IMPACT REPORT 2024
Growing Opportunities
in Every Community
We make Chicago a better place to live and work.
Civic Consulting Alliance is a nonprofit organization that provides pro bono consulting services to public and social sector clients to advance systems-level solutions that untangle the Chicago region’s interconnected issues like economic and educational opportunity gaps, violence, and injustice that affect many residents.
We believe that when government, social impact, and corporate leaders work together, we can achieve our mission to make the Chicago region a great place for everyone to live in and work. The 2024 Impact Report highlights our work toward that goal.
Who we are
$23M
invested through pro bono consulting services
29
partners engaged in pro bono projects
66
projects completed for the Chicago region
665
people involved in making Chicago a better place to live and work
OUR PLATFORMS
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We invest in building an inclusive and equitable economy that contributes to the long-term vitality of the Chicago region.
● Inclusive regional economic growth
● Equitable investment across communities
● Individual opportunity and prosperity
● Responsive and efficient institutions
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We advance high-quality education and equitable access to opportunity for all Chicago students to prepare them for lifelong success and fulfillment.
● High-quality learning experiences
● Equitable distribution of resources
● Connectivity across the continuum
● Strong strategy and operations
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We facilitate institutional reform and collaborative transformation to address systemic inequities and make the Chicago region a safe and just place for all.
● Police reform and accountability
● Addressing violence as a public health crisis
● Justice system reform
We organize our work into three platforms that are integral to improving quality of life and creating a region that can reach its full potential. Within each platform, our focus areas ensure that we address the root causes that lead to inequities. This helps us invest our and our pro bono partners’ resources where they can have the greatest impact.
We invite you to keep scrolling to learn more about key projects in each of our platform areas.
Welcome to the 2024 Impact Report
I am delighted to present our 2024 Impact Report highlighting Civic Consulting Alliance’s unique role in the Chicago region. This Report is a testament to the collective effort of our team, clients, pro bono partners, and funders, all of whom make our work possible.
In the past year, Civic Consulting Alliance and our pro bono partners worked hand in hand with regional leaders to advance systemic change across our Economic Vitality, Education, and Safety & Justice platforms. Examples of our projects across all levels of government in the Chicago region include:
The City of Chicago’s “Cut the Tape” initiative, which is already making progress on its goal to streamline the real estate development process and pave the way forward for all sectors to be able to build across the city at an accelerated pace.
Illinois State Board of Education’s Children’s Adversity Index, a crucial tool for understanding and addressing youth mental health challenges.
The Government Alliance for Safe Communities, an intergovernmental partnership between the County, City and State, is part of an unprecedented “One Table” collaboration across the public, private, and philanthropic sectors to support and scale the Community Violence Intervention (CVI) field and significantly increase community safety.
I am proud of our progress and believe our greatest opportunities lie ahead. In 2025 Civic Consulting Alliance will celebrate its 40th anniversary. What started with volunteers from the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club partnering with the Harold Washington administration has matured into a nonprofit organization with 25 full-time staff that brought $23 million in pro bono services to the Chicago region last year. I’m grateful to be a part of the organization’s continued evolution – first as a partner, then a client, and now as CEO & President. In my first years leading the organization, we took on projects to address the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the surge in demand highlighted Civic Consulting Alliance’s crucial role in the region's civic infrastructure. As we emerge from this period of meeting immediate needs, we are working with our Board, staff, and closest stakeholders to plan for how we can more effectively focus our resources to further scale our long-term impact.
*Fiscal year 2023: July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024
We are fortunate to have a robust ecosystem of clients, staff, pro bono partners, Board members, and funders who are committed to building better systems that positively serve everyone. I am deeply grateful for their unwavering support. Please delve into this Impact Report to learn more about this critical work, share the Report with others, and join us – together, we can work to create more opportunities in every community across the Chicago region.
Sincerely,
Rebekah Scheinfeld
CEO and President
Civic Consulting Alliance
2024 Featured Projects
Together we invested
$23 million in the
Chicago Region
Every dollar invested in our mission is multiplied fivefold, providing an average of $19 million in pro bono consulting services annually.
Economic Vitality
“Civic Consulting Alliance was instrumental in getting the Cut the Tape initiative off the ground quickly. Their in-depth research on peer cities and insightful stakeholder engagement helped us identify ways to streamline the City’s real estate development process. This not only saved us valuable time but also ensured we targeted the highest-impact solutions that will lead to more affordable housing and vibrant commercial corridors throughout Chicago.”
Kenya Merritt, Deputy Mayor of Business and Neighborhood Development, City of Chicago
Equitable investment across communities
Individual opportunity and prosperity
Responsive and efficient institutions
EConomic Vitality Snapshot
19
Projects Executed
$3 million
Invested
10
Partners Engaged
184
People Involved
Education
“Civic Consulting Alliance’s structured approach to our Black Student Success community roundtables allowed for efficient feedback gathering and, even more importantly, transparent reporting of what was said in the roundtables sessions. This transparency is crucial as we move forward to address persistent disparities in educational opportunities for Black students.”
Dr. Fatima Cooke, Chief Equity Engagement & Strategy Officer, Chicago Public Schools
High quality learning experiences
Equitable distribution
of resources
Strong strategy and operations
Education Snapshot
12
Projects Executed
$3 million
Invested
10
Partners Engaged
90
People Involved
Safety & Justice
“Civic Consulting Alliance is a close partner in helping the Chicago Police Department strategize on the operational reforms and policy changes necessary to enhance the training and well-being of officers. By prioritizing these reforms, the officers will better be able to take care of the communities they serve.”
Larry Snelling, Superintendent, Chicago Police Department
Police reform and accountability
Addressing violence as a public health crisis
Justice system reform
Special Projects
Safety & Justice Snapshot
22
Projects Executed
$14 million
Invested
10
Partners Engaged
499
People Involved
Special Thanks to our partners
Our impact is amplified by the capacity and expertise of our corporate partners.
Corporate and Foundation Funders
We are grateful to our corporate and foundation partners, whose philanthropic support enables us to maintain our flexible and responsive capacity to get big things done.
Community policing is a philosophy that emphasizes collaboration between police and the community to build trust and solve problems. The Chicago Police Department's (CPD) consent decree mandates that every CPD member – sworn officers and civilians – be responsible for making community policing a core component of its programs, training, resource deployment, and accountability systems.