Hope Chicago Inc.

No more dreams deferred. Hope Chicago provides equitable access to debt-free higher education for CPS graduates and their parents–removing barriers for Chicago's households most in need.

Hope Chicago aims to transform Chicago by improving postsecondary enrollment, preparedness, and retention while also increasing degree completion rates and household earnings for South and West side communities.

Goal One: Identify schools where increased postsecondary access and support can have the greatest impact and promise debt-free pathways to postsecondary education for all students, regardless of GPA.

Goal Two: Make a two-generation investment by offering debt-free scholarships for students and a parent, covering tuition, fees, and books. Student scholars also receive room & board.

Goal Three: Build partnerships and connect scholars to best-in-class postsecondary support and career counseling. Also, prepare scholars for careers via internships, mentoring, and/or work-related training.

Hope Chicago's executive team works with the Bridgespan Group in their Leading for Impact program - a program for nonprofit executive teams that helps them strengthen their overall leadership skills while also making progress on a specific strategic goal.

Founded in 2021, Hope Chicago has undergone tremendous growth in the past couple years. In our first year alone, we saw a 30% increase in postsecondary enrollment in our partner high schools and sent a cohort of 670 Hope Scholars to 2-year and 4-year postsecondary programs across the state of Illinois. Since then, we have launched our Parent Scholars program that allows parents to complete a postsecondary degree debt-free as well and have expanded our partnership network. We are continuing to grow as our second cohort of students start their postsecondary journey. We also are growing our advocacy agenda in hopes of making postsecondary education more accessible to all.