Philanthropy & Giving Jun 1 2026

2025 Annual Report: In Memoriam

The Trust fondly remembers our friends who have recently passed.

Learn more about them here.

Governor Jim Edgar

Civic Leader

Edgar’s tenure as Illinois governor earned him respect from both sides of the aisle for prioritizing the state’s finances and addressing pressing issues such as literacy, education and conservation. Before becoming governor, Edgar had a long career in public service and after leaving office in 1999, he continued his commitment to civic leadership by founding the Edgar Fellows Program at the University of Illinois. The Trust supports the program’s work to build a pipeline of leaders who can work together across differences through its programmatic grants.

Lisa Schneider Fabes

Community Leader

Schneider Fabes was a political consultant and community leader whose impact on her community ranged from violence prevention to education. As founder of LSF Consulting, she worked on police reform, led several Chicago Public Schools initiatives, and oversaw $30 million in funding as director of the Illinois COVID-19 Response Fund. She was involved in successful mayoral campaigns, managed the Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards for LISC Chicago for many years, and served on numerous boards, including Rise Chicago.

Lori Healey

Community Leader

A leader and mentor in public service and city planning, Healey oversaw the creation of multiple Chicago landmarks. Her roles included chief of staff to Mayor Richard M. Daley, commissioner of the city’s Department of Planning and Development, and chief executive of McPier, overseeing development and construction at McCormick Place. She also led construction and operations of the Obama Presidential Center as senior vice president and executive project officer at the Obama Foundation.

Jack Kanuk

Trust Donor

Kanuk and his late partner, Richard Foster, were longtime Chicagoans with a deep love for the city and a shared passion for the arts. They worked together in real estate for decades, owning and managing a number of properties in Lincoln Park. Trusts established by both Kanuk and Foster continue their commitment to Chicago’s arts and cultural organizations and a generous estate gift provides dedicated support for the Trust’s general purposes.

Ed Kaplan

Trust Donor

Kaplan was a co-founder and CEO of Data Specialties, Incorporated (now Zebra Technologies). Inspired by his Jewish faith and success with a tech start-up, he dedicated his philanthropy to nurturing future entrepreneurs and Jewish community leaders. He established the New Venture Challenge at the University of Chicago and the Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Technology at Illinois Tech. With his wife, Carol, he launched the Kaplan Leadership Initiative to develop Jewish community leaders around the world.

Juju Lien

Community Leader

Lien was a pioneering leader and activist in Chicago’s Asian American community, dedicated to advancing justice for refugees and immigrants. She served as executive director of the Chinese Mutual Aid Association and the Asian American Institute (now Asian Americans Advancing Justice). For more than four decades, Lien supported the fundraising and advocacy work of the Chicago Foundation for Women, and was deeply involved with the Trust’s Asian Giving Circle since its inception.

Terrence “Terry” McMahon

Trust Donor

A longtime supporter and board member of The Night Ministry, McMahon also gave his time and resources to the Center on Halsted and the Vital Bridges Food Pantry (formerly part of the Heartland Alliance), and was an active member of Rotary International. In 2006, with his partner, Daniel Bednarz, he established the Bednarz/McMahon Family Fund, a donor advised fund at the Trust to support the causes they cared most deeply about – critical needs, education, and arts and culture.

Rabindrath “Robin” Mukherjee

Trust Donor

A chemistry professor who immigrated to the U.S. from India, Mukherjee believed in paying forward the support he had once received by helping those facing financial hardship. He gave generously throughout his life, funding a hospital wing in India and supporting a Community Meals Program at a Chicago church. Before his passing, he partnered with the Trust to create a scholarship fund that will benefit science students at the University of Illinois Chicago and Southern Illinois University in perpetuity.

Marian “Cindy” Pritzker

Philanthropic Leader

Known for her fierce and passionate spirit, Pritzker was a devoted supporter of Chicago’s public libraries and architecture. As president of the Chicago Public Library Board, she led the effort to build the iconic Harold Washington Library Center in the Loop. She was also the founding chair of the Chicago Public Library Foundation. Pritzker co-founded the Pritzker Architecture Prize with her husband, Jay, in 1979 and helped commission architect Frank Gehry to design the Jay Pritzker Pavilion inMillennium Park.

Joseph Stone

Trust Donor

An accomplished lawyer, Stone served as counsel at Seyfarth Shaw and founding director of the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law Business Law Clinic. He was president of the Chicago Bar Association and volunteered with the Circuit Court of Cook County’s First Municipal District Pro Se Court and the Cook County Elder Law Clinic. A passionate theatergoer, he established the Joseph and Sylvia Stone Fund at the Trust to support groups such as Writers Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Steep Theatre.

Robert “Bob” Wordlaw

Community Leader

Wordlaw was a dedicated leader, mentor, and grassroots advocate who strengthened Chicago’s workforce development ecosystem for over five decades. From 1995 to 2014, he served as executive director of the Chicago Jobs Council, a Trust grant recipient. As a founding board member of the Endeleo Institute, also a Trust grant recipient, he helped build a thriving network of professionals and resources, particularly around workforce development.

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