Grant Details

The Polk Brothers Foundation works to ensure all Chicagoans have an opportunity to reach their full potential. To that end, they support activities in the following program areas:

• Strong Communities - To strengthen Chicago and its neighborhoods, they support efforts focused on workforce development, housing, community and economic development, legal services, and safe communities.
• Strong Families - To strengthen families and their support networks across Chicago, they invest in efforts that promote healthy relationships and youth development and offer equitable access to holistic services.
• Education - To ensure all Chicago public school students are prepared for success in college, in their careers, and in life, they invest in school improvement and student academic success.
• Health - To improve the health outcomes of Chicagoans, especially those affected by poverty, they support efforts that expand access to school-based and community-based preventive and primary health care.
• Arts Access and Learning - To increase Chicago public school students' access to the learning opportunities that come from deep participation in the arts, they support school-based arts education programs and community-based arts instruction for youth.
• Enhanced Capacity - To help grantees — and the systems in which they operate — thrive, they support capacity building at the organization level and at the sector level.
• Strategic Collaborations - To achieve greater impact, they often join forces with our colleagues in philanthropy, nonprofits and the public and private sectors.