Standing firm in our commitments to Chicago | A letter from our CEO

Dear Friends and Partners,

When we announced in October our transition to new grantmaking goals for the Polk Bros. Foundation, we invited all our current grantee partners to optional individual conversations to clarify our new focus and to get feedback as we further develop our framework. In one of those meetings, a candid reflection graciously offered by one of our partners took my breath away.

“Your new framework seems like it is really thoughtfully designed to address critical disparities in Chicago. It is exactly the right focus – for a world that no longer exists.”

In the days since, I have not stopped thinking about this trusted partner’s observation. He’s right. It’s absolutely true that we developed this framework in a different time, in what feels like – definitely was – a different world. At the time it was unimaginable that the country could transform so quickly into an environment of fear and risk, in which the tenets of our civic life were no longer valued – free speech, civil liberties, safety net programs, public education, even the shared sense of responsibility to the people who make up our communities.

And yet, because of these shifts, the urgency of our goals has never been clearer. The beliefs and harmful decisions threatening our communities today aren’t new — they are intensifications of the very conditions that led us to define our three new grantmaking goals in the first place. If anything, the disparities that have been so historically persistent are likely to entrench, to worsen.

So, with gratitude to this trusted partner for his probing comment, I’m writing today to clearly and unequivocally reiterate our commitment to this work and to the engaged, resolved, and powerful community and organizational leaders who are making our city a place where everyone can live with dignity, security and joy.

• At Polk Bros. Foundation we are steadfastly committed to the goals we announced in October because we believe this is how we’ll best contribute to making real lasting change in Chicago. We will partner to address systemic inequities by focusing our future grantmaking on closing the life expectancy gap, building community wealth across generations, and fostering a participatory, multiracial democracy in which the many voices of our city are heard and can influence the decisions that affect their lives. Our latest blog post shares how these goals came to be.
• We are committed to providing $36.4 million in easy, multi-year, mostly unrestricted funding to our partners. As we begin our transition to this new grantmaking framework, we have committed $36.4 million up front to our current grantee partners (specifically, $19.5 million this year, $14.4 million next year, and $2.5 million in 2027). Of these amounts, nearly $6.7 million across three years will be directed to our Arts Access and Learning grantees who operate in a particularly precarious sector, among so many vulnerable sectors these days.Nearly all of these multi-year grants are general operating. In a very few cases — such as grants to local branches of national organizations, programs within large universities or hospitals, efforts with fiscal sponsors, or where partners felt a program-specific grant would better meet their needs — funding is structured differently, though we have aimed for maximum flexibility.

  Accessing these grants is simple: grantee partners complete a brief, 10-minute questionnaire, and there are no reporting requirements. We developed this approach before we knew the immense strain nonprofits would be under today, and I am glad that we can help provide funding that is flexible, easy to access, and responsive to our partners’ needs.

• We are committed to listening to community leaders, nonprofit partners, and other experts to identify the best opportunities for our grantmaking to be effective within our new goals. Over the coming months, we will use this input to shape specific grantmaking opportunities, within our new framework, that can launch next year as our transition grantmaking begins to wind down. These initiatives will both respond to the current environment and support nonprofit partners to work toward their visions of a more equitable future.

While I’m grateful we are able to make these commitments, I’m also distressingly aware that they’re not enough. They won’t replace the actual and threatened federal funding cuts, shield organizations and programs from further destabilization, or begin the work to rebuild what has been lost — or, better yet, create something stronger.

That’s why our most important commitment is that these won’t be our only commitments. We will continue to listen, learn, and respond as we navigate this moment alongside our partners. The stability and well-being of Chicago’s nonprofit sector is critical to our city’s future, and to our democracy. We remain dedicated to standing with those working to build the sector’s strength, extend its impact, and create a more just, inclusive future for us all.

With the deepest respect,
Gillian