People, Power and Policy: Building the Foundation of Our Work
When The Chicago Community Trust set its North Star goal to close the racial and ethnic wealth gap as the best way to…
Policy Change
We are working towards a future with a vibrant and engaged civic sector with trusted relationships and partnerships that drive efforts to change policies and practices to increase economic security and build household and community wealth.
Policy Change: State of the Space
Policies and practices — fueled by the misconception that poverty is due solely to individual choices — have prevented too many Chicagoans from building wealth.
Policy-driven inequities require policy-driven solutions. Effective policy reforms are grounded in evidence, the real-life experiences of community residents, and the expertise of the many Chicago-based nonprofits that have worked for years to find and advance ways to create opportunity across the region.
Where We Focus
The Trust Policy Change strategy prioritizes advocacy for policy reform that advances our goals of increasing household wealth, building community wealth, and addressing Chicagoans’ critical needs. We also monitor what the changing federal landscape means for our city, our partners, and our work as the region’s community foundation.
Our 2025 Policy Agenda focuses on five key priorities:
- Reforming the property tax and property tax sale system to reduce the risk of homeowners falling behind on their property taxes and protect homeowners who do enter the property tax sale system from losing their home equity.
- Reducing permitting and zoning barriers that hinder the development of vacant and abandoned properties in underinvested communities.
- Streamlining government grantmaking and procurement to foster a more equitable pipeline through which resources flow to underinvested communities.
- Supporting tax and public benefits reforms that promote economic mobility, reduce burdens on low- and moderate-income households, and enable them to retain more of their earned income.
- Maintaining, reinstating, or strengthening tax incentives that promote charitable giving.
We support resident leaders, policy organizations, and advocacy coalitions working to remove systemic barriers and change policies that have limited wealth-building opportunities for people over generations, to the detriment of our entire region. The Trust also partners with change agents to build public and political will, champion administrative reforms, and lobby for legislation that increases economic security and household and community wealth-building opportunities for marginalized people and communities.
Policy Change Funding
Specifically, the Trust’s funding to advocate for policy change supports:
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Policy Coalitions: To support nonprofit policy advocates and community organizers working together to advocate for shared policy priorities to remove barriers to wealth building.
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Policy Research & Evaluation: To understand how public policies impede wealth-building and to seed ideas for reform to create wealth-building opportunities.
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Civic and Government Sector Leadership: To invest in the next generation of leaders devising and implementing systems-based solutions.
In addition to supporting nonprofit advocates driving policy change, the Trust adds its voice and champions specific administrative or legislative reforms. The Trust’s advocacy takes various forms, including collective advocacy, lobbying, policy implementation, and public accountability.
Previous policy victories the Trust has contributed to:
- State Child Tax Credit: More than 800,000 low and middle-income families in Illinois are now eligible for a Child Tax Credit of up to $300. This additional aid reduces financial burdens on families, allowing them to meet their and their children’s basic needs. When the federal government temporarily expanded the child tax credit, child poverty in the United States was cut nearly in half.
- Property Tax Sale Reform: Public Act 103-0555, which went into effect on January 1, 2024, closed loopholes in the Illinois Property Tax Sale system that prevent blighted properties from redevelopment and allows local governments to intervene to save abandoned properties.
- The Illinois Community Reinvestment Act: 205 ILCS 735 strengthens equitable access to banking services and lending, particularly in underinvested communities.
Our Vision
We are working towards a future with a vibrant and engaged civic sector with trusted relationships and partnerships that drive efforts to change policies and practices to increase economic security and build household and community wealth.
As we move forward, we are committed to learning together, adjusting, and being responsive. We will use insights from our grantmaking and input from our partners to shape our learning journey and approach.
Collaboration is Needed
Policy change requires collective action. These priorities reflect where the Trust can achieve measurable impact. Still, we know that we cannot remove and overcome systemic policy barriers to wealth equity on our own.
Whether you are a donor, a community leader, work for a nonprofit, lead a company, or serve as a local government representative, we invite you to join us in increasing opportunities for Chicagoans to build wealth to create a stronger Chicago region.
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How You Can Take Action
Interested in learning more or partnering with us?
Please contact Aimee Ramirez, Director of Policy Change, at aramirez@cct.org, or Adele Nandan, Director of Donor Engagement, at anandan@cct.org.
