Trust Talks – Details, episodes & analysis

The truth about immigration in the United States is that unless you are Native American, we all came from somewhere else. Yet, in 2025, the country finds itself roiled in trying to determine who we are as a country when it comes to welcoming immigrants to our shores and across our borders. The subject is rife with misunderstanding and alternative facts, and yet today, both documented and undocumented immigrants work and pay taxes that benefit all of us. Above all, both documented and undocumented immigrants are our neighbors.

In this episode of Trust Talks, we share insights into the immigrant experience, examine immigrants’ contributions to our communities and region, and discuss how misperceptions fuel stereotypes and false narratives about immigration.

This episode is hosted by Ayom Siengo, The Chicago Community Trust's senior director of Critical Needs. It features Eréndira Rendón, The Resurrection Project’s vice president of Immigrant Justice; Fasika Alem, United African Organization’s programs director; Robert Quinn of Quinn Family Fund and Illinois Immigration Funder Collaborative Steering Committee; and Heather Steans, board chair of Steans Family Foundation.

It was produced by Juneteenth Productions and recorded at Little Black Pearl. 

The Chicago Community Trust’s strategic focus on addressing the racial and ethnic wealth gap was informed by data on the stark differences in health, education and wealth, how those differences were impacting our region, and – most importantly – where we, as a community foundation, were best positioned to support change that would benefit the entire region. The Trust continues to invest in data to shed light on disparities impacting our community, leverage policy change, track progress, inform gaps in knowledge, and drive innovation with our community partners working to address those systemic factors. 

For example, the Trust-funded Color of Wealth in Chicago found median wealth in the region ranges from zero for Black households, $6,000 for foreign-born Mexicans, $24,000 for Puerto Ricans, $40,500 for U.S.-born Mexicans, compared to $210,000 for white households. These results, other reports, and community-driven data illustrate the critical importance of data broken out by race and ethnicity, gender, age, and community area so that we can understand who is benefitting and who isn't in our local economy and how interventions and investments are working to address systemic barriers and underinvestment in communities.  

In this episode of Trust Talks, we will discuss how data helps us understand the ways capital flows into communities and how our grant partners are using it to inform their work and drive investment into their neighborhoods.   

This episode is hosted by Jennifer Axelrod, associate of vice president of learning & impact for The Chicago Community Trust, and includes Brett Theodos, senior fellow and director of the Community Economic Development Hub at Urban Institute; Luis Gutierrez, founder & CEO of Latinos Progresando; and Andraya Yousfi, chief of partnerships and development for By The Hand Club For Kids.  

This episode is produced by Juneteenth Productions and was recorded at BUILD, Inc. 

The Trust’s Catalyzing Neighborhood Investment strategy is focused on closing the region’s racial and ethnic wealth gap at the neighborhood level by fostering an environment that leads to more inclusive development in historically disinvested Black and Latinx communities. 

Last year—in partnership with Community Desk Chicago—the Trust conducted a study of philanthropy's role in supporting community ownership models for neighborhood development. We were particularly interested in learning how we could support community wealth building through the ability of residents to share ownership in commercial real estate. Not only do these models provide an alternative to raising capital that looks very different from traditional approaches, but pooling community capital also allows residents to acquire and control key assets in their own neighborhoods. 

More than 20 such developments exist or are being created nationwide. From a reclaimed business corridor in Philadelphia, to a retail mall in Portland, each project is uniquely tailored to community needs and goals. In Chicago, we've taken to calling these Community Investment Vehicles—or CIVs—for community owned commercial real estate in neighborhoods. The Trust has already committed $600,000 to this work, with the expectation that we will do more grant making in the future. In this episode of Trust Talks, you'll learn what CIVs are and the community wealth building opportunities they could create in the region.  

This episode is hosted by Chris Eagan, Program Manager for the Trust's Catalyzing Neighborhood Investment team, and features Nneka Onwuzurike, Chicago Recovery Plan Program Manager, the City of Chicago - Mayor's Office; Max Levine, CEO and Co-Founder of Nico; and Tonya Trice, Executive Director, South Shore Chamber of Commerce. 

Production by Juneteenth Productions. This episode was recorded at Creative DeCysions.

The Trust’s Growing Household Wealth Income Strategy supports closing the racial wealth gap in Chicago through a commitment to innovations in workforce development, inclusive business practices, and education. Along with reducing the debt burden of students and households in educational attainment, we prioritize implementing solutions that increase the income stability and wage growth of all Chicagoans. Workers of color make up 47 percent of the Chicagoland workforce ages 25 – 64, and 59 percent of the next-generation workforce, but Black and Latinx workers are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to earn wages under $15/hour. Wages aren’t the only part of the story.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the inception of the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance, in this episode we examine how efforts such as CWFA are working to make the Chicago workforce ecosystem more equitable. We’ll also hear from other leaders in the ecosystem on where we are and where we can go.  This episode is hosted by Caleb Herod, program manager for the Trust's Growing Household Wealth team, and features Bela Moté, president and CEO of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning; Manny Rodriguez, co-founder and executive director of Revolution Workshop; Matt Bruce, executive director of the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance; and Patrick Combs, co-CEO of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership. 

Production by Juneteenth Productions. Part 1 was recorded at Creative DeCysions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered the disparities created by segregation and systemic racism.  We are witnessing a taxed public health infrastructure that has been woefully underinvested in over generations. Currently, 75 percent of Chicagoans are fully vaccinated. However, the disaggregated data indicates stark disparities across race and ethnicity, with 63 percent of Latinx and 52 percent of Black Chicagoans fully vaccinated. Similarly, COVID-related hospitalizations and severe consequences, including death, disproportionately impact Black and Latinx communities. This trend extends to the county, state, and nation. The Chicagoland Vaccine Partnership is working to close the gap in vaccine rates across geographies and populations--and address the root causes of health inequity. 

The Trust’s Philanthropic Services team works with many types of donors, including individuals with Donor Advised Funds, family foundations, corporations, and those interested in giving to specific causes. The Trust advises donors on every aspect of their giving strategy. Its philanthropic advisors also leverage the Trust’s expertise and community connections to identify organizations that will make the biggest difference, ensuring donors are effectively fulfilling their philanthropic goals.

Production by Juneteenth Productions. 

The “Voice” strand of The Chicago Community Trust's Building Collective Power strategy supports community-centered media platforms that allow the authentic narratives of communities to emerge and be amplified not just in neighborhoods but across the city. Those community-centered platforms likewise bring vital information into communities to inform their agenda-setting. 

In three segments, this episode of Trust Talks will explore the different ways the Trust is strengthening local media and storytelling platforms to amplify community narratives. It features Daniel Ash, associate vice president at the Trust, who leads the Building Collective Power strategy; Lolly Bowen, journalist, who oversees the Field Foundation of Illinois' media and storytelling grant making; Morgan Johnson, co-creator of The Triibe, a digital media platform for Black Chicago, and Jesus Del Toro, general manager of La Raza, the region's leading Spanish-language newspaper; and Tonika Lewis Johnson, a social justice artist and creator of the Folded Map Project.

Production by Juneteenth Productions. 

In this episode of Trust Talks, Michael Davidson, senior director of community impact who’s leading the Trust’s Catalyzing Neighborhood Investment team, sits down with Lennox Jackson, founder and CEO of Urban Equities Inc, Ja’Net DeFell, program manager of Community Desk Chicago; and Juan Saldana principal at P3 markets, to discuss the role real estate development plays in our communities.

In this episode of Trust Talks, guests Constance Simms-Kincaid, owner and operator of 5 Loaves Eatery, Eya Louis, contract development coordinator at Elevate Energy, and Mambu Sherman, vice president of global philanthropy at JP-Morgan Chase, sit down with the Trust’s Shandra Richardson, a program manager on the Growing Household Wealth team, to discuss how the Fund for Equitable Business Growth is supporting the small business ecosystem in Chicago. 

In the first episode of Trust Talks, Charlotte Spaeth sits down with Anna LauBach, program director at the McCormick Foundation, Deborah Bennett, senior program officer at Polk Bros Foundation, and Anna Lee, director of community impact at The Chicago Community Trust for a discussion on the role grassroots organizations have in violence prevention in Chicago’s neighborhoods.