FUNDING OVER
80 YEARS OF CHANGE
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.
OUR VISION
Woods Fund Chicago seeks to help create a society where people of all racial and ethnic groups β across all levels of social and economic status β are empowered and have a voice to influence policies that impact their daily lives, and where all communities are free of poverty and racism.
FIGHTING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE
Woods Fund Chicago approaches all facets of our work with a foundation of racial justice. We are committed to funding community organizing and public policy advocacy that advances racial equity and economic justice. We firmly believe that the people most impacted by structural racism and economic injustice should lead the process of defining problems and developing solutions. Our work centers BIPOC voices, leadership, and organizing. We are devoted to disrupting white supremacy culture, confronting power, redistributing resources, and creating systemic transformation for real change.
OUR GRANTMAKING
We advance racial justice by supporting organizations that are engaged in systems change and power building by incorporating one or more of the following strategies: community-based organizing, coalition-building and/or public policy advocacy.
FUNDING MOVEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE
A commitment to racial justice means supporting BIPOC-led and BIPOC-centered community-based organizations to build their capacity and infrastructure to ensure their sustainability. We know that leaders of color have been shut out of skills and capacity-building programs that center community needs and indigenous leadership. Because of this, Woods Fund Chicago has committed to assisting grantee partners in strengthening the infrastructure of their organizations. As a foundation, we use our convening power to highlight issues that are impacting communities of color in Chicago.
STRATEGIC PLAN
Our strategic plan lays out our priorities, goals, and objectives for 2022 through 2024. This strategic plan highlights Woods Fund Chicagoβs desire to ensure we are supporting leaders in the movement-building ecosystem and uplifting groups whose intersections of identities have been marginalized. Our strategic plan looks at four capacity areas: Leadership, Community Role, Grantmaking, and Fiscal Management.
To ensure a shared understanding of Woods Fund Chicagoβs goals and objectives, refer to our Glossary of Terms for definitions of key terms used throughout our website and strategic planning documents.
For 80+ years, Woods Fund Chicago has funded organizations and movements fighting against the brutality of structural racism and poverty.
OUR IMPACT
Every year, Woods Fund Chicago seeks to make an impact in communities of color by investing in the organizing and public policy advocacy needed to undo generations of systemic and institutionalized racism. Leading with a racial equity lens, we strive to invest our dollars in work predominately led by people of color and that centers the most vulnerable in our society by providing general operating support, capacity building support, and other resources identified by our grantee partners.
86 MIL+
TOTAL INVESTMENTS
Since 1993, Woods Fund Chicago has awarded more than $86,000,000 to support the organizing and advocacy sector in Chicago.
I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.
Maya Angelou, Memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist
NEWS AND EVENTS
Woods Fund Chicago strives to stay connected to the wider social justice community, from continuing communication with grantee and philanthropic partners, to advancing racial equity in all parts of its work. This section is updated regularly with news from Woods Fund Chicago, upcoming events, and updates from granteesβ efforts.
Environmental Justice is crucial in preserving and sustaining our planet, but what is often overlooked is how climate change can impact communities of color the most. Racial Justice and Environmental Justice are both necessary, and neither can be achieved without the other. 𧡠pic.twitter.com/TSkCd6e1bS
— Woods Fund Chicago (@WoodsFundChi) May 17, 2024
Our grantee partners and peers are hiring!
— Woods Fund Chicago (@WoodsFundChi) April 23, 2024
Learn more about open opportunities to join organizations, coalitions, and nonprofit sector peers that are making an impact: 𧡠pic.twitter.com/N8Pf5WfVQE
Our March newsletter is here! Learn about our grantee partners' work to house every Chicagoan. π Plus: Hear about how WFC is streamlining our grants management processes, our monthly recommended reading list, and more. https://t.co/NBIFhI8Qt0
— Woods Fund Chicago (@WoodsFundChi) March 28, 2024
Photo Credit: @chihomeless pic.twitter.com/y5dsETZnAB
π§ What We're Listening to: @respairmedia's "Help This Garden Grow" tells the story of Hazel Johnson and the fight for environmental justice in Chicago, focusing on Altgeld Gardens and its position amidst a concentration of hazardous waste.
— Woods Fund Chicago (@WoodsFundChi) May 7, 2024
Listen now: https://t.co/k1Rut6Hfv3 pic.twitter.com/kWKVrE59n2
What We're Listening to: Grantee partner @HousingActionILβs Policy Director delves into the challenges Chicago faces in accurately counting its unhoused population and how an undercount could affect funding for critical services.
— Woods Fund Chicago (@WoodsFundChi) April 15, 2024
π§ Listen at @WBEZReset: https://t.co/SUWCGOLpcc pic.twitter.com/myfdMKyap4
While attacks on racial justice take place nationwide, funders are nervous to continue supporting programs that explicitly center racial and social justice. These threats, however, are exactly why funding must continue.
— Woods Fund Chicago (@WoodsFundChi) March 15, 2024
Read more from @Philanthropy: https://t.co/vB6JJP0pZQ pic.twitter.com/KXYmpyiWqh
In our April newsletter, we raise the voices of our partners fighting for police accountability as they honor the life of Dexter Reed. Plus: Grantee partners advocate for environmental justice, reflections on Pretrial Fairness, and more.https://t.co/5lkRn7rePU
— Woods Fund Chicago (@WoodsFundChi) April 25, 2024
π·: @LVEJO pic.twitter.com/5egQjVA7gd
WFC Director of Grants Management Deborah Clark shared a testimony at @GivingDataβs conference last fall about how the software has supported our improvements to the grantmaking process and "the transparency that we aspire to.β
— Woods Fund Chicago (@WoodsFundChi) April 12, 2024
Watch Deborah's testimony: https://t.co/UpfiPQA2ic pic.twitter.com/gjokrZombV
π° Though we do not directly fund the arts, we see how many of our grantee partners utilize creative practices as one of many tools to organize, educate, and strengthen communities.
— Woods Fund Chicago (@WoodsFundChi) February 29, 2024
Learn about our grantee partners' work and more: https://t.co/pbMs7jTA2C
π·: @ArtsPrison pic.twitter.com/RxtV2zbAxq