Young Leaders Fund Awards $105,000 in its 2026 Grantmaking Cycle
Young Leaders Fund (YLF), an initiative of The Chicago Community Trust, has been paving the way for start-up nonprofits and the next generation…
Stories
Spotlights on community issues, the people, and the organizations who contribute to effective philanthropy as well as a stronger Chicago region and world.
Recent Stories
-
-
Pride, Progress, and Purpose: A Conversation with Jennie Brier & Ray Crossman
Each June, Pride Month offers a time to celebrate the achievements, contributions, and resilience of LGBTQ communities. An important vehicle for that work…
-
Protecting the Rights & Dignity of All: National Immigrant Justice Center
Founded in 1984, the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) believes that immigrants’ rights are human rights, and that every individual deserves to be…
All Stories
-
The Searles Are Making a Better Future
John G. Searle felt that personal success created an obligation to help others. Inherited from his father, Gideon Daniel Searle, while it was still a…
-
Inspiration in Practice: Barbara Austin Foote
In 1978 Barbara Austin Foote became the first woman to lead the Trust’s Executive Committee. The eldest daughter of Edwin C. Austin, the former legal…
-
The Quiet and Patient Leader: Frank Loomis
Relief was the goal of early 20th century philanthropy. An annual report at the time described the Trust’s involvement as “community-wide humanitarian work” for residents…
-
How One Man Revolutionized Market Research and Philanthropy
Great success in marketing research enabled Arthur C. Nielsen to pursue his philanthropic interests. By rethinking the practices of audience monitoring and measurement more scientifically,…
-
Trust's First Social Survey Reflected Turmoil in Chicago
In the 1920s, “Americanization” was the catch-all phrase used to describe efforts to assimilate immigrants into the American way of life, narrowly defined by the…
-
A Coal Magnate’s Charitable Legacy: More Transparent Foundations
As chair of the Sahara Coal Company and trustee of the Woods Charitable Fund, Inc., Frank H. Woods combined his business interests with his philanthropic…
