African American Legacy (AAL), an initiative of The Chicago Community Trust, is a philanthropic and educational initiative led by Black civic and community leaders who share the common goal of improving the quality of life among Black people throughout metropolitan Chicago.
Donor Name: The Chicago Community Trust
State: Illinois
County: Chicago County (IL), Cook County (IL), DuPage County (IL), Kane County (IL), Lake County (IL), McHenry County (IL), Will County (IL)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/13/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
AAL engages leaders in philanthropy, collectively and individually, and provides support to nonprofit organizations that work at the community level to educate and engage communities, and to provide neighborhood-based services and solutions to address community problems. Grounded in the philosophies of collective giving, community engagement and grant making, AAL serves as a convener and catalyst to promote significant impact in Black communities through the organizations that it supports.
Focus Areas
AAL will support Black-led and Black-serving community organizations working in the following areas:

Community and Civic Engagement

They seek to support organizations doing work in the areas of leadership development, voting rights/access activism, and community organizing that actively dismantles anti-Black racism, and uplifts, empowers, and strengthens Black communities.

Mental Health

They seek to support organizations that prepare providers or community members to deliver or advocate for a broad range of mental health services, including trauma-informed care, and in doing so actively respond to the disproportionate burden of stress on Black people and Black communities due to employment instability, financial strain, family stress, trauma, and gun violence.

Wealth Creation

They seek to support organizations that are working to build wealth in and economically empower Black communities through financial management and literacy, entrepreneurship, workforce re-entry, and trade skills and training initiatives.

Arts and Sciences Education

They seek to support organizations that spur creativity and imagination and/or provide academic enrichment assistance to Black children and young adults in the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM).

Environmental Justice

They seek to support organizations that seek to protect, monitor, advocate for, or provide access to the built/natural environment or nature. These organizations might also work to ensure that people and communities of color are not disproportionately impacted by exposure to pollution and toxins, lack of access to clean water and air, or inadequate waste management.

Funding Information
Average AAL grants for 2024 will range in size between $10,000 to $20,000 based on the scope of the grantees’ general operations or project-based needs. Eligible organizations must have current and prior year annual operating budgets that are not less than $50,000 and not more than $2,000,000.
Project Period
Grants are for one year.
Eligibility Criteria

Eligible organizations are Black-led and Black-serving, responsive and rooted in community, and whose work is focused in one of the five programmatic areas are eligible to apply.

To be eligible for a grant award, an applicant must be:

A nonprofit organization with evidence that it (a) has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Code; (b) is fiscally sponsored by a Section 501(c)(3) organization; (c) or is a governmental unit within the meaning of Section 170(c)(1) of the Code; and
Described in Section 170(b)(1)(A) of the Code, other than a “disqualified supporting organization” within the meaning of Section 4966(d)(4) of the Code. Sponsored organizations without 501(c)(3) status clearly identify their fiscal sponsor and have the sponsoring agent complete an Organizational Profile in Grant Central prior to submitting a full request for funding.

For more information, visit The Chicago Community Trust.