Here's what local funders can do to cure Chicago's ailing body politic
We hold Chicago's major philanthropies partly responsible for the longevity of the Chicago Machine.
But it's not too late for our major local funders to get right and change their ways.
On March 5, 2018 CivicLab organizers Jonathan Peck and Tom Tresser, along with Kim Wasserman, the Executive Director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, went over to the Chicago Community Trust. We met with Dr. Helene Gayle, the President, and Dan Ash, the Chief Marketing Officer.
But it's not too late for our major local funders to get right and change their ways.
On March 5, 2018 CivicLab organizers Jonathan Peck and Tom Tresser, along with Kim Wasserman, the Executive Director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, went over to the Chicago Community Trust. We met with Dr. Helene Gayle, the President, and Dan Ash, the Chief Marketing Officer.
WE REQUEST THAT THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY TRUST UNDERTAKE THE FOLLOWING in strategic partnership with the CivicLab and our civic allies...
(1) Train Up: Train 50,000 Chicagoans, 1,000 community residents per ward, to be Public Defenders who understand the value of "PUBLIC" and are trained and ready to defend the public sector and the public space.
(2) Build Up: Establish a CivicLab Freedom School in every ward. CivicLabs are intentional spaces that make and deploy tools for civic engagement, civic innovation and grassroots leadership development.
(3) Teach Up: Establish in every K - 12 public and private school, a robust and fun civic engagement curriculum which mixes study with visits from practitioners and civic volunteer work in the community. Every school to establish a CivicLab civic maker space.
(4) Lead Up: Local foundations will recruit people from the community who are courageous civic engagers and public servants such that at least 1/3 of every foundation's board to be so composed. Local foundations will recruit and hire at the mid to senior staff level people of color, in particularly Black and Latino people proportional to the current and future population percentages of Chicagoland.
(5) Fund Up: Move to re-distribute funding so that 50% of ALL grants be made to smaller, rooted community-based organizations led by local community residents who work and or live in the communities they serve and that have modest budgets and demonstrated community support (by 2020).
(6) Raise Up: Establish a grassroots version of the MacArhtur so-called "Genius Award" gifting 77 people (one per neighborhood) under 30 who are doing justice and change work every year with $50,000 grant, an office and a mentoring network.
(7) Move Up: The Chicago Community Trust vacate its Loop premises (where it spends $1 million annually on rent) to build a center in Lawndale and Englewood and that it seeks collaborations with local elementary schools, high schools, community colleges and other post-secondary institutions, and local community based organizations to prepare local young people for careers in philanthropy and civic work. The CCT will review its budget and all spending line items for contracting with local businesses and suppliers.
(1) Train Up: Train 50,000 Chicagoans, 1,000 community residents per ward, to be Public Defenders who understand the value of "PUBLIC" and are trained and ready to defend the public sector and the public space.
(2) Build Up: Establish a CivicLab Freedom School in every ward. CivicLabs are intentional spaces that make and deploy tools for civic engagement, civic innovation and grassroots leadership development.
(3) Teach Up: Establish in every K - 12 public and private school, a robust and fun civic engagement curriculum which mixes study with visits from practitioners and civic volunteer work in the community. Every school to establish a CivicLab civic maker space.
(4) Lead Up: Local foundations will recruit people from the community who are courageous civic engagers and public servants such that at least 1/3 of every foundation's board to be so composed. Local foundations will recruit and hire at the mid to senior staff level people of color, in particularly Black and Latino people proportional to the current and future population percentages of Chicagoland.
(5) Fund Up: Move to re-distribute funding so that 50% of ALL grants be made to smaller, rooted community-based organizations led by local community residents who work and or live in the communities they serve and that have modest budgets and demonstrated community support (by 2020).
(6) Raise Up: Establish a grassroots version of the MacArhtur so-called "Genius Award" gifting 77 people (one per neighborhood) under 30 who are doing justice and change work every year with $50,000 grant, an office and a mentoring network.
(7) Move Up: The Chicago Community Trust vacate its Loop premises (where it spends $1 million annually on rent) to build a center in Lawndale and Englewood and that it seeks collaborations with local elementary schools, high schools, community colleges and other post-secondary institutions, and local community based organizations to prepare local young people for careers in philanthropy and civic work. The CCT will review its budget and all spending line items for contracting with local businesses and suppliers.