1871 is here to prove that the entrepreneurs of Chicago are making a real impact on the world’s technological landscape. We’re home to 1500+ inventors, designers, creators, and do-ers who are building better, faster, cleaner solutions to everyday problems, and we’re committed to supporting them as they innovate for the future. Our mission is to provide diverse, digitally-enabled startups with access to space and connectivity, education and training resources, early-stage and venture capital and customers.

The vision of ABOVE AND BEYOND is to innovate and create the most effective addiction treatment in America, and provide it to Chicago’s poor and homeless, at zero cost to them, provided in convenient walk-in locations in their neighborhoods. We establish long-term relationships with them for support, and assist with housing and employment.

Breakthrough's mission is to partner with people affected by poverty to build connections, develop skills, and open doors of opportunity. Breakthrough provides education and youth development activities, sports and fitness programs, workforce development training, transitional and permanent housing, mental and medical health care, among other services. Breakthrough's vision is to create a safe, stable and engaged East Garfield Park community where success is the norm and families enjoy prosperity

Our mission is to help tech startups navigate their growth phase from viable to thriving. We cultivate a tight-knit community of great founders and their companies in a top-notch, affordable space so that they can scale faster. Our core strategies are: peer selection, correct-sized space for a tight-knit community, curated programming, alumni engagement, no equity or investment involved, and access to service providers that are a great fit.

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.

ChiGivesBack is a goodwill and social-impact organization that provides donation opportunities within Chicagoland. Our goal is to improve the welfare of the Chicagoland community via innovative giving drives and charity events. At our “Teach2Give” event, we collect classroom supplies that help underfunded Chicagoland teachers to prepare their classrooms. At our “Chicagoland Toy Drive” event—held during the holiday season—we collect toys for low-income young people living in the Chicago area. Founded by three civic-minded Chicagoans, ChiGivesBack is based on the principle of paying it forward.

Chicago Run’s mission is to enhance the health and wellness of Chicago children through innovative, engaging, and sustainable youth running programs. Chicago Run provides programs to Chicago children and youth from pre-k through high school in low-income neighborhoods. These programs aim to instill the daily habit of physical activity, build leadership skills, break down cultural barriers, and promote social emotional learning through running and fitness..

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.

The Community House is a nonprofit that is home to those seeking continuity between personal, professional, philanthropic and recreational pursuits. For nearly a century, we have provided an extraordinary destination where people can come together to enjoy extraordinary experiences. From educational development to the early planning of life’s landmark events…from business to pleasure, from charity to recreation…it all starts at The Community House.

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.

FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE is founded upon the idea that within each person is a soul; and that soul is equal and worthy of boundless love. With this inspiration, the lives of the families we serve are enhanced while the volunteers reap the rewards of selfless giving. FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE creates friendship in the lives of individuals with special needs and those facing isolation while providing an opportunity to become a contributing member of the community. Through our programming, FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE aims to promote an inclusive community that values all individuals regardless of the challenges they face.

THE HATCHERY CHICAGO is the area’s premier food-and-beverage business incubator to help local entrepreneurs scale successful companies. Through our incubation programming and production facility, we provide space, financing and resources under one roof. Located in the underserved neighborhood of East Garfield Park, THE HATCHERY helps build businesses that will then create economic growth and new job opportunities in our community. Our workforce development programs seek to create a deep pool of local qualified candidates for the jobs created by our entrepreneurs. Providing our neighbors with free certifications, support, classes and job training, shared-kitchen hours, and industry connections, we view the food industry as a widely accessible path out of poverty.

HEARTS IN MOTION provides opportunities for individuals to participate in short-term mission experiences to change the lives of people in poverty in the United States, Central America, and South America. Our mission is to provide them with quality medical care and assistance in the development of social programs to improve health, education and welfare. We work to compliment resources already in place while respecting the culture of those whose lives we touch. HEARTS IN MOTION is made up of compassionate volunteers who choose to make a difference by extending loving support to those they serve, whether it's in their own community or thousands of miles away in another country.

IMPACT100 OAKLAND COUNTY is an organization of women committed to improving their community by providing substantial grants to nonprofit organizations in Oakland County, Michigan. The idea is simple: 100 women, each giving $1,000 and each having one vote resulting in a gift of $100,000 to an organization that has a big idea and great potential but may have little access to large-scale funds.

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.

Founded by CNN Hero Diane Latiker, KIDS OFF THE BLOCK (“KOB”) provides a positive place for “at risk” kids to come “off the block” for programs and events conducted in a safe and caring environment. Latiker began KOB by opening up her home to 10 kids in the community to steer them away from the daily negative influences that they experienced. 15 years later, KOB has serviced more than 3,000 kids through health workshops, cultural events, educational tutoring, and celebrations in their honor for achievements and participation.

La Casa Norte's mission is to serve youth and families confronting homelessness. We provide access to stable housing and deliver comprehensive services that act as a catalyst to transform lives and communities.

As Chicago's largest food pantry, Lakeview Pantry’s mission is to eliminate hunger in our community by: providing food to fill the basic need of hungry people, empowering clients to achieve independence through social service programs, and raising awareness of hunger and poverty and working towards solutions to eliminate them. Our “Food Distribution Program” provides emergency food assistance—six days a week—to our neighbors in need. Using a choice-based model, visitors to our Pantry receive a 2-week supply of fresh and nutritious groceries. Our “Home Delivery Program” serves our elderly, disabled, and homebound clients. Food allotments are customized for clients with diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease. Our “Social Services Program” offers clients assistance with healthcare, housing, benefit forms, and employment, as well as mental health counseling. Last year, we distributed 1.4 million meals to over 8,000 individuals, through 40,000 site visits.

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.

MATTER is a community of healthcare innovators, an incubator of ideas, and a catalyst for change. We are boots-on-the-ground entrepreneurs pushing against the status-quo and established institutions dedicated to improving patients’ lives. At MATTER, we are hungry for change, and we’re working together to solve real and complex healthcare problems.

MedWish International is a nonprofit organization that saves lives and the environment by repurposing discarded medical supplies and equipment to provide humanitarian aid in developing countries. MedWish works with a range of healthcare providers (hospitals, medical equipment companies, nursing homes, etc.) to recover medical surplus they can no longer use because of insurance regulations, hospital inventory systems, renovations and equipment updates. MedWish has recovered more than 5 million pounds of medical surplus from nearly 120 U.S. hospitals, keeping these lifesaving items out of landfills and putting them in the hands of people in need in more than 110 countries worldwide. Dr. Lee Ponsky, after spending time with the World Health Organization in Nigeria and witnessing the obvious lack of medical supplies in that country, founded MedWish to help save lives.

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.

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.

We teach Chicago's overlooked talent how to sell software, then help them land careers with top-tier employers. Our mission is to reshape hiring trends in tech for underserved communities by providing workforce and business development training. Almost all of our candidates are under-represented minorities from the South and West Sides of Chicago. With a job placement rate of 83% and an average starting salary of almost $50,000, we pride ourselves on helping candidates find meaningful work and more financial success than they would anywhere else. We believe in a world in which lasting workplace inclusion generates positive ripple effects across families, industries, and 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.

THE SIMPLE GOOD is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to connect the meaning of “good” from around the world in order to provide inspiration, hope and possibility for at-risk youth in Chicago and beyond. Using Social Emotional Learning Core Standards, mindfulness and art, our eight-week program is designed to take students through a path of discovering different meanings of “good” by journaling, drawing and creating a work of art on their "simple good." By raising awareness about the everyday positivity that surrounds us, THE SIMPLE GOOD aims to empower youth to be forces of positive change in their communities. THE SIMPLE GOOD was founded after our blog of 52 international photos of “good” went viral, and we realized that no matter where you go in the world, “good” means the same to all of us and that is what connects us as human beings.

SPARK VENTURES builds partnerships that lift communities out of poverty. SPARK VENTURES has lasting impact by directing human and financial resources to partners around the world to provide health, education and jobs. By focusing resources in areas of business, job creation and capacity building, SPARK VENTURES seeks to have lasting and sustainable impact.

StreetWise is one of the largest “street papers” in the United States and focuses on news that is “socially conscious and Chicago-centric.” Our mission is to empower the entrepreneurial spirit through the dignity of self-employment. We provide Chicagoans facing homelessness with a combination of supportive services, workforce development resources, and immediate access to gainful employment by becoming a StreetWise vendor. By purchasing and taking the magazine, you are providing a "hand up, not a hand out" to one of our 150+ vendors working towards self-sufficiency. Founded in the early 1990s, StreetWise is a practical solution to the crisis of homelessness in Chicago: give homeless men and women a chance to help themselves and gain personal dignity by selling a newspaper to earn income rather than begging for money.

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.

Founded almost 150 years ago during the Civil War, UCAN’s vision is to help youth who have suffered trauma to become our future leaders. We seek to increase economic and social independence by providing programs that help to heal trauma, prevent violence, build strong families, and educate and empower our youth. Today, UCAN impacts over 13,000 at-risk youth and families across Illinois through more than 30 programs.

The West Central Association (WCA) Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1918 to promote business and support economic development in the geographic areas west of Chicago's loop. Our growing membership works together to encourage a healthy business environment by providing a unified voice for our members, supporting thoughtful development, encouraging mutual support, and attracting new businesses, institutions, and residents to the area. The WCA also advocates for business and property owners on legislation, taxation, transportation, architectural treatment, and model plans for our region. From Wells Street to Kedzie Avenue and from Grand Avenue to 16th Street, the WCA represents the West Loop, Greektown, Madison Street, Randolph Street, Jackson Blvd., Fulton River District, Fulton Market, United Center Park, Little Italy, Tri-Taylor, University Village and Commons, and Roosevelt Square.

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.