Catalyst Fund

Chicago Foundation for Women raises dollars to match funds provided by the Groundswell Fund’s core program, the Catalyst Fund, a national initiative to bring new funding to women of color-led reproductive justice work. Through this partnership, the Foundation provides funds for grants and technical assistance to Chicago-area reproductive justice projects led by women of color. This fund amplifies efforts to expand the reproductive justice platform and diversify the voices of communities of color on these issues.

Arise Chicago - $ 18,125

Arise educates, organizes and develops the leadership of low-wage, primarily immigrant, majority female workers, and organizes a broad range of faith leaders to support workplace and policy campaigns. Arise organizes for economic and physical security for all workers, especially for women of color and immigrant women, by ensuring that workplaces are welcoming to parents; working toward jobs that provide economic stability, healthy and safe environments for women, including during pregnancy; and advocating for family-friendly policies such as paid sick days.

Cabrini Green Legal Aid - $ 41,125

Cabrini Green Legal Aid (CGLA) provides legal services and advocacy for individuals affected by the criminal justice system. CGLA ensures the voices and experiences of women impacted by incarceration are on the forefront of criminal system reform conversations.

Chicago Freedom School - $ 28,125

Chicago Freedom School provides training and educational opportunities for youth and allied adults to develop leadership skills through the lens of civic action and through the study of social movement history. Project HealUs activates and prepares young people of color ages 14-20 from marginalized communities to explore, engage, and expand the work of the reproductive justice movement within their communities.

Equal Hope - $ 44,625

The Task Force works to address breast cancer survival disparities between Black and white women in Chicago by increasing access to quality health care. The Task Force supports education, quality measurement and improvement for breast healthcare, as well as provides direct services to women through its Community Health Initiatives.

EverThrive Illinois - $ 35,625

EverThrive Illinois works to improve the health of women, children, and families across the lifespan.

Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health - $ 41,125

Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH) is a network of empowered youth and allied adults who transform public consciousness and increase the capacity of family, school and healthcare systems to support the sexual health, rights and identities of youth.

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum - $ 28,125

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is a national, multi-issue organizing and advocacy organization dedicated to organizing and building power of women-identifying Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) people to advance human rights and social justice.

Organizing Neighborhoods for Equality - $ 15,000

Organizing Neighborhoods for Equality (ONE): Northside is a mixed-income, multi-ethnic, intergenerational organization that unites its diverse communities. It builds collective power to eliminate injustice through bold and innovative community organizing. It accomplishes this through developing grassroots leaders and acting together to effect change.

Warehouse Workers for Justice $ 18,125

Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ) works to transform work in the distribution industry from poverty-level temp jobs into living wage jobs with dignity. The Women’s Committee engages women of color as leaders in the movement for economic security.

Eleanor Network at Chicago Foundation for Women

The Eleanor Network works to expand women’s economic security through a variety of strategies, from direct service to grassroots advocacy. The Pathways to Economic Self-Sufficiency model focuses on workforce development as an essential economic security initiative within the Network. The combination of training opportunities and comprehensive support services ensures that women are able to secure living wage jobs with benefits and have clear pathways for career advancement and professional development.

Accion Chicago - $ 15,000

Accion created its Female Entrepreneurship Program to connect women, primarily minority and low-income entrepreneurs, with the services they need to grow their businesses, support their families, and create jobs in their communities.

All Chicago Making Homelessness History - $ 50,000

All Chicago Making Homelessness History provides financial assistance via its Emergency Fund to provide assistance with needs such as rent, security deposits and basic home items – as well as employment related necessities such as child care, transportation and professional attire.

Cara - $ 30,000

The Eleanor Career Advancement Program prepares employed Cara women for the next step in their professional journeys, whether that be additional training, enrolling in formal educational programs, or finding a more suitable job through which they can advance their compensation and benefits.

Chicago Appleseed Fund - $ 30,000

Chicago Appleseed improves lives by advocating for courts that are fair for all people, efficient so justice is not delayed, and effective in seeking solutions to social justice problems. Chicago Appleseed works to make the court system accessible to low-income families without an attorney, with a focus on domestic relations court and women seeking child support.

Chicago House and Social Service Agency - $ 20,000

Chicago House’s innovative TransWorks Program is the only employment program in the Midwest specifically addressing the barriers that transgender people face in the workforce.

Chicago Women in Trades - $ 65,000

Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT) exists to improve women’s economic equity by increasing their participation in skilled, blue-collar occupations traditionally held by men. CWIT creates opportunities for women to enter and advance in the industry through policy, advocacy and technical assistance initiatives, and by ensuring that women are informed about and prepared to compete for and succeed in these occupations through direct service programs.

Chicago Youth Centers - $ 15,000

Girls Excelling in Math and Science is a national club model that increases interest in STEM for girls in elementary and middle school through hands-on, project-based learning

Chinese Mutual Aid Association - $ 15,000

Young Women Warriors (YWW) is a group-mentoring program for young women of color ages 12-18 from low-income immigrant families. YWW provides young women access to older, female professionals of color who help guide mentees throughout high school, college and the beginning of their careers.

Communities United - $ 15,000

Communities United (CU) is a grassroots organization committed to advancing racial, economic, and gender justice through the transformative development of leaders and community-led systems change.

Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) - $ 30,000

Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) develops the leadership and organizing capacity of low-income mothers and grandmothers of color through leadership training and direct action to make their voices heard in policy-making at the local, state and national level.

Deborah's Place - $ 20,000

Deborah’s Place opens doors for women experiencing homelessness as Chicago’s largest provider of supportive and interim housing exclusively for women.

Enlace Chicago - $ 15,000

Enlace Chicago convenes and supports a network of Spanish-speaking Community Health Workers (CHW) to build their skills in health promotion and education in the community, create more employment opportunities, mobilize as advocates on behalf of the community, and ultimately improve access to care and community health outcomes in Little Village.

GirlForward - $ 15,000

GirlForward is a community of support dedicated to creating and enhancing opportunity for girls who have been displaced globally by conflict and persecution.

Grow Your Own Teachers - $ 35,000

Grow Your Own Teachers Illinois (GYO) is a teacher training program that supports community members of color to become certified teachers in their neighborhood schools to help improve the educational outcomes of students.

Healing to Action - $ 15,000

Healing to Action advances a worker-led movement to end gender-based violence.

Heartland Human Care Services - $50,000

IDEA (Imagine Dedicate Earn Achieve) helps low-income female heads-of-household who earn less than $40,000 per year improve their financial stability through credit building, money management, access to affordable banking, decreased reliance on predatory products and increased earning potential.

Jane Addams Resource Corporation - $75,000

JARC’s Women in Manufacturing program (WMP) prepares low-income women for living-wage careers in the metal manufacturing sector.

Jane Addams Senior Caucus - $ 25,000

Jane Addams Senior Caucus (JASC) is Chicago’s largest grassroots community action organization led by seniors.

Kinzie Industrial Development Corporation (KIDC) - $ 70,000

The Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training program prepares students for an Illinois EMT-Basic license and is offered tuition free to women who are heads of their households.

Ladies of Virtue - $ 5,000

Ladies of Virtue empowers girls, ages 9 to 18, to become confident and purpose-driven leaders. It prepares them for leadership through character development, career readiness, and civic engagement. It provides project management, collaboration, and communication training via 2-4 month project experiences to empower girls to lead in the workplace. After graduating from high-school, participants are mentored and supported for six additional years as LOV 4 Life alumni.

Latino Union of Chicago - $ 20,000

Latino Union collaborates with low-wage immigrant and U.S.-born workers to develop the tools necessary to improve social and economic conditions. The Chicago Coalition of Household Workers is a transformative organizing and leadership development program for household workers who are building power to create just conditions in their workplaces, homes, and communities.

Logan Square Neighborhood Association - $ 15,000

The Parent Mentor program develops parents (mostly mothers) as leaders in homes, schools and communities by providing educational and leadership opportunities to parents as classroom-based academic and emotional support for students.

Love, Unity & Values (LUV) Institute - $ 5,000

LUV’s Ladies of Leadership is designed to disrupt violence and other negative social behaviors while delivering intensive employment training to underserved young women (16-24). The 6-week, four days a week program includes leadership development, college and career readiness, and social/emotional competence using a gender lens.

Northwest Side Housing Center - $ 20,000

Women Forward Chicago (WFC) engages low and moderate income Latinas in building the financial and life skills necessary for economic security.

Restaurant Opportunities Center of Chicago - $ 10,000

Restaurant Opportunities Center of Chicago (ROC-Chicago) is a multiracial membership-based organization that combines worker advocacy, workplace justice campaigns, job training and research to improve wages and working conditions for the low-wage restaurant workforce.

Shriver Center on Poverty Law - $ 30,000

The Women’s Law and Policy Initiative (WLPI) creates and promotes legal and policy solutions to improve the lives of low-income women and girls.

St. Leonard's Ministries - $ 15,000

St. Leonard’s Ministries’ Grace House employs a two-step approach, preparing women with the internal tools to heal from past traumas, and providing job skills training, job placement, and long-term retention support to ensure the women remain gainfully employed.

Target HOPE - $ 20,000

Target HOPE enhances educational opportunities for minority students attending public high schools in the Chicago metropolitan area. The STEM Initiative creates specific material and training for young women and girls to increase the number of female scholars who have an interest in or a demonstrated aptitude for mathematics and science, as well as mentoring opportunities and peer support.

The Night Ministry - $ 15,000

The Response-Ability Pregnant and Parenting Program increases the safety and stability of pregnant and parenting homeless youth ages 14-21 and their children.

Upwardly Global - $ 40,000

The Women’s Empowerment Program equips immigrant and refugee women with the essential employability skills, confidence, networks and access to employers.

Women Employed - $ 25,000

Women Employed’s mission is to improve the economic status of women and remove barriers to economic equity.

Women's Business Development Center - $ 15,000

WBDC’s mission is to support and accelerate business development and growth, targeting women and serving other underserved communities and veterans, in order to strengthen their participation in, and impact on, the economy.

YWCA Metropolitan Chicago - $ 15,000

Through one-on-one and group coaching, skills-based training, career placement and financial education, YWCA’s Economic Sustainability Services offer women help planning for a career, career advancement, small business development, financial sustainability and asset acquisition.

Englewood Women's Initiative

The Englewood Women’s Initiative (EWI) aims to increase the economic security of women living in the Greater Englewood area and their families. Through a strategic alliance of agencies, EWI will equip qualified women with the tools, skills, and resources to put them on a path to good-paying jobs (earning at least $40,000/year, with benefits) and long-term economic stability.

Accion Chicago - $ 23,000.00

All Chicago Making Homelessness History - $ 50,000.00

All Chicago Making Homelessness History provides financial assistance via its Emergency Fund to provide assistance with needs such as rent, security deposits, and basic home items – as well as employment-related necessities such as child care, transportation, and professional attire.

Chicago Women in Trades - $ 15,000.00

Chicago Women in Trades (CWIT) provides career education and training to prepare women to enter fields such as welding and construction. All participants receive case management, job placement assistance, and access to other services as needed.

Family Rescue - $ 23,000.00

Through advocacy, social service provision, and health care, Family Rescue works to break the cycle of domestic violence. Family Rescue provides screening services and assists women affected by domestic violence with basic needs such as transitional housing, food, clothing, and financial assistance.

Lawyer's Committee for Better Housing - $ 23,000.00

Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing (LCBH) protects the rights of women facing eviction through direct services, emergency funding and advocacy.

Metropolitan Family Services - $ 26,000.00

Metropolitan Family Services and its Financial Opportunities Center based at Kennedy-King College provides career services, including skills assessment, job readiness skills, job placement and transportation assistance; financial literacy, including one-to-one coaching, budgeting and assistance accessing public benefits; and education, with a particular emphasis on building employment bridges into healthcare and certified medical administrative assistant training.

Teamwork Englewood - $ 40,000

Teamwork Englewood is the lead agency for the Englewood Women’s Initiative (EWI). It provides job training and job training referrals, and placement. This includes building virtual job training internally and adding more virtual job opportunities and coronavirus recovery related programming to the EWI network

The General Fund

Grants from the General Fund focus on Chicago Foundation for Women’s three key issue areas: economic security, freedom from violence, and access to health services and information for women, girls, trans, and gender non-binary individuals.

Affinity Community Services - $ 5,000

Affinity Community Services is a social justice organization serving the needs of the Black LGBTQ community of Chicago with a particular focus on Black women and is one of the few organizations created and run by Black LGBTQ women.

Apna Ghar, Inc. (Our Home) - $ 20,000.00

Apna Ghar, Inc. provides holistic and culturally sensitive services to survivors of gender-based violence across immigrant communities in the metropolitan Chicago area.

Arab-American Family Services - $ 15,000.00

The mission of Arab-American Family Services (AAFS) is to empower and enhance the lives of Arab and Muslim people. AAFS addresses the many unmet needs and concerns of Arab American and other immigrant families in more than 30 communities in the South Suburban Chicagoland area. AAFS’ Domestic Violence Intervention and Prevention Program provides direct services, advocacy and outreach for survivors of domestic violence.

Ascend Justice - $ 35,000.00

Ascend Justice works to increase the safety, stability, and independence of survivors of gender-based violence and families impacted by the child welfare system with skilled, compassionate legal representation. It serves clients with a range of service delivery options, balancing client needs, and the complexity of their legal issues with our limited resources. At its office in the Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse, Ascend Justice serves victims of domestic violence in the immediate aftermath of a crisis.

Between Friends - $ 20,000.00

Between Friends works to break the cycle of domestic abuse through crisis intervention, prevention, and education services serving thousands of adults and youth every year.

Brave Space Alliance - $ 15,000.00

Brave Space Alliance (BSA) is the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ Center located on the South Side of Chicago, dedicated to creating and providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources, programming, and services for LGBTQ individuals on the South and West sides of the city.

BUILD, Inc. - $ 15,000.00

The BUILDing Girls 2 Women (BG2W) program invites girls with previous involvement in gangs or the justice system to participate in mentoring and counseling sessions. Through intensive group and individual support to address trauma, prevent participation in crime and violence, and develop self-esteem, self-efficacy, and social-emotional health, BG2W teaches important skills like teamwork, anger management, and establishing healthy relationships, while creating a ‘BG2W Sisterhood’ that continues long after the core program is completed.

Center for Advancing Domestic Peace - $ 10,000.00

The Center for Advancing Domestic Peace works to stop domestic violence where it starts by helping those who abuse take responsibility for their behavior, create healthier relationships, and strengthen their community.

Chicago Reader - $ 15,000.00

The Reader will publish a series of articles (and possibly other types of new content) covering the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for women, girls, trans, and non-binary people from Chicago’s communities of color. This series will include stories about domestic violence as well as the systemic violence which is resulting in higher rates of negative health outcomes from Covid-19 in Chicago’s communities of color.

Chicago Women's Health Center - $ 25,000.00

Chicago Women’s Health Center (CWHC) facilitates the empowerment of women and trans people by providing access to health care and health education in a respectful environment where people pay what they can afford.

Chicago Workers' Collaborative - $ 10,000.00

Chicago Workers’ Collective (CWC) organizes and empowers low-wage temp laborers to take action and protect their rights. CWC works to build community power by bridging diverse communities and organizing across sectors to end gender violence, racial discrimination, and economic exploitation. CWC combines economic justice, community engagement, and healing justice through leadership training and community-building initiatives, with a particular focus on immigrant communities.

Connections for Abused Women and their Children - $ 10,000.00

Connections for Abused Women and their Children (CAWC) provides emergency response and comprehensive domestic violence services that enable survivors to increase their safety and establish independence.

Crossroads Fund - $ 7,500.00

Cultivate: Women of Color Leadership Initiative: Cultivate builds and sustains a cadre of energized women leaders of color who are well connected across movements.

Family Rescue - $ 15,000.00

Family Rescue is dedicated to eliminating domestic violence in the Chicago community by providing comprehensive support services and shelter to survivors of domestic violence, engaging in advocacy to promote future systems change, and encouraging prevention through community education.

HANA Center - $ 15,000.00

HANA Center empowers Korean American, immigrant, and multiethnic communities through social services, education, and community organizing to advance human rights.

KAN-WIN - $ 25,000.00

KAN-WIN empowers survivors of gender-based violence, with a particular focus on Asian immigrant communities.

Kenwood Oakland Community Organization - $ 15,000.00

Girls Lead is an initiative that is organizing young people, primarily girls, to reform policy and demand that law enforcement prioritizes the safety of Black women and girls.

Latinos Progresando - $ 20,000.00

Latinos Progresando (LP) delivers high-quality information and resources for people to build secure, healthy, and productive lives. LP runs the largest Latino-led immigration legal services program in Illinois, including an initiative serving immigrant victims of domestic violence. LP’s VAWA project provides high-quality, free legal support for immigrant survivors of domestic violence in order to help them achieve independent immigration status, obtain a work permit, pursue lawful employment and gain economic independence.

Life Span - $ 15,000.00

Life Span combines civil representation, criminal court advocacy, and counseling to provide a permanent solution to domestic and sexual violence.

Midwest Access Project - $ 20,000.00

Midwest Access Project (MAP) envisions a society in which every person has access to patient-centered, quality reproductive health care within their community. As a Midwestern hub for training and advocacy, MAP fills gaps in medical education and clinical training, reducing barriers to care and improving access to reproductive health care by training providers in comprehensive sexual and reproductive health including contraception, pregnancy options counseling, miscarriage, and abortion.

Mikva Challenge - $ 19,000.00

Mikva Challenge develops youth to be informed, empowered, and active citizens and community leaders by engaging youth in action civics, an authentic and transformative learning process built on youth voice and youth expertise.

Mujeres Latinas en Acción - $ 15,000.00

Mujeres Latinas en Acción empowers survivors of violence to heal, thrive, and become leaders.

Nerdy Media - $ 2,500.00

It creates media-focused, project-based programs for Chicago’s underserved communities.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois - $ 15,000.00

Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) provides compassionate, comprehensive reproductive health care, education, and advocacy.

RefugeeOne - $ 15,000.00

RefugeeOne creates opportunity for refugees fleeing war, terror, and persecution to build new lives of safety, dignity, and self-reliance. The Women’s Health Project strengthens the mental, physical and social well-being of refugee women and girls. The program provides participants with therapeutic services, medical and intensive case management, and opportunities to build a sense of community.

Resilience - $ 25,000.00

Resilience is committed to the healing and empowerment of sexual assault survivors through non-judgmental crisis intervention counseling, individual and group trauma therapy, and medical and legal advocacy in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU, Inc. - $ 25,000.00

The Women’s and Reproductive Rights Project (WRRP) facilitates women’s full participation in society by safeguarding the right to medical privacy and bodily autonomy; removing the stigma that surrounds abortion, pregnancy, and lactation; and advancing policies that recognize the full range of reproductive health care—from contraception to abortion, to childbirth—as health care.

Sarah's Inn - $ 15,000.00

Sarah’s Inn provides comprehensive domestic services to survivors and responds to the needs of families already affected by violence while working proactively to prevent future violence. Sarah’s Inn approaches domestic violence as a societal issue that demands a holistic response and works to break the cycle of violence for future generations.

South Suburban Family Shelter - $ 15,000.00

South Suburban Family Shelter (SSFS) provides counseling, criminal and civil court advocacy, medical advocacy, emergency shelter and transitional housing, financial assistance, school-based prevention programs, abuser intervention, and a 24-hour hotline for survivors of domestic violence.

The Dreamcatcher Foundation - $ 15,000.00

TDF is a survivor-founded, survivor-driven, and survivor-focused agency working to end human trafficking in the Chicago area and its surrounding suburbs.

YWCA of Evanston/North Shore - $ 15,000.00

YWCA of Evanston/North Shore is a multicultural women’s organization dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting justice and dignity for all. The Domestic Violence Services program allows survivors to access emergency intervention services, including a crisis hotline and emergency housing, as well as trauma-informed counseling and legal services.

Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving in which individuals, organizations, businesses, and communities take collective action to give back and support causes they believe in. Chicago Foundation for Women community members selected one organization to receive a special, one-time #GivingTuesday grant of $ 10,000, one organization to receive a grant of $ 3,000, and the remaining organizations to receive grants of $ 1,250 each.

360 Youth Services - $ 1,250

360 Youth Services provides life-changing services to youth. Its vision & belief are in the potential & power of each youth to successfully navigate life’s challenges. It is the trusted agency in DuPage, Kane, Will, and other western suburban areas for youth-focused support, information, education, staff training, and crisis interventions.

A Long Walk Home - $ 10,000

A Long Walk Home will address the needs of low-income African American girls as well as to decrease the disparity between victimization and resources. A Long Walk Home, Inc. believes that African American girls play a crucial role in a pandemic as caregivers for their family and essential workers. By investing in their potential, providing them with the skills and resources we help protect some of the most vulnerable communities.

Assata's Daughters - $ 1,250

Assata’s Daughters, currently based in the Washington Park neighborhood on Chicago’s southside, is a young person-led organization that organizes young Black people in the Black Radical Tradition through a queer Black Feminist lens. Through political education and revolutionary services, our programs aim to escalate, deepen, and sustain the Black Lives Matter Movement for the collective liberation of Black people. Assata’s Daughters provides year-long, after-school political education programming to young Black girls, and to Black teens. It uses gardening programs as an organizing tool to engage young people who would otherwise not participate in its programming.

Brave Space Alliance - $ 1,250

Chicago Volunteer Doulas - $ 3,000

Chicago Volunteer Doulas is a grassroots network of birth workers and allies who recognize that disparities in birth and health outcomes exist for parents from vulnerable demographic and social groups. It offers 4 programs: on-call doulas, traditional doulas, postpartum doulas, and peer doulas.

Lake County Crisis Center (A Safe Place) - $ 1,250

A Safe Place is the sole provider of services exclusively addressing domestic violence and human trafficking in Lake County, Illinois. A Safe Place offers comprehensive services that provide a safety net to meet the immediate and long-term needs of survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking.

Irene Bayrach Anti-violence Legacy Fund

The Irene Bayrach Anti-Violence Legacy Fund supports advocacy and services to address family violence. Through this Fund, the Foundation seeks to address the following types of violence: 1) Domestic abuse or violence between partners in an intimate relationship including physical, emotional and sexual abuse; 2) Girls’ exposure to family violence and child abuse, including physical maltreatment and neglect by a parent or other caregiver; 3) Elder women abuse.

Lake County Crisis Center (A Safe Place) - $ 15,000

Youth Outlook - $ 10,000

Youth Outlook celebrates, empowers, advocates, and provides services for LGBTQ+ youth and their families, friends, and communities. The Healthy Relationships for LGBTQ+ Youth project facilitates discussion and education around healthy relationships, sexual harassment and assault, and the continuum of violence with a focus on the needs of LGBTQ+ youth.

Polk Bros. Fund for Emerging Organizations

The Polk Bros. Foundation Fund for Emerging Organizations fosters early growth in promising nonprofits with annual operating budgets below $75,000.

One Roof Chicago - $ 3,750

One Roof Chicago (ORC) is a new initiative to build a welcoming and inclusive intergenerational community for older adults and young people most in need of affirming housing, connection, and career development. At the core of the project is the home, a place where LGBTQ+ older adults can age in safety, comfort, and with the knowledge that they are accepted and celebrated. LGBTQ+ young people will have the security of their own space with resources and mentorship to make their goals a reality.

Pearls and Gems Elite - $ 500

Pearls and Gems Elite is a mentoring and self-empowerment program with an educational component.

SWOP Chicago - $ 2,000

SWOP-Chicago is a grassroots organization by and for current and former sex workers, dedicated to improving the lives of Chicago-area sex workers both on and off the job.

The Rev. Willie Taplin Barrow Fund

The Rev. Willie Barrow Emerging Leaders Award recognizes organizations engaged in innovative work to support and strengthen the leadership of Black women and girls, and provide grant funding to further that work.

Assata's Daughters - $ 25,000

Sophia Fund for Advocacy

In 1992, the Sophia Fund’s founder turned over part of the fund’s work to Chicago Foundation for Women to continue its support of advocacy and social policy efforts to allow women and girls to live to their full potential.

Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation - $ 20,000

Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) addresses the institutions and individuals that perpetrate, profit from, or support sexual exploitation, focusing specifically on sexual assault and prostitution. CAASE seeks to end sexual exploitation through free legal services, policy and legislative change, prevention education, and community engagement efforts.

Chicago Community Bond Fund - $ 15,000

Chicago Community Bond Fund (CCBF) pays bond for individuals charged with crimes in Cook County, educates the public about the role of bond in the justice system, and advocates for the abolition of money bond.

HEART Women & Girls - $ 20,000

HEART Women and Girls promotes sexual health literacy and sexual violence prevention in Muslim communities through health education, advocacy, research, and training.

Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center - $ 25,000

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) ensures due process and human rights protections for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. The Gender Justice Initiative (GJI) fights to dismantle policies that disproportionately affect immigrant families, women, and LGBTQ immigrants.

Safer Foundation - $ 20,000

The Women’s Justice Institute (WJI) convenes a statewide task force working to decrease the women’s prison population in Illinois; reduce the harm caused to women, children, and families involved in the justice system; and promote improved health and well-being for those touched by the justice system.

UCAN - $ 15,000

The Phenomenal Woman female mentoring program brings together young women who have experienced trauma for group mentoring workshops in order to strengthen their self-esteem and self-image and to develop healthy and supportive relationships.

The Strategic Response Fund

Thanks in large part to generous support from the Polk Bros. Foundation, the Strategic Response Fund allows the Foundation to provide immediate support for projects that are outside of the Foundation’s spring and fall grant cycles. Grants of up to $7,500 are awarded on a rolling basis to local organizations addressing critical issues and concerns of women and girls. These rapid response grants are intended to be small, discrete, and timely. Thus, grants from this pool are “exceptional” and out of the ordinary course of business. This fund is competitive and an organization is limited to one Strategic Response Fund grant per year.

Immigrant Funders Collaborative - $ 5,000

IFC is a collaborative funding project, designed to respond to the need for immigration legal services and related capacity-building and action for non-profits to assist Illinois immigrants and refugees affected by executive orders and other policy changes related to immigration.

Donor-Advised Funds

Donor-Advised funds can be established when a person or family donates $5,000 or more to the fund. Chicago Foundation for Women assists the donor in awarding grants from that fund to support organizations helping women and girls.

Our Donor-Advised Funds include:

Fay Clayton Fund
Myah & Jaime Irick Fund
Nancy M. Goodman Memorial Fund
The Evelyn Appell Lipkin Endowed Fund
Patricia McMillen Fund

Jo and Art Moore Family Fund
Eleanor Petersen Fund
Berta Waese Endowed Fund
The Patty Crowley Fund

Elick and Charlotte Lindon Fund
Lueavery Partee Fund
Jessica Eve Patt Internship Fund
Hedy and Rose Ratner Fund

Anonymous Donor Advised Fund

Family Rescue - $5,000.00

Sarah's Inn - $5,000.00

Sarah’s Inn provides comprehensive domestic services to survivors and responds to the needs of families already affected by violence, while working proactively to prevent future violence. Sarah’s Inn approaches domestic violence as a societal issue that demands a holistic response and works to break the cycle of violence for future generations.

Evelyn Appell Lipkin Endowed Fund

Chinese Mutual Aid Association - $ 2,500

Young Women Warriors (YWW) is a group mentoring program for young women of color ages 12-18 from low-income immigrant families. YWW provides young women access to older, female professionals of color who help guide mentees throughout high school, college, and the beginning of their careers.

Equal Hope - $ 2,500

The Task Force works to address breast cancer survival disparities between Black and white women in Chicago by increasing access to quality health care. The Task Force supports education, quality measurement, and improvement for breast healthcare, as well as provides direct services to women through its Community Health Initiatives.

Fay Clayton Donor Advised Fund

Apna Ghar, Inc. (Our Home) - $ 2,000

Apna Ghar, Inc. provides holistic and culturally sensitive services to survivors of gender-based violence across immigrant communities in the metropolitan Chicago area.

Center for Reproductive Rights - $ 10,000

Reproductive freedom lies at the heart of the promise of human dignity, self-determination, and equality embodied in both the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Center works toward the time when that promise is enshrined in law in the United States and throughout the world.

Human Rights Watch - $ 5,000

Human Rights Watch is a nonprofit, nongovernmental human rights organization. It is known for its accurate fact-finding, impartial reporting, effective use of media, and targeted advocacy, often in partnership with local human rights groups.

Lambda Legal - $ 2,500

Founded in 1973, Lambda Legal is the oldest and largest national legal organization whose mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work.

Midwest Access Project - $ 2,000

Mujeres Latinas en Acción - $ 2,000

Mujeres Latinas en Acción empowers survivors of violence to heal, thrive and become leaders.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois - $ 10,000

Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) provides compassionate, comprehensive reproductive health care, education, and advocacy.

Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU, Inc. - $ 20,000

Women Employed - $ 2,000

Women Employed’s mission is to improve the economic status of women and remove barriers to economic equity.

YWCA of Evanston/North Shore - $ 5,000

YWCA of Evanston/North Shore - $ 2,000

Nancy M. Goodman Donor Advised Fund

CommunityHealth - $ 2,000

CommunityHealth is the leader in delivering comprehensive, high-quality, patient-centered health care at no cost to low-income, uninsured adults in need of a medical home.

Healing to Action - $ 2,000

Healing to Action advances a worker-led movement to end gender-based violence.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois - $ 2,000

Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) provides compassionate, comprehensive reproductive health care, education, and advocacy.

Jo and Art Moore Family Advised Fund

Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation - $1,000

GirlForward - $ 1,000

GirlForward is a community of support dedicated to creating and enhancing opportunity for girls who have been displaced globally by conflict and persecution.

Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center - $ 2,000

Literature for All of Us - $ 1,000

Literature for All of Us has been committed to literacy growth and development through a unique book group model. It believes that literacy is a basic and essential human need.

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble - $ 1,000

Founded in 1994, Rivendell is dedicated to advancing the lives of women through theatre. Rivendell was born out of the specific need that women theatre artists are vastly underrepresented in American theatre. This dramatic gender imbalance limits career opportunities for women artists, helping to perpetuate the disparity. Since its inception, Rivendell has grown to fill an important role in the Chicago theatre community as the only Equity theatre in Chicago committed to women’s stories.

Shriver Center on Poverty Law - $ 2,000

The Women’s Law and Policy Initiative (WLPI) creates and promotes legal and policy solutions to improve the lives of low-income women and girls.

Eleanor Petersen Legacy Fund

Affinity Community Services - $ 15,000

Giving Council/Circle Rapid Response Fund

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Giving Councils and Circles of Chicago Foundation for Women established a joint rapid response fund to provide emergency funds to organizations addressing the immediate needs of the communities they serve. The organizations were selected by a committee comprised of the Giving Council and Circle members.

A Long Walk Home - $ 3,000

Girl/Friends Wellness Program will consist of offering: remote trauma therapy; emergency cash funds (for housing, groceries, education, and medical supplies) to families, and create a new financial literacy and professional development workshops (resume building, artist portfolio ) to address the alarming unemployment rate that our youth and family are facing that are targeting our alumni (18-26 years old).

Brave Space Alliance - $ 3,000

BSA will be distributing packages of food and other essential items once per week to LGBTQIA residents living on the South Side of Chicago. Priority will be given to people who are elderly, living with disabilities, and/or living with compromised immune systems. Our over 100 volunteers are t rained on how to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Additionally , BSA launched the COVID-19 Trans Relief Fund as a community-based mutual aid effort . Payments of up to $200 per individual will be distributed to help combat the economic strain that has left our most vulnerable community members without resources.

Chicago Volunteer Doulas - $ 2,000

Gyrls In The HOOD Foundation - $ 2,500

The Foundation will provide emergency essentials to vulnerable teenage girls and women in Engelwood, Roseland, and Woodlawn. This includes a two-month supply of hygiene items and food; mask diapers and hand sanitizer. Additionally, distributed with these care packages will be accurate information about COID-19 and how to protect themselves.

Ladies of Virtue - $ 1,575

Ladies of Virtue empowers girls, ages 9 to 18, to become confident and purpose-driven leaders. It prepares them for leadership through character development, career readiness, and civic engagement. It provides project management, collaboration, and communication training via 2-4 month project experiences to empower girls to lead in the workplace. After graduating from high school, participants are mentored and supported for six additional years as LOV 4 Life alumni.

The Dreamcatcher Foundation - $ 3,000

TDF is a survivor-founded, survivor-driven, and survivor-focused agency working to end human trafficking in the Chicago area and its surrounding suburbs.

LBTQ Giving Council

The LBTQ Giving Council of Chicago Foundation for Women is committed to fundraising in order to provide grants to organizations and programs benefiting lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning women and girls in the Chicago region.

One Roof Chicago - $ 7,500

North Shore Giving Circle

The North Shore Giving Circle of Chicago Foundation for Women aims to increase awareness about the Foundation within the northern suburbs and to make use of the knowledge and skills of community leaders and members. The purpose of the giving circle is to provide a bridge between the Foundation and women leaders in Chicagoland communities, and to provide specialized fundraising and grantmaking mechanisms for these communities through Chicago Foundation for Women.

Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) - $ 8,200

Erie Family Health Center - $ 7,500

Erie Family Health Centers is a healthcare home to more than 80,000 patients, mostly low-income, who are served in the Chicago area at thirteen locations: seven large primary care centers, five school-based health centers, and its Teen Center.

Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP) - $10,000

Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP) improves working conditions for low-income workers in Illinois, including packinghouse workers, cannery workers, restaurant workers, landscapers, snow plowing workers, and meat and poultry workers and their households. FLAP carries out its mission through community outreach and education, litigation and community legal education, information and referrals.

Fenix Family Health Center - $ 10,000

Fenix provides comprehensive healthcare to low-income, Spanish-speaking immigrant families.

Lake County Crisis Center (A Safe Place) - $ 10,000

North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic - $ 10,000

The mission of the North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic is to provide accessible, quality pro-bono legal services in the areas of immigration, domestic violence, and housing to give those in need of access to justice the opportunity to live productive and secure lives.

South Side Giving Circle

The South Side Giving Circle of Chicago Foundation for Women mobilizes philanthropic resources of women primarily on Chicago’s South Side and in the South Suburbs to invest in the economic, social, and political power of Black women and girls in metropolitan Chicago.

A Long Walk Home - $ 10,000

A Long Walk Home is a visionary organization that sees young African American women and girls as leaders in the movement for gender and racial justice. Founded in 2003, A Long Walk Home, Inc. (ALWH) is a Chicago-based national non-profit that uses art to empower young people to end violence against girls and women. It has two main programs: the founding program, (1) the Story of Rape Survivor (SOARS) multimedia performance for college students, and (2) the Girl/Friends Leadership Institute.

Girls Like Me Project - $ 10,000

The mission of Girls Like Me Project, Inc. (GLMPI) is to help African-American girls age 11-17 critically examine social, cultural, and political ideologies in media so that they will be able to overcome stigmas and negative stereotypes.

Her Future: Teen Mom Empowerment Group - $ 2,600

Her Future: Teen Mom Empowerment Group provides individual support to young moms through 1:1 mentoring. It offers quarterly #YoungMommyMeetUps where mothers come together for community, learning, and group mentoring opportunities.

Ladies of Virtue - $ 10,000

The Dreamcatcher Foundation - $ 15,000

TDF is a survivor-founded, survivor-driven, and survivor-focused agency working to end human trafficking in the Chicago area and its surrounding suburbs.

Her Future: Teen Mom Empowerment Group - $ 3,000 - South Side Giving Circle Leadership Award

Western Suburbs Giving Circle

The Western Suburbs Giving Circle is a group of Chicago-area women who combine their funds to address the needs of women and girls in the western suburbs with a special focus on economic security and freedom from violence. By leveraging the power of collective gifts, their grants create meaningful impact and improve lives.

Metropolitan Family Services DuPage - $ 10,400

The Legal Aid Society (LAS) Human Trafficking Initiative (HTI) at MFSD provides trauma-informed direct services to all victims of sex and labor trafficking.

Styles 4 Kidz - $ 12,500

Styles 4 Kidz is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2010 by Tamekia Swint to provide textured hair care education, services, and resources that empower bi-racial, trans-racial adoptive, and foster parents and children.

Teen Parent Connection - $ 8,475

DECC’s vision is to ensure that all DuPage County children have a strong foundation, ready for a bright future. The collaboration was established in 2015 as response to a need to have a convening body for early childhood programs and all child-serving organizations. The aim of the collaborative is to address complex problems that require more than a programmatic approach and that require community systems-building strategies and alignment for collective impact.

Young Women's Giving Council

Young Women’s Giving Council of CFW invests in and empowers girls and young women in the Chicago region to create social change.

Awakenings Art - $ 5,500

Awakenings’ vision is to provide survivors with a trauma-informed, professional arts experience that furthers their healing process and artistic careers.

Brave Space Alliance - $ 7,500

Pearls and Gems Elite - $ 1,000

Pearls and Gems Elite is a mentoring and self empowerment program with an educational component.

SWOP Chicago - $ 4,000

SWOP-Chicago is a grassroots organization by and for current and former sex workers, dedicated to improving the lives of Chicago-area sex workers both on and off the job.