Polk Bros. Foundation announces grant recipients of its Emerging Strategies to Advance Shared Ownership RFP
August 17, 2026
$1,075,000 in grants ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 awarded to advance the Foundation’s goal of Building Community Wealth Across Generations in Chicago
Polk Bros. Foundation has awarded $1.075 million in grants to 12 organizations through its Emerging Strategies to Advance Shared Ownership Request for Proposals (RFP), one of three funding opportunities issued in February 2026 as part of the Foundation’s transition to its new grantmaking goals. The grantmaking opportunity was designed to explore promising, community-driven approaches to expanding shared ownership models while also informing the Foundation’s future grantmaking.
“These grants illustrate the extraordinary vision and leadership in Chicago’s neighborhoods,” said Polk Bros. Foundation CEO Gillian Darlow. “Our hope is that these investments help more of these community-driven ideas take hold, grow and benefit Chicago for generations.”
This RFP attracted 122 letters of interest, with 12 organizations ultimately selected for funding following a competitive, two-phase review process.
“When we began exploring ways to build community wealth across generations, one thing became clear: disinvested communities need more opportunities to own, shape and benefit from the assets that define their neighborhoods,” said Polk Bros. Foundation Senior Program Officer Channing Lenert. “Shared ownership is one powerful strategy because it helps ensure the value communities create stays rooted in those communities. These grants invest in organizations that are expanding those opportunities in thoughtful and lasting ways.”
Throughout the Foundation’s transition period, nonprofit leaders and community partners consistently emphasized that lasting economic opportunity requires more than helping individuals increase their income. Shared ownership emerged as one promising strategy for ensuring that the benefits of economic opportunity stay local.
“I was struck by how many organizations are connecting education, workforce development, entrepreneurship and community development rather than treating them as separate issues,” said Polk Bros. Foundation Senior Program Officer Karen VanAusdal. “Those connections create more pathways for people to participate in, and benefit from, the economic future of their communities.”
Together, these grants create pathways for historically disinvested communities to build wealth that stays local and grows across generations. They reflect the Foundation’s belief that expanding community ownership can strengthen neighborhood stability, create lasting economic opportunity and help more residents share in the prosperity they help create.
“A consistent theme across these efforts is that communities become stronger when more people have a stake in their future,” said Polk Bros. Foundation Program Officer Gabby Nelson. “Whether the organizations are focused on affordable housing, business ownership, or community-driven investment, they’re creating opportunities for low-income residents to build assets, remain in their neighborhoods, and shape the future of their communities.”
Through direct community engagement, specialized technical assistance, and education, the selected organizations are supporting the launch and expansion of worker cooperatives, community land trusts, housing cooperatives and community investment vehicles while strengthening the broader ecosystem needed for shared ownership models to grow and succeed. Many of these projects will produce and disseminate best practices, lessons learned and evaluation results, helping to both inform the public and strengthen the community wealth-building field as a whole.
Organizations receiving grants:
- Builders Avenue
Together We Build Better Cooperative
- Co-op Ed Center
General Operating Support
- Ecosystems of Care
as fiscal sponsor for Cooperation Racine
- Fawohodie Foundation
KWest Community Investment Vehicle Education and Outreach
- Grow Greater Englewood
Grow Greater Englewood Community Land Trust – Proof of Concept Pilot
- Here to Stay Community Land Trust
General Operating Support
- Lawndale Christian Development Corporation
Co-Op Incubator
- Pilsen Housing Cooperative
General Operating Support
- Rebuild Foundation
Ceramics Gallery Cooperative Cultural Hub
- Riverdale Community Land Trust
General Operating Support
- The Community WEB
General Operating Support
- Village of Leaders Thriving in Solidarity (VOLTS)
General Operating Support
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