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Partnerships & Initiatives Feb 5 2026

LGBTQ Community Fund Awards $619,000 in its 2025 Grantmaking Cycle

The LGBTQ Community Fund, an initiative of The Chicago Community Trust, unites donors to support nonprofit organizations that serve the Chicago region’s LGBTQ community. Since its founding in 2010, the Fund has distributed more than $3.1 million in grants.

In 2025, the LGBTQ Community Fund made 25 grants totaling $524,000 to the following organizations:

  • About Face Theatre Collective
  • Adler University (partnership with ChiArts)
  • Affinity Community Services
  • Black Alphabet
  • Black Cancer Collaborative
  • Brave Space Alliance
  • Center for Disability and Elder Law
  • Center on Halsted
  • Chicago Women’s Health Center
  • GF Productions
  • Girls Rock Chicago
  • Hair Has No Gender
  • Howard Brown Health Center
  • Legal Council for Health Justice
  • LGBTQ+ Center Lake County
  • Life is Work
  • One Roof Chicago
  • Onyx360
  • PFLAG Council of Northern Illinois
  • Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago
  • Public Media Institute
  • Soluna Wellness Center
  • The Harbour
  • Trans Upfront Illinois
  • Youth Outlook

In addition, the Fund distributed four grants totaling $95,000 in memory of Chicago AIDS activist Lori Cannon. Lori Cannon’s legacy is rooted in decades of fierce advocacy and compassion for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. This recognition reflects the LGBTQ Fund’s deep appreciation for the leadership and community-centered approach that these organizations bring to HIV prevention, care, and support.

Lori Cannon Memorial Grants

  • Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus
  • Chicago House
  • Chicago Queer Latine Collaborative
  • Taskforce Prevention and Community Services

The Trust is a community foundation that is dedicated to ensuring opportunity and prosperity are within reach for everyone in our region. As a charitable community, we know that many of our communities have been historically under-resourced, including by philanthropy. The LGBTQ Community Fund is a group of donors who seek opportunities to address those historic gaps, which will help strengthen the entire Chicago region. When our neighbors do better, we all do better.

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