Thank You for Joining Our 41st Annual Luncheon
Thank you to everyone who joined Chicago Foundation for Women at our 41st Annual Luncheon: Health, Power, & Possibility on October 20, 2026, at the Aon Grand Ballroom at Navy Pier! We were honored to welcome featured speakers, the Lacks Family and Dr. Jessica Shepherd, and moderator Melody Spann Cooper to the Luncheon stage for a dynamic featured conversation.
Across Chicago, grassroots leaders and local organizations are building solutions rooted in care, healing, safety, reproductive freedom, economic mobility, and justice. This year’s Luncheon honored that work, moved resources toward the leaders making it possible, and imagined what we can build together. Stay tuned for the full photo gallery from the event!
Investing in Community. Advancing Equity.
Since 1985, Chicago Foundation for Women has built a powerful network of funders and frontline leaders to drive community-led change. We invest in grassroots organizations, foster collaboration, and fuel long-term impact, so everyone in our region has the opportunity to live in a safe, just, and equitable community.
Our Approach
We amplify every dollar we raise, ensuring grassroots organizations receive the strategic, sustained support they need to thrive. By bridging funders and frontline organizations, we create a strong network that strengthens movements, advances equity, and drives real impact.
Our Impact Areas
Expanding Economic
Security and Mobility
We seek to expand economic security so all women, girls, and gender-expansive people can care for themselves and their families in all stages of life.
Advancing
Reproductive Justice
We champion reproductive freedom and fund local efforts that protect care, expand access, and defend the right to make decisions about one’s body.
Advancing Freedom from Violence
We work to ensure women, girls, and gender-expansive people are free from violence, including abuse, assault, harassment, trafficking, and more.
Improving Access to Health and Wellness
We work to expand access to quality mental, physical, preventive, and reproductive health services for women, girls, and gender-expansive people.
Explore what is new at CFW
Join the CFW Team
Chicago Foundation for Women is hiring a Vice President of External Affairs. This executive-level role is responsible for developing and executing an integrated external affairs strategy that advances CFW’s mission, builds strategic partnerships, strengthens brand presence, aligns resource allocation to deepen impact, and influences the policy and public environment in which it operates. View the full job description and apply here.
Register for Upcoming Events
Chicago Foundation for Women has an exciting calendar of upcoming events throughout the fall with CFW’s Giving Councils and Circles. Learn about upcoming events and get involved.
Celebrate CFW’s 40-Year History
Chicago Foundation for Women is proud to launch our digital 40th Anniversary Commemorative Book, a celebration of the people, partnerships, and movements that made this journey possible. Inside the book are the stories of advocates, organizers, donors, grantee partners, and community leaders who believed in a more equitable future and helped build it together.
Join the 4 for 40 Challenge
At a moment of growing needs and shrinking resources, grassroots organizations are carrying more than ever. That is why we launched the 4 for 40 Challenge to expand our annual giving and increase investments in community-led change. Make a monthly gift, a one-time contribution, or a four-year pledge to move resources to where they are needed the most.
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