Neighborhood Development Champions Support a Strong Pipeline of Community-Led Projects

For the Chicago region to thrive, all communities must prosper. Disinvestment in the South and West Sides has limited wealth-building and harmed neighborhood wellbeing. These areas need investment that reflects residents’ priorities, builds long-term resilience, and opens paths to prosperity.

The Chicago Community Trust supports organizations leading neighborhood economic development. Local stakeholders are best equipped to set priorities and build partnerships. To empower them, the Trust launched the Neighborhood Development Champions (NDC) initiative.

In 2025, through this initiative, the Trust made grants totaling $1.4 million to 14 nonprofit organizations that are driving sustainable, community-led investment. Neighborhood Development Champions are established organizations leading place-based development that actualizes a community-wide vision for neighborhood development and self-determination.

Recently, the Trust’s Community Wealth team conducted and analyzed responses from a survey of NDC partners. The survey aimed to gain deeper insights into trends in brick-and-mortar development projects that involve NDC participation.

The survey results show that NDC partners are engaged in a strong pipeline of 31 development projects that address community priorities. They play a variety of roles in these developments. Of the 31 total projects, 18 are primarily led by NDC partners and 11 other projects have NDCs as a collaborating partner. Each project may have multiple uses; 61 percent identified a commercial component while 64 percent identified a community-oriented function.

The projects are diverse in scope and intended use because they directly reflect community vision, and each community’s development priorities are distinct. NDC partners cited over 20 community plans that inform their work, including corridor plans, quality of life plans, and other documented guidance on community priorities. These types of plans often identify land uses, targeted strategies, and larger aspirations for community development. As a result, the exact type of investment that NDCs pursue is dependent on community vision.

One NDC partner is focused on attracting new investment and leads a formal economic development committee. They’ve prioritized projects that add affordable housing and workforce development spaces. Discussing how these efforts support the community’s quality of life plan, they said:

“The collection of projects are a direct reflection of what the community said was important in our Quality of Life plan: housing, economic development, expanded resources, education and access to healthy food options.”

–NDC Partner

Another NDC partner promotes local business ownership to reduce displacement and is developing a building to support local entrepreneurs. They described how their projects advance shared community goals and aspirations.

“[This project] aligns with the community’s goals of building generational wealth, promoting local pride, and attracting tourism, ultimately contributing to a more vibrant, resilient and prosperous neighborhood.”

-NDC Partner

Neighborhood Development Champions are critical to developing community-led plans to attract new investment, advancing projects from community plans, and ensuring that incoming investment reflects community priorities. The Trust is committed to helping community organizations become stable, sustainable partners in local development—responsive to residents’ needs and working to reverse disinvestment, build wealth, and improve well-being in their neighborhoods.