Based at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, the Center on Wrongful Convictions, and our sister project the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth, engages the next generation of lawyers in cutting-edge criminal justice reform, with a special focus on innocence, interrogations, and confessions. We represent Brendan Dassey, whose false confession was profiled in the hit Netflix docuseries Making a Murderer, and others like him -- and have successfully secured the freedom of more than twenty children and more than thirty adults who were convicted of crimes they did not commit. We are dedicated to identifying and rectifying wrongful convictions and other serious miscarriages of justice. In addition, we advocate for policy reforms aimed at preventing future wrongful convictions and raise public awareness about the prevalence, causes, and social costs of wrongful convictions. We aim to change lives and the system.

The Chicago Area Alternative Education League (CAAEL) seeks to eliminate the athletic-and-activity gap facing at-risk/special education students who have been removed from mainstream schools for severe behavioral and emotional issues. Extracurricular activities encourage peer interaction, promote cooperation, build student-adult relationships and help strengthen the student-school connection. Students who participate in these activities achieve higher grade point averages, miss fewer days of school, and are more likely to graduate. Yet students sent to alternative schools due to behavioral and emotional issues—the very students who need these activities the most—lose access to these vital programs. CAAEL fills this gap for these challenging and often forgotten students, while providing educators a powerful set of tools to instill hope and change lives. Each year, CAAEL offers more than 1,000 school activities (athletic games, art events, spelling bees, academic bowls, etc.) to more than 5,000 students from 30 Illinois counties.

Co-founded by a group of diverse, passionate Northwestern University students, COMMUNITY CURRENCY (CC) seeks to chip away at educational inequalities by optimizing on the fact that more than 90% of international travelers return to the United States with leftover foreign currency. Here’s how it works: (1) CC collects foreign currency in international airports, college study-abroad offices, and banks; (2) the foreign currency is converted into American money; and (3) that money directly supports disadvantaged Chicagoland children’s participation in summer camps at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago. We dream to ensure that the zip code you’re born in doesn’t determine the story of your life.

We at the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, are dedicated and committed to bringing resources to students in the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD). During 2016-2018, we distributed over $4.2 million in grants to schools, teachers, and nonprofit organizations operating in the schools. Our funding resulted in our students receiving new technology, scholarships, state-of-the-art resources, opportunities for career development and education, and access to field trips and other programs offered by dozens of cultural arts organizations. Our goal is to help ensure that every student in the DPSCD receives high-quality support for college and career readiness.

DREAMS FOR KIDS trains and mentors local youth, in grades 10-11, to become social entrepreneurs. We provide practical education, real world training and contemporary job skills so that the students can create social enterprises that provide solutions to society’s critical social issues and help others. Our signature program is a 10-lesson, project-based curriculum that is delivered by teachers in class and supported by workforce community mentors beyond school. With the guidance of these professionals, students channel their learning into the creation of social impact enterprises, where they apply business principles to ventures that drive profit and solve critical social issues. By the end of the program, the students can create and manage an enterprise that brings positive social change.

GCE LAB SCHOOL is an independent high school that cultivates global citizens ready to meet the challenges of the 21^st century. Our students participate in weekly field experiences, guest workshops, and case studies with professionals to embrace the inspiration and practicality of real-world education. Through blended, project-based learning, we foster a diverse community of learners who use the city as a classroom to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to courageously take action locally and globally.

Founded by a teacher who saw one of her most talented former students working for minimum wage as a housekeeper, i.c.stars seeks to create economic opportunities for people who are highly talented but lack career opportunities because of their socioeconomic background. Our two-year, development-and-leadership program combines project-based learning, full immersion teaching, and industry networking. The highly selective program, which accepts only 20 candidates out of 200 applicants for each class, focuses on Chicago-area, low-income young adults who demonstrate promising technology talent and an extraordinary dedication to positive community impact. Fundamental to i.c.stars is our belief that the more adversity we have faced, the more resilient we become.

In Her Shoes Foundation (IHSF) is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to embrace and encourage the potential of all women and girls by providing positive influences, learning opportunities, leadership development, and community partnerships. The flagship program—“Ready Set Girls Academy”—is a curriculum that provides teens in middle school and high school with life skills, coping techniques, and self-esteem improvement. IHSF’s professional development program for women—“Ready Set Women Academy”—offers practical tips and guidance on issues from pay negotiations to resume support, leadership to work-life balance, and positive personal growth to workplace achievement. Lastly, the “Giving Back Program” offers volunteer opportunities and partnerships in the Chicago community. After serving as a crisis counselor to young girls and women on the South Side and North Shore of Chicago for more than a decade, Kasia Wereszczynska founded IHSF to further inspire and empower girls and women across Chicago.

Inspired by one of the co-founder’s experience of coaching hockey for low-income inner-city children in West Garfield Park, INNER-CITY EDUCATION PROGRAM (ICE) was established to help low-income children obtain educational and hockey opportunities not otherwise available to them. ICE offers educational scholarships to Chicago area students (1st grade through college) who actively play hockey, demonstrate financial need and a strong personal character, maintain a 2.5 GPA and a satisfactory disciplinary record, and do 80 hours of community service during the summer. Each scholarship recipient receives a pre-screened mentor who provides academic, professional, and personal guidance/assistance, so that the student-athlete is empowered to make positive life choices. ICE also provides free hockey practices twice a week—along with an hour of mandatory academic tutoring before each practice—for more than 150 girls and boys in the Chicagoland area.

KIDS HAVE HOPE is dedicated to stopping and preventing child abuse through education and empowerment. KIDS HAVE HOPE goes into schools and teaches students, teachers, and parents anti-abuse, anti-violence, and anti-bullying skills using an evidence-based curriculum. Our mission is to raise awareness and to educate, prevent, and stop child abuse.

Launch U is a college and career mentoring program that pairs young professionals as mentors to high achieving but underserved scholars during their senior year of high school and beyond.

Lawrence Hall is a community-based service agency embracing at-risk youth and their families by instilling resilience, healing and changing lives for good. Serving over 1,200 youth and families annually, Lawrence Hall cares for newborns to 24-year-olds. Our five-core programs—"Project Work” (job training, placement and mentoring), “Foster Care” (safe, secure and nurturing homes), “Education” (therapeutic day school and experiential learning), “Therapeutic Treatment” (residential treatment and canine, music, art and recreational therapies), and “Living” (transitional and independent living)—are designed to promote overall well-being and empower young people who have experienced trauma. With locations throughout Chicago, Lawrence Hall is invested in communities and dedicated to providing preventive programming and services that can allow families and young people to thrive.

MAKERGIRL aims to inspire girls aged 7-10 years old about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), by offering sessions led by university women experienced with STEM. All of our sessions inspire girls to develop their creativity and technical skills through 3D printing and other cutting edge technologies. Girls design and print an object and learn about women leaders and innovative companies in STEM. Our mission is that MakerGirls become the driving impact for equality and diversity in both education and the workplace because they live and dream as unstoppable forces who say “Yes” to the STEM challenges of the future!

The Nora Project aims to normalize difference, demystify disability, and promote meaningful connections between students and their peers with disabilities. The Nora Project’s central program is an elementary-school curriculum that pairs children with disabilities ("Nora Friends") with students in participating classrooms. These students engage their Nora Friends in fun activities and learn all about them by interviewing those who know them best. They capture photographs and video footage of their Nora Project experiences on iPads and, at the end of the year, they compile what they’ve captured to create a mini-documentary sharing the story of each Nora Friend. The documentaries are debuted at a red-carpet film festival celebrating empathy, friendship, and all of the things that make us human . . . because everyone has a story.

OPEN BOOKS is a nonprofit social venture that provides literacy experiences for thousands of readers each year through inspiring programs and creative capitalization of books.

Our award-winning program, Delicious Nutritious Adventures, brings healthy foods to life in Chicago elementary school classrooms. Students are introduced to a seasonal ingredient each month, starting with apples in October and ending with berries in June. Each class, kids get to touch, feel, smell, and of course, taste. Lessons culminate with children making three simple recipes accomplished from start to finish at their desks. Your support brings our healthy eating programs to more children, more families, and more communities!

Having opened its doors this year for its first class of middle schoolers, the RYAN BANKS ACADEMY will serve as a day school before seeking to become Chicago's first tuition-free, inner-city, co-ed residential boarding school for underserved children in grades 7th through 12th. RYAN BANKS ACADEMY, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, combines a rigorous academic program with an integrated social emotional education to launch the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and world-changers. The curriculum is based on experiential and expeditionary adventure learning with a focus on STEAM—Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math—as well as extended field trips that allow the students to explore new environments and cultures. The school also heavily emphasizes the importance of social emotional learning, family involvement, and psychosocial support services for students. The school’s name honors Ryan Banks—a happy-go-lucky, 12-year-old boy—who was killed by gunfire just outside his home. Years later, his social worker assembled a team of community leaders to found the RYAN BANKS ACADEMY, so that underserved children in unsafe neighborhoods and from traumatic backgrounds could receive a high-quality education in a stimulating and protected environment.

We believe all girls should have the opportunity to fulfill their potential. Through our impactful after-school and mentorship programs, Step Up seeks to empower girls living or going to school in under-resourced communities to become confident, college-bound, career-focused, and ready to join the next generation of professional women. Our programs are open to all girls enrolled in one of our Step Up partner high schools across the United States. 98-100% of Step Up seniors graduate high school and are accepted into college each year!

TAKE NO BULLYING is a nonprofit organization founded by a bullying-and-suicide-attempt survivor and a group of local business owners, professionals and parents who were ready to join the fight against bullying. With more than 60% of bullying instances going unreported, the primary goal of TAKE NO BULLYING is to decrease the number of bullying cases. Through education and community programs, they seek to raise awareness about how to identify, address and prevent bullying. They have already provided more than 1000 “No Bullying” stickers to businesses across the country to display in their windows.

The daughter of immigrant parents, Janet Phan had to figure out ways to fund her higher education and navigate her own career path. Now a global technology and digital transformation consultant at PwC, Phan credits her advancement to several significant mentors who helped her to understand her own capabilities and untapped potential. THRIVING ELEMENTS aims to provide that same meaningful mentoring relationship to develop and empower young women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) through high school, college and the early parts of their professional careers. The vision is that these young women in STEM will make a sustainable impact in their communities and inspire the next generation of women leaders.

The mission of WOMEN TECH FOUNDERS is to inspire more women to pursue a career in technology and leadership. WTF tells the stories and lessons learned of women who are already making waves in the field, so that we can inspire, educate and connect women in the tech ecosystem, from startup founders to funders and leaders. We use storytelling, video and networking events to build deep connections, drive inclusiveness through profitablity, and infuse diversity into tech. Our vision is a tech industry that drives everyone’s potential to reach their dreams, advance business, and change the world.

WITS sets students on a trajectory for success by building critical literacy skills and developing positive self-identity through teacher-led professional development and volunteer-powered mentorship programs

XS TENNIS AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION (XS) seeks to give local student-athletes the tools, support and motivation to succeed both on the court and in the classroom. XS’s mission is to provide Chicago’s underserved youth with an enriching safe haven and positive academic/athletic pathway to college through community-based tennis programs, summer camps, and academic support. 100% of XS student-athletes in the high-performance after-school tennis program have graduated from high school; 100% have earned access to college; and 100% have received full college-tennis scholarships. Founded by Kamau Murray—who was introduced to tennis in a free after-school program on Chicago’s South Side and then went to college on a full tennis scholarship—XS reaches more than 3,000 kids across numerous underserved Chicago communities.