Eleanor Foundation and Chicago Foundation for Women Create Strategic Alliance

Chicago Foundation for Women to manage combined program focused on economic security for women and their families

CHICAGO, Sept. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Eleanor Foundation, a public grant-making fund focused on helping female-headed households achieve economic self-sufficiency, has formed a strategic alliance with Chicago Foundation for Women (CFW) to maximize impact in this crucial area of need for local women. The alliance creates the Eleanor Network at Chicago Foundation for Women and continues the Eleanor Foundation's legacy of collaboration and strategic funding. The Eleanor Foundation will wind down its stand-alone activities and bring nearly $7 million in assets, its unique "Eleanor Network" grant-making program, and its key board leaders and supporters to CFW. CFW will become home to the Eleanor Network and will use its expanded Board, its proven donor base, and its expertise in grant making to expand and enhance the Eleanor Network and to increase its own grant-making and fundraising. The result is a unique effort to advance economic security for growing numbers of low-income working women.

"The Eleanor Foundation and Chicago Foundation for Women are joining forces because together, we can do far more to help female-headed households reach the middle class than we can alone," said Eleanor Foundation Chair Nick Brunick. "This new alliance provides us with a unique opportunity to expand and extend our legacy of helping working women and their families to advance economically."

"As a large and fast-growing segment of our region's population, female-headed households must succeed if we want our region to be a world-class place to live, work, and play," said Chicago Foundation for Women Chair Andrea Kramer.

In 2006, Eleanor Foundation established the Eleanor Network, an innovative collaboration of nonprofit organizations throughout Chicago that help low-income single working women gain the opportunities they need to climb the economic ladder towards the middle class. The Eleanor Foundation selected CFW for this groundbreaking alliance because of common missions and CFW's 27-year fundraising track record.

CFW leaders say the alliance presents an unprecedented opportunity to leverage these additional resources to further increase fundraising and expand CFW's support across all three of its key focus areas:  economic security, access to healthcare and freedom from violence.  CFW has set a goal to grow its total grantmaking to $3 million a year within five years.

"We are honored to be entrusted with these resources, and we will use CFW's unique position and expertise in the community to focus increased dollars on the programs that do the best to support women and girls," said Andrea Kramer. 

In spite of significant gains by women over the past quarter century, women are still more likely than men in this country to be poor: 59 percent of adults in poverty are women.  Nearly two-thirds of the Chicago region's poor families consist of single mothers and their children, and that number is growing.  According to Eleanor Foundation research, female-headed households earning less than a living wage number over 300,000 in the Chicago region and they are one of the Chicago region's fastest-growing populations.  Furthermore, single mothers are working harder and are better educated than they have ever been, and yet, they continue to fall behind economically. By combining the Eleanor Foundation's collaborative network of programs and assets with CFW's established fundraising platform, the Eleanor Network at CFW will raise the profile of this important population and generate even greater support for innovative programs that help address this need in our community.

"CFW believes that the economic security of women is the thread that ties healthy communities together," said K. Sujata, Chicago Foundation for Women President/CEO. "Without it, a woman cannot extract herself from a violent situation, she cannot provide for her family, she cannot achieve her full potential, let alone be the catalyst to propel her children toward a better life."

The Eleanor Foundation and Chicago Foundation for Women also extend sincere thanks to the Eleanor Foundation's Interim President and CEO Deborah Harrington, for her leadership role throughout this process. The alliance was also achieved with the pro bono legal support of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and McDermott Will & Emery LLP.

About Chicago Foundation for Women
Chicago Foundation for Women raises money to fund and support organizations that help women and girls—it's all about making smarter connections between need, money and solutions. We believe that when women and girls are secure, whole communities are made better. The Foundation improves the lives of women and girls through grants, advocacy, leadership development, and public and grantee education. Since 1985, the Foundation has awarded more than 2,900 grants totaling nearly $20 million and helped thousands of women and girls become philanthropists. Learn more at www.cfw.org.

About the Eleanor Foundation
Since 2002, the Eleanor Foundation invests in innovative programs that help low-income single working women attain economic self-sufficiency. Together with donor support, the Foundation funds the Eleanor Network, the citywide collaboration it established to provide working women access to job-training and education, affordable housing, dependable childcare and financial coaching. It actively manages its funded programs to identify what works, and sponsors research to inform its grantmaking and the field. In the last five years, the Foundation awarded more than $6 million in grants to build its Eleanor Network of programs for advancing working women's economic security.

CONTACT:
Vicky Nurre
(312) 337-7913
[email protected]

Sharonda Glover
(312) 577-2824
[email protected]

SOURCE Chicago Foundation for Women