Steans Economic Opportunity-Policy 3.10.24 - Flipbook - Page 3
THE OPPORTUNIT Y
The Foundation leadership
understands that scalable,
sustainable impact will require
policy and systems changes.
The vision for the Foundation’s
policy work is that residents of
North Lawndale, North Chicago, and across Illinois are
supported by equitable policies, systems, and community
conditions that they need to
thrive. The framework towards
progress on policy priorities
includes making investments
that strengthen the policy
ecosystem, build capacity for
data collection, research and
communications infrastructure,
and amplify community voice.
A guiding principle of the
Foundation is to work in partnership, therefore prioritizing
collaboration and community
engagement.
The Foundation recently
completed a strategic planning process that hones in on
a systemic approach to lifting
communities out of poverty.
Policy plays a central role in
the strategic plan objectives, as
sustainable progress at scale
on the Foundation’s priorities
requires a strategy for systems-level change.
Focused policy efforts began
six years ago, with hiring of
the 昀椀rst Director of Policy and
establishment of the Policy
& Ecosystem “pillar” of the
Foundation’s work, aimed at
augmenting the place-based
work in North Lawndale and
North Chicago through a policy
and systems-change lens.
The department has evolved
signi昀椀cantly since then, making strides in the Foundation’s
priority areas including early
childhood and K-12 education,
higher education and workforce, community safety, and
economic opportunity. The new
strategic plan calls for a deepening of the Foundation’s policy
work and even closer coordination with the place-based
strategies in North Chicago
and North Lawndale, including
policy initiatives aligned with
the new economic opportunity
and housing work in the latter
community. As a new area of
focus, the housing policy strategy needs to be developed.
With this new and deepened
economic opportunity work,
including the expansion into
housing policy, there is an
exciting opportunity for a leader
with policy expertise to create
sustainability for the residents
of North Lawndale and North
Chicago. This work will positively impact families in the coming
years and for generations by
reducing barriers and breaking systemic cycles of poverty.
This entrepreneurial opportunity
to develop a comprehensive
grantmaking strategy based
on issues that arise from a
learning process will have deep
impact in the communities
served. The learning process
will include understanding the
Foundation’s current programming and gathering input from
community partners. From this
work, creating recommendations for economic opportunity
and housing policy priorities will
be a key deliverable.
The successful candidate
will have a background in
programs, research, policy,
or grantmaking related to
economic opportunity and
housing and bring strong
relationship-building, communication, and analytical skills.
The person in this newly
created role will be interested
in meaningful collaboration
with thought leaders in both
the private and public sectors.
The ability to build relationships and to participate in
collaborative discussions with
a variety of constituents at the
city and state levels to spot
opportunities and projects will
be key. Individuals committed to social justice, diversity,
and equity with a passion for
addressing systemic barriers
and disparities in housing
access and affordability, will
thrive in this role.