A Chicago Where Everyone Can Thrive

Polk Bros. Foundation is committed to making Chicago a place where all people have the opportunity to reach their full potential

More About Us

The Chicago We’re Working Toward

We believe our city can truly live into its promise as a place where dignity and joy are universal, where neighborhoods hold the power to lead the way, where families can shape the lives they envision, and where our future is built on shared prosperity and belonging.

Our Goals

At Polk Bros. Foundation, we believe real change happens when the conditions shaping people’s lives change. To shift these conditions, we fund community-rooted approaches across three connected goals.

More About Our Goals

Closing the Life Expectancy Gap

To address the root causes of stark disparities in health equity and personal and community safety across different neighborhoods in Chicago

Building Community Wealth Across Generations

To create pathways out of poverty and toward economic opportunity for residents of Chicago’s historically disinvested neighborhoods

Fostering Participatory, Multiracial Democracy

To ensure that the diverse voices of our city are heard and can influence the decisions that affect their lives

we are eager to learn about Your Work

Introduce your work at any time to be considered for funding aligned with the Foundation’s goals

Introduce Your Work to Us

At a time when trust is declining and social connections are fraying, there is a growing need for spaces where people can build relationships, strengthen civic bonds and work across differences.

Berto Aguayo, Increase the Peace
If we want to change the world, we have to be able to dream. And it’s hard to dream from a place of limited resources. We have to dream from a place of abundance. But a lot of times the money is attached to one specific thing or outcome.

Stevie Valles, Chicago Votes
This new approach to grantmaking elevates areas where we have to collaborate in order to improve the health and safety of Chicagoans. It creates space for us to think outside our specific organization.

Amanda Pyron, The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence
Truth-telling and constructive debate are essential democratic skills media can help strengthen. Storytelling should not simply entertain or inform. It should create opportunities for people to remain engaged in civic life and collective decision-making.

Judith McCray, Reparations Media
I hear anxiety about whether open-ended dreaming can ever turn into results. But Chicago has some of the most gifted community facilitators who create space for people to dream and can turn that into real outcomes toward closing racial disparities.

Stevie Valles, Chicago Votes
Domestic violence agencies should think about harm reduction, given how many survivors struggle with substance use. Homelessness and guaranteed income conversations should include DV survivors, whose outcomes improve with housing and economic stability.

Amanda Pyron, The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence