This month marks my fourth year at Woods Fund Chicago.

November 2023 — Moving the Needle | Woods Fund Chicago

President Michelle Morales on Reflecting, Recalibrating,
and Reimagining —

This month marks my fourth year at Woods Fund Chicago. What a whirlwind these last four years have been! In those four years, we all experienced a global pandemic, a nationwide movement decrying the continued killings of Black Americans at the hands of police, a national recommitment to racial justice, followed by a backlash, the continued and systematic erasure of our rights and liberties, and a renegotiation with our relationship to work and workplaces. What a time to be living in! Internally at Woods Fund Chicago, we experienced a significant board turnover, expanded our team, implemented a new grants management system, steadily grew the foundation’s payout percentage, and focused on embedding a trust-based philanthropy framework with a racial justice lens to our internal organizational culture and our core organizational values.

Centering racial justice requires us as leaders to unlearn toxic, white-centered management and leadership styles that we have absorbed over the years. Often this responsibility is placed on the shoulders of white leaders, and while they most certainly have much work to do to decenter themselves and to wrestle with their contribution to white supremacy and white privilege, leaders of color also bear a responsibility to identify those management and leadership traits that do not serve racial justice, our staff (especially staff of color), and our communities. This is crucial for those of us aligned with social justice values. We should take the time to ask ourselves — in the struggle for racial justice and systemic change, what will it take to recalibrate our leadership?

If we do not recalibrate, one thing will become true — those who come to work with us and who are inspired by our commitment to social and racial justice will experience a cognitive dissonance if our management and actions do not match what we are espousing. In her blog, Martha Cecilia Ovadia coined the phrase “phantom impact syndrome.” She describes this as “the disillusionment and burnout so many of us have experienced at the hands of leadership who outwardly promise something different but behind closed doors perpetuate the same harm their mission statements disavowed. The same harm they publicly decry.” We are all aware of charismatic leaders who talk the talk, but if you were to speak to their team, you would hear a whole different story. This is what I had to contend with when I examined myself — that my “walk” wasn’t living up to my “talk.”

Our communities are strengthened when we do not work alone. As we near the end of the year, we ask that you join us in our gratitude for our grantee partners and consider offering support in whatever way is most meaningful to you — whether through monetary support, volunteered time, or by amplifying their work.

Learn more about Woods Fund Chicago’s 2023 grantee partners.

Woods Fund Chicago is now hiring for a Communications & Storytelling Officer (CSO) to provide both strategic and marketing/communications insight to all program areas. The CSO works closely with the President to create Foundation-wide communications and marketing goals, with a focus on storytelling using the power of narrative to add to the Foundation’s advocacy efforts. The role will approach communications work with integrity, sensitivity, and intentionality about how community history, cultures, stories, and lived experiences are gathered, produced, and conveyed. The ideal candidate is someone immersed in the dynamic organizing and creative landscape of the Chicago region.

We know that BIPOC, women or female identifying candidates are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every requirement. Please do not be deterred. You may be exactly who we are looking for!

Learn more about the position and how to apply on our website.

Woods Fund Chicago recognizes and celebrates National Native American Heritage Month —

We honor the history of Native American, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, and First Nations people and the organizing efforts of past, present, and future to preserve these histories and halt the displacement of their communities.

Woods Fund Chicago grantee partner Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative (CAICC) is a coalition of 16 member organizations from Chicago’s American Indian Community. Learn more about their work at chicagoaicc.com.

President Michelle Morales Honored for Civic Leadership —

Congratulations to President Michelle Morales for being one of six honorees who will be celebrated at tonight's City Club of Chicago inaugural event, Amplification: A Chicago Civic Celebration, 7:00-11:00 p.m. at CineSpace Studios Chicago. Michelle is to be honored for her work with WFC as a leader in advancing and supporting social justice movements in the city. Thank you to City Club of Chicago for recognizing the work of Michelle and Woods Fund Chicago!

Illinois bill seeks to bolster language services at state agencies

Why We're Reading It: As Language Access legislation passes through Springfield, Borderless Magazine spotlights Woods Fund Chicago grantee partner Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago and their work advocating for support in translation services for immigrants navigating state agencies, including hosting educational community town halls on language barriers.

Borderless Magazine // Read now

Muslim Nonprofit Calls For Solidarity In City’s Black, Brown Communities As Israel-Hamas War Continues

Why We're Reading It: Grantee partner Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN) recently held a teach-in focused on the importance of building relationships within and across communities, echoing our thoughts on the communal pain of displacement and how movements are strengthened when we commit to cross-community solidarity.

Block Club Chicago // Read now

Movements Got Brandon Johnson Elected.
How Do We Organize From Here?

Why We're Reading It: Asha Ransby-Sporn — organizer, co-founder of WFC grantee partner BYP100, and former co-director of organizing at grantee partner Dissenters — pens a thoughtful reflection on the nuanced relationship between organizers and politicians. Ransby-Sporn addresses the new challenges for grassroots movements in navigating a new power structure and keeping progressive leadership accountable to campaign promises.

In These Times // Read now

OPINION: A call for reparations and solutions
to the migrant crisis in Chicago

Why We're Reading It: Mayor Brandon Johnson announced this month the creation of a new subcommittee that will study the Chicago’s capacity to pay reparations to its Black residents. Ahead of this announcement, Richard Wallace, founder and executive director of WFC grantee partner Equity and Transformation (EAT) Chicago, called for Chicago to pay reparations, addressing the growing tensions from the city’s historical disinvestment of Black communities since the Great Migration and its current struggles supporting the rapid arrival of migrants from Latin-American countries.

The Triibe // Read now

The Intersection of Trust-Based Philanthropy & Racial Equity

Why We're Reading It: This introductory guide outlines the intersections of Trust-Based Philanthropy and Racial Justice Work while also detailing their key differences, keeping in mind when adopting these approaches that they are not interchangeable and encouraging funders to be thoughtful in their implementation.

Trust-Based Philanthropy Project // Read now