I’ve always loved what Roger Ebert represented. He could champion an indie film with the same passion he brought to a blockbuster, and he never confused cynicism for insight. But what I came to appreciate most, especially later in his life, was the humanity that ran through his work, a quality shared by his wife and longtime collaborator, Chaz Ebert.
Just as films thrive on a range of voices and perspectives, so does film criticism, a field that, for much of its history, was arguably even more exclusive than the industry it covered. In the years since Roger Ebert’s passing in 2013, Chaz has used her platform to widen that circle, elevating emerging critics and filmmakers through RogerEbert.com and the Ebertfest Film Festival. Her belief in empathy as both an artistic and civic value now drives her philanthropy.
Through the Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation, Chaz has supported organizations focused on education, the arts and human rights. And her latest project, the FECK Awards — an acronym for forgiveness, empathy, compassion and kindness — builds on that by recognizing people and groups who embody those ideals. The initiative is also tied to her new book, “It’s Time to Give a FECK: Elevating Humanity,” which is based on the idea that kindness is not weakness but courage in action.
I recently caught up with Chaz to talk about the personal forces behind her philanthropy, the lessons she learned from her late husband, and why she believes storytelling can be one of the most powerful tools for social change. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What did philanthropy mean to you growing up? Were there any early lessons from your parents or community?
I will tell you, when I was in third grade, we were learning about Cyrus McCormick, who invented the mechanical reaper, and the Marshall Field family and some others [in Chicago] who made money, whether it was during the Industrial Revolution or however, but they made enough to be comfortable, and they established charities, and they started doing charitable work.
And I remember hearing about all these people, it filled my heart so full that people made money and wanted to go out and establish charities to do good work for other people, to make sure that people were getting educated, or make sure that people had jobs or food to eat, or clothes to wear.
I remember being in social studies, raising my hand and telling my teacher, “That’s what I want to be when I grow up.” And she said, “What?” I said, “A philanthropist.” And she looked at me and said, “I’m so sorry, but you can’t be a philanthropist because you don’t have any money.” And I remember saying to her, “Well, one day I will and I’m going to be a philanthropist.”
And so I went home and told my mother, who was a woman in the neighborhood, almost six feet tall. She was just this bundle of energy and kindness, and did all these good works for people in the neighborhood. When I was a kid, we would donate small amounts of money, whether it was to a church or a charity. And I was always the one who volunteered to help collect money and donate it in school. So my mother said, “Let me tell you something. OK, philanthropist is a word. When you read it in a book, it’s usually because people have donated money. But you don’t need money to do good works. You do good work with me all the time.”
So that stuck with me, whether somebody calls me a philanthropist or not. And so when I did get to a point where I was comfortable enough in life to actually start donating money and doing things, by then, it didn’t even really occur to me to call myself a philanthropist. But other people did. So now I call myself the three Ps: I’m a publisher of a movie reviews website, I’m a producer of TV and movies sometimes, and I’m a philanthropist.
When did you start to formalize your giving? What did those early years look like?
So even before I had a husband, my giving started. I was a trial attorney and with my first husband, we would also donate money. I was living in the suburbs of Chicago then and my children grew up in that philosophy to help people who were less fortunate.
But then I brought some Apple stock and Google stock — that was good to me — and I started donating more money on a regular basis. I love mentoring emerging writers, emerging technologists, emerging film critics and filmmakers. And so I started donating money to programs to help them. There’s a food depository here in Chicago, [Greater Chicago Food Depository] that I support and stay in touch with. I think that people should have the basics: food on the table, shoes to wear, a roof over their head, heat in the winter.
And right now, with the government being shut down, food pantries and food depositories are going through a really hard time. So when I get off with you, that’s my thing now. Go over there and see what kind of help I can give. It’s just something I love doing.
It seems like you’ve always balanced hands-on service with supporting the arts. How did that side of your giving begin?
So the arts work is something I was always interested in, even though in my early life, I was a trial attorney. But as an adolescent, I always wrote stories and little plays. I never thought of myself as a playwright, except that I actually did write a play for a charity in Chicago that helped raise money for charity. So there’s always been this creativity and an appreciation for the arts.
As you know, my late husband, Roger Ebert, was a film critic. But I worked with organizations like the catalyst forum out of Sundance, to support and encourage emerging filmmakers, and so I would donate money to that program to help them get their films. Last year, I directed my first movie, a labor of love called “Wellness Warrior,” [which follows the life of the founder of the modern spa industry, Deborah Szekely, from being a World War II professor’s teen bride to a 102-year-old fitness pioneer.] She tells people, “Don’t rely on Big Pharma. Take your destiny for your health into your own hands” And I love her philosophy.
How did the Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation come to be? And have you learned any lessons about giving that you wish you’d known at the start?
We started that foundation in 2004. Early programs included awarding grants in Roger Ebert’s honor to organizations working to improve lives in Chicago and advance the arts.
The first million dollars that we gave away, maybe I should have created more of a package for how you apply. I was just so happy to do it, and people would write. There was still a process, but we gave it away too quickly. The thing that I really like about foundations is that once you put that money in, it’s no longer yours.
I probably should have had more rules in place, about the amounts of money, the requirements for people requesting it. I don’t have any regrets, but I know as I move forward, I do that now.
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Tell me about the FECK Awards and how they came about.
So I wrote a book called “It’s Time to Give a FECK: Elevating Humanity through Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion, and Kindness.” It’s an acronym, and it just asks people to step up to be more empathetic of our fellow humans. It just asks people to step up, to be more empathetic, more kind, more compassionate, and to forgive people.
Sometimes people make a mistake, or sometimes we need to be forgiven. Somebody said, “What do you want to do with your book?” I said, “I don’t want to just sell books. I want people to live the principles.” So it came to me: I’m going to establish the FECK Awards, and that way, I’m prospecting for gold. And by prospecting for gold, it means I’m prospecting for the good in people.
We will find good people who are living these principles and give them an award at a ceremony in Chicago on April 4, 2026. I opened the nominations on October 15, which was my birthday. The awards ceremony takes place April 4, the day my husband passed away, and coincidentally, the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. passed away. So that’s why I chose April 4 as the day for the ceremony.
We initially had a rule for the FECK Awards that you had to be 18 years old to be nominated. Then I met this little girl named Journey from Chicago who wanted to get a PlayStation console. Her mother said, we can’t afford it. Journey went to her grandfather for an idea. He said, maybe you can sell lemonade. So he helped her build a lemonade stand, and she made enough money not only to buy one console, but two. We said, are you going to keep both of them? She said, no, I want to donate the second one to La Rabida Children’s Hospital, because when she was sick, she was in that hospital.
She took it upon herself to make enough money to buy and donate it. They were so happy to receive it. I said, “Journey, you can keep both or the money if you want.” She said, “No, because I know that sharing is caring.”
So that became our little mantra, sharing is caring. And I said, wait a minute, why should she be excluded if she’s not 18? So we took the age limit off. You can nominate anyone of any age who’s doing good works because of little Journey.
Looking ahead, what do you want the Ebert Foundation and FECK Awards’ impact to be five or 10 years from now?
This is what I’ve learned in life: I want to stand back and just be amazed, because some of the nominations that we are getting, people are doing things beyond my wildest imagination.
Instead of saying my goal for the next 10 years for the Ebert Foundation is X, I think the FECK Awards are going to help me fashion some things that may not even be within my imagination right now. People are so creative. Life gives us these curveballs, and we catch them and do something with them that we never thought we could. So I’m kind of going with the flow.
