Collective Power

Chicago thrives when residents have the knowledge, relationships, and opportunities to shape the decisions that affect their lives. Strong communities depend on informed participation, inclusive leadership, and the ability of people to work together toward shared solutions.

Jose Uribe (right) and Ania Jakubek (center) from Arise Chicago converse with Miguel Alvelo Rivera and Leticia Téllez (both left) from Latino Union of Chicago. Both organizations are members of the Changemakers Network.

The Chicago Community Trust helps residents and neighborhood organizations better understand civic issues, take part in community decisions, and work together to solve local challenges. Through programs, partnerships, and community-led efforts, the Trust supports local leaders, brings community voices into public conversations, and encourages informed discussion about issues that affect people’s lives.

Our Vision

We envision a Chicago region with a vibrant and engaged civic sector that invests in community organizing, elevates the voices and experiences of residents historically excluded from decision-making, strengthens community leadership, and builds the relationships and momentum needed to improve policies, practices, and neighborhood conditions.

Achieving this vision requires sustained investment, strong partnerships, and learning alongside communities. The Trust draws on insights from grant recipients, partners, research, artists, organizers, civic leaders, and residents to inform its work and remain responsive as community needs and opportunities evolve.

Collective Power: State of the Space

Strong, trusted relationships across communities and sectors are essential to lasting social change. When residents have access to information, resources, leadership opportunities, and meaningful roles in decision-making, they are better positioned to identify shared priorities, shape public dialogue, and advance solutions that strengthen economic opportunity and community well-being.

The Financial Health Pulse® 2025 Chicago Trends Report found stark differences in financial well-being across Chicago. Forty-two percent of Central-area households and 37% of North Side households were financially healthy, compared with 23% in the Far South, 20% in the Southwest, 18% on the West Side, and 17% on the South Side. The report attributes these disparities to decades of policy decisions, structural inequities, and uneven investment that have shaped access to opportunity across communities. These findings underscore the importance of ensuring that residents and community-based organizations — particularly in communities most affected by unequal conditions — help shape the policies, investments and solutions intended to improve their well-being.

Where We Focus

The Trust seeks to build collective power so that more residents, particularly those historically excluded from decision-making, can shape the policies, practices and investments that affect their lives. By strengthening community leadership, collective action, and public understanding, we aim to create lasting improvements in community well-being.

Collective Power Funding

The Trust supports three interconnected approaches to building collective power:

  • Community Organizing: Support residents and community-based organizations in coming together to identify shared priorities, influence decisions that affect their lives, and ensure that policy changes lead to meaningful, lasting improvements in their communities.

  • Leadership Development: Invest in community leaders by strengthening their knowledge, skills, and relationships to mobilize residents, advance community priorities, and hold decision-makers accountable.

  • Narrative Change: Support storytelling, arts, media, and public education that shift how people understand community challenges, their causes, and who is affected—building public awareness and support for solutions that improve community well-being.

Collaboration is Needed

Building collective power requires collaboration across sectors. The Trust works alongside residents, community organizations, artists, organizers, nonprofit leaders, philanthropy, businesses, government, and civic institutions to expand participation, strengthen community leadership, and create the connections needed to address shared challenges.

Opportunities to Engage

  • Arts Work Fund: Strengthens the management and operations of small arts and cultural organizations in Chicago and Cook County. 

Our Collective Power Team