Former Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot has a new role: She will lead an organization whose mission is to bolster the city’s most vulnerable and under-resourced residents and communities.
On Thursday, Lightfoot and her colleagues announced their new nonprofit, the Chicago Vibrant Neighborhoods Collective, which looks to build healthy communities in historically disinvested neighborhoods.
The initiative will provide essential tools and resources to small and medium-sized homegrown community-based organizations to foster collaboration, sustainable service delivery and community development.
Mayor Lightfoot, the Board Chair and Senior Advisor, founded CVNC based on community leaders’ feedback highlighting the lack of administrative infrastructure for CBOs serving as community anchors.
Jaye Stapleton, former Deputy Mayor for Education and Human Services, serves as the Executive Director.
CVNC offers CBOs a menu of back-office supports, including capacity building and technical assistance for budgeting, finance, data analytics, fundraising, marketing, communications, and board development. The capacity-building model is tailored to each CBO client, with technical assistance provided free of charge.
“These organizations have been at the frontlines, serving as community anchors through an extraordinary set of circumstances,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “Dating back to at least the state budget crises in 2015-2017, through COVID, civil unrest and economic downturns, these organizations have shown up every day to provide jobs and much needed services in their communities. By providing free capacity-building services, CNVC aims to remove structural barriers and support CBOs in becoming more sustainable so they can focus on serving people in need.”
CVNC focuses on CBO clients headquartered in historically disinvested neighborhoods and aims to enhance collaboration, shared learning and problem-solving among neighborhood CBOs for more significant collective impact.
Ayesha Jaco, Executive Director of West Side United, expressed alignment with CVNC’s mission, emphasizing the importance of sustainable partnerships with visionary CBOs.
Craig Chico, CEO of Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council, highlighted the vital role CBOs play in building strong communities, expressing eagerness for the capacity-building services provided by CVNC.
Carlos Nelson, CEO of the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, praised Mayor Lightfoot’s commitment to bringing greater equity to Chicago’s neighborhoods.
Reflecting on his experience with Mayor Lightfoot’s Racial Equity Rapid Response Team during COVID-19, Nelson emphasized the power of diverse and collaborative strategy groups to address systemic disparities. He expressed enthusiasm for Mayor Lightfoot’s continued work in supporting community-based organizations.
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