For more than 100 years, The Chicago Community Trust has served as a central convener and issue-area expert for Chicago philanthropy. Through the donor-advised funds it hosts and its organizational initiatives, the Trust helps donors connect their philanthropy to impact, leading to meaningful change in the Chicago region and beyond. To this end, the Trust unveiled a 10-year strategic plan in 2019 with the goal of addressing the root cause of many of Chicago’s ongoing challenges: the racial and ethnic wealth gap. Currently, 12 of Chicago’s 13 most economically stressed communities are majority Black or Latinx. The Trust is working to address this systemic imbalance through short-term emergency relief and long-term systems change.
One on-the-ground example of this work is the Trust’s initiative We Rise Together, which is committed to making sure that as Chicago’s economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Black and Latinx communities are not left behind. Launched in October 2020, We Rise Together is a coalition of corporate and philanthropic funders and communities focused on spurring development in disinvested neighborhoods, promoting employment resilience, and strengthening businesses owned by people of color.