WE’RE ALL ON THIS JOURNEY TOGETHER

The individual who gives from the heart. The neighbor who shows up for the community. The small business owner driven to succeed. The corporate partner who puts profits to work to create opportunity. And the foundations, grant recipients, and donors who continue to step up to create change that moves our region forward.

Join us as we double down on making our region a place where people of all races, places, and identities have the opportunity to reach their potential.

A LETTER FROM OUR CEO AND CHAIR

Dear Friends,

At The Chicago Community Trust, we are working to build a Chicago region where equity is central—and opportunity and prosperity are in reach for all.

We know this goal is ambitious, but we also know we’re not alone. All across the region are people who share our vision. And all of us—no matter who we are—can play a role in making it a reality.

In 2021, the Trust and our incredible partners continued to collectively grapple with the evolving challenges and opportunities brought on by the pandemic. Meeting the moment has not always been easy or straightforward. But with each of us doing our part and working together, we’ve been able to respond to each opportunity with thoughtful, strategic action toward our goal of a more equitable region:

• We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just Recovery brought together corporate and philanthropic funders with communities, united in a common goal to bend the curve of recovery so our economy works for everyone.
• More than 160 community organizations mobilized to form the Chicagoland Vaccine Partnership—an initiative to save lives in COVID-vulnerable neighborhoods with community-led solutions to vaccine hesitancy and barriers.
• With each new challenge the year threw at us, we didn’t lose sight of our goal. We continued to move forward on our journey to close the region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap, which is at the heart of our region’s most profound challenges — including public safety and health inequities.

No matter our role, change starts from within. Last year, many of us took time to look inward and consider what we can do individually to advance equity.

• At the Trust, we formed a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Council—a diverse cross-team of staff who are helping us
  chart a course for embedding DEI into all that we do.
• We have expanded our commitment to diversify the Trust’s asset managers. Today, between 20 and 30 percent of the assets we manage are invested with women or minority managers, and we help lead the Financial Services Pipeline—a collaboration of 20 Chicago-based financial firms working to strengthen the recruitment, retention, and promotion of diverse financial managers.
• Through We Rise Together, in partnership with the Corporate Coalition of Chicago, we established 5/25 Move to Action to build on the commitments made by the business community following the murder of George Floyd. More than 25 companies turned statements into action by prioritizing business practices that support wealth-building in Black and Latinx communities.

Our journey to build a more equitable Chicago region will not happen overnight, but because of you and your commitment, we can do it.

We thank all of you who have come this far with us. If you are new on this journey, we invite you to see a role for yourself too and join us.

With gratitude,