Updates from our fellows in Chicago—examples of grassroots and community-driven social change.
33 Thursdays: An Overview of the 2025 Chicago Peace Fellows
On March 20, 2025, nineteen leaders walked into the 2025 Chicago Peace Fellows cohort as strangers. They came from different neighborhoods across…
Celebrating the 2025 Chicago Peace Fellows
On November 20, 2025, nineteen grassroots leaders from across the city of Chicago gathered to mark a shared milestone: the graduation of the seventh…
Chicago: Built by All – Stories of Migration, Sanctuary and Belonging
Stories of migration are the heartbeat of Chicago. On a cold night in 2022, several buses pulled into Chicago, arriving from the Southern border,…
The Real Cost of Funding Cuts for Chicago Activists
Jason Michael Maldonado was born in Little Village, a Mexican-American neighborhood in Chicago, where, together with its local art and beautiful…
Developing Grassroots Infrastructure and Building Peace in Chicago
Since 2018, community leaders across Chicago have been coming together at Building Blocks of Peace to collaborate on taking collective action to…
Pollinating Peace in Chicago
For the last five years, the Peace Flowers initiative has distributed flowers to mothers, on Mother’s Day, who lost children to gun violence. This…
Celebrating the 2025 Chicago Peace Fellows Launch
On March 20, the 2025 Chicago Peace Fellows met for the first time at the Chicago Cultural Center. Founded in 2019 in collaboration with the…
Daddy-Daughter Dance Promotes Positive Male Mentorship
On February 7, 2025, Mr. Dad’s Fathers Club hosted their inaugural Daddy-Daughter dance, an event where male role models supported young women in…
Six Years of Impact: Reflecting on the Chicago Peace Fellows Journey
Over the past six years, the Chicago Peace Fellows program has built a powerful network of 120 community leaders and peace activists dedicated to…
Fall Into Family Festival Promotes Wellness in Chicago
On November 16, the 2024 Chicago Peace Fellows hosted the vibrant Fall Into Family Wellness Festival at JLM Abundant Life on the West Side of…
Empowering Teens to Foster Racial Healing
In 2024, Cosette Nazon-Wilburn, Executive Director of the Love, Unity & Values (LUV) Institute and 2020 Chicago Peace Fellow, initiated the…
Remembering Nathan Shapiro
The Goldin Institute mourns the loss of longtime board member and trusted advisor Nathan ‘Nate’ Shapiro. On behalf of the entire Board and staff, we…