On the heels of its groundbreaking celebration, the Obama Foundation is releasing the list of Chicago companies and foundations that have contributed to support the Obama Presidential Center and its mission-related work to date. These leading local donors include companies and foundations headquartered in Chicago and the Midwest, as well as those with a significant corporate presence in our hometown.
Earlier this summer, Obama Foundation President Valerie Jarrett urged civic leaders in Chicago to support more inclusive investment in the South Side and come together across regions, party lines, and other differences to support the Center, its impact on the local economy and the training of the future generation of leaders in Chicago.
“The generous contributions we’ve received from Chicago leaders reflect a strong endorsement of our City’s future,” said Jarrett. “We have an opportunity to do great things on Chicago’s South Side, and with Chicago’s civic leaders supporting this work, we are well on our way to doing just that.”
Corporate contributions to the Obama Foundation will support the $1.6B needed for construction of the building, financing of the Hometown Fund to support economic development initiatives from community wealth building to workforce development on the South Side, and the programming work to train civic leaders. Given its deep roots in Chicago, the Foundation aims to raise at least $400 million of the overarching fundraising $1.6B goal from Chicago and the Midwest. This Chicago-based fundraising and engagement effort is led by the Chicago Committee, including Co-Chairs Jim Crown, Mellody Hobson, Rick Waddell, Valerie Jarrett and Committee members Gloria Castillo, Tarrah Cooper Wright, Helene Gayle, Walter Massey, and Tamar Newberger. With the Chicago Committee’s support, the Foundation has raised over $300 million from Chicago donors towards its hometown goal to date.
“Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of people talk about the need to invest more in the South Side,” said Obama Foundation Board Chair Marty Nesbitt. “But what’s needed is not talk, it’s action. Chicago corporate and civic leaders have responded in a significant way to the opportunity to support the Obama Presidential Center and ensure that, collectively, we create a catalyst for investment that includes the Center and extends far beyond it.”
The Foundation is humbled by the support from its hometown to date, but there is still work left to do together in pursuit of its ambitious mission. In the next four years, the Foundation aims to meet its $1.6B goal in order to build and open the Obama Presidential Center, sustain the Foundation’s global programs and operations, and seed an endowment for the future of the Foundation’s work. For more detail on the Foundation’s fundraising goals, priorities and a full list of our leading donors to date, visit the Bring Hope Home Campaign webpage.
The list of Chicago and Midwest corporate and foundation donors that have contributed $1 million or more to date includes:
$10,000,000 and above
Alphawood Foundation
The Boeing Company
Exelon Corporation
John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Microsoft Corporation
Prudential Financial, Inc.
$5,000,000 – $9,999,999
Health Care Service Corporation
McDonald’s Corporation
Nike Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation
$3,000,000 – $4,999,999
Chicago Community Trust
Walgreens
$1,000,000 – $2,999,999
AT&T
BMO Financial Group
CME Group Foundation
FedEx Corporation
Fifth Third Chicagoland Foundation
GCM Grosvenor
Google.org
ITW
The Joyce Foundation
The Links Foundation, Incorporated
Lloyd A. Fry Foundation
Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Motorola Solutions
Northern Trust
Polk Bros. Foundation
UL
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