Highlights

Chicago Connected Launches Partnership with Coursera, Offering Free Certifications, Workforce Development, And Courses for To Up To 1,000 Families

• City of Chicago

Today, Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot announced the launch of a partnership between “Chicago Connected” and Coursera, one of the largest online learning platforms, which delivers world-class content taught by instructors from over 200 of the world’s leading universities and organizations in multiple languages.

Chicago Connected, launched in June 2020, provides no-cost, high-speed internet service to eligible Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students and their families. With approximately 64,000 students across 42,000 households being served by the program at its one-year anniversary, Chicago Connected has cut the City’s digital divide by nearly two-thirds. Now, Chicago Connected is acting on the City’s commitment to digital inclusion: The program engaged thousands of families to understand their digital learning needs, and as a result, is offering free access to Coursera for approximately 1,000 families as they expand their skills and bolster their professional and personal credentials.

Chicago Connected is supported by the Pritzker Traubert Foundation with a $1.5M grant. Read more below.

National Park Foundation Celebrates Grand Opening of Pullman National Monument Visitor Center and State Historic Site Grounds

• PR Newswire

Pullman National Monument will officially open its visitor center doors and state historic site grounds on Labor Day weekend, September 4 and 5, 2021, thanks in part to the support of the National Park Foundation and its donors. The celebratory weekend will feature tours, interpretive programming, and a host of events and activities organized by a variety of partners throughout the Pullman neighborhood.

“The Pullman National Monument is a community anchor that beautifully honors Pullman’s rich history and serves as an attraction for Chicagoans and people across the nation,” said Pritzker Traubert Foundation Trustee Bryan Traubert. “The Pritzker Traubert Foundation is proud to invest in infrastructure that supports economic and cultural vitality on the South Side, and is excited to help celebrate the official opening of Pullman National Monument.”

Pullman National Monument – courtesy of NPS

Permanent Home for the North Lawndale Employment Network in Chicago

• Block Club Chicago

The completion of the first permanent campus for the North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN), designed by Wheeler Kearns Architects, was celebrated with an Open House on August 26, 2021. Held on-site at 1111 South Homan Avenue, the event included a ribbon-cutting and was attended by prominent local officials including Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Alderman Michael Scott Jr. Read more about this 2020 Chicago Prize finalist project here.

Noemi Garcia joins the PTF Team as a Program Associate

• Pritzker Traubert Foundation

The Pritzker Traubert Foundation is pleased to announce that Noemi Garcia has joined its team this week as a Program Associate. Noemi has extensive experience in non-profit consulting and management. Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked as an independent consultant and collaborated with local non-profits and foundations. Noemi previously held leadership roles at the Arts & Business Council of Chicago, where she led capacity-building programs for small to midsize arts and cultural organizations.

“I am excited to have Noemi join us at such a pivotal moment of growth as the Foundation continues its commitment to the Chicago Prize and community investment on the South and West Sides,” says Cindy Moelis, PTF’s President.

Noemi currently serves on the Auxiliary Board of Snow City Arts and is a member of the Women of Color United Giving Council through the Chicago Foundation for Women. Noemi received her Bachelor of Arts from University of Michigan.

Lightfoot expands year-old program aimed at bridging digital divide

• Fran Spielman and Nader Issa
• Chicago Sun Times

Chicago Public high school graduates would be guaranteed three more months of free, high-speed internet service — and those going on to City Colleges would get the perk for up to three years — thanks to an extension of a groundbreaking program bankrolled in part by Illinois’ richest man.

“True inclusion requires providing equitable tools, resources, and pathways to all Chicagoans. Chicago Connected does just that by providing the opportunity for our fellow citizens to have access to the tools, skills and know-how to thrive in the 21st Century,” said Penny Pritzker, Trustee of Pritzker Traubert Foundation and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Carlos Nelson will forever be associated with QB Justin Fields. Here’s how the Auburn Gresham community leader got to the NFL stage weeks after losing his father, an avid Chicago Bears fan.

• Colleen Kane
• Chicago Tribune

Carlos Nelson, director of Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation and a Chicago Prize 2020 recipient, is featured in today’s Chicago Tribune. Read the inspirational story behind his lifelong love for the Chicago Bears and how it brought him to the historic NFL 2021 draft.

Penny Pritzker on how Chicago is enticing top tier tech talent amid labor crunch

• Yahoo Finance

Penny Pritzker, Former Commerce Secretary joins the Yahoo Finance live panel to discuss P33’s kick-off of the ‘Come Back to Move Forward’ campaign to recruit and retain 10,000 diverse tech professionals to Chicago over the next two years.

A New Housing Complex Could Be Coming To Auburn Gresham. Here’s How To Weigh In With Feedback

• Jamie Nesbitt Golden
• Block Club Chicago

Developers want to bring 56 units of affordable housing along 79th Street in Auburn Gresham, and city leaders want public input.

Auburn Gardens is a $20 million, retail and residential development planned for city-owned vacant land at 838-58 W. 79th St. It would be across the street from a healthy living center currently under construction. That project won the $10 million Chicago Prize last year.

An online survey is available now through Jan. 29 to allow residents to vote on aspects of the proposal and share feedback.

U of I Board of Trustees approves Mile Square lease

• University of Illinois System

The University of Illinois Board of Trustees approved a lease on Thursday for a new Mile Square health clinic in Auburn Gresham that will bring vital healthcare access to the underserved community on Chicago’s far south side.

The UI Health Mile Square Health Center will be the sole healthcare provider in the newly renovated Auburn Gresham Healthy Lifestyle Hub located at 79th Street and Halsted Avenue in Chicago. Mile Square will have more than 11,700 square feet of space in the building, including 12 patient rooms, six dental suites, a procedure room and an on-site phlebotomy lab.

The new center is part of the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation’s (GAGDC) “Always Growing, Auburn Gresham” project. Last August, the project was awarded the first Chicago Prize, a $10 million grant competition sponsored by the Pritzker Traubert Foundation to invest in collaborative community-based initiatives that stimulate economic activity, strengthen civic infrastructure, and improve the safety, well-being, and economic mobility of residents on the city’s south and/or west sides. In addition, the city of Chicago committed $4 million in federal CARES Act funding to the Healthy Lifestyle Hub in July, as part of the city’s “Invest South/West” initiative.

South Chicago’s Long-Planned Affordable Housing, Retail Development On 92nd Street Set To Open In 2 Years

• Maxwell Evans
• Block Club Chicago

A development at 92nd Street and Burley Avenue, in the works for more than a decade, is set to bring dozens of affordable housing units and more retail to South Chicago by 2023.

The S.A.C.R.E.D project will redevelop the mostly vacant properties at 3211–3229 E. 92nd St.. In the planning stages since 2010, the $30 million project is being spearheaded by nonprofit Claretian Associates in partnership with Interfaith Housing Development Corporation.

The two projects were part of the neighborhood’s submission for last year’s $10 million Chicago Prize, which was awarded to a planned health center, urban farm and renewable energy campus in Auburn Gresham.

However, as a Chicago Prize finalist, South Chicago is eligible for a $500,000 matching grant from the Pritzker Traubert Foundation.