Crossroads Fund

Chicago Independent Media Alliance

The Crossroads Fund supports community organizations working to advance racial, social and economic justice in the Chicago area. One of the ways it does this is by serving as a base for community-led philanthropic efforts, including the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) joint annual campaign. CIMA is a membership organization of Chicago-based independent, local, and community-driven media outlets. Members share resources and collaborate on editorial and revenue-generating projects. The joint annual campaign, a project of the Crossroads Fund, seeks to elevate the profile of, and public support for, independent media outlets in the Chicago region. This grant will contribute to a pooled fund, comprised of grants from major donors and local foundations, and the pooled fund will match amounts raised by individual outlets during a two-week fundraising campaign in October 2022. The intended outcome of the project is to build the fundraising capacity of small and independent media outlets and increase financial resources for these organizations.

Crossroads Fund (Crossroads) is a public foundation that supports community organizations working on issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area. It creates relationships between donors, grantees, grassroots organizations, and community members. Crossroads provides fiscal sponsorships, hosts pooled funds, and houses special philanthropic initiatives such as the Chicago Racial Justice Pooled Fund and Philanthropy for a Racially Equitable Greater Chicago. This award supports two programs at Crossroads: the Capacity Building Initiative and Cultivate: Women of Color Leadership.

Chicago Racial Justice Pooled Fund

The Crossroads Fund (Crossroads) supports community organizations working on issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago metropolitan area. It creates relationships between donors, grantees, grassroots organizations, and community members. Its work transforms unjust conditions, institutions, and policies to create greater equality and opportunity for all. With this award, Crossroads supports the Chicago Racial Justice Pooled Fund, which helps to build movements and collective power to dismantle racist systems, structures, and institutions.

Chicago Independent Media Alliance

The Crossroads Fund is a conduit for community-led philanthropic efforts. The Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) joint annual campaign is a project of the Crossroads Fund. The campaign seeks to raise the visibility of, and public support for, independent media outlets in the Chicago region. Forty-three members of CIMA will participate in an individual donor fundraising effort between May and June 2021. This grant will contribute to a pooled fund, comprised of grants from major donors and local foundations. The pooled fund will match the amounts raised by individual outlets. The intended outcome of the project is to build the fundraising capacity of small and independent media outlets and to increase financial resources for such organizations.

Crossroads Fund (Crossroads) is a public foundation that supports community organizations working on issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area. It creates relationships between donors, grantees, grassroots groups and community members. Its work transforms unjust conditions, institutions, and policies to create greater equality and opportunity for all. This award supports two capacity building programs at Crossroads: the Capacity Building Initiative, and Cultivate: Women of Color in Leadership.

Chicago Grassroots Anti-Surveillance Network

Crossroads Fund supports community organizations working on issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area. The organization creates relationships between donors, grantees, grassroots groups, and community members. Its work transforms unjust conditions, institutions, and policies to create greater equality and opportunity for all. The award supports the establishment of a network of technologists and community organizers in Chicago working to challenge surveillance practices and ensure historically marginalized people and communities play a meaningful role in the governance of new and emerging technologies.

Chicago Racial Justice Pooled Fund

The Crossroads Fund supports community organizations working on issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area. It creates relationships between donors, grantees, grassroots groups, and community members. Its work transforms unjust conditions, institutions, and policies to create greater equality and opportunity for all. The Crossroads Fund hosts the Chicago Racial Justice Pooled Fund. The Fund addresses the needs of grassroots organizing groups responding to the impact of COVID-19 and the civil unrest that arose after the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Circles and Ciphers

Circles and Ciphers, a project of the Crossroads Fund, is a hip-hop infused restorative justice organization led by and for young people impacted by violence. It offers arts-based peace circles for young men, women of color, incarcerated youth, and community members. It also provides restorative justice education opportunities to universities, high schools, and community organizations. With this institutional support award, Circles and Ciphers makes investments in strategic planning and implementation and establishes a budget stabilization fund.

Crossroads Fund supports community organizations working on issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area. It creates relationships between donors, grantees, grassroots groups, and community members. Its work transforms unjust conditions, institutions, and policies to create greater equality and opportunity for all. With this award, Crossroads Fund incubates and convenes community-led organizations and technologists with expertise to develop a coalition to address the use of invasive surveillance technologies.

Crossroads Fund supports community organizations working on issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area. It creates relationships between donors, grantees, grassroots groups, and community members. Its work transforms unjust conditions, institutions, and policies to create greater equality and opportunity for all. With this award, Crossroads Fund supports and administers three funder collaboratives in response to COVID-19 related concerns.

Crossroads Fund (Crossroads) supports community organizations working on issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area. It creates relationships between donors, grantees, grassroots groups, and community members. Its work transforms unjust conditions, institutions, and policies to create greater equality and opportunity for all. This award supports two capacity building programs at Crossroads: the Capacity Building Initiative, and Cultivate: Women of Color in Leadership.

The Crossroads Fund is a public foundation supporting grassroots movements for racial, social, and economic justice. In 2019, Crossroads Fund’s long-serving executive director retires and its program director steps into the executive director role. With this award, Crossroads Fund provides executive coaching and leadership trainings to the new executive director. It also provides trainings for its board and staff in successfully managing the leadership transition.

Crossroads Fund (Crossroads) supports community organizations working on issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area. It creates relationships between donors, grantees, grassroots groups, and community members. Its work transforms unjust conditions, institutions, and policies to create greater equality and opportunity for all. This award supports two capacity building programs at Crossroads: the Capacity Building Initiative, and Cultivate: Women of Color in Leadership.

Crossroads Fund supports community organizations working on issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area. In partnership with Woods Fund Chicago, Chicago Community Trust, and Chicago Foundation for Women, the Crossroads Fund supports a program called Cultivate: Women of Color in Leadership. The program, which is in its fifth year, offers coaching, relationship building, and skill development to cohorts of community leaders. This award supports the programmatic and administrative costs associated with the program, revisions to its curriculum, and a strategic planning process.

Crossroads Fund supports community organizations working on the issues of racial, social, and economic justice in the Chicago area. Crossroads Fund in partnership with Woods Fund Chicago, Chicago Community Trust, and Chicago Foundation for Women supports a program that is designed to strengthen women leaders of color in Chicago. The program (Cultivate: Women of Color in Leadership), which is in its fifth year, offers coaching, relationship building, and skill development to cohorts of community leaders. With this award, Crossroads Fund commissions an evaluation to document the impact of the model, and to strengthen and grow the program. The evaluation process includes a meeting of Cultivate alumae to review findings and develop future programming informed by the evalution results, which will be shared broadly.

In support of the Critical Response Fund, which makes grants to Chicago-area organizations working to defend civil rights and combat racism and hate crimes.

To support a capacity-building initiative to provide financial and technical assistance to emerging community-based groups (over two years).

To support a five-year capacity-building initiative.

To support a five-year plan to enhance the fund's ability to attract donors and to expand its grantmaking activities.

To support a planning process to increase philanthropic capacity.

To support the conference "Walking On: Organizing Beyond the Quincentennial."