News & Views | conantfoundation

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Jun 1
1 min

The Role of Philanthropy in This Moment

Like you, we are furious about the continuing police brutality toward Black people. What can we, as a foundation, do? I'm tired of statem...

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Leslie Ramyk

May 18
3 min

Do What You Can, Where you Are, With What You Have

With a crisis as overwhelming as COVID19, it can feel like whatever you are doing is not enough. I just finished reading dozens of Commun...

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Leslie Ramyk

Aug 12, 2019
2 min

12 Chicago family foundations: Enough with the hate.

The following op-ed was published in Crain's Chicago Business on July 31, 2019. The Conant Family Foundation is proud to be a part of thi...

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Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights

Jun 5, 2019
2 min

The Department of Homeland Security is still separating children from their parents

Beginning in the fall of 2017, the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights began receiving referrals for unusually high numbers of c...

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Leslie Ramyk

May 30, 2019
2 min

Is 'philanthropy' inherently at odds with racial equity?

Is the notion of philanthropy inherently at odds with racial equity? In the United States, family foundations have been created by the go...

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Leslie Ramyk

Jan 8, 2019
1 min

Yelp for Foundations

We write reviews of restaurants, hotels, even doctors -- why not foundations? When I landed my first job in philanthropy, a colleague tol...

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Leslie Ramyk

Nov 9, 2018
2 min

Best Chicago Radio? Morning AMp on Vocalo Radio, 91.1 AM

Feminist Wednesdays, Peace Prize Thursdays and Critic for a Minute Fridays. Local hip hop and indie tracks. Candid discussion of news, vi...

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Guest Post by Ishena Robinson, Women Employed

Sep 20, 2018
2 min

Women Employed: Building Career Pathways for Adults Without Diplomas

Let’s face it: thousands of Americans are working in low-paid jobs with no path for advancement—not because they want to, but because the...

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Guest Post by Alison Guzman & Ignacio Krell

May 16, 2018
3 min

Mapuche Women Link Traditional Values to Take back their Economy

Indigenous women empowering themselves by re-connecting two dimensions - transferring cultural values while adopting new tools and opport...

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Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board

Mar 28, 2018
4 min

Working people in Illinois deserve a fairer state income tax

Coston Plummer is a home-care worker on the South Side. He makes $11 an hour. The work he does is draining, mentally and physically, and ...

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Leslie Ramyk

Mar 27, 2018
3 min

Adding citizenship question to Census is not ok

The Conant Family Foundation was one of 119 local, state, national, and global foundations that signed a letter to Secretary Wilbur Ross ...

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Darryl Holliday

Feb 27, 2018
2 min

Practical Impact: City Bureau

Earlier this month, I was asked to explain City Bureau’s “practical” impact on the local media landscape—as in how, exactly, does City Bu...

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Sarah Frank - Conant Family Foundation Board

Feb 26, 2018
3 min

This Should Not Be Normal

From The New Yorker, Getty Photo by Joe Raedle In the last week, I have been moved and inspired to hear the teenage survivors of the Ston...

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Paul W. Hamann - President & CEO

Nov 15, 2017
3 min

Breaking the Cycle of Youth Homelessness on a Daily Basis

[Photo of a young woman holding a baby] The Night Ministry’s youth programs provide a lifeline to homeless and precariously housed young ...

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Vanessa Daniel - Groundswell Fund

Nov 8, 2017
9 min

America is burning

Op-Ed by Vanessa Daniel from Medium, September 13, 2017. White people in philanthropy, what is your move? Photo Credit: Ron Schwane/AP As...

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Susannah Welford - Running Start

Oct 4, 2017
4 min

“With only one semester and two political science classes under my belt, I was elected to office.”

Op-Ed by Susannah Welford from Medium, September 29, 2017. When I founded Running Start eleven years ago, no one understood why talking t...

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Amelie Ratliff

Sep 29, 2017
3 min

Can We Talk About Taxes?

Op-Ed by Amelie Ratliff from The Guardian, September 28, 2017. I'm a millionaire. I don't need another tax break, Mr. Trump At a time of ...

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Leslie Ramyk

Sep 4, 2017
1 min

Stand & Shout, or Sit & Listen?

For Our White Friends Desiring to Be Allies, from Sojourners. Read this, please. #Racism #Allies #Justice

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Leslie Ramyk

Jul 27, 2017
1 min

When Hard Work Works

The state of Illinois finally has an operating budget. Thank you to all of the organizers, advocates, community leaders and relentless ph...

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Leslie Ramyk

Jun 24, 2017
2 min

Doris Conant, 1925-2017

For two years I had the privilege of working with Doris. It was a time packed with politics and history and stories and laughter -- and i...

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