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Support the Giving Project

LEADERSHIP BUILDING AND MOVING MONEY FOR REAL CHANGE IN CHICAGO

GIVING PROJECT

Since 2014, Crossroads Fund’s Giving Projects have raised more than $1M from over 1,697+ donors.

THE 2024 GIVING PROJECT COHORT HAS COMMITTED TO RAISE $150,000

Crossroads Fund is excited to announce that our 2024 Giving Project cohort – a multi-racial, cross-class, intersectional group of 16 people- has committed to fundraise $150,000 to fund movement work in Chicago.

Over the course of six months, this group will have deep personal conversations on race and class, will make a monetary donation that is significant to them, will fundraise their network through a process of “donor organizing,” and will practice participatory grant-making supporting strategic, necessary, and underfunded social justice organizing work around the city.

Meet the 2024 Giving Project Members

SUPPORT THE GIVING PROJECT!

Past Giving Project Cohorts

Meet our past Giving Project cohorts and see how much they’ve raised in the past years.

Past Cohorts

2024 Giving Project Members

Jose Morin

Jose Morin

  • Pronoun

    Any / He/El/She/They

About

Jose Morin is a 25 year old queer Latinx person originally from Austin, Texas. Currently working as a Learning Specialist, where they support and teach diverse learners with disabilities in the 9-12 STEM classroom. Jose graduated from the University of Chicago in 2021 with a double major in Sociology and Gender and Sexuality Studies, and graduated in 2023 from the Relay Graduate School of Education with a Masters in Teaching. On their free time, they like to spend it with their chosen family, playing multiplayer games, or making fun of cheesy romantic comedies. They are a lover of nature, education, and research and are excited to strengthen connection and hone their own skills!

Kamila Muhammad

Kamila Muhammad

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, Kamila Muhammad is a collaborative, creative leader. She currently works as a Program Officer at Alphawood Foundation, where she is an advocate for and practitioner of trust-based philanthropy. Kamila possesses a strong drive to catalyze social change via the intersections of servant leadership, asset-based community development, and restorative justice. She is also musically trained and holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. Additionally, Kamila earned a Master of Education degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Prior to her current work in philanthropy, Kamila was a teaching artist and arts administrator on Chicago’s South and West Sides and in New York City. She serves on the Associate Board of the Merit School of Music and mentors aspiring cultural workers and philanthropists. Outside of work, Kamila enjoys singing loudly to Beyoncé, spending quality time with her cat, Nori, and writing essays and poetry.

Seri Lee

Seri Lee

  • Pronoun

    They / She

About

Seri Lee (they/she) is a community organizer within the immigrant, racial, labor, and reproductive justice movements. Born and raised in the Chicago area, they grew up in a working-class mixed-status household, experiencing personally and within their family many of the issues they’re working to end and abolish: gender-based violence, healthcare inequity, housing insecurity, economic injustice, environmental racism, and the military/prison-industrial complex.

Seri recently joined ONE Northside as their Deputy Organizing Director and previously worked at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) as their National Campaign & Membership Director. Through their work at NAPAWF, they became the 2022 Chicago Foundation for Women’s Vanguard Award honoree. Seri holds a B.A. in Global History and Comparative Race & Ethnic Studies at Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a M.A. in Social Sector Leadership and Nonprofit Management at the University of Chicago. They dream of and work toward collective liberation.

Kenneth Gilliam Jr.

Kenneth Gilliam Jr.

  • Pronoun

    He / Him

About

Kenneth Gilliam Jr. (he/him) is the Midwest Program Officer for the Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund (Equity Fund), where he oversees the organization’s power-building efforts and strategic grantmaking in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. Kenneth is a proud native Virginian with more than seven years of experience as a policy advocate, coalition leader, and issue campaign strategist. Prior to joining the Equity Fund, he served as the Policy Director for New Virginia Majority, Campaign Engagement Manager for The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, and served on national advisory committees for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Analysis and Research Network in Washington, D.C. He has a master’s degree from Indiana University Bloomington, a B.A. from James Madison University, and is a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.

Eliot Colin

Eliot Colin

  • Pronoun

    They / He

About

Eliot Colin (they/he) has spent most of their career supporting various queer and trans initiatives. Right now, they are most passionate about the overlaps in Black, trans, and disability justice work in philanthropy, grassroots organizing, community building, and artistic practice. Coalitional work is where the magic happens! Eliot frequently volunteers at Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival. Creatively, they are fascinated by the people, events, and memories that haunt us. How might listening to these ghosts help us create new, impossible futures?

Lauren Henderson

Lauren Henderson

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Lauren Henderson (she/her) is passionate about helping youth become the best version of themselves. Her working background includes education, mentoring, and working with the homeless. Lauren earned a B.S. in Developmental Psychology from Liberty University and recently completed a dual Master’s degree in Child Development from Erikson Institute and Child Law & Policy from Loyola University. In her free time, you will find her exploring the city, hanging out with her dog, baking sweet treats, and taking flights!

Meg Boucher

Meg Boucher

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Meg Boucher (she/her) earned her CPA and spent time with Deloitte’s international tax practice before joining AllianceBernstein to focus on serving the investing needs and interests of families, nonprofits, and foundations. More recently Meg became a fellow with the Just Economy Institute and founded Project Lupine. Meg is dedicated to challenging the roles of structures, systems, and processes to better serve our most vital organizations, communities, and movements.

Meg graduated from the University of Notre Dame, where she majored in Accounting and Romance Languages. She serves as a member of the leadership team of the Young Leaders Fund at the Chicago Community Trust and as a U10 soccer coach with AYSO. Born and raised in south central Pennsylvania, she now calls Chicago home, and enjoys year-round runs along the lakefront

Elizabeth Nuttall

Elizabeth Nuttall

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Elizabeth Nuttall (she/her) is a lifelong advocate and organizer who is deeply passionate about equity in higher education, workers rights, and trans liberation. Currently she is employed as a Development Specialist by One Million Degrees, where she oversees grant writing, liaises with the OMD Associate Board, supports event planning and general fundraising, and proudly serves as co-chair of the Equity Council. Elizabeth recently received her master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from the Johns Hopkins University, her thesis assessed the efficacy of emerging strategies in philanthropy through a case study on the impact of a catalytic gift from Mackenzie Scott. She previously attended the University of Texas at Austin and wrote her undergraduate capstone on the disparate impacts of the university’s COVID-19 response on student populations of concern.

Grace Liao

Grace Liao

  • Pronoun

    she / they

About

Having lived internationally in her formative years, Grace Liao brings a multicultural perspective and takes a conscientious, bottom-up, and place-based approach to her work as a social-impact focused developer and project manager.

She is a spatial designer emphasizing community-based living and placemaking. She has been an active board member of Open Architecture Chicago and supports local communities and neighborhoods by forging collaborations across multiple sectors and building sustainable partnerships.

Carrie Goodale

Carrie Goodale

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Carrie Goodale is originally from Georgia and has a passion to make the world a better place for all of Earthkind. She enjoys being near the water, traveling, reading, learning, and discovering new spots in the city (and beyond). Carrie plans to spend her career working in the nonprofit/philanthropic sector working on causes such as social justice, racial justice, environmental issues, and animal welfare.

Natalia Moreno

Natalia Moreno

  • Pronoun

    They / She

About

Natalia Moreno (they/she) is a Mexican American born and raised in Chicago. They are currently working as Substitute Teacher primarily working with kindergarten and second grade. She is passionate about Environmental Justice and Sustainability. Outside of work, they love to bake, especially anything with matcha in it. She also likes going to concerts, photographing everything and coexisting with all living things on this planet.

Kate Maley

Kate Maley

About

Kate Maley is interested in the dynamics between our inner lives, embodied experiences, and collective contexts. Harmful systems are at the root of much suffering and discontentment–and there is healing in envisioning and creating alternatives. Kate works as a psychotherapist and social worker specializing in working with older adults, especially LGBTQ+ elders, caregivers, and people with complex trauma histories. Previously, they worked in health policy and social science research, with a focus on health disparities and the social determinants of health. Kate is invested in the lifelong work of interrogating her privileges & contributing to liberation movements. Kate is excited for the opportunity to learn and dialogue in community with others invested in learning, growing, and doing good in the world.

Simran Arora

Simran Arora

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Simran Arora currently serves as an Advisory Services Associate at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, contributes to the strategic allocation of philanthropic dollars. She works with a variety of corporate clients, family foundations and individual donors. Before joining RPA, she worked as a Program Coordinator at Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America, aiding refugee families in Chicago. Raised in New Delhi, India, Simran obtained her bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College in California. She holds a deep commitment to issues such as mental health, gender and children’s rights, refugee rights, and racial equity. Simran has collaborated with non-profit organizations in India, Denmark, Indonesia, and the United States, incorporating a Global-South focused perspective into her philanthropic approach. During her leisure time, she enjoys cooking for friends, engaging in painting, traveling, practicing Pilates and yoga, and spending time by the lake.

Kieran Khanna

Kieran Khanna

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Kieran Khanna graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in Political Science and Arabic. She is currently working a Program Associate at Arabella Advisors. In her free time, you can find Kieran reading, cooking, and walking.

Suzanne Zoheri Chopra

Suzanne Zoheri Chopra

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Suzanne Zoheri Chopra (she/her) has worked and lived in Chicago since 2010. She was born to Egyptian parents and raised outside of the city. She’s enjoyed travel, outdoor time and civic engagement throughout her life. Suzanne has two kids with her husband and works at Dominician University’s School of Social Work and a group practice.

Kate Chang

Kate Chang

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Kate Chang is currently a Program Associate at Arabella Advisors, specializing in contributing to projects centered around social and equity well-being. With a background rooted in the entertainment industry, Kate began her career at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles before transitioning to film and TV production, where she worked on various Academy Award-nominated films and Emmy-winning TV shows. Motivated by the challenges of the pandemic, Kate relocated to Chicago, redirecting her focus to the non-profit and philanthropy sector. She brings a unique fusion of skills from both realms to actively contribute to initiatives aimed at creating lasting positive social impact.

Emma Guttman-Slater

Emma Guttman-Slater

About

Emma Guttman-Slater is a strategic advisor, do-er, and social justice advocate. As an independent consultant, she works in the fields of economic and racial justice to provide program design and development, policy advocacy, and field building services. She takes a systems approach, examining structural and connected challenges and community-based solutions to inform her work. Most recently, she designed and launched Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ flagship $3.5 million artist guaranteed income program and led policy advocacy for Creatives Rebuild New York, a $125 million investment in artists across New York State. Prior to consulting, she developed and led financial justice policy advocacy, field building, and strategic communications at Beneficial State Foundation (a social impact bank investor and financial justice nonprofit) with the goal to fundamentally change the role banks play in society. She has held social justice fellowships with the Institute for the Future, Bend the Arc, and Avodah, which guide her work toward a more just world.

Ashley Noelle Ver Beek

Ashley Noelle Ver Beek

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Ashley Noelle Ver Beek is a writer, researcher, and facilitator currently based in Chicago, IL. Her work contends with topics such as state gender violence, embodied protest, empire, religion and colonialism, labor organizing, divesting from whiteness, and the relationship between spiritual practice and justice. Ashley is passionate about transformative justice, and her ongoing training as a mediator and facilitator is a way she practices this in community, envisioning a way to address harm without rendering people disposable or implicating them in the criminal legal system. Her current work as a barista involves organizing with colleagues for better treatment in their workplace and listening to each others stories.

Ashley loves to cook, read, bike, laugh, and spend time outdoors, especially with friends. She holds a degree in Critical Ethnic Studies from Kalamazoo College.

Domingo Dominguez

Domingo Dominguez

About

Domingo Dominguez is a queer artist, apprentice, educator, and lover of the natural world. Domingo is an artist with a small business called RIP Repurposed. They create jewelry, decor, and altar items that honor life, death, and eternal transition using sustainably sourced insects and animal bones. Their goal is to craft heirlooms for my queer, spiritual, and outcast communities at affordable prices. In addition their art, they provide free safer sex supplies and Plan Bs, partnering with organizations like TransChicago, CALOR, and Midwest Access to Abortion Coalition. Passionate about safer sex education, they share sexual health resources whenever they participate at artisan pop-ups. Also very dedicated to supporting local pollinators, having experience with gardening and raising monarch and black swallowtail butterflies since 2019. Additionally, as a taxidermy apprentice and educator at The Insect Asylum, Domingo runs workshops that focus on the intersection of art making and natural history like insect pinning workshops and they provide animal upkeep and interaction with visitors. Domingo has also educated students through high school and grade school after-school programs and have served as a TA and substitute teacher for grade schools. Furthermore, Domingo is participant in a shamanic apprenticeship program and they hope to continue to learn how to dedicate themselves to a variety of different indigenous healing practices and ceremonies so that they can better support themselves and the communities they are a part of.

Nia Oden-McCann

Nia Oden-McCann

About

Nia Oden-McCann, LMSW (she/her), is a Social Work Manager at Girls for Gender Equity, Inc.

She received her BS in Community Health from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Masters in social work from Adelphi University. Nia is passionate about centering the voices of those who are often pushed to the margins. She is called to empower and uplift those in need.

Nia is a Brooklyn native who enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Good company, food, music, and laughter bring her joy!

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    • Cultivate: Women of Color Leadership
    • Capacity Building Initiative
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    • Lisa Fittko Internship
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3411 West Diversey Avenue
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o 773.227.7676