Fair-chance hires perform as well as, or better than, their non-justice-involved peers—and they form a strong, motivated, largely untapped source of workplace talent.
How We Invest in Impact
The Center for Illinois’ Future focuses on delivering solutions to complex problems with sustained, multiyear investments. We have invested more than $185 million in pro bono resources to address challenges in education, economic development, public safety, and health equity, such as:
- Economic Development. We enable inclusive economic mobility with investments in diverse workforce development, inclusive hiring and retention practices, and the care economy.
- Education. We help close student success gaps with investments in the public education ecosystem, student supports, workforce inclusion programs, and representative educator pipelines.
- Public Safety. We partner to reduce gun violence in our community with investments in community violence intervention, targeted workforce development, and support for disconnected youth, and just law enforcement.
- Health Equity. We advance closing the life expectancy gap with investments in workforce upskilling, health care coordination, and community-based critical care.
Who We Partner With
We have worked more than 90 social impact organizations and initiatives throughout Chicago and Illinois. Here are just some of our partners.
Advance Illinois
CaraPlus
Chicago Community Trust
Chicago CRED
Chicago Public Education Fund
Chicago Urban League
Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago
Community Desk Chicago
Corporate Coalition
Easterseals Serving Chicagoland and Greater Rockford
Feeding America
Latino Policy Forum
Metropolitan Family Services
Metropolitan Peace Initiative
Northern Illinois Food Bank
P33
Pritzker Trauberg Foundation
Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago (SC2)
Teach for America Chicago Northwest Indiana
University of Chicago Urban Labs
Westside United
Xchange
Explore Our Insights
Article
April 4, 2024
Article
April 10, 2024
Job holders without degrees perform as well as those with degrees—but they tend to stay in their jobs longer and be more engaged.
Article
April 10, 2024
Many frontline workers feel burned out. But with proper attention and investment, they constitute a motivated workforce that can unleash an organization’s highest potential.
Article
April 17, 2023
Americans with criminal records constitute a sizable talent pool. Fair chance hiring is good for companies and society, but employers need to do it right.
Meet Our Leaders
The Center for Illinois’ Future works hand-in-hand with civic leaders to equitably and inclusively advance well-being in Chicago and Illinois. Here are just some of our leaders.
