Invest For Kids

Grant Applications due next Friday! Learn more and apply today: https://lnkd.in/dcqrfVa

Calling all nonprofit organizations working to advance opportunity for young people in Chicago!! The Invest For Kids 2025 grant application is currently open. Please visit our website to learn more about our approach and eligibility criteria. Applications are due by Friday, March 14th! Application Link: https://lnkd.in/dcqrfVa

Our 2025 grant application is currently open, with a submission deadline of Friday, March 14th. That's just one month away!! Invest For Kids seek to foster a rich ecosystem of organizations that lift up our Chicago's most in-need youth from early childhood through college & career. If you know any organizations aligned with our mission, please encourage them to visit our website and apply. Application Link: https://lnkd.in/dcqrfVa

We’re excited to announce that our?grant application?is now open for 2025! Since 2009, Invest For Kids has raised and given away more than $23 million to highly impactful nonprofits supporting young people in Chicago. Through our grantmaking, we seek to foster a rich ecosystem of organizations that lift up our city’s most in-need youth from early childhood through college and career. If you know of any organizations that align with our mission and could benefit from our support, please refer them to our?website?and encourage them to apply. Applications are due on or before Friday, March 14th, 2025. Application Link: https://lnkd.in/dcqrfVa

This year's Invest for Kids Conference was a tremendous success on all fronts. A huge thanks goes out to our IFK community for their participation & generous support! We're excited to share highlights from the day and, once again, spotlight this year’s nonprofit grantees! https://lnkd.in/gKQcHbDp

??Yesterday was our big day... the 16th Annual Invest for Kids Conference! ?? We're thrilled to share that the conference was a resounding success! With a packed house and incredible speakers, the energy in the room was nothing short of electric. Thanks to the amazing support of our attendees and sponsors, we raised a record $1.8 million (and counting!) on behalf of our 2024 grantees and initiatives that support Chicago youth. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated, volunteered, and contributed. ?? More to come soon!

Our 16th Annual Conference is just one week away!! Get your tickets today for an enjoyable afternoon of idea sharing and networking. Hope to see you there! Register at https://bit.ly/ifk2024.

Last but not certainly not least, our final 2024 grantee spotlight goes to MetroSquash! MetroSquash combines academic support, competitive squash, and enrichment opportunities to empower students to realize their potential and make their mark. MetroSquash was founded in 2005 as an out-of-school-time program for Chicago Public School students on the South Side. The first class consisted of 10 students in fifth grade attending a local neighborhood school. Each year, a grade level was added to realize a pathway of service from 5th grade through college completion. In 2018, MetroSquash opened its first satellite site location in Evanston, serving a sixth grade class from two middle schools in the community. The organization will celebrate its first high school graduating class in Evanston in 2025. MetroSquash currently supports 300 students 5th grade through college with plans to significantly grow the number of students served as the organization builds a permanent home in Evanston. MetroSquash’s unique model helps to ensure that every student receives the individualized support needed to meet their needs. Key components of the program model include Squash & Fitness, Academics & Enrichment, Social Work & Supportive Services, and College & Career programming. Daily after school services include squash instruction, academic support, and enrichment, while weekend and summer programming include competitive squash opportunities, travel, internship placement, and so much more. MetroSquash provides continued support for up to 14 years of a student’s educational career. Get your tickets today to the Invest For Kids Conference on Oct 22nd to support MetroSquash and other grantees: https://bit.ly/ifk2024

Our next 2024 grantee spotlight goes to Legal Prep Charter Academy! Legal Prep Charter Academy is a free, open-enrollment public charter high school located in West Garfield Park. The school began as the vision of two lawyers who recognized that the lack of equal access to outstanding educational opportunities at the high school level was contributing to the lack of diverse lawyers and set out to fix the problem. With the support and encouragement of the legal and business communities, their dream became a reality. In the fall of 2012, Legal Prep opened its doors with the mission of providing a high-quality, legal-themed, college-prep experience to students in underserved communities that rivals the opportunities found in private and selective enrollment schools. Legal Prep’s curriculum cultivates compassion, self-motivation, advocacy, and reflection in students, so they graduate not only with the skills to succeed in college but also become advocates for themselves and their community. All students take a substantive law class each year, where they develop critical thinking, as well as in-depth reading and analytical skills. In addition, students participate in a unique experiential learning program. Students are paired with law firms and corporations throughout the city, where they take monthly field trips to learn negotiation and oral advocacy skills, as well as professionalism and career options. Students also have the opportunity to participate in clerkships, summer enrichment programs, and college exploration trips. By providing students with the opportunity to see themselves in the role of lawyer, engineer, and business entrepreneur, Legal Prep and its supporters are changing the way students see their future and the trajectory of their lives. Get your tickets today to the Invest For Kids Conference on Oct 22nd to support Legal Prep Charter Academy and other grantees: https://bit.ly/ifk2024

Our next 2024 grantee spotlight goes to Ingenuity! Ingenuity - Chicago was born from a city-wide collective impact movement that coalesced hundreds of arts education stakeholders in solving a complex problem: arts inequities in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Since 2011, the organization has led collective efforts across public and private sectors to launch data-driven frameworks that are helping to close the gap to arts education access in CPS schools. The organization goes beyond numbers, using data to fuel strategic actions that bridge the gap in arts access, influence policy, and guide resource distribution. This work ensures that every CPS student has the opportunity to experience the transformative power of the arts, regardless of where they live or learn. A key initiative of Ingenuity’s is the Creative Schools Fund, which targets schools with the greatest needs by supporting teacher-designed arts programs, professional development, and supporting arts infrastructure. This fund has been instrumental in increasing student participation in arts education by 138% since Ingenuity’s founding. Today, over 230,000 CPS students are enrolled in schools with robust arts programs, reflecting an additional 82,000 students who now consistently benefit from arts education compared to ten years ago. Get your tickets today to the Invest For Kids Conference on Oct 22nd to support Ingenuity and other grantees: https://bit.ly/ifk2024