Trust Talks

The Chicago Community Trust’s strategic focus on addressing the racial and ethnic wealth gap was informed by data on the stark differences in health, education and wealth, how those differences were impacting our region, and – most importantly – where we, as a community foundation, were best positioned to support change that would benefit the entire region. The Trust continues to invest in data to shed light on disparities impacting our community, leverage policy change, track progress, inform gaps in knowledge, and drive innovation with our community partners working to address those systemic factors. For example, the Trust-funded Color of Wealth in Chicago found median wealth in the region ranges from zero for Black households, $6,000 for foreign-born Mexicans, $24,000 for Puerto Ricans, $40,500 for U.S.-born Mexicans, compared to $210,000 for white households. These results, other reports, and community-driven data illustrate the critical importance of data broken out by race and ethnicity, gender, age, and community area so that we can understand who is benefitting and who isn't in our local economy and how interventions and investments are working to address systemic barriers and underinvestment in communities.  In this episode of Trust Talks, we will discuss how data helps us understand the ways capital flows into communities and how our grant partners are using it to inform their work and drive investment into their neighborhoods.   This episode is hosted by Jennifer Axelrod, associate of vice president of learning & impact for The Chicago Community Trust, and includes Brett Theodos, senior fellow and director of the Community Economic Development Hub at Urban Institute; Luis Gutierrez, founder & CEO of Latinos Progresando; and Andraya Yousfi, chief of partnerships and development for By The Hand Club For Kids.  This episode is produced by Juneteenth Productions and was recorded at BUILD, Inc. 

Community safety is an issue that affects all Chicagoans, but especially Black and Latine communities. According to a 2023 report, more than half of Black and Latine residents have witnessed a shooting by age 40. Further, violence not only impacts the health and safety of residents, but it also has a detrimental effect on the city’s economic vitality.  While there is no one-size-fits-all method to addressing this issue, a grassroots approach that centers the voices of the people most affected by violence is necessary to make our neighborhoods safer. Launched in 2016, the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful (PSPC) is a coalition of more than 50 funders working together to support community-level programming that reduces gun violence. In tandem with those efforts, a new PSPC initiative, Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago (SC2), brings together partners from across sectors to reduce shootings and homicides in neighborhoods with the highest rates of gun violence through focused services and interventions.  In this episode of Trust Talks, we will discuss PSPC’s priorities and accomplishments, its new Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago fund, and the importance of multi-sector collaboration to make our neighborhoods safer and more vibrant.    This episode is hosted by Jai Jones, program specialist for the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities (PSPC), and includes Esther Franco-Payne, PSPC executive director; Robert Boik, Civic Committee of the Commercial Club’s senior vice president for public safety; Teny Gross, CEO of the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago; and America Campos, executive director of U.N.I.O.N. Impact Center.This episode is produced by Juneteenth Productions and was recorded at the Sound Foundation, LLC.

Launched in 2020 in response to the economic instability caused by COVID-19, We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just Recovery is a Trust-led funder collaborative working with communities to respond to the urgent economic needs of long-disinvested Black and Latine neighborhoods. Through grants to community-directed real estate development projects, workforce development, and support for small businesses, We Rise Together is helping build thriving neighborhoods and a stronger Chicago. To date, We Rise Together has provided $46 million in grants, including support for 40+ real estate projects worth more than $500 million, 13 of which have already opened.  In this episode of Trust Talks, we will discuss We Rise Together’s impact and what’s next, including how the initiative—and donors—can continue to fuel the visions communities have for their local economies.  This episode is hosted by Christen Wiggins,  program director for We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just Recovery, and features Nedra Sims Fears, executive director for the Greater Chatham Initiative and a We Rise Together Steering Committee member; Griselda Piedra, community relations manager for PODER; and Steve and Nicole VanderVoort, We Rise Together donors. Production by Juneteenth Productions. The podcast was recorded at the Sound Foundation. 

Across the nation, local news outlets have been folding at an alarming rate. In response, philanthropy has stepped up funding efforts to address this decline as America becomes increasingly polarized and trust in institutions plummets. Against this backdrop, Chicago has been experiencing a media resurgence, with dozens of community-driven and nonprofit outlets popping up over the past 20 years. However, many are still under-resourced and require alternative funding opportunities.  In the fall of 2023, a group of 10 funders launched Press Forward Chicago to strengthen and sustain local news organizations and ensure residents have access to multiple reliable news sources. This initiative, led by the MacArthur Foundation and The Chicago Community Trust, offers donors, funders, and civic leaders the opportunity to pool their dollars to invest in a robust local media landscape.  In this episode of Trust Talks, we will explore the current state of the media, how to reverse the decline in local news outlets, and the importance of philanthropy in supporting local media. This episode is hosted by  Lauren Woods, program manager with the Trust’s Building Collective team, and features Silvia Rivera, director of local news at MacArthur Foundation; Mauricio Peña, editorial director of Borderless Magazine; Mackenzie Warren, director of the Medill Local News Accelerator; and Christie Hefner, businesswoman and Press Forward donor.Production by Juneteenth Productions. The podcast was recorded at the Sound Foundation. 

Thriving neighborhoods where residents have access to essential services, amenities, and jobs are vital to creating an equitable and prosperous Chicago region. As part of the Trust’s efforts to address disinvestment, we are supporting opportunities that lead to resident-driven neighborhood revitalization. Through our Flexible Funding Program, the Trust has has supported planning initiatives, ranging from neighborhood plans to zoning assessments, that help create environments in neighborhoods where investment can take place. These planning efforts also play an instrumental role in incorporating resident voices into the development process to ensure their needs are being meet.  In this episode of Trust Talks, we will explore the role of planning in neighborhood development, current efforts to increase investment in Chicago neighborhoods, and the importance of elevating resident voice in the process. Production by Juneteenth Productions. The podcast was recorded at the Sound Foundation.

Homeownership is one of the most important vehicles for building generational wealth and helping families achieve economic stability; however, Black and Latinx families often face barriers to accessing and maintaining homeownership. Since The Chicago Community Trust launched its strategic focus on closing the Chicago region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap in 2019, affordable and equitable homeownership has been a key priority.  Connecting Capital and Community (3C) is a community-driven initiative housed at the Trust that collaborates with partners across multiple sectors to test innovative solutions that will increase Black and Latinx homeownership in East Garfield Park and Humboldt Park. Learnings from 3C’s work have also influenced the Trust’s Advancing Innovative Homeownership Financing Solutions grant program that funds partnerships between CDFIs or credit unions and housing organizations to develop innovative financial products that strengthen the purchasing power of low-to-moderate-income borrowers. In this episode of Trust Talks, we will explore the work of 3C, how community-centered collaboration can help close the homeownership gap, and what role philanthropy plays in supporting these efforts.  This episode is hosted by Shandra Richardson, director of strategic initiatives for The Chicago Community Trust, and features Lynnette McRae, program director for Connecting Capital and Community (3C); Joanna Trotter, executive director of global philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase; Mindy Rueden, program director at Habitat for Humanity Chicago; and Tim Swanson, founder of Inherent L3C.Production by Juneteenth Productions. The podcast was recorded at the Sound Foundation.

The federal government has allocated trillions in federal funds toward relief and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Rescue Plan Act’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund alone has made about $19 billion dollars available to the City of Chicago, Cook County, and the State of Illinois for the purpose of economic recovery. These funds present a unique opportunity for the city, county, and state to invest in an equitable and inclusive recovery, especially for Black and Latinx communities that have experienced historic disinvestment and felt the greatest economic burden from the pandemic. Community-based organizations that are working on issues such as housing, workforce development, and community safety play a critical role in ensuring federal funds reach communities that need them the most. However, from challenges related to staffing and capacity to administrative burdens, many nonprofits struggle to access and leverage these funds.  In this episode of Trust Talks, we will explore the barriers nonprofits face in accessing government funds, as well as opportunities to overcome them. This episode is hosted by Aimee Ramirez, manager of policy and advocacy at the Trust, and features Lisa May Simpson, chief program officer at Forefront; Johnny Page, executive director at ConTextos; and Matt Cole, director of public funding and partnerships at The Resurrection Project. Production by Juneteenth Productions. The podcast was recorded at the Sound Foundation. In partnership with Urban Institute, the Trust launched a Federal Recovery Funds Dashboard in October 2022 to track how the city, county, and state are spending these unprecedented funds. Learn more by visiting https://www.cct.org/research-and-reports/federal-recovery-funds-dashboard/. 

For more than a century, individuals and families have partnered with The Chicago Community Trust to transform gifts—from wills, trusts, and other vehicles—into lasting impact for our region. Through unrestricted gifts to our endowment, donors ensure that the Trust has the flexibility to respond to the region’s evolving and urgent needs. These bequests have allowed us to support our neighbors through the Great Depression, the Great Recession, the COVID-19 pandemic, and to tackle the region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap. In this episode of Trust Talks, we will explore how the Trust's endowment and bequests made decades ago continue to address the most pressing issues affecting our region, including our strategic focus to close the wealth gap.  This episode is hosted by Tim Bresnahan, senior director of gift planning, and features Joanne Otte, program manager for the Trust’s Addressing Critical Needs team; Cherita Ellens, president and CEO of Women Employed; and Anne Ladky, Trust Executive Committee member and donor. Production by Juneteenth Productions. The podcast was recorded at Creative DeCysions.

There is a long-held notion civic engagement is declining in the Chicago region. The 2010 Chicago Civic Health Index report even stated “Chicagoland’s civic health is on life support.” However, research measuring civic health tends to be rooted in a framework that focuses on voting and giving one’s time, labor, and money to formal organizations. That is only one part of the civic engagement picture. Under the Trust's Building Collective Power strategy, The Chicago Community Trust commissioned the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy at the University of Illinois Chicago to dig deeper into the current civic engagement landscape in Chicago. The report, Changing the Frame: Civic Engagement Through a Racial Equity Lens, provides a broader analysis of civic life that includes a range of activities practiced by Black, Latinx, and working-class people in Chicago. In this episode, we will explore findings from the report, and the role government institutions, media, and philanthropy can play in strengthening our region’s civic ecosystem.  This episode is hosted by Maritza Bandera, program manager for the Trust's Building Collective Power team, and features Iván Arenas, associate director for community partnerships, Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, The University of Illinois at Chicago; Brett Chase, reporter – environmental, planning, and public health, the Chicago Sun-Times ; and Sadia Sindhu, executive director, Center for Effective Government, The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.Production by Juneteenth Productions. The podcast was recorded at Creative DeCysions.

The Trust’s Catalyzing Neighborhood Investment strategy is focused on closing the region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap at the neighborhood level by fostering an environment that leads to more inclusive development in historically disinvested Black and Latinx communities. Last year—in partnership with Community Desk Chicago—the Trust conducted a study of philanthropy's role in supporting community ownership models for neighborhood development. We were particularly interested in learning how we could support community wealth building through the ability of residents to share ownership in commercial real estate. Not only do these models provide an alternative to raising capital that looks very different from traditional approaches, but pooling community capital also allows residents to acquire and control key assets in their own neighborhoods. More than 20 such developments exist or are being created nationwide. From a reclaimed business corridor in Philadelphia, to a retail mall in Portland, each project is uniquely tailored to community needs and goals. In Chicago, we've taken to calling these Community Investment Vehicles—or CIVs—for community owned commercial real estate in neighborhoods. The Trust has already committed $600,000 to this work, with the expectation that we will do more grant making in the future. In this episode of Trust Talks, you'll learn what CIVs are and the community wealth building opportunities they could create in the region.  This episode is hosted by Chris Eagan, Program Manager for the Trust's Catalyzing Neighborhood Investment team, and features Nneka Onwuzurike, Chicago Recovery Plan Program Manager, the City of Chicago - Mayor's Office; Max Levine, CEO and Co-Founder of Nico; and Tonya Trice, Executive Director, South Shore Chamber of Commerce. Production by Juneteenth Productions. This episode was recorded at Creative DeCysions.