Latest Grants: December 2021

The Foundation is pleased to announce that we awarded more than 130 grants in December – worth more than $29 million – to support public policies and evidence-informed strategies to address the most pressing issues facing the Great Lakes region.

The grants listed below reflect innovative efforts by dozens of organizations to address urgent needs in our six program areas – Culture, Democracy, Education & Economic Mobility, Environment, Gun Violence Prevention & Justice Reform, and Journalism.

CULTURE

Art Institute of Chicago

$ 65,000

Chicago Theatre Group Inc.

$ 100,000

Court Theatre Fund

$ 160,000

Independent Curators International

$ 120,000

Museum of Contemporary Art

$ 50,000

Public Media Institute

$ 40,000

Southeast Chicago Commission

$ 195,000

Free Street Programs Inc.

$ 95,000

Full Spectrum Features NFP

$ 30,000

International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago

$ 90,000

Puerto Rican Arts Alliance

$ 230,000

Sixty Inches From Center

$ 60,000

Victory Gardens Theater

$ 80,000


DEMOCRACY

Fair Elections Center

$ 225,000

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Chicago

$ 100,000

Campaign Legal Center

$ 200,000

Law Forward Inc.

$ 125,000

New Venture Fund

$ 200,000

Ohio Progressive Collaborative Education Fund

$ 75,000

Center for Technology and Civic Life

$ 250,000

Chicago Votes

$ 500,000

State Voices

$ 150,000

EDUCATION & ECONOMIC MOBILITY

Alliance for Excellent Education

$ 300,000

Enlace Chicago

$ 150,000

Foundation for Excellence in Education

$ 125,000

Indiana Latino Institute Inc.

$ 97,359

Jobs for the Future

$ 150,000

National Career Technical Education Foundation Inc.

$ 325,000

National College Attainment Network

$ 29,600

New Venture Fund - Common Group

$ 300,000

Northern Illinois University - Education Systems Center

$ 425,000

Teachers College, Columbia University - Community College Research Center

$ 400,000

University of Chicago - Consortium on Chicago School Research

$ 150,000

Chicago Community Foundation

$ 200,000

Council of Chief State School Officers

$ 300,000

Great MN Schools

$ 75,000

Mikva Challenge Grant Foundation Inc.

$ 120,000

Children First Fund the Chicago Public Schools Foundation

$ 200,000

Educators for Excellence

$ 200,000

IBG Consulting Group LLC

$ 43,260

M E B Alliance for Educator Diversity Inc.

$ 73,646

Minneapolis Foundation - Advancing Equity Coalition

$ 75,000

Teach For America - Chicago

$ 100,000

The Chicago Public Education Fund

$ 650,000

The Education Trust

$ 425,000

Thrive Chicago

$ 150,000

TNTP Inc.

$ 100,000

University of Illinois - Discovery Partners Institute

$ 34,644

University of Washington Foundation - Center for Education Data & Research

$ 250,000

Metropolitan Planning Council - Economic Security for Illinois

$ 50,000

Tides Center - Public Rights Project

$ 75,000

Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System - SSTAR Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

$ 229,674

Community College Baccalaureate Association Inc.

$ 75,000

Ithaka Harbors Inc.

$ 105,000

MDRC

$ 100,000

President and Fellows of Harvard College - Project on Predatory Student Lending

$ 200,000

Teachers College, Columbia University - Community College Research Center

$ 75,000

The Aspen Institute Inc.

$ 900,000

Young Invincibles

$ 135,000

ENVIRONMENT

CUB Consumer Education and Research Fund $ 460,000
Fresh Energy $ 240,000
Michigan Environmental Council $ 520,000
Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance $ 400,000
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy $ 150,000
Union of Concerned Scientists Inc. $ 300,000
Evergreen Community Development Initiative - The Flint Development Center $ 150,000
Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative $ 250,000
Great Lakes Commission $ 85,000
Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund $ 500,000
Natural Resources Defense Council Inc. $ 280,000
Ohio Environmental Council $ 80,000
Ohio State University Foundation - Ohio Sea Grant College Program $ 150,000
The Nature Conservancy - Virginia $ 400,000
US Water Alliance $ 300,000

GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION & JUSTICE REFORM

American Academy of Pediatrics $ 140,000
Battered Women's Justice Project $ 200,000
CeaseFire Pennsylvania Education Fund $ 50,000
Duke University - Center for Firearms Law $ 150,000
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence $ 500,000
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health $ 300,000
New Venture Fund - Project Unloaded $ 500,000
New Venture Fund – Fund for a Safer Future $ 200,000
Progress Michigan Education $ 100,000
Safe States Alliance $ 300,000
Violence Policy Center $ 150,000
21CP Solutions, LLC $ 36,750
Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago $ 50,000
Business and Professional People for the Public Interest $ 200,000
Florida State University Research Foundation - Institute for Justice Research and Development $ 500,000
New York University - The Policing Project $ 900,000
Roger Baldwin Foundation of ACLU Inc. $ 150,000
Tides Center - Zealous $ 200,000
University of Chicago - Urban Labs $ 300,000
New York University - Marron Institute of Urban Management $ 150,000
University of Illinois at Chicago - Government Finance Research Center $ 217,863

JOURNALISM

365 Media Foundation, Inc. $ 100,000
Chicago Public Media, Inc. $ 250,000
Institute for Nonprofit News $ 50,000
Institute for Nonprofit News - Open Campus Media, Inc. $ 80,000
Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Inc. $ 75,000

GENERAL & CROSS-PROGRAMMATIC

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Green Bay Inc. $ 5,000
Chicago Public Media Inc. $ 5,000,000
Civic Consulting Alliance $ 400,000
Community Refugee & Immigration Services, Inc. $ 50,000
Council of Michigan Foundations Inc. $ 100,000
Demos $ 150,000
Ethiopian Community Development Council Inc. $ 5,000
Exodus Refugee Immigration, Inc. $ 50,000
Fair Elections Center $ 35,000
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights $ 50,000
Innovation Ohio Education Fund - Ohio Mayors Alliance Foundation $ 250,000
International Institute of Milwaukee Inc. $ 10,000
Jewish Social Services of Madison, Inc. $ 10,000
Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan $ 10,000
Minneapolis - St. Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership $ 100,000
National League of Cities Institute $ 525,000
Panorama Global - Hyphen $ 500,000
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors - Welcome.US $ 50,000
Sand County Foundation - Environmental Policy Innovation Center $ 595,000
The Forbes Funds - Postindustrial Media $ 50,000
The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights $ 50,000
World Relief Corporation of National Association of Evangelicals $ 10,000
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Chicago $ 75,000
Forefront - Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy $ 100,000
Minnesota Council on Foundations $ 50,000
The Humanity Institute - Black Researchers Collective $ 100,000
Vaccinate Your Family - Edelman $ 125,000
Congo Square Theatre Company $ 25,000
Metropolitan Planning Council $ 5,000

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Impact of Firearm Violence on Youth 

Researchers discussed new findings on childhood exposure to gun violence; the impact of exposure on youth mental health and on future adult experiences of gun violence; and the impact of “collective efficacy” on firearm violence exposure for youth.