The Humanity We Deserve by Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia for WTTW’s: FIRSTHAND Life After Prison Series

Collaborative relationships with others or ideas that build on one another.

How does an organization, individual, idea connect and drive collaborative action with others?

Adaptability to changing conditions and new knowledge.

How does an organization, individual, idea demonstrate an openness to learning and propensity for adjusting to new environments, and/or new information and change?

Rootedness  in youth and community experience, voice, and relationship.

How is an organization, individual, idea influenced and shaped by youth and community voice, experience, and relationship? How is youth voice integrated in the work?

Audacious vision for change that is backed by action.

How does an organization, individual, idea push themselves and others to have greater impact?

Capacity to engage in a high-touch relationship built on mutual trust.

How does an organization, individual, idea demonstrate its ability to work closely together?

Relevancy to the opportunities, needs, culture and values of youth and communities.

How does an organization, individual, idea recognize and understand the complexity of its issue area and community?

Chicago Beyond actively seeks out opportunities to offer a platform to highlight the WORK of our investment partners and other organizations that furthers our vision of challenging narratives reframing conversations on race and equity

Through our partnership, Chicago Beyond is able to share in the ideation, design, and launch of new products and initiatives.

Chicago Beyond provides organizations with thought partnership and capacity building in service of refining their programmatic and organizational structures.

In order to have deeper partnerships, we need to learn alongside our investment partners and wrestle with critical questions together, both to support their growth and development, but also to allow their experiences to continually shape our understanding of and role in the dynamics faced by individuals, communities, and systems.

Linking social capital recognizes that our unique privilege as a funder can create vertical pathways for our investment partners that shift access to power.

We support our partners in finding connections to institutions, systems, organizations, and individuals with power that can accelerate equitable transformation. These connections are key to sustaining shifts in perspective, identifying system gaps and creating collective ownership.

Bonding social capital recognizes that building authentic relationships centered on trust is a key component to how we work.

We offer partners support without judgement. We walk side by side on paths carved in purpose, driven by our partner’s unique needs, and rooted in their success.

Bridging social capital recognizes that establishing connections with those working in different contexts is key for growth and scale.

We prioritize identifying connections between our partners and those outside of their immediate community in order to further their network and their impact. This opens channels to access new resources and relationships through collective action.