About Better Chicago
A Better Chicago is a venture philanthropy that invests in promising youth-serving nonprofits in Chicago to help children escape poverty by providing unrestricted funding, management support, and strategic guidance to enable organizations to scale.
Focus Areas
Education (early childhood through post-secondary)Career pathways / workforce developmentSocial-emotional developmentTrauma-informed mental healthBasic needs / emergency reliefData & research (Youth Opportunity Dashboard)
Who They Fund
community residentsneighborhoods / local communities
Funding Style
unspecified (no funding approach described)
Topics
About Better Chicago
A Better Chicago backs youth-serving nonprofits in Chicago through multi-year, unrestricted, and capacity-building support, with a portfolio built around helping Black and Latinx youth from low-income backgrounds move through education, careers, social-emotional development, and basic needs. Its grantmaking is structured as venture philanthropy: the foundation pairs funding with management support and strategic guidance so organizations can scale. Recent grants show that approach in practice. Roosevelt University received $600,000 in 2023, and Juvenile Protective Association received $400,000 in 2024, both in the foundation’s broader community-development portfolio. The organization also uses portfolio-based investing and open application pathways for its core grantee group, alongside targeted initiatives such as the Catalyst Fund for community-embedded leaders on Chicago’s South and West sides. Another defining feature is its focus on Chicago youth opportunity rather than a broad geographic spread; the grant record is overwhelmingly local, and the most frequent recipient state is Illinois.
What Better Chicago Funds
Education is a central part of A Better Chicago’s portfolio. The foundation gave $280,000 to Kipp Chicago Schools in 2023 and $250,000 to Chicago Scholars in 2024 to support youth-serving education pathways. Its career and postsecondary work is equally visible. One Million Degrees received $262,500 in 2023 and $250,000 in 2025, while Braven Inc received $200,000 in 2025 and $175,000 in 2023. The foundation also funds social-emotional and mental-health-related supports: Vocel Viewing Our Children as Emerging Leaders received $225,000 in both 2024 and 2025. Basic-needs support appears in the portfolio as well, including grants to Chicago HOPES for Kids in 2023 and 2024.
How Better Chicago Gives
Typical grant size is $75,000 at the 25th percentile, $150,000 at the median, and $212,500 at the 75th percentile. The recent record also includes larger multiyear awards such as $600,000 and several grants at $300,000. Recipients appear across multiple years, suggesting ongoing portfolio relationships rather than one-off awards; examples include repeated support in 2023, 2024, and 2025 within the recent grant list. A Better Chicago is a regular funder, not a DAF or PRI vehicle, and the core portfolio includes an open application process for selected youth-serving nonprofits.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$12.2M
Total Assets
$20.7M
Total Revenue
$12.4M
Total Expenses
$7.5M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $75K and $213K, with a median of $150K.
25th Percentile
$75K
Median
$150K
75th Percentile
$213K
Geographic Reach
Local4 states funded
About 89% of grants go to recipients in MA.
Intensidad de financiamiento
BajaAlta
Sede
Leadership
Elizabeth F Swanson CEO
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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