful collaboration that aims to mobilize $100 million in impact investments for nonprofits and social enterprises working throughout the Chicago region. |
| Bridges to Brighter Futures | Aims to create equitable, affordable access to quality jobs and continued career development. |
| Catchafire | Founded in 2010 to help nonprofit organizations connect with experienced professionals looking to give back. |
| Chicago200 | An annual leadership program that convenes young diverse leaders from across the Chicago region to address the question, “What will we make our city known for by its 200th birthday?” |
| Chicago and Cook County Flexible Housing Pool (FHP) | An innovative housing approach that focuses on reducing costs in the health care sector and improves individual health care outcomes. This multi-sector investment partnership connects people experiencing homelessness to stable housing, tenancy support, and healthcare that leads to a decrease in the use of emergency services, hospitalizations, and incarceration. |
| Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities | Exists to create the conditions for violence prevention and reduction during the summer months, and supports activities by nonprofit organizations that build community cohesion and promote safety and peace. |
| Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance | Collaborates with employers and other workforce stakeholders to increase employment, earnings, and economic mobility for underprepared workers in the Chicago region. |
| Connecting Capital and Community (3C) | A multi-sector collaborative to build wealth in underinvested communities through homeownership. |
| Elevated Chicago | A partnership of organizations committed to transforming the half-mile radius around transit stations into hubs of opportunity and connection across our region’s vast transit system. |
| Financial Services Pipeline Initiative | A collaborative of financial services firms developing a collective long-term human capital business strategy for the Chicago region. |
| Food:Land:Opportunity | A multi-year initiative to create a resilient local food economy that protects and conserves land and other natural resources while promoting market innovation. |
| Fresh Taste | An initiative by thirteen Chicago-region foundations working together to relocalize the Chicago foodshed and improve equity of access to good food. |
| Fund for Equitable Business Growth | Helps underrepresented business owners in Chicago succeed by funding systems and support to help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. |
| Illinois Immigration Funder Collaborative (IFC) | Prioritizes community defense and strengthening; multilingual legal assistance; and steady support to help organizations serve and organize immigrants and work together to mobilize for change. |
| Illinois Justice Project | Engages in criminal justice reform efforts to make our communities safer and reduce recidivism among youths and adults. |
| Neighborhood Capital Fund | A pooled fund that provides grants to support real estate developments in underinvested neighborhoods on Cook County’s South and West sides, supporting a strong region for all. |
| Press Forward Chicago | Raising unprecedented resources to revitalize local news, supercharge proven solutions to the local news crisis, and close longstanding inequities in journalism coverage and practice. |
| Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Greater Chicago | Focuses on planning for and bringing about transformational and sustainable change and addressing the historic and contemporary effects of racism. |