Campaign volunteers can tell a story about an organization. Who is part of your campaign? How large is it? What is the mission of your team? At United Way of Metro Chicago, we’ve found our story. And we’re excited to share it.
Andy McKenna is a life-long Chicagoan who understands that the Chicago region is shaped by the people who step forward and invest their time and energy in advancing the civic and philanthropic needs of the region. Andy is one of these leaders whose commitment and boundless energy set the bar high for Chicago’s civic and philanthropic community. He often works behind the scenes to mentor nonprofit leaders and fellow board members.
It is not often a nonprofit organization wakes up to a call informing them they will be receiving a $25 million unrestricted grant. Thanks to the generosity of MacKenzie Scott, United Way received that call and the single largest donation in the organization’s 80+ year history.
Within Randy’s first few weeks in Chicago, he noticed there were different expectations for professionals. “The Chicago ethos came out right away,” Randy recalls. The Chicago ethos was, and still is, an expectation to give back to the Chicago community and support charitable organizations. He learned about United Way of Metro Chicago and decided United Way would be a cornerstone of his philanthropic involvement.
Joshua Simmons, 23, is a recent college graduate from Westchester, IL and has spent time living in the South Side of Chicago.
In Heather McGhee’s “The Sum of Us,” she studies the American economy to understand that, in all equations, racism is the common denominator stifling our economy and our country at large. We spoke with two United Way of Metro Chicago partners to look at the economic impact of institutional racism in Chicago and how philanthropic organizations can help our neighbors close the wealth gap.
One year ago, our city and state issued a stay–at–home order as COVID-19 began to spike. I don’t know about you, but what I remember most was fear and uncertainty. What would this mean for our two kids, who were in pre-k and second grade at the time? How could we keep our colleagues and families safe? How long would this last – two weeks, a month, until summer? Frankly, the only thing we were certain about was that we needed to act quickly to help our neighbors.