While Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has made efforts to address long-standing racial inequities in education, Black students continue to suffer from historic and persistent gaps in educational opportunities and outcomes. To address these systemic inequities that have stood in the way of Black student achievement, CPS committed to co-create a Black Student Success Plan alongside key community stakeholders.

The City of Chicago’s current real estate development approval process, while well-intentioned, can involve a dozen departments and results in a burdensome and costly undertaking. The complex system also favors those with more time and money to navigate the lengthy planning and entitlements process, including the legal work necessary to obtain approvals.

Cook County property taxes provide over $16B annually for the City of Chicago, Cook County, and the many school districts, special districts, and municipalities. The current tax system is complex and difficult to navigate. In 2023, Civic Consulting Alliance supported the creation of the Cook County Property Tax Reform Group (PTAX) to ensure that the property assessment and tax system produces predictable, accurate, fair, and equitable results in a timely and efficient manner.

City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) is committed to serving adult learners aged 25 or older, or ages 18-24 with adult responsibilities such as parenthood, full-time work, or military service. The 2021 - 2025 Strategic Framework includes a vision to be recognized as the city’s most accessible higher education engine of socioeconomic mobility and racial equity.

Following the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) Whole Child Task Force in early 2022, the Illinois House passed legislation requiring the creation of “a community or district-level Children’s Adversity Index to measure community childhood trauma exposure across the population of children 3 through 18 years of age” by May 31, 2025.

The Chicago Public Library (CPL) serves all Chicagoans with free and open places to gather, learn, connect, read, and be transformed. With 81 locations across all 77 community areas, CPL branches provide free resources and act as anchor institutions that can respond to community needs.

In October 2023, Cook County released the first Digital Equity Action Plan, a crucial step to address the digital divide that impacts communities in suburban Cook County, which results in barriers to economic opportunities, social connections, and community wellbeing. The plan identifies Cook County’s path to digital equity through accessibility, confidence, safety and security, and affordability.

In 2017, Civic Consulting Alliance provided foundational support to bring together a collaborative of healthcare providers to build West Side United (WSU), an organization committed to eradicating the 16-year life expectancy gap between residents on Chicago’s West Side and the Loop. One of WSU’s primary strategies is to address the social determinants of health by removing barriers to accessing healthy food.

Meaningful employment and career opportunities are foundational to the Johnson Administration’s ambition to invest in and create pathways to wealth for marginalized populations and underserved communities. While the private sector is responsible for most of the employment base, the City of Chicago government plays a multi-faceted role in the workforce space through the resources deployed by its Departments and Sister Agencies, policy activities, and the power of its influence.