News & Resources - Grand Victoria Foundation

News

Chicago Votes: Empowering Youth Voices and Driving Inclusive Democracy in Illinois

Discover how Chicago Votes, with support from Grand Victoria Foundation, is shaping a more inclusive democracy by empowering young Black and Brown Chicagoans to engage in the civic process. Led by Co-Executive Director Stevie Valles, Chicago Votes blends cultural relevance with strategic advocacy to foster youth leadership, drive grassroots campaigns, and dismantle barriers to political engagement. Read how this trust-based partnership is creating meaningful change and amplifying community power across Illinois. Read the full story here.

IBAI Seeking Director of Strategy & Partnerships

The Illinois Black Advocacy Initiative (IBAI) seeks a strategic leader to serve as the Director of Strategy & Partnerships. This role is ideal for a passionate advocate for Black Liberation with a strong background in grassroots organizing and coalition-building to support systems change and grow Black political power across Illinois. The Director will lead collaborative efforts to eliminate anti-Black policies and practices and build meaningful relationships with mission-aligned organizations, funders, and elected officials. This full-time, remote role (based in Chicago) offers a competitive salary, benefits, and the opportunity to drive impactful change alongside a growing team dedicated to advancing equity and justice. View the job description

Creating a Black Focus In Philanthropy

GVF Strategic Plan

For over 25 years, Grand Victoria Foundation (GVF) has supported work to make Illinois a great place to live and work, funding systems change in the areas of education, economic development, environment, and engagement. We have awarded over $184 million in grants throughout the state. In Elgin, Illinois, we have granted over $20 million to organizations providing crucial education, arts, and human services to the community. Our investments during this period have created conditions for positive change in the early childhood education and workforce development systems. Read the full announcement here.

Announcing Grand Victoria Foundation’s Shift to Racial Justice Grantmaking

We Have A New Mission

For a quarter-century, Grand Victoria Foundation has been a trailblazer in philanthropy. We are extremely proud of our enduring relationships with community foundations to build a system of community-based philanthropy. These experiences have shepherded us to a new beginning, a path that continues our legacy of trailblazing. Now, we stand at the threshold of a significant strategic shift, responding to the imperatives of our time and planting a stake for the future. Read the full announcement here.

A Tour Through the Rich History & Evolving Present of East Saint Louis

ESL Immersion Part 1

This story marks the latest chapter in the Grand Victoria Foundation’s journey of place-based philanthropy. In it we are exploring the 81 Black Population Centers featured in our Illinois Racial Equity and Justice Landscape Study. After our explorations in Pembroke, IL, we shifted our focus to a three-day immersion in East Saint Louis. Our mission was to connect with the heart of East St. Louis, its people, and organizations, to strengthen bonds with local stakeholders, and to further explore impactful philanthropic approaches. Read the full story here.

Diamond Seeds Under Pressure: Shaping East St. Louis’s Radiant Renewal

ESL Immersion Part 2

East St. Louis’s path toward renewal is unfolding much like the meticulous and intensive process of diamond formation, meticulously shaped under immense pressure. The change agents of this community, with steady and unwavering determination, are in the midst of crafting their future. Read the full story here

Restoring Roots: Our Transformative Visit to Pembroke Township

Our recent visit to Pembroke was a profound experience that left an indelible mark on each of us. As we explored the picturesque landscape, engaged with the community, and delved into the stories of those preserving this legacy, we felt a deep connection to the land and its history. We invite you to immerse yourself in the full story of our journey by clicking here.

Defending Racial Justice

In response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action, we cannot help but express our deep frustration and disappointment. The decision underscores the urgent need to reassert our unwavering support for racial equity and justice. At Grand Victoria Foundation, we have long championed the power of education in dismantling systemic barriers and creating equal opportunities for all individuals. Read our full response here.

Resources

During the course of our work our team comes across valuable resources that we want to share. We hope you find the tools presented here useful for your efforts.

GVF Illinois Racial Justice & Equity Landscape Study

The GVF Illinois Racial Justice & Equity Landscape Study represents a crucial step in GVF’s strategic shift towards racial equity and justice grantmaking. With a mission-driven approach, GVF and GCI aim to use this research to understand the lived experiences, aspirations, and challenges of these communities, and to identify ways to support their efforts towards equity and justice. Learn more here.

GVF Theory of Action

The strategic plan represents a multi-year commitment to invest in building and strengthening Black-led organizations, leadership, influence, power, and agency. We believe social and economic justice for Black people and communities is instrumental to how we reimagine and redesign a place where all lives thrive. Read Full Document Here.

Glossary of Terms

BLACK-CENTERED

Deliberately design policies, programs and practices in direct response to the experiences of Black communities.

COLLECTIVE LIBERATION

Collective liberation means recognizing that all our struggles are intimately connected, and that we must work together to create the kind of world we know is possible. Collective Liberation is not just a value, but an action. When we work together across the barriers kept in place to divide us, we strengthen our organizing. When combined, our diverse identities and experiences give us the tools to dismantle unjust systems, and to create a world in which all people are seen as fully human.

POWER-BUILDING

A set of strategies used by communities most impacted by structural inequity to develop, sustain, and grow an organized base of people who act together through democratic structures to set agendas, shift public discourse, influence who makes decisions, and cultivate ongoing relationships of mutual accountability with decision makers that change systems and advance equity and justice.

RACIAL EQUITY

Racial equity is the condition that would be achieved if one's racial identity no longer predicted, in a statistical sense, how one fares. When we use the term, we are thinking about racial equity as one part of racial justice, and thus, we also include work to address root causes of inequities, not just their manifestation. This includes elimination of policies, practices, attitudes and cultural messages that reinforce differential outcomes by race or fail to eliminate them.

RACIAL JUSTICE

Racial justice is the systemic fair treatment of people of all races, resulting in equitable opportunities and outcomes for all. Racial justice, or racial equity, goes beyond "anti-racism." It is not just the absence of discrimination and inequities, but also the presence of deliberate systems and supports to achieve and sustain racial equity through proactive and preventative measures. Racial Justice is defined as the proactive reinforcement of policies, practices, attitudes, and actions that produce equitable power, access, opportunities, treatment, impacts and outcomes for all.

What is Black Abundance?

It is the existence of thriving Black communities resulting from the persistent organizing and successful exertion of their social, political and economic power.