Woods Fund Chicago is wholeheartedly committed to our grantee partners' success because we believe it will take all of our efforts to dismantle systemic racism and to build a new way of being. Learn about recent grantee partner achievements — including the Pretrial Success Act. Plus, explore job opportunities with our partners and check out our monthly recommended reading list featuring grantee partner advocacy for migrants, transgender and gender nonconforming communities, missing Black girls and women, and more. Read the June newsletter ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ghPP-ncZ Photo credit: Warehouse Workers for Justice
Woods Fund Chicago
Philanthropic Fundraising Services
Chicago, Illinois 3,031 followers
Dedicated to funding and supporting the community organizing and public policy advocacy ecosystem in Chicago.
About us
Woods Fund Chicago is a grantmaking foundation committed to the promotion of social, economic, and racial justice through the support of community organizing and public policy advocacy that engages people that are most impacted. Woods Fund Chicago is a bold grant-maker that draws on the power of communities to fight the brutality of poverty and structural racism.
- Website
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http://www.woodsfund.org
External link for Woods Fund Chicago
- Industry
- Philanthropic Fundraising Services
- Company size
- 2-10 employees
- Headquarters
- Chicago, Illinois
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 1996
Locations
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Primary
35 E. Wacker Drive
Suite 1760
Chicago, Illinois 60601, US
Employees at Woods Fund Chicago
Updates
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Salamishah Tillet, president and co-founder of grantee partner A Long Walk Home Inc. penned an essay for the new book American Gothic: Gordon Parks and Ella Watson about the titular photograph from celebrated artist Gordon Parks, Watson as its subject, and the contrasting relationship to labor in both Parks’ photograph and the Grant Wood painting that shares its name. Read now at The Atlantic: https://lnkd.in/ge4t_M5Q
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What we're reading: Grantee partners Warehouse Workers for Justice and Little Village Environmental Justice Organization speak to The Guardian about how online shopping warehouses contribute to pollution disparities in Chicago's communities of color, highlighting how labor and environmental justice intersect. https://lnkd.in/g7F3YWj3
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What We're Reading: For years, student and community organizers from the #CopsOutCPS Coalition (which includes grantee partners Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Assata's Daughters, Southside Together Organizing for Power, youth members of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago and HANA Center, and Enlace Chicago) have pushed back against over-policing of CPS students by advocating for the removal of police-trained school resource officers (SROs). South Side Weekly covers the new policy passed by the Chicago Board of Education to remove SROs from CPS beginning fall 2024 and shares findings from a Chicago Justice Project report that police presence in schools does not reduce crime. STOP Chicago's Anna Durr is featured. https://lnkd.in/gTua-ys8
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School may be out for the summer, but it's an appropriate time to reflect on the power of student-led movements and organizing. 📚 Historically, student actions (in both universities and public schools) have supported and coordinated alongside broader movements in Chicago. Throughout the Civil Rights era, student boycotts sparked the Chicago Freedom Movement to protest segregation and systemic racism in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The boycott of over 200,000 students on October 21, 1963 would go on to be known as “Freedom Day." Meanwhile, college students throughout Chicago have led actions to have a voice in the decision-making that determines how their tuition dollars are spent and how students are treated on campus, addressing issues both global and local. Today, students continue to lead movements to improve life inside and outside of the classroom. WFC grantee partners such as GoodKids MadCity Englewood, BYP100, and Chicago Freedom School have led movements for gun violence prevention and mental health support, protested the closure of south and west side schools, and spoken out against police violence that disproportionately targets Black youth. In their communities, grantee partners like Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education, Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI), and Lugenia Burns Hope Center have formed coalitions alongside students to fight for a greater democratic voice in education — such as improved Local School Councils, equitable school boundary maps, and the first Chicago Elected School Board. Educational institutions are critical spaces for younger generations to deepen intellectual curiosity, discover new ways of understanding the world, and develop their voice and power. These very values are embodied throughout many student movements — and carry on as students graduate into the next generation of organizers and leaders. Read about student movements — and more — in our most recent newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gPUJe_eV 📷: GoodKids MadCity, Chicago Freedom School
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What We're Reading: Inside Philanthropy spotlights the Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement (DALE) program, “the best pro-worker policy that nobody has ever heard of,” which grants immigrant protections for whistleblowing day laborers. The piece urges funders to make committed investments toward organizations that support DALE applications, such as WFC grantee partner Arise Chicago. Read now: https://lnkd.in/gezhYk6C
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Job Opportunity: Polk Bros. Foundation is hiring two Program Assistants (PAs) to each support a team of 3-4 people. One PA will support two program teams and one PA will support the two VPs and one program team. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. #NonprofitCareers #FoundationJobs #JobOpportunities Learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/gBjGnSzm
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Last week, the Illinois legislature passed the Pretrial Success Act, which will build upon the success of the Pretrial Fairness Act and provide increased access to crucial health and human services for individuals awaiting trial. The act is supported and celebrated by the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice and the Coalition to End Money Bond, which include WFC grantee partners Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago, Chicago Community Bond Fund (CCBF), Community Renewal Society, Illinois Black Advocacy Initiative (IBAI), Illinois Justice Project, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, The People's Lobby, SOUTHSIDERS ORGANIZED FOR UNITY AND LIBERATION, and Workers Center for Racial Justice. In case you missed it, we shared partner reflections on over six months without money bond in Illinois. Revisit our April newsletter for reflections from IBAI's Patrice James, updates from CCBF, and reporting from the Chicago Sun-Times on the positive impacts of the Pretrial Fairness Act ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dyVn38ma Photo Credit: Coalition to End Money Bond
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Though the school year is winding down, the relationships between students, education, and places of learning are top of mind. 📚 In our May newsletter, hear how student and youth actions have supported organizing in Chicago from the Civil Rights era to the work of our grantee partners today. https://lnkd.in/gPUJe_eV Photo credit: Chicago Freedom School
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Our grantee partners and peers are hiring! Learn more about open opportunities to join organizations, coalitions, and nonprofit sector peers that are making an impact, including Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Chicago United for Equity, Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL), Enlace Chicago, HANA Center, Illinois Black Advocacy Initiative, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Latino Policy Forum, Live Free Illinois, Michael Reese Health Trust, Mujeres Latinas en Acción, Polk Bros. Foundation, and Shriver Center on Poverty Law. Learn more about job opportunities with our grantee partners and peers: https://lnkd.in/dPgifSbd #JobOpportunities #NonprofitCareers #CommunityOrganizing
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