Our Grantee Partners
As we envision new approaches to funding change, our grantee partners have harnessed the kinetic energy of the moment to organize, advocate for, and catalyze lasting systemic change.
Grantee Partners Affecting Change
Although the pandemic has disrupted so much over the last few years, it has not stopped the tireless advocacy of our grantee partners.
Spring 2021 Catalyst Fund Grantees Deliver Major Legislative Victories
Woods Fund Chicago made several Catalyst Fund grants in Spring 2021 to coalitions seeking to effect change in the pursuit of racial equity in Chicago. Two of those coalitions have already delivered fundamental change:
The Coalition to End Money Bond is a collective of fourteen organizations seeking an end to the practice of cash bond and decreasing the number of people who are incarcerated before being tried. The Coalition worked tirelessly to secure the passage of the Pretrial Fairness Act which will eliminate cash bond in the state of Illinois beginning in January 2023.
The Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA) is a coalition of seven community organizations who seek to fundamentally transform the ways that the Chicago Police Department interacts with the communities it serves, and to give organized communities concrete avenues to hold the Police Department to account. GAPA and advocates for the Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) organized for and helped pass a combined ordinance — Empowering Communities for Public Safety — which will create elected, community-centered police oversight boards and start a process of fundamentally redefining the relationship between the Chicago Police Department and Chicago communities.
Recent Legislative Wins
Obama Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) Coalition/Woodlawn Housing Preservation Ordinance (Building Community Power)
Grantee Partners involved: Kenwood Oakland Community Organization (KOCO), Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP), BYP100, and Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.
Pretrial Fairness Act (HB 3653 SFA2) (Ending Cash Bail)
Grantee Partners involved: Chicago Appleseed Fund, Community Renewal Society, The People’s Lobby, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, SOUL, and Workers Center for Racial Justice
Illinois Predatory Loan Prevention Act (SB 1792) (Capping Predatory Interest Rates)
Grantee Partners involved: Housing Action Illinois, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, and the Woodstock Institute.
General Iron Permit Denial (Stop General Iron)
Grantee Partners Involved: Alliance for the Southeast (ASE) and the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO).