10 Years of the LGBTQ Community Fund
2020 marked the 10th anniversary of the LGBTQ Community Fund (the Fund) at The Chicago Community Trust, and 2021 marked the beginning of…
LGBTQ Community Fund
Supporting Chicago’s LGBTQ community through philanthropy.
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$4.25 Million
Dollars Raised
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$2.5 Million
Dollars Granted
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148
Active Donors
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45
Organizations Impacted
About the Fund
In 2010, civic leaders joined in a commitment to addressing a broad range of needs within the LGBTQ community, through strategic support to nonprofit organizations that serve it.
Through an operating grant from The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust and funding support from The Chicago Community Trust, the LGBTQ Community Fund serves as a tool to educate the region about LGBTQ issues and promote effective philanthropy to achieve strategic change.
Our Values
Community: We are part of, and invested in, an inclusive community; we act and collaborate with empathy and social responsibility.
Justice: We respect and celebrate human diversity and difference; we work to dismantle homophobia, racism and transphobia to address historical and systemic marginalization.
Connection: We seek to connect Chicagoland’s LGBTQ population and its organizations to ideas, research, and one other.
Courage: We champion leadership, innovation, and creativity; we act on principle and challenge the status quo.
Pragmatism: We support research to understand our community and its needs; we support real-world solutions and measurable results.
Our Mission & Vision
MISSION
To advance Chicagoland’s LGBTQ Community through research, connection, and focused grant making.
VISION
The LGBTQ Community Fund envisions a Chicagoland LGBTQ Community thriving in a safe, equitable, and supportive environment.
Our Team
| Steering Committee | Life Members |
|---|---|
| Kate Groninger, Co-Chair | Prue Beidler |
| Alan Harder, Co-Chair | Denise Foy |
| Duke Alden | Adnaan Hamid |
| Bernard Bartilad | Ken O’Keefe |
| Raymond Crossman | Ryan VanMeter |
| Katie Eccles | |
| Caronina Grimble | Founding Co-Chairs |
| Alexa Katz | James L. Alexander |
| Victoria Raymont | Prue Beidler |
| Luis Roman | Fund Advisor |
| Lorenza Taylor | Patrick Sheahan |
A Better & Safer Place for All
The fund works toward the vision of a region where Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer residents live responsibly in harmony with all communities, enjoying the same freedoms and quality of life, and with the same opportunity to make the region a better and safer place for all to live.
The LGBTQ Community Fund is also an endowed fund, which also dedicates its endowment income to providing strategic grant support for nonprofit agencies. With this permanent resource, the most pressing needs of Chicago’s LGBTQ community can be met in perpetuity—no matter what challenges emerge in years ahead.
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Our Partners in Change: Ken O’Keefe
When Ken O’Keefe was starting out as an investment banker, he was struck by the contrast between the luxurious lifestyles associated with his…
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LGBTQ Community Fund Provides Critical Grant Making During the Pandemic
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the LGBTQ Community Fund provided its largest annual grant making total in 2020, awarding $813,000 in…
Donate + Stay Connected
The Fund invites your investment in the LGBTQ Community Fund. Our fundraising goal for the LGBTQ Community Fund II is $1.5 million—to date, thanks to the generosity of our community, we have raised $1.3 million.
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