On Wednesday, June 26, REFORM Alliance, JPMorgan Chase, and The Corporate Coalition of Chicago hosted a business leaders’ breakfast to expand our region’s commitment to fair chance hiring.

Corporate Coalition member, Discover Financial Services's, hosted us at their Chatham campus to showcase Business UNusual in action. Discover Financial Services has been intentional in investing in community by creating a call center in Chatham and committing to create 1000 jobs by 2025.

Interviews of Corporate Coalition members during our first meeting of the year highlight our shared vision and values for work to build equity.

At our September member meeting, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois highlighted their firm's Morgan Park Blue Door community service center as a physical presence in the community and participation in the Corporate Coalition, helping to model Business UNUsual practices.

The Chicago Workforce Funder Alliance celebrated their 10th anniversary, and last month they shared a video that highlights the Alliance's approach to its work and impact over the past decade.

Lori E. Lightfoot, Mayor of Chicago, spoke to the Executives’ Club of Chicago to discuss building a COVID-19 Recovery Task Force to recover from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brian Fabes, Cutis Reed of J.P. Morgan Chase, Audrey Williams-Lee of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, and Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar spoke to the Executives’ Club of Chicago about the Corporate Coalition and its goals.

Julia Stasch (Senior Advisor), Denean Pillar-Jackson (Founding Executive Director of the Chicago Resiliency Network), Eileen Mitchell (President of AT&T Illinois) and Eric Patton (Senior Advisor) spoke at ChamberRVA Shared Values forum to discuss the Coalition’s work and the power of acting collectively with other leaders to make region wide progress.

Gloria Castillo of We Rise Together, David Doig of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, Martin H. Nesbitt of The Vistria Group, Anne Vela-Wagner of The Mars Wrigley Foundation, and Helene Gayle of The Chicago Community Trust conducted a roundtable on equitable recovery in Chicago with Executives’ Club.

Gloria Castillo of We Rise Together, Calvin Holmes of Chicago Community Loan Fund, Curtis Reed of J.P. Morgan Chase, and Lyneir Richardson of Chicago TREND hosted a panel discussion, moderated by Julia Stasch, around ways to close capital gaps that create barriers to catalytic community development.

Kendra Freeman of the Metropolitan Planning Council, Paul C. Carlisle of Wintrust, Alden Loury of WBEZ, and Nadia Quarles of the University of Chicago spoke to The Executives’ Club of Chicago to discuss the implications of Chicagoland’s segregation.

Roger Hochschild, Chief Executive Officer and President of Discover Financial Services, spoke to the Executives’ Club of Chicago on the need for equitable corporate commitment to underinvested urban areas and how Discover is leading by example opening their new call center in Chatham, creating 1000+ jobs.

Lori E. Lightfoot, Mayor of Chicago, celebrates the 1 year anniversary and accomplishments of Invest South/West.