Trust Talks

The Trust’s Growing Household Wealth Income Strategy supports closing the racial wealth gap in Chicago through a commitment to innovations in workforce development, inclusive business practices, and education. Along with reducing the debt burden of students and households in educational attainment, we prioritize implementing solutions that increase the income stability and wage growth of all Chicagoans. Workers of color make up 47 percent of the Chicagoland workforce ages 25 – 64, and 59 percent of the next-generation workforce, but Black and Latinx workers are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to earn wages under $15/hour. Wages aren’t the only part of the story.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the inception of the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance, in this episode we examine how efforts such as CWFA are working to make the Chicago workforce ecosystem more equitable. We’ll also hear from other leaders in the ecosystem on where we are and where we can go.  This episode is hosted by Caleb Herod, program manager for the Trust's Growing Household Wealth team, and features Bela Moté, president and CEO of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning; Manny Rodriguez, co-founder and executive director of Revolution Workshop; Matt Bruce, executive director of the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance; and Patrick Combs, co-CEO of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership. 

Production by Juneteenth Productions. Part 1 was recorded at Creative DeCysions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered the disparities created by segregation and systemic racism.  We are witnessing a taxed public health infrastructure that has been woefully underinvested in over generations. Currently, 75 percent of Chicagoans are fully vaccinated. However, the disaggregated data indicates stark disparities across race and ethnicity, with 63 percent of Latinx and 52 percent of Black Chicagoans fully vaccinated. Similarly, COVID-related hospitalizations and severe consequences, including death, disproportionately impact Black and Latinx communities. This trend extends to the county, state, and nation. The Chicagoland Vaccine Partnership is working to close the gap in vaccine rates across geographies and populations--and address the root causes of health inequity. 

The Trust’s Philanthropic Services team works with many types of donors, including individuals with Donor Advised Funds, family foundations, corporations, and those interested in giving to specific causes. The Trust advises donors on every aspect of their giving strategy. Its philanthropic advisors also leverage the Trust’s expertise and community connections to identify organizations that will make the biggest difference, ensuring donors are effectively fulfilling their philanthropic goals.

Production by Juneteenth Productions. 

The “Voice” strand of The Chicago Community Trust's Building Collective Power strategy supports community-centered media platforms that allow the authentic narratives of communities to emerge and be amplified not just in neighborhoods but across the city. Those community-centered platforms likewise bring vital information into communities to inform their agenda-setting. 

In three segments, this episode of Trust Talks will explore the different ways the Trust is strengthening local media and storytelling platforms to amplify community narratives. It features Daniel Ash, associate vice president at the Trust, who leads the Building Collective Power strategy; Lolly Bowen, journalist, who oversees the Field Foundation of Illinois' media and storytelling grant making; Morgan Johnson, co-creator of The Triibe, a digital media platform for Black Chicago, and Jesus Del Toro, general manager of La Raza, the region's leading Spanish-language newspaper; and Tonika Lewis Johnson, a social justice artist and creator of the Folded Map Project.

Production by Juneteenth Productions. 

In this episode of Trust Talks, Michael Davidson, senior director of community impact who’s leading the Trust’s Catalyzing Neighborhood Investment team, sits down with Lennox Jackson, founder and CEO of Urban Equities Inc, Ja’Net DeFell, program manager of Community Desk Chicago; and Juan Saldana principal at P3 markets, to discuss the role real estate development plays in our communities.

In this episode of Trust Talks, guests Constance Simms-Kincaid, owner and operator of 5 Loaves Eatery, Eya Louis, contract development coordinator at Elevate Energy, and Mambu Sherman, vice president of global philanthropy at JP-Morgan Chase, sit down with the Trust’s Shandra Richardson, a program manager on the Growing Household Wealth team, to discuss how the Fund for Equitable Business Growth is supporting the small business ecosystem in Chicago. 

In the first episode of Trust Talks, Charlotte Spaeth sits down with Anna LauBach, program director at the McCormick Foundation, Deborah Bennett, senior program officer at Polk Bros Foundation, and Anna Lee, director of community impact at The Chicago Community Trust for a discussion on the role grassroots organizations have in violence prevention in Chicago’s neighborhoods.

Helene Gayle, President and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust, is excited to announce the launch of Trust Talks.