Trust Talks, The Podcast – Episode 26: Building Opportunity, Block by Block

From 2021 to 2025, We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just Recovery (We Rise Together), a funder collaborative led by The Chicago Community Trust, invested $47 million in brick-and-mortar development, small business support, and workforce programs in underinvested communities, which are predominantly on Chicago’s South and West sides. These investments improved economic activity and expanded opportunity–and raised an essential question for philanthropy, communities and developers: What does meaningful impact look like at the neighborhood level? 

In this episode of Trust Talks, we explore new research from the University of Illinois Chicago’s Great Cities Institute examining both the economic activity and community experience shaped by We Rise Together investments. The evaluation offers a deeper understanding of how neighborhood investments influence local conditions, community perceptions, and residents’ life experiences. From changes in nearby business activity to shifts in how people describe safety, opportunity and pride in their neighborhoods, the conversation brings the data to life. It also highlights what the research reveals about the importance of flexible capital, community voice, and place-based investment strategies in supporting the long-term economic vitality of long-disinvested neighborhoods and the city as a whole. 

Hosted by Maryah Phillips, program manager for the Neighborhood Capital Fund at the Trust, this episode features Katherine Faydash of the Great Cities Institute, who shares key findings from the research on the impact of community investment and neighborhood development. The conversation also includes Brenda Palms, president & CEO of North Lawndale Employment Network, and Jesse Iñiguez, founder of Back of the Yards Coffee, who reflect on how these investments are improving quality of life in their communities and what it takes to support thriving neighborhoods over time.  

The episode also looks ahead to the continued potential of this work through the Neighborhood Capital Fund, another collaborative initiative led the Trust, which builds on lessons learned from We Rise Together to deepen investment in community-driven development. 

This episode was produced by Juneteenth Productions and recorded at The Auburn Gresham Healthy Lifestyle Hub.