Unity Fund: A Look at Impact in 2025
The Chicago Community Trust’s Unity Fund is a testament to the power of collective giving. Since its founding in 2008 at the height…
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
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Financial Health in Cook County: Why it Matters and How Policy Impacts Financial Well-Being
In 2025, The Chicago Community Trust, with support from JPMorganChase, commissioned the Financial Health Network to update the findings of its Financial Health…
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Responding to Chicago’s Urgent Needs in 2025
As the region’s community foundation, The Chicago Community Trust exists to respond to the needs of our region and the people who call…
All Stories
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A Legacy Grows at the Chicago Botanic Garden
The city of Chicago was incorporated in 1837 as “Urbs in Horto”: a city in a garden. In 1972, with the assistance of the Trust,…
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Giving Insights: The Increasing Benefits of Giving Appreciated Assets
Making gifts of assets such as publicly traded securities, real estate, closely held business interests, or art and collectibles has long been a tax-efficient way…
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A Step Towards the Justice & Restoration Our Society Needs
The Chauvin trial has come to a close, and with its end, a small weight has been lifted. There were tears, there was celebration, and…
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Continuing a Legacy: Claude Robinson Awarded Second Donald Stewart Fellowship
Two years after his passing, the legacy of Donald Stewart lives on. In March, The Chicago Community Trust and African American Legacy awarded their second Donald Stewart Fellowship to Claude Robinson,…
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The Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund: Lessons in Collaboration Amid Crises
This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund (CCRF). The moment is not lost on us. To date, 5,056 Chicago…
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Trust Talks, The Podcast - Episode 2: Fund for Equitable Business Growth
In this episode of the Trust Talks podcast, guests Mambu Sherman, vice president of global philanthropy at JP-Morgan Chase; Eya Louis, contract development coordinator at Elevate Energy; and Constance Simms-Kincaid,…
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Bridges to Brighter Futures
In the early 2000s, when I was in high school in north Mississippi, the message students heard constantly was that our focus should be on getting to college.…
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Strengthening Banks’ Impact on Closing the Wealth Gap
A “profound” federal rule enacted more than 40 years ago to ensure financial institutions invest in and build wealth in the communities they serve is being rethought—and we…
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Winter 2021 Webinar Recap: Strategies to Close the Racial & Ethnic Wealth Gap
Over late fall 2020 and early winter 2021, The Chicago Community Trust co-hosted a series of webinars to explore its strategies to close the racial…
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Trust Talks, The Podcast - Episode 1: Violence Prevention in Chicago
In this inaugural episode of the Trust Talks podcast, we sat down with Anna LauBach, program director at the McCormick Foundation, Deborah Bennett, senior program officer at…
