Focus Areas

Our strategy embodies a deep commitment to racial equity and serving under-resourced communities in Chicagoland. We seek to improve overall democratic outcomes and close the civic empowerment gap by providing resources, creating opportunities, and advocating for policies to address civic disparities for people of color.

Strengthen local journalism

Our goal is to create an information-rich environment that supports all residents across the region, regardless of race or ethnicity, to be informed and engaged citizens. To support robust local reporting that informs the public and holds institutions accountable, we invest in:

• News outlets, to broaden and deepen their public affairs reporting
• Organizations and initiatives that enhance entrepreneurship, collaboration, and community engagement in journalism
• Human capital, to increase the racial and ethnic diversity and the capacity of reporters working locally
• Defending press freedom to ensure journalistic independence and effectiveness

We have an open application process for grants to strengthen local journalism, with deadlines on May 15 and June 15 for grants of $50,000 or less and October 1 for grants over $50,000.

Engage youth civically

Our goal is for youth to develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to be engaged citizens through equitable, high-quality, school-based civic learning opportunities connected to their lived experiences. To support this vision, we invest in:

• Professional development with proven civic learning practices, including media literacy, and implementation of the new high school civics course and revised K-12 social studies standards
• Leadership, to fulfill the civic mission of schools
• Student voice, through scholastic journalism and school governance
• Community partnerships, to build democratic school climates and implement Illinois' new school discipline law
• Field-building efforts, national and statewide

We have an open application process for grants to engage youth civically with a deadline of October 1 for grants over $50,000. We are not currently accepting applications for grants of $50,000 or less in this focus area.

Invigorate public institutions

Our goal is for institutions to be inclusive, transparent, and accountable to the communities they serve. To support this vision, we invest in:

• High-capacity civic leaders, representative of the communities they serve, who invite constituent participation and advocate for and implement inclusive policies
• Organizations that promote accountability, transparency, and the effectiveness of public institutions
• Issues that present opportunities to deepen participation and inclusion including:
  • Elections and Census 2020, to expand Chicagoland residents' participation and representation in government
  • Immigration, to provide pathways to protected citizenship status for local immigrant communities
  • Inclusive policymaking processes, to improve the accessibility of public institutions

We have an open application process for grants to invigorate public institutions with a deadline of October 1 for grants over $50,000. We are not currently accepting applications for grants of $50,000 or less in this focus area.