Elevated Chicago ETOD

Last Thursday, we gathered at the Green Line Performing Arts Center in Washington Park to celebrate the launch of our Arts and Culture Strategy. We were joined by about 70 artists and creatives, partners, neighbors, and collaborators. We shared food, enjoyed live music and poetry, watched a painting come to life in real time, and listened as creatives, developers, and community leaders discussed the role of art and culture in community, development, and the future of our neighborhoods. We’re grateful to everyone who joined us and helped make the morning joyful and inspiring! Elevated Chicago’s Arts and Culture Strategy is our response to a growing need: to protect the cultural identities of Chicago neighborhoods as Black and Brown Chicagoans are increasingly displaced from the city. Read more about our strategy on our website or in our recent article from executive director Juan Sebastian A.. https://lnkd.in/gjaR8eCm

Last week, Elevated Chicago launched a new chapter in our work on ETOD: our Arts and Culture Strategy. This strategy is our response to a growing need: to protect the cultural identities of Chicago neighborhoods as Black and Brown Chicagoans are increasingly displaced from the city. Read more from our Executive Director Juan Sebastian A. about why we've launched this important work and our approach to it.

🏡 Elevated Chicago is proud to support the City of Chicago’s Green Social Housing initiative. Read more about how this innovative and proven model can provide housing for a range of incomes, ensure permanent affordability that doesn’t rely on federal funding, and create the safe, high-quality, and environmentally friendly homes we need in Chicago from Elevated Chicago’s Executive Director and our partners at Palenque LSNA: https://lnkd.in/gqx5EQsn

The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) is hosting an informational webinar for the next round of the Community Development Grant-Small (CDG-S) grant funding. This will provide up to $250,000 to small businesses all over our Chicago to support construction projects for revenue-generating commercial, mixed-use, and light manufacturing businesses, adding to the economic vitality of the surrounding neighborhood and meeting community needs. Private and non-profit developers, property owners, and businesses are encouraged to apply and attend the webinar via Zoom from 3-4:30pm next Thursday, April 3, 2025. RSVP at https://lnkd.in/deMD-x5Z. Visit chicago.gov/cdg for more information and check out @ChicagoDPD on Instagram for examples of successful CDG projects. Any additional questions can be sent to dpdgrants@cityofchicago.org. 

This month, Palenque LSNA cohosted an event with the Chicago Department of Transportation on mobility justice. We assembled a panel represented by the head of the Chicago Department of Housing, local elected officials, and leaders of nonprofit organizations to highlight how the topic intersects across issues in housing, arts and culture, and youth organizing. Breakout sessions followed to delve deeper into each issue. Our team lead, Christian Diaz, had planned to moderate but was sick, so I had the honor of facilitating the discussion. Thank you to our amazing panelists for driving a versatile conversation, highlighting how mobility justice connects public transit to the intersections of other fields. Lissette Castañeda Carlos Ramirez-Rosa Juan Sebastian A. Lesle Honore Juan Carlos Linares Arely Barrera

🚨🚨Chicagoland's transit agencies are facing up to 40% cuts in service, unless the Illinois General Assembly approves substantial funding this spring. 🚨🚨 At Elevated Chicago ETOD, we know that access to reliable, frequent, and safe public transportation is critical for every Chicagoan's ability to access jobs and other opportunities, for the health of our regional and state economy, for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and for building vibrant and walkable communities. We need quality public transit to keep our city, region, and state strong; and we can't have #ETOD without transit. With $1.5B in sustainable state funding, we can prevent cuts and actually improve service, safety, and accessibility. Read more about what service cuts would look like here: https://lnkd.in/gp9x2uKK

Elevated Chicago is excited to share our 2025-2027 Work Plan, a roadmap shaped by deep collaboration with our Working Groups, Community Tables, Steering Committee, Leadership Council, and staff. Over the next three years, our work will continue to focus on our core pillars of People, Place, and Process. But it will also be guided by two new overarching principles. Purpose: how our initiatives serve and uplift communities; and Practice: our internal commitment to accountability, collaboration, and inclusivity. Read our Work Plan and a brief message from our Executive Director here.

Did you know women-owned business continually fall short on fundraising, earning only 2% of all venture capital funding despite having all the hallmarks of successful businesses?   This Women’s Month, join Lillian Augusta Beauty, Bisi Blvd, Polsky Center at the University of Chicago, and Illinois SBDC Network for a screening of “Show Her the Money” on March 26th at the Polsky Center and learn more about how female founders and investors can make those key connections needed to raise funds. Tickets available at: https://lnkd.in/deK5vftf 

Join us at the next Chicago Mobility Collaborative meeting, featuring a *stacked* panel and breakout discussions on intersectional urbanism, transit, and more, hosted by Palenque LSNA and CDOT next Thursday, March 13th from 6-8pm at Avondale Logandale School!     Christian Diaz, Palenque LSNA’s Director of Equitable Community Development, will be moderating a panel discussion featuring:   - Juan Sebastian Arias (Executive Director, Elevated Chicago)  - Lissette Castañeda (Commissioner, Department of Housing)  - Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (Alderman, 35th ward)  - Leslé Honoré (poet, “artivist”, and author)  - Juan Carlos Linares (President and CEO, Association House Chicago)  - Arely Barrera (Youth Department Manager, Palenque LSNA) Each of these panelists has a unique perspective on equitable community development across an array of fields: housing, transit, arts and culture, social services, youth work, and more. The discussion will address how these are interrelated, and how together we can enhance connectivity across our communities through equitable transportation, arts, and community development projects.    RSVP using the QR code attached and we'll see you there!

💡What if #Chicago worked better for all residents? 💡What if walking, biking, and public transit were safe, accessible options in every neighborhood? 💡What if everything Chicagoans need, including frequent, affordable transit, was within a 10-minute walk from home? These are the questions being asked and answered by Elevated Chicago ETOD, a multi-sector collaborative launched in 2017 to promote equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD) in the City of Chicago. IFF has worked closely with Elevated Chicago to facilitate #ETOD that chips away at longstanding disinvestment in communities on the city's south and west sides by providing wide ranging support that leverages deep expertise in real estate, construction, and finance. Learn more about that work and its positive impact by reading our recent feature: https://lnkd.in/gNXqPiKs