Our Origins
The Excellerator Fund is a joint venture developed by Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation and Latinos Progresando to reimagine investment in Chicago's Black and Mexican leadership.
The Excellerator Fund is a community-driven grantmaking model that centers Black and Mexican voices in directing capacity investments to neighborhood-based organizations in Black and Mexican communities.
The pandemic has underscored the impact of the deep inequities experienced in our communities, but it has also highlighted the power of our collective strength. Our opportunity as a city is to leverage this social infrastructure not only in times of need, but with the same investment and urgency for Chicago’s Black and Mexican neighborhoods to excell.
Objectives
Investment
Invest in the inherent talent of our communities
Unity
Advance cross-community collaboration and foster unity
Leadership
Center Black and Mexican people in visioning and leadership
Education
Develop an agile shared learning environment
Sustainability
Increase the sustainability of the nonprofit sector
Innovation
Reimagine traditional philanthropic pathways
Our Approach
Grantmaking
Unrestricted funds to support operational infrastructure in Black and Mexican-led organizations
Convening
Building bridges between Black and Mexican leaders and creating the conditions for collaboration
Capacity-building
Providing mentorship and sharing resources to strengthen both leaders and community organizations
Our Team
Latinos Progresando provides high-quality immigration legal services and a spectrum of programming to support immigrant communities.
GAGDC works to foster and promote revitalization of the low-to-moderate income communities of Auburn Gresham, Englewood, Greater Grand Crossing and West Chatham.
SUPPORTED BY
If you're interested in making an investment to the Excellerator Fund,
please contact info@excelleratorfund.org.