Chicago Talent Challenge

How will you use $5 million to connect Chicagoans with good health care jobs at scale?

The Pritzker Traubert Foundation created the Chicago Talent Challenge to tackle two pressing needs: helping Chicagoans build stable careers and helping employers fill essential jobs.

Our first focus: health care. We’re looking for ideas that open doors to careers like nursing, behavioral health, community health, and direct care — jobs that are both high-need and high-opportunity.

Submit Your Idea

Like the Chicago Prize, this is an open call for ideas. Submissions are due by September 15, 2025.

We’re looking for proposals from nonprofits, workforce training programs, and employer coalitions that:

  • Expand access to in-demand health care jobs and 

  • Scale effective approaches to training, hiring or career advancement.

Application Timeline

  • July 23, 2025: RFP released

  • August 7, 2025: Information session

  • 5 p.m., Sept. 15, 2025: Response deadline

Questions?

“The Chicago Talent Challenge is an investment in the people and potential of this city. We want to help more Chicagoans start careers that pay well and offer real opportunity. We also want to help businesses that urgently need skilled workers. It’s part of our broader commitment to making Chicago work better for everyone.”

—Penny Pritzker, cofounder and trustee of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation.