Nonprofit Utopia Podcast

Economic Opportunity Challenge

Lever for Change is a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Affiliate, whose mission is to unlock philanthropic capital and accelerate positive change around the world’s biggest challenges. Consistent with this mission, the Foundation recently launched the Economic Opportunity Challenge to award $10 million to scale a game-changing solution aimed to improve the economic health of low-income families in the U.S.
Join us as Cecilia Conrad, PhD, CEO of Lever for Change and Managing Director of the MacArthur Fellows and 100&Change at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, shares an overview of the Economic Opportunity Challenge, and the application process

Protecting Arts Spaces from Gentrification

With average annual earnings from art projects of around $5,000, the term “starving artist” is closer to reality than cliche. As a result, it is not uncommon for artists to live in marginalized communities.
Most arts organizations that create new work have annual operating budgets of less than $50,000; the artists themselves subsidize the bulk of community culture. Grants from government and corporate sponsors account for less than 15% of arts budgets.
Ironically, local artists generate significant, measurable economic impact to their communities, returning $8 for every $1 invested. While artists are often the drivers of community re-development, they are not always able to capitalize upon the value they create, as rising real estate values make it difficult to stay.
Join Kiela Smith Upton, Legal Shield Independent Associate, and Laura Weathered, Executive Director of the Near Northwest Arts Council, for a discussion on design/build strategies to prevent displacement of local neighborhood artists.

Equity in Action

Since 1993, Woods Fund Chicago has awarded more than $65 million to nearly 500 nonprofit organizations in the Chicago region. Central to its grant-making approach is a belief that systemic change is the only way to eradicate poverty and structural racism, and that people most affected by poverty and racial inequity should lead and participate in the process of addressing issues that directly affect them.
Consistent with that belief, the Woods Fund has been involved in the creation of the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) framework, and has recently spun off the TRHT Chicago. The TRHT is a comprehensive, national and community-based process to “unearth and jettison the deeply held, and often unconscious, beliefs created by racism”.  Support for the effort was provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF).
We will hear from Michelle Morales, the new President of the Woods Fund, and Jose Rico, the first Director of Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Chicago, as they share their vision for breaking down artificial racial constructs that keep us divided.

Good Food, Good Communities

When Shelby Parchman, Founder of InUrban Strategies, LLC, started coaching small businesses for a local entrepreneurship program, he noticed that many of the businesses with whom he worked were also in urban food deserts--communities with limited access to grocery stores and fresh fruits and vegetables. 
Shelby also noticed that the multi-billion local Good Food industry is expanding rapidly, and Chicago’s neighborhoods are uniquely positioned to capitalize.  What would happen if he narrowed his focus to food entrepreneurs serving Chicago’s South and West Sides? Tune in and find out!