The Power of Collective Advocacy & Collaboration

In communities across Illinois, families work hard to build stable lives, but the systems meant to support them often fall short. Whether it’s the rising cost of education, the threat of eviction, or the lack of fair wages, these challenges are not just personal; they are systemic. Nonprofit organizations across the Chicago region are joining forces to advocate for policy reforms that reflect the lived experiences of the communities they serve. These coalitions bring together diverse voices, policy experts, grassroots organizers, service providers, and community members with lived experience to push for lasting change. Their work is grounded in collaboration, driven by data, and powered by the belief that policy should serve people. 

The Chicago Community Trust’s 2025 Advancing Equitable Wealth Policy funding initiative supports organizations that contribute to the Chicago region’s policy and advocacy ecosystem. The Trust aims to strengthen coalition advocacy efforts by funding organizations that take on a range of roles, such as leading or co-leading coalitions, organizing within communities, supporting social safety net issues, or representing those directly affected by the issues at hand. This initiative also supports efforts to protect access to programs that have demonstrated success in reducing poverty, ensuring individuals and families can meet their basic needs, expanding access to quality employment, directing resources to historically underinvested communities, and making asset-building opportunities, such as homeownership, more attainable for low- and moderate-income individuals and families. 

This funding program approaches support for coalitions in several ways. Grant recipients include policy leaders that bring subject matter expertise to multiple coalitions. Support can also be centered around a coalition by funding multiple organizations that bring specific strengths to advance a shared policy priority. This funding program also supports organizations that take a comprehensive approach to build thriving communities by both meeting community members’ immediate basic human needs while also advocating for systems-level reforms to ensure every community member can achieve stability and economic mobility.   

Shriver Center on Poverty Law

Shriver Center on Poverty Law is at the forefront of economic justice advocacy, bringing legal expertise, policy strategy, and deep community partnerships to several coalition tables. 

Shriver Center is a key partner on multiple coalitions, including the Cost-of-Living Refund Coalition, Time to Care Coalition, Illinois Domestic Workers Coalition, and the Illinois Refund Alliance. These collaborations have led to meaningful wins: the creation of the Child Tax Credit, a city ordinance guaranteeing portable paid time off for domestic workers, and growing momentum for statewide paid family and medical leave. This year’s support from the Trust will help the Shriver Center and its collaborators expand the Child Tax Credit by implementing a direct tax filing program to help more families access the credit. The Shriver Center is also working to ensure that all workers, regardless of job type, have access to paid leave and benefits.  

The Shriver Center’s work reflects a broader vision of a future where families can meet their basic needs without having to work multiple jobs or sacrificing their health. 

Coalition for Transforming Higher Education Funding

For many Illinois students, the dream of earning a college degree is clouded by rising tuition costs and uneven access to financial support. Three organizations, Advance Illinois, Young Invincibles, and the Partnership for College Completion, are working together to change that. As members of the Coalition for Transforming Higher Education Funding, they are leading a multi-year campaign to reform how the state allocates funding to public universities, with the goal of making higher education more affordable and equitable across Illinois. 

Each organization brings a unique strength to the collaboration. The Partnership for College Completion leads the coalition, advocating for the implementation of recommendations from the Commission on Equitable Public University Funding and pushing for an increased investment in the state’s needs-based aid program. Advance Illinois co-leads the coalition and contributes policy expertise to advance state legislative efforts and to respond to federal reforms that could impact college affordability. Young Invincibles ensures the voices of students, particularly nontraditional students, are at the forefront of developing and advocating for reforms that impact their ability to complete higher education by providing training and empowering them to advocate themselves. Students who participate in Young Invincibles’ programming elevate issues and use their voice to ensure their peers have access to mental health services, childcare, public benefits, and other resources to help them complete higher education. 

Together, these organizations are working towards a future where more students in Illinois can access and complete higher education with minimal debt. 

Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness

Many policy and advocacy leaders are not just driving reforms; they also provide critical services to the community members they advocate for. The Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness (CCH) is one example of a critical voice in advancing policy solutions while also providing immediate resources for people experiencing homelessness. In August, the Trust’s Critical Needs and Policy Change team made a joint grant to CCH to enable them to provide legal services for people experiencing homelessness, as well as support their advocacy work, which is focused on preventing the criminalization of homelessness, protecting resources for K-8 students without stable housing, and coordinating with peer organizations nationwide to strengthen federal policy efforts.  

Whether advocating for college affordability, economic justice, or an end to homelessness, these coalitions demonstrate that real progress is driven by collaboration, across sectors, among organizations, and alongside those most impacted by systemic inequities. Collective action is a catalyst for transformation, and by uniting diverse voices, barriers can be dismantled, and a society can be built where opportunity is not a privilege, but a given.