Trust Talks The Chicago Community Trust

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.