With almost 2 million people behind bars at any given time, the U.S. incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. And while philanthropic funders have backed a number of efforts to reform prisons, jails have received far less … [Read more...] about A Look Back at MacArthur’s Big Bet to Reduce Jail Populations
Articles on Chicago & Great Lakes Area
“A Hotbed of Hope”: The Obama Foundation Celebrates a New Presidential Center
5 Things to Know About Philanthropy in Chicago
A Conversation with Chaz Ebert on Turning Empathy Into Action
Common Sense: Rapper Common Talks Philanthropy
Woods Fund Chicago’s Michelle Morales on the Myths of Perpetuity
How Chicago’s Square One Foundation Fosters Economic and Civic Opportunity
Meet 14 of Chicago’s Top Philanthropic Families
“Outsized Philanthropy.” Meet the Family Foundation Giving Chicago Performing Artists Six-Figure Awards
How the Field Foundation of Illinois Supports Community Power-Building Throughout Chicago
In 2023, the MacArthur Foundation and the Chicago-based Field Foundation of Illinois, which distributes more than $10 million annually and works to address systemic issues in historically marginalized areas of Chicago, launched a new grantmaking … [Read more...] about How the Field Foundation of Illinois Supports Community Power-Building Throughout Chicago
How This Accessible Chicago-Based Funder Targets Entrepreneurship, Health and Disabilities
We periodically publish quick overviews of grantmakers on our radar, looking at recent developments and key details about how they operate. Today, we’re taking a look at the Coleman Foundation, which supports organizations in the Chicago metropolitan … [Read more...] about How This Accessible Chicago-Based Funder Targets Entrepreneurship, Health and Disabilities
Big Change Requires Bold Funding: Why We’re Upping Our Annual Grantee Payout to 11%
“It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” — Assata Shakur, “Assata: An Autobiography”In June last year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned … [Read more...] about Big Change Requires Bold Funding: Why We’re Upping Our Annual Grantee Payout to 11%
Six Questions for Michelle Morales, President of Woods Fund Chicago
Born in Yonkers, New York, Michelle Morales was a self-described “military brat,” spending her childhood moving around the country before settling in Chicago in 1993 to attend DePaul University. For most of her professional career, Morales worked in … [Read more...] about Six Questions for Michelle Morales, President of Woods Fund Chicago
This Illinois-Based Tech Billionaire Is Moving Big Sums With a Unique Faith-Based Approach
My colleague Sue-Lynn Moses and I recently took a deep dive into how major donors carry out their giving through their private foundations. Our analysis of Candid data from 2017 to 2019 confirmed what we had long suspected — that wealthy donors often … [Read more...] about This Illinois-Based Tech Billionaire Is Moving Big Sums With a Unique Faith-Based Approach
Funding for Fathers: A Chicago-based Family Foundation Shines a Light on Fatherhood
The Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation recently gave a three-year, $300,000 donation to The Dovetail Project, a Chicago-based nonprofit that educates and supports Black and Hispanic fathers aged 17 to 24. This is a rare gift for a father-focused … [Read more...] about Funding for Fathers: A Chicago-based Family Foundation Shines a Light on Fatherhood
Is Tutoring the Answer to COVID Learning Loss? These Funders Want to Find Out
Kevin Huffman understood early on that the pandemic would have a devastating impact on American students — and that some would be hurt far more than others. In March 2020, as schools were shuttered and classrooms went virtual, the former Tennessee … [Read more...] about Is Tutoring the Answer to COVID Learning Loss? These Funders Want to Find Out
Backed by a Billionaire Couple, a Chicago Nonprofit Takes a Community-Led Approach to Youth Equity
Philanthropy isn’t moving as fast as its most forward-thinking leaders might hope — Marguerite Casey Foundation CEO Carmen Rojas once told me she envisions a world where foundations no longer need to exist. But a section of philanthropy is … [Read more...] about Backed by a Billionaire Couple, a Chicago Nonprofit Takes a Community-Led Approach to Youth Equity
To Advance Health Equity, a Big Hospital Gift Targets the Earliest Childhood Experiences
As research on child development has progressed, funders supporting education and the wellbeing of children have shifted their work further upstream, into the earliest months and years of life. Sometimes, that means tackling health inequities … [Read more...] about To Advance Health Equity, a Big Hospital Gift Targets the Earliest Childhood Experiences
A Conversation with Jeffreen Hayes, Executive Director of Chicago-Based Arts Funder Threewalls
Dr. Jeffreen Hayes is the executive director of Threewalls, a Chicago-based organization that “fosters contemporary art practices that respond to lived experiences, encouraging connections beyond art.” Founded in 2003 as a brick-and-mortar gallery, … [Read more...] about A Conversation with Jeffreen Hayes, Executive Director of Chicago-Based Arts Funder Threewalls
The Obama Foundation Is Picking up Steam. Who’s on Board and Where Is Funding Headed So Far?
The roots of the presidential library system can be traced to 1939, when President Franklin Roosevelt donated his personal and presidential papers to the federal government. Roosevelt also pledged a portion of his estate at Hyde Park, and friends … [Read more...] about The Obama Foundation Is Picking up Steam. Who’s on Board and Where Is Funding Headed So Far?
“Downright Dangerous.” How a Donor Couple is Tackling the Thorny Issue of Wealth Inequality
Why is wealth inequality such a prominent feature of the American economy? What are the economic, social and political implications of the wealth gap? What can be done about it?Philanthropist James Stone would like to find answers to questions like … [Read more...] about “Downright Dangerous.” How a Donor Couple is Tackling the Thorny Issue of Wealth Inequality
The Logan Legacy: Three Brothers Carry on the Philanthropic Work Their Parents Started
At a time when billionaire donors are looming ever larger in philanthropy, it can be easy to overlook the accomplishments of more modest foundations whose founders rarely draw media attention. If anybody had been watching six years ago, when two … [Read more...] about The Logan Legacy: Three Brothers Carry on the Philanthropic Work Their Parents Started
A Major Funder Is Overhauling How it Backs Local Arts Groups. What Will That Mean for Grantees?
Back in February, MacArthur Foundation Senior Program Officer Geoffrey Banks made an announcement that made leaders at Chicago’s arts and cultural organizations with budgets of $2 million or less a bit uneasy. The foundation and its two regranting … [Read more...] about A Major Funder Is Overhauling How it Backs Local Arts Groups. What Will That Mean for Grantees?
This Chicago Journalism Merger Is a Breakthrough for Local News—and Funders Are Taking Note
In his 1954 autobiography, the great Chicago newspaperman-turned-screenwriter Ben Hecht wrote, “I have lived in other cities but been inside only one. I once wore all the windows of Chicago and all its doorways on a key ring. Saloons, mansions, … [Read more...] about This Chicago Journalism Merger Is a Breakthrough for Local News—and Funders Are Taking Note
A Funder’s COVID-Era Effort to Support Black Principals Finds a Permanent Home, New Leader
The pandemic was tough on kids, teachers and families, but it was school principals who often stood in the direct line of fire. Principals had to oversee it all: school closures, the shift to online learning, locating students who went missing, … [Read more...] about A Funder’s COVID-Era Effort to Support Black Principals Finds a Permanent Home, New Leader
For Fundraisers in STEM Education, Both New and Familiar Challenges
Education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields is a key interest for many philanthropic funders, including corporations, foundations and public sources such as the National Science Foundation. Nevertheless, a number of … [Read more...] about For Fundraisers in STEM Education, Both New and Familiar Challenges
Seven Questions for Ellen Alberding, President and CEO of the Joyce Foundation
Ellen Alberding is president and CEO of the Joyce Foundation, the Chicago-based grantmaker that distributes $50 million annually and has assets totaling $1 billion. Under Alberding’s leadership, the foundation, which is active in fields like … [Read more...] about Seven Questions for Ellen Alberding, President and CEO of the Joyce Foundation
Who’s Backing a Campaign to Bring the Internet to Millions of U.S. Households That Still Lack Access?
EducationSuperHighway has always set its sights high. Founder and CEO Evan Marwell started the organization almost a decade ago with the express goal of closing the connectivity gap in K-12 schools by 2020. In 2013, just 10% of students had access to … [Read more...] about Who’s Backing a Campaign to Bring the Internet to Millions of U.S. Households That Still Lack Access?
Funder Spotlight: How 3Arts Supports Undercapitalized Artists in the Chicago Area
IP Funder Spotlights offer quick rundowns of the grantmakers that are on our radar, including a few key details on how they operate and what they’re up to right now. Today, we take a look at a Chicago-based nonprofit arts service and grantmaking … [Read more...] about Funder Spotlight: How 3Arts Supports Undercapitalized Artists in the Chicago Area
Funder Spotlight: The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation’s Arts and Environment Giving
IP Funder Spotlights offer quick rundowns of the grantmakers that are on our radar, including a few key details on how they operate and what they’re up to right now. Today, we take a look at a foundation established by a printing executive and … [Read more...] about Funder Spotlight: The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation’s Arts and Environment Giving
