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Non-profit

Chicago Foundation for Women

Website:

cfw.org
Location:

CHICAGO, IL
Tax ID:

36-3348160
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2021):

Revenue: $5,080,080
Expenses: $5,367,644
Assets: $20,403,643
Type:

Grantmaking Non-Profit
Formation:

1985
President & CEO:

Felicia Davis Blakley
Board Chair:

Ann Marie Wright

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The Chicago Foundation for Women is a left-of-center grantmaking organization focused on efforts in the Chicago area. Echoing left-leaning rhetoric about systemic inequities, it offers liberal donors the opportunity to direct their contributions to organizations that serve LBTQ women, women of color, and young women and girls through its Giving Councils. 1

Background

Originally founded to improve the lives of women and girls, 2 Chicago Foundation for Women now uses language that includes a focus on transgender and nonbinary people. 3

Marjorie Craig Benton, one of the Foundation’s four co-founders, served as President Jimmy Carter’s representative on the executive board of the United Nations Children’s Fund, commonly known as UNICEF. 4 Benton is also affiliated with Save the Children. 5

Since 2019, the Foundation’s CEO has been Felicia Davis Blakley, who served as head of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s (D) Office of Public Engagement. 6 Davis directed that office during the Emanuel administration’s cover-up of the police shooting of Laquan McDonald and was included on publicly released emails that discussed the administration’s response to the scandal. 7

Activities

The Chicago Foundation for Women makes grants to left-leaning groups that promote abortion, transgenderism, and leniency for prisoners. 8

The group condemned the Trump administration’s immigration policies, 9 and sponsored Women’s March Chicago during the Trump administration. 10 In 2022, the organization’s board chair asserted that second-wave feminism had “historically excluded non-white voices.” 11

Grantmaking

Organizations supported financially by the Chicago Foundation for Women include Arise Chicago, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Chicago Abortion Fund, Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center, Planned Parenthood of Illinois, and the Workers Center for Racial Justice. 8 The Chicago Foundation for Women gives grants to organizations whose leadership meet racial and sexual quotas. 12

In 2022, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Foundation announced $200,000 in grants to support abortion as part of a $3.4 million grant outlay. 13 In the fiscal year ending in June 2022, the Chicago Foundation for Women’s revenue was more than double what it had been in the previous fiscal year. 8 In 2023, the Foundation stated that it supported 66 organizations. 14

Funders

The Chicago Foundation for Women received more than $5.5 million from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation between 1987 and 2022. 15 Major left-leaning foundations that have made contributions to the Chicago Foundation for Women include the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund; 16 the Pritzker Family Foundation, led by Governor of Illinois J.B. Pritzker (D) and his wife; 17 and Chicago Community Trust. 18

References

  1. “Giving Councils + Giving Circles.” Chicago Foundation for Women. Accessed August 12, 2023. https://www.cfw.org/giving-councils/.
  2. Maxwell, Carrie. “Chicago Foundation for Women Marks 30 Years of Philanthropy.” Windy City Times, September 16, 2015. https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Chicago-Foundation-for-Women-marks-30-years-of-philanthropy/52816.html.
  3. “CFW Focuses on the Issues That Affect All Women, Girls, Trans, and Gender Nonbinary People.” Chicago Foundation for Women. Accessed August 12, 2023. https://www.cfw.org/.
  4. [1] “United Nations Children’s Fund Appointment of Marjorie Craig Benton To Be U.S. Representative on the Executive Board.” The American Presidency Project, September 7, 1979. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/united-nations-childrens-fund-appointment-marjorie-craig-benton-be-us-representative-the.
  5. “Trustees and Leadership.” Save the Children. Accessed August 12, 2023. https://www.savethechildren.org/us/about-us/leadership-and-trustees.
  6. Bertagnoli, Lisa. “Former Rahm Aide Named CEO of Chicago Foundation for Women.” Crain’s Chicago Business, May 21, 2019. https://www.chicagobusiness.com/nonprofits-philanthropy/former-rahm-aide-named-ceo-chicago-foundation-women.
  7. Klinzman, Grant. Daily Press Guidance, December 1, 2015. Emails released to WTTW on the shooting of Laquan McDonald. https://news.wttw.com/sites/default/files/article/file-attachments/PART%207%20–%20DECEMBER.pdf
  8. Chicago Foundation for Women, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2021. Accessed August 12, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/363348160/202243569349300509/full
  9. “Women’s Foundations across the U.S. Condemn the Trump Administration’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ Immigration Policy.” The New York Women’s Foundation. Accessed August 12, 2023. https://nywf.org/womens-foundations-across-the-u-s-condemn-the-trump-administrations-zero-tolerance-immigration-policy/.
  10. Ullah, Syed. “Women’s March Chicago Draws Thousands of Women Downtown.” Daily Herald, January 23, 2020. https://www.dailyherald.com/submitted/20200123/womens-march-chicago-draws-thousands-of-women-downtown.
  11. Wright, Ann Marie, and Jessica Sohl. “Chicago Foundation for Women Takes Actionable Steps toward Becoming an Anti-Racist Organization.” Crain’s Chicago Business, October 10, 2022. https://www.chicagobusiness.com/equity/chicago-foundation-women-pursues-anti-racist-status.
  12. “Frequently Asked Questions.” Chicago Foundation for Women. Accessed August 12, 2023. https://www.cfw.org/grant-faqs/.
  13. “ Chicago Foundation for Women Awards $3.4 Million in Grants.” Philanthropy News Digest, July 20, 2022. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/chicago-foundation-for-women-awards-3.4-million-in-grants.
  14. “Chicago Foundation for Women Invests over $1 Million in Organizations That Lift up Women and Girls.” Chicago Foundation for Women, January 12, 2023. https://www.cfw.org/news-releases/.
  15. “Chicago Foundation for Women.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed August 12, 2023. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/chicago-foundation-for-women-1282/.
  16. Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2021. Accessed August 12, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/311774905/202243089349301314/full
  17. Pritzker Family Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2021. Accessed August 12, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/300039820/202233119349101833/full
  18. The Chicago Community Trust, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2020. Accessed August 12, 2023.  https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/362167000/202222249349300837/full
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: June - May
  • Tax Exemption Received: April 1, 1985

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2021 Jun Form 990 $5,080,080 $5,367,644 $20,403,643 $1,238,265 N $3,552,910 $1,000 $556,784 $360,483 PDF
    2020 Jun Form 990 $5,591,095 $4,805,526 $17,396,463 $228,333 N $5,091,081 $9,500 $584,798 $352,952 PDF
    2019 Jun Form 990 $8,723,665 $5,389,556 $17,354,514 $271,098 N $6,075,451 $27,925 $614,802 $290,102 PDF
    2018 Jun Form 990 $4,968,421 $4,864,913 $15,714,848 $321,889 N $4,045,187 $16,099 $519,328 $326,137 PDF
    2017 Jun Form 990 $4,833,779 $4,297,170 $15,365,596 $245,014 N $4,280,462 $0 $497,447 $290,236 PDF
    2016 Jun Form 990 $4,525,711 $3,911,765 $14,056,039 $327,719 N $4,107,968 $0 $535,646 $291,689 PDF
    2015 Jun Form 990 $4,422,352 $4,089,355 $13,821,594 $369,879 N $3,622,756 $0 $594,616 $280,302 PDF
    2014 Jun Form 990 $3,882,742 $3,686,053 $14,262,064 $440,530 N $2,912,495 $0 $475,013 $178,969 PDF
    2013 Jun Form 990 $9,667,255 $3,395,245 $12,970,537 $277,276 N $9,010,234 $0 $421,281 $141,691 PDF
    2012 Jun Form 990 $2,277,344 $2,013,839 $6,408,830 $221,475 N $1,904,890 $0 $371,927 $0 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Chicago Foundation for Women

    140 South Dearborn Street 400
    CHICAGO, IL 60603-5229