Chicago Community Trust (CCT) is a grantmaking foundation that provides donor-advised funds (DAFs) and grants towards local community organizations within the Chicago area. According to the Grantsmanship Center, as of 2025 Chicago Community Trust is listed as the 10^th largest foundation in the United States by annual giving. ^{1 2 3}

From 2001 to 2004 CCT had a public dispute with the Searle family over its administration of the Searle Fund. The family claimed that the CCT was ignoring its directions on how its funds were being distributed. By 2024, a court ruling favored CCT and allowed the group to maintain control of the fund. ^{4 5}

History

Chicago Community Trust (CCT) was founded in 1915 by Albert W. Harris, the president of Harris Trust and Savings Bank in Chicago. Upon its founding, Harris made a $200,000 donation to the organization, an amount that would be equal to around $5 million in 2019 dollars. ⁶ The first grant made by CCT was a $5,000 donation to the United Charities of Chicago in 1916. In 1964, John Gideon Searle, the head of the pharmaceutical giant G.D. Searle & Company, gave the largest gift in the trust’s history to CCT. G.D. Searle & Company was the exclusive marketer of the world’s first oral contraceptive.  ⁷

In 2002, the Searle family and Chicago Community Trust were engaged in a dispute. John Gideon Searle had directed in his will that CCT would be the administrator of the $250 million Searle Fund upon his death in 1978. Reportedly, Searle’s son Daniel objected to grants made by CCT and decided to execute a provision in Searle’s will allowing descendants to choose another administrator for the Searle Fund if the trust ceases to function in “substantially the same manner.” A spokeswoman for the descendants of John Gideon Searle reported that CCT was not properly involving the Searle family in how the funds were being distributed. The family fought again to have the fund run by Northwestern University instead of CCT in 2004. Both efforts to change the administrator of the fund failed. The dispute ended in 2004 with CCT retaining the right to administer the Searle Fund while consultants for the family would help determine how the fund was distributed. ^{4 5}

Leadership

The president and chief executive officer of Chicago Community Trust (CCT) is Andrea Saenz. Saenz became the interim president and CEO in July 2022 before being officially named to the positions in November 2022. Previously she was the chief operating officer of CCT from 2018 to 2022, the first deputy commissioner and chief strategy officer for Chicago Public Library, the chief of staff for Chicago Public Schools, a policy strategist in the Department of Education under then-President Barack Obama, and the president of the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement. ^{8 9}

The previous president and CEO of CCT was Helene D. Gayle. Appointed in 2017, Gayle previously worked as president of disaster relief group CARE and also sat on the board of the Gates Foundation, the Brookings Institution, and New America ¹⁰

Grantmaking

The Chicago Community Trust (CCT) has previously made grants to left-of-center organizations within the Chicago and greater Illinois area. The organization states that its vision is “a Chicago region where equity is central and opportunity and prosperity are in reach for all.” ^{11 2}

According to its website, CCT has six primary “strategy areas” where it directs grantmaking: closing the household wealth gap, promoting community wealth, increasing “collective power” in communities, changing government policies, supporting essential services, and connecting philanthropy to advance equity. ¹²

Arabella Advisors Network

Chicago Community Trust makes grants to a number of organizations managed by philanthropic consulting firm Arabella Advisors. In 2018, the organization made a $242,000 grant to New Venture Fund and a $155,000 grant to Windward Fund, two nonprofits that are both managed by Arabella Advisors. ¹³

Identity Politics

Chicago Community Trust (CCT) has previously made donations to groups that advocate criminal justice liberalization policies. It previously made a $536,250 grant to the ACLU Foundation, an arm of the ACLU, as well as a $125,000 grant to the Illinois Branch of National Black Fund, a left-of-center organization which funds projects claiming to combat alleged racial segregation in Illinois. ¹³

Abortion

CCT makes a large number of grants annually to organizations which push for more lenient abortion regulation in the United States. In 2018, the organization made a $10,447 grant to the Center for Reproductive Rights, a large organization which advocates for legislation on a state level which would legalize most abortions including late-term cases. The organization also made a $172,000 grant to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), an organization which carries out and advocates for abortions in the United States, and $174,402 to Planned Parenthood of Illinois, the Illinois state-level branch of PPFA. ¹³

Immigration

The organization also makes grants to organization in Illinois and the United States which advocate for more liberal immigration policy, with some going so far as to call for functionally open borders. The organization made a $35,000 grant to the Arab American Action Network,  an organization which focuses on left-of-center immigration issues; $40,000 to Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, a left-of-center organization which focuses on labor issues associated with illegal immigrants; and $245,000 to Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, a left-of-center organization which focuses on obtaining state-level rights for undocumented workers including state identification cards for illegal immigrants, adoption of “sanctuary city” policies, and the provision of tax incentives for illegal immigrants. ¹³

Environmentalism

CCT also makes a number of grants annually to environmentalist organizations. In 2018 the organization made a $52,250 grant to Earthjustice, a left-of-center environmental law organization; $24,750 to the Greenpeace Fund, the fundraising arm of one of the largest and most vocal left-of-center environmentalist organizations in the United States; $117,500 to Environmental Defense Fund, a left-of-center advocacy group which pushes an alarmist agenda concerning global warming; and $18,700 to the Sierra Club Foundation, one of the largest environmentalist advocacy groups in the United States. ¹³

Financials

According to tax filings, in 2023 Chicago Community Trust reported $1,546,635,743 in revenue, $1,611,696,826 in expenses, and $4,528,310,929 in assets. Of its revenue, CCT received $1,383,717,079 from gifts, grants, and other contributions. That year, CCT reported making over 3,800 grants. Notable grant recipients include the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute ($5,250), Physicians for Reproductive Health ($5,250), National Philanthropic Trust ($30,822,989), GLAAD ($10,016,000), Tides Center ($30,037,500), The Milken Institute ($1,389,000), and New Venture Fund ($1,327,500). Funding for the Tides Center was directed toward supporting the Movement Voter Project. ²

According to its annual reports, in 2024 CCT provided $49 million in grants toward nonprofits, $10 million in grants toward community investments  and $262 million in support of the Chicago region. That year, 95% of its $1,862,806,441 in reported contributions were provided by advised funds, and less than 4% was provided by discretionary endowments. ⁸

1. “CCT.” CCT.” Accessed June 19, 2025. https://www.cct.org/.
2. Chicago Community Trust. Return of an Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). 2023.
3. “Top Giving Foundations: All.” The Grantsmanship Center. Accessed June 19, 2025.
4.  “Searle Family in Dispute With Chicago Community Truest.” Candid. March 26, 2002. Accessed June 19, 2025. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/searle-family-in-dispute-with-chicago-community-trust.
5. “Searle Family.” Forbes. July 1, 2015. Accessed June 19, 2025. https://www.forbes.com/profile/searle/.
6. “Albert Wadsworth Harris and Kemah Farm Financier, Philanthropist, and Great Lover of Animals.” Love, Michelle Bie. Accessed February 23, 2020. http://wmsbayhistory.ipage.com/uploads/3/4/6/8/34688241/albert_wadsworth_harris_website_article.pdf.
7. “Our History.” CCT. Accessed Jun 19, 2025. https://www.cct.org/about/our-history/
8. “Annual Reports.” CCT. Accessed June 19, 2025. https://www.cct.org/about/annual-reports/.
9. “Andrea Saenz.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 19, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreasaenz/details/experience/.
10. “Staff Profiles: Helene D. Gayle.” Chicago Community Trust. Accessed February 23, 2020. https://www.cct.org/people/dr-helene-gayle/.
11. “About.” CCT. Accessed June 19, 2025. https://www.cct.org/about/.
12. “Our Work.” CCT. Accessed Jun 19, 2025. https://www.cct.org/our-work/.
13. 2018 IRS Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax: Chicago Community Trust. Schedule I, Part II: grants and other assistance paid to organizations and domestic governments.