Venture Fund News

A Better Chicago recently launched a call for applications for our Venture Fund. Venture Fund is our mechanism for making seed investments in promising, early stage nonprofits with strong leaders and in national organizations that are expanding to Chicago for the first time. We also make significant investments in successful organizations with strong track records through our Growth Fund.

Our current Venture Fund consists of The Dovetail Project, Intrinsic Schools, and VOCEL. These three organizations joined our portfolio in 2014 and were awarded grants and 12 months of management support from A Better Chicago. The three organizations have made important strides this year, and Chicago has taken notice. Below are some media highlights from our current Venture Fund grantees.

Last month, the Dovetail Project, a program that equips young low-income fathers with parenting and life skills, hosted its 11th graduation of program participants. Check out their pictures on the organization’s Facebook page. Dovetail was also featured in the Chicago Tribune this month. Sheldon Smith, Dovetail’s founder, explained the history of the program and how its model works to empower young fathers to be effective parents. Watch the whole video at the Chicago Tribune.