Former Mayor Lightfoot Lauches New Chicago Nonprofit Organization
Former Mayor Lightfoot Lauches New Chicago Nonprofit Organization (Chicago, IL) — Former Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and colleagues today announced the launch of a new nonprofit, Chicago Vibrant Neighborhoods Collective. The mission of Chicago Vibrant Neighborhoods Collective (CVNC) is to help build healthy, vibrant communities in neighborhoods that have historically experienced disinvestment by providing small and medium homegrown community-based organizations (CBOs) with a suite of tools, resources, and opportunities for collaboration, sustainable service delivery, and the creation and maintenance of a thriving community.
Mayor Lightfoot, who serves as the Board Chair and Senior Advisor, founded CVNC with former mayoral colleagues after extensive feedback from community leaders both during and after her time in office that CBOs serving as community anchors did not have the administrative infrastructure and resources for sustained service delivery and growth. Jaye Stapleton, former deputy mayor for Education and Human Services, serves as the Executive Director. CVNC provides CBOs with a menu of back office supports such as capacity building and technical assistance for budgeting and finance, data analytics, fundraising and diversification, marketing and communications, board development and more. CVNC’s capacity building model is tailored to each CBO client, with CBO clients taking an active role in co-designing their own support plans. Technical assistance is free to client CBOs.
“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, CVNC aims to remove structural barriers and support CBOs in becoming more sustainable so they can focus on serving people in need.”
CVNC serves CBO clients headquartered in historically disinvested neighborhoods. CVNC will convene neighborhood CBOs to increase collaboration, shared learning and problem solving, leading to greater collective impact.
“CVNC’s mission aligns with West Side United’s aim to build community health and economic wellness on Chicago’s West Side and build healthy, vibrant neighborhoods,” said Ayesha Jaco, Executive Director of West Side United. “The only way to actualize our missions is through sustainable partnerships with CBOs who have the genius and vision that can be leveraged and materialized with relevant and timely capacity-building resources, which CVNC seeks to provide.”
“We know firsthand the power of investing in convening and collaboration at the neighborhood level,” said Craig Chico, CEO of Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council. “We also know the vital role CBOs play in building strong communities. CBOs are eager and ready to engage in the capacity building services that CVNC provides.”
“As a founding CBO member of Mayor Lightfoot’s Racial Equity Rapid Response Team (RERRT) during COVID, I saw first-hand the power of creating a uniquely diverse and intersectional strategy group made up of CBO leaders and health care leaders that shared power to collaboratively address systemic disparities” said Carlos Nelson, CEO of the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation. “Community-based organizations must be sustained as they are often the lifeblood of their communities. I am thrilled to see Mayor Lightfoot continue her work of helping to bring greater equity to Chicago’s neighborhoods.”
To learn more about CVNC, please visit: www.chivnc.org.
Former Mayor Lightfoot Lauches New Chicago Nonprofit Organization
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