A Better Chicago Grantee Portfolio Program

Geographic Scope: Chicago, Illinois

Focus Areas:

• Education (early childhood through post-secondary)
• Careers (through middle skill and high school diploma pathways)
• Social-emotional development
• Trauma-informed mental health
• Essential needs/basic needs

Target Population:

• Black and Latinx youth from low-income backgrounds
• Nonprofit organizations and initiatives at different stages of development

Investment Approach:
A Better Chicago uses a multi-step process and invests in organizations at different stages of development through multiple fund categories:

• Catalyst Fund: Supporting community-embedded leaders with innovative approaches (recent investments: $75K-$518K)
• Venture Fund: Seed investments in promising organizational models ready to scale (recent investments: $936K-$1.3M)
• Growth Fund: Significant investments to grow successful organizations with strong track records (recent investments: $732K-$3M)
• Alumni Fund: Former actively managed investments with proven impact that ABC continues to champion

What They DO Fund:

• Established programs with a track record of success
• Promising early-stage models
• Nonprofit organizations focused on creating opportunity for Black and Latinx youth from low-income backgrounds
• Programs addressing education, careers, social-emotional development, mental health, and essential needs

Investment Support: Growth capital and capacity-building support

Application Process

Current Status: Not currently soliciting applications for general funding.

How to Apply

1. Interest Form: Submit a General Interest Form to share information about your organization or initiative
2. Review Timeline: Given limited team capacity, interest forms will be reviewed on a rolling basis
3. Contact: For general questions about the application process, email grants@abetterchicago.org

Required Information

See the General Interest Form for specific requirements (detailed form fields not provided in source materials)

Note

Organizations are encouraged to submit an interest form even though applications are not currently being solicited, as this allows A Better Chicago to maintain awareness of potential future grantees.