Kids First Chicago

Kids First Chicago is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to ensure that every child in Chicago has access to a high-quality public education. Founded in 2004, by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, we initially invested $100 million to support 81 new, innovative public schools which spurred an era of dramatic improvement. While Chicago’s improvements have begun to garner national attention, they still fall short in our low-income communities with predominantly African American and Latino families where 50,000 students remain in failing schools—an inequity that must be addressed. Our three current strategies were designed after an intensive period of gathering parent focus group and polling information, all of which has guided the path forward: (1) Empower parents to identify, navigate, and advocate for high-quality public schools for their kids, (2) Improve middle performing schools, providing better opportunities for kids across the district while creating a blueprint for transformation that can be applied broadly (3) With parents, shape education policy and systems to better support their communities and families. We hope you will join our team, as we work to make Chicago’s public education system take another incredible leap forward.