Dear Friends,

Two years ago, Civic Consulting Alliance made a commitment to prioritize our resources to address the long-standing racial inequities in our region – which requires systemic changes to our institutions and effective collaboration across sectors. While we acknowledge that there will always be more work to do, I am heartened by the impact that the Civic Consulting Alliance team and our pro bono partners have made, specifically in pursuit of an equitable regional recovery from COVID-19.

In 2022, we invested $13.4 million across 59 projects and engaged 22 partner organizations that lent us their top talent to help get big things done for our region.

This 2022 Impact Report lifts up those collaborative, dynamic projects completed for a growing community of public and social impact clients. I encourage you to read on to learn how we are advancing equity across our Economic Vitality, Education, and Safety & Justice platforms, including through investments made by our staff and pro bono partners to:  

• Collaborate with the City of Chicago and Cook County to advance catalytic and sustainable investments made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which have led to more equitable investments across commercial corridors and communities, particularly in under-served areas; provide policy recommendations to address gender and racial disparities in the workforce exacerbated by the pandemic; enhance the cultural assets of Museum Campus to make them more accessible and relevant to our communities; and connect individuals to critical support services via a new 211 system.

• Align resources for gun violence reduction and prevention across the City, County, and State of Illinois to maximize impact; implement a pilot of police reforms required by the consent decree while helping to stand up a new City commission to increase police accountability and build trust with the community; and address the disproportionate harm that the justice system inflicts on Black and Latinx individuals by supporting the implementation of pre-trial reforms in Cook County.

• Enable Chicago Public Schools to more effectively manage their COVID-19 mitigation efforts; equitably serve diverse learners; increase students meeting kindergarten readiness benchmarks and position them for life-long success at a critical age band; and address the widening post-pandemic racial gaps in academic outcomes via a new strategic three-year Blueprint.

These are only a few of the nearly 60 projects that Civic Consulting Alliance has completed over the last year. I am continually inspired by our team and their commitment to our clients and making meaningful public impact. Thanks to their tireless efforts, Civic Consulting Alliance has repeatedly demonstrated our experience structuring effective models for collaboration across organizations, communities, and levels of government. We are also grateful to our clients who have reached out to us – due to long-standing relationships, deep institutional knowledge, and reputation – to lean on Civic Consulting Alliance and our pro bono partner network for additional capacity to achieve their ambitious goals.

While I am proud of what we have accomplished, we cannot rest on our laurels. The problems we face as a region are complex and we continue to pull at the threads of inequitable systems – both internally and externally – and work toward making the Chicago region a place where a person’s success is no longer statistically predicted based on their zip code. The strong contributions of our staff, Board, clients, partners, and funders make this work possible. I hope you will read on to learn about what we accomplished together in 2022, and will be inspired to join us in our mission to make the Chicago region a great place for everyone to live in and work.

Sincerely,

Rebekah Scheinfeld
CEO and President
Civic Consulting Alliance