Check out the latest insights from our program team and grantees.
Grantees

We the People of Detroit
We the People of Detroit is a grantee partner of Joyce’s Environment Program. Learn more about the organization here.

They Got NEXT — Chicago Sinfonietta Celebrates 35 Years
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chicago Sinfonietta, like so many organizations, was forced to reimagine itself, pivoting programming and performances to a fully virtual space.
Grantee
Chicago Sinfonietta

Congo Square Play Promotes Healing, Catharsis in Chicago
Congo Square Theatre is an ensemble dedicated to producing transformative work rooted in the African Diaspora. For 20 years it has committed to telling stories by and for Black people.
Grantee
Congo Square Theatre Company

Building collective power through research
Black Researchers Collective was founded in 2019 with a mission to train and equip communities with the research tools necessary to be more civically engaged and policy informed.
Grantee
Black Researchers Collective

The nation’s first Black arts museum
South Side Community Art Center is the nation’s first Black arts museum that develops and showcases some of the nation’s most influential Black artists.
Grantee
South Side Community Art Center

Chicago violence prevention leader joins Justice Department as senior adviser
READI Chicago Director Eddie Bocanegra Joins Justice Department as Senior Adviser
Grantee
Heartland Alliance
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Programs

Engaging to protect our water
Fifty years on, Alliance for the Great Lakes expands environmental justice advocacy through inclusion and partnerships.
Grantee
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Illinois makes history against climate change
The Foundation congratulates all of its grantees and coalition partners who worked for years with perseverance and commitment to pass a historic new Illinois law making the state a national leader in the battle against climate change.
Joyce Awards Information Session
Joyce Awards application information and 2021 Virtual Session recording.
Aspen Prize guides giving to community colleges
The rigorous Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence is being credited with guiding philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in her recent barrage of giving to higher education institutions.
Gun violence prevention research “starting to find its footing”
As gun violence surges across the nation, the scientific journal Nature reports that researchers finally are beginning to “have the money to ask why.”
$14.4 million for Chicago’s Cultural Treasures
Forty organizations that contribute to the history, culture, vibrancy, and identity of communities of color in greater Chicago will be receiving $14.4 million through the new Chicago's Cultural Treasures initiative.
The state of federal funding for gun violence research and data
A new report finds that roughly $600 million over five years needed to close gun violence research gap. Dr. Shani Buggs, Zach Gaumer, and Dr. John Roman shared their perspectives and key issues in gun violence prevention research.
Artists as connectors: building racial solidarities in the Twin Cities
Past Joyce Awards recipients discuss how the arts and artists can inspire healing by invoking racial solidarities and foster collective acts of joy, grief, and resistance.
Foundation promotes Francisco Velasco to controller
Formerly the Foundation’s senior accountant, Francisco Velasco has been promoted to controller.
$600m Needed for Gun Violence Research: Report
According to a joint report prepared for Arnold Ventures and the Joyce Foundation, gun violence research remains underfunded. The federal government needs to spend around $600m over five years for research and data infrastructure improvements recommended.
Source
The Crime Report
$120 million a year would close gun violence research gap
According to a new report, closing the gun violence information gap will require the federal government investing significantly more in resources towards conducting research and collecting comprehensive, transparent data.

Pivoting to a reimagined stage
The Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project adapts and endures, rethinking performance space and how to reach audiences and students through a pandemic.
Joyce joins violence intervention collaborative
The Foundation is proud to join its philanthropic peers in supporting the Community Violence Intervention Collaborative, aimed at strengthening and expanding community-led, evidence-based violence intervention strategies in in 15 jurisdictions.
New project seeks to improve retention and graduation rates for students of color at University of Illinois: ‘They have a platform, they have the resources.’
On the heels of a statewide action plan that calls for greater investment in Black college students, a new coalition will examine racial equity at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and offer strategies to improve diversity.
Source
Chicago Tribune
Firearms fix
Saving lives by stemming gun violence is the goal of a new law in Illinois that will strengthen background checks, shore up the state’s outdated gun-license system, and invest in mental health services for impacted communities.
Artist Uses Graphite to Mark Time in Tribute to Historic Art Center
Interdisciplinary artist Faheem Majeed uses graphite to mark the past, present and future of the oldest African American art center in the country–the South Side Community Art Center.
Grantee
Faheem Majeed, 2020 Joyce Awards recipient