Causing A Stir (CAS) aims to increase inclusion, education, leadership and mentorship within the hospitality industry for women, people of color and LGBT. CAS provides interactive workshops, scholarship programs, a platform to connect and network, and news of employment opportunities for underserved and underrepresented communities in the hospitality industry. CAS highlights the career achievements of hospitality professionals in Chicago and other communities. We work strategically with other organizations to create a valuable community for all hospitality professionals. Born from a luncheon of 10 female bartenders and hospitality professionals of color who gathered to discuss the frustrations of the bar community, CAS was founded because the group agreed there was a need within the Chicago bar community for increased racial inclusion, educational opportunities for minorities, and mentorship for people of color.

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.

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.

Family Equality advances legal and lived equality for LGBTQ+ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change. Family Equality believes every LGBTQ+ person should have the right and opportunity to form and sustain a loving family, regardless of who they are or where they live. Among many other services, Family Equality connects LGBTQ+ families across the country, educates about paths to parenthood, advocates for equality legislation at the federal and state level, and organizes events for the LGBTQ+ community.

Injustice Watch is a non-partisan, not-for-profit, multimedia journalism organization that conducts in-depth research exposing institutional failures that obstruct justice and equality. The ability of traditional news organizations to dig deeply into the causes of social injustice has been greatly curtailed because the decline in audiences and advertising revenues has forced newspapers and television stations to lay off reporters and cut news-gathering resources. This is why organizations like Injustice Watch are crucial. Our team of highly accomplished investigative reporters, full-time reporting fellows, and talented interns combines data journalism with conventional reporting to delve far deeper into crucial criminal and social justice issues than can traditional news organizations.

At Lazarex Cancer Foundation, we remove the barriers to FDA clinical trial participation for advanced stage cancer patients by providing assistance with costs for trial participation and identification of clinical trial options. Covered costs can include transportation, lodging, and certain medical expenses. We focus on helping patients with all types of cancer, of all ages, from all walks of life. We aspire to improve cancer survival rates through screenings, early detection, and patient participation in clinical trials, with a focus on the medically underserved to address health disparities. Dana Dornsife founded the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in memory of her brother-in-law, who died from pancreatic cancer but not before Dana identified a clinical trial that allowed him to live longer than expected and to spend more time with his family.

MedGlobal is an international medical NGO that deploys volunteer medical missions around the world to provide health care for people in countries with low resources, conflict zones, natural disasters, and areas affected by humanitarian crisis such as ethnic cleansing. The nonprofit’s culturally diverse teams partner with local organizations to provide medical care, educational programs, medical supplies, and medications. Founded by physicians who are experienced in humanitarian medicine, MedGlobal volunteers have logged more than 25,000 hours, 98,000 patient consultations, and $3 million of volunteer time – in 13 countries, including Haiti, Puerto Rico, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Bangladesh, and Yemen

The Muslim American Leadership Alliance (MALA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to leadership through integrity, and as such, provides a platform for people to share their individual stories and to speak for themselves. Our premier civic engagement project – “Muslim American Journeys” – is an opportunity for Muslim Americans to share their own unique stories. Produced in partnership with National Public Radio and the Library of Congress, “Journeys” aims to document oral history, inspire pride, celebrate individuality, and enhance understanding of the diversity of Muslim Americans. Other MALA campaigns aim to unite Americans of all backgrounds to advance constructive solutions to extremism and human rights abuses. Literally and metaphorically, we link arms with fellow Americans to stand up for basic human rights for freedom. Finally, we mentor and empower emerging young leaders. Beyond giving them a platform to tell their stories, MALA runs leadership training workshops. Open to choice and creed, MALA embraces free expression, gender equality, and pluralism as cherished universal ideals.