Launched in 2017, the Blackstone Inclusive Entrepreneurship Challenge provided underserved entrepreneurs in Chicago greater access to resources and opportunities for growth by investing in local non-profits who scaled their programs. On November 17, 2020, Chicago Ideas hosted a conversation with the program leaders, which was led by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, World Business Chicago, and ChicagoNEXT.  The Blackstone Inclusive Entrepreneurship Challenge was a pioneering effort in the city to promote equal access to resources for entrepreneurs and innovators across Chicago. The th ..read more

                          Nestled in the West Loop, one of the city’s trendiest neighborhoods, sits the Chicago office of W2O, the leading independent provider of analytics-driven, digital-first marketing services and communications to the healthcare sector. Here in the Windy City, a crew of communications professionals, marketing experts and analytics wizards are on a mission to make the world a healthier place. Amid a global pandemic, W2O (like many other companies) has shifted to working from home, yet its entrepreneurial and ..read more

COMMUNITY AREA #75: Morgan Park—A New Direction Morgan Park is a neighborhood on Chicago’s far South Side best known for its tight-knit community, unique architecture, and its connection to Rotary International (also known as the Rotary Club), which was founded in the neighborhood in 1905. Morgan Park is the sort of place where everybody knows everybody, where neighbors socialize together, and where local businesses collectively support the vibrancy of the community.  When the pandemic hit, the residents of Morgan Park, like people everywhere, were immediately preoccupied with the medical ..read more

While the COVID-19 pandemic has upended life for everyone, the class of 2020 is feeling the pressure of cancellation more acutely than most. In-person commencement exercises aren’t happening this year, meaning graduates won’t take the ceremonial walk across the stage. But this week, WBEZ is bringing a different party to life. “The onset of the coronavirus pandemic was sudden and significant to people of all ages. And now, protesters across the country are demanding changes in American policing,” said Kate Grossman, senior education editor of WBEZ.  “Against this backdrop, students across ..read more

Nationally, one in four women struggles to purchase period products due to lack of income – this is period poverty. In many instances, these women rely on relief available through public institutions like schools to help fill that gap. There are nearly 3 million women and girls between the ages of 12 and 44 (the average age range someone experiences a period) in Illinois. Of those, one in six lives below the federal poverty line. With many schools closed or moving to virtual teaching due to the pandemic, the thousands of girls who rely on schools to provide the period supplies they need, are ..read more

The Chicago Reader—a mainstay of the Chicago media scene that is renowned for their coverage of culture, politics, and the news behind the news—is fighting for survival in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. And they’re doing it with coloring books and puzzles.  For nearly 49 years, the Chicago Reader has been providing Chicagoans with important news and perspectives from key communities across the city, all free of charge. To keep the price of a copy of the weekly magazine so low (a whopping $0), they rely heavily on advertising revenue, which all but evaporated in the early stages of the ..read more

It’s been a long day of Zoom classes, intermittent playtime, regular meal prep, laughing, screaming, pouting, running—all while you try to cram your own work into the gaps. But now the kids are in bed. Time to hit the vape.   The topic of parenting and cannabis has ruffled feathers for decades, born out of a stigma of drug-use that insinuates mom and dad can’t get high and be proper guardians at the same time. But as more states around the U.S. legalize cannabis for recreational use, more people are becoming comfortable with parents indulging in the benefits of a little marijuana. L ..read more

Your therapist will FaceTime you now.  While people are stuck at home except for carrying out what have been deemed essential tasks (going to the grocery store, picking up food, exercise), their mental health needs have in no way diminished (quite the opposite, in fact). But when all services that aren’t considered vital or that can be feasibly accomplished remotely are put on hold, how are people supposed to address those needs?  Enter, telemedicine. While for years, doctors (particularly mental health professionals) have been using telemedicine to meet with and treat patients, the ..read more

After fourteen exceptional years as one of the largest festivals of its kind in the United States, the Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema was ready to celebrate its 15th anniversary in the fall of 2020.  Plot twist.  In mid-March as it became clear that the chances that spread of Covid-19 would abate before the end of the summer (in time for the festival in the fall), the leaders behind one of Chicago’s mainstay cinematic experiences had a difficult choice to make: cancel the festival altogether, or embrace the change of the seasons and go virtual.  This year, for the first tim ..read more

April 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Looking back, we realize that we have seen significant changes to the planet in those fifty years—not all of them positive. As The Marketing Store’s Head of Sustainability, I regularly think about ecological matters, and here are my insights on the intersection of the environment with another top-of-mind issue: Covid-19. Many have argued that the current lockdown has changed perceptions of climate change for the better. As skies become clearer and wildlife returns to once populous areas, people all over the planet are becoming more aware of ..read more