Our CWIP community of women and non-binary people give of ourselves—our labor, our resources, our care, and our leadership—to propel the communities and nonprofit, philanthropic, and corporate-giving enterprises we serve. We envision an equitable, inclusive, and connected social sector. CWIP’s mission is to build an inclusive community that educates and empowers professional women to grow personally and professionally and to advocate boldly for themselves and their communities.
As Chicago poet and educator Gwendolyn Brooks wrote in 1949, “it is brave to be involved.” CWIP community members embody what it means to be involved. We work to address some of the most challenging problems and promising opportunities facing humanity, and we do so with bold creativity, purposeful generosity, and strategic care.
“It is brave to be involved. To be not fearful to be unresolved.”
Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)
Illinois poet laureate and first Black writer to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize
We join our community of leaders and changemakers in looking ahead and making our commitments clear. We are dedicated to our community and the change we all work to co-create each day.
As a professional membership organization with both a geographic heart and identity-based focus, it is critical that we articulate what and who our priorities are and how we intend to advance them while embracing our continued evolution.
Centering Chicago, Women, and Philanthropy
When CWIP leaders refer to Chicago people, places, actions, or issues, we are using a broad definition, including what happens with and/or what directly impacts:
- people in the Chicago metro area and/or greater Chicagoland region, including the city, suburbs, and Illinoisans broadly;
- places where CWIP members live and/or work; and/or
- people who live, work, study, fund, and/or support in the greater Chicagoland region.
When we speak of representing and advocating for women, we use an appropriately expansive definition to refer to what concerns or affects any and all women (including trans women), any and all girls, and any and all non-binary people.
Finally, when we refer to philanthropy, we include the personal, professional, individual, organizational, and community-based practices that facilitate giving and partnership described by terms including but not limited to:
- Collective giving
- Corporate giving and sponsorship
- Corporate social responsibility
- Direct giving
- Fundraising
- Grantmaking
- Grantseeking
- Mutual aid
- Social entrepreneurship
- Volunteerism
Taken together, these areas of focus illustrate countless overlapping issues and impacts that CWIP will continue to work and speak on in the months and years to come. For more details about our guidelines and process for how CWIP creates, signs, and/or distributes statements on relevant topics, threats, and opportunities, and how any member can add to the conversation, see the CWIP website here.
The Role of Voluntary Organizations
Voluntary organizations, including both formal associations like CWIP and grassroots societies, play a critical role in civil society. In fact, we play many critical roles. Voluntary organizations serve as conveners, capacity builders, advocates, connectors, educators, facilitators, organizers, researchers, first responders, representatives, and much more. CWIP will continue to play these roles, and others, with aims toward:
- Equipping social sector professionals and organizations to do their work according to their own strategies, partnerships, priorities, and values
- Empowering donors, funders, philanthropists, and volunteers of all types to provide resources according to their own strategies, partnerships, priorities, and values
- Implementing human-centered policies and practices for engaging the nonprofit workforce (both paid and volunteer), program participants, and beneficiaries
- Moving forward in community and consideration of impacts across all service and giving areas in the philanthropic ecosystem
Voluntary organizations serve as conveners, capacity builders, advocates, connectors, educators, facilitators, organizers, researchers, first responders, representatives, and much more.
An Open, Standing Invitation
We invite all who share our commitments to inform and shape CWIP’s impact through your participation and collaboration. Below are a few immediate ways you can play an active role in CWIP, and we will share others as we go forward. We would love to have your partnership now and in the future. Our open invitation, for new or increased involvement, stands. We will be here and ready to collaborate with you.
Join us.
If you haven’t already, become a CWIP member. Attend an upcoming program. Add your voice and talents to one or more of our CWIP working committees:
- Annual Luncheon
- Communications
- GIRLS (Girls Igniting Real Leadership & Service)
- Membership
- Programs and Capacity Building
- Racial Equity & Social Justice
- Women’s Leadership Mentorship Program
We strive to keep costs to community members low, and if cost impedes your participation as a member or event participant, please get in touch with us via our contact form, email, or talk with a Board or staff leader at an upcoming gathering or program.
Help CWIP amplify your work.
CWIP community members are involved in every aspect of Chicago’s social sector, and we strive to amplify the work you do by spotlighting members’ organizations, sharing upcoming events, and communicating about the impact of your work. Whenever you have something to share, we would love to hear from you. Please stay tuned for more information about how to share upcoming events and news with CWIP.
Share your input and feedback.
As we reinforce in our signature mentoring programs, every person knows something no one else knows. And every person has experienced something no one else has. We need your expertise, experiences, and perspectives to inform our work. We hope you will share your ideas, input, and feedback, both through participating in CWIP programs and committees and by getting in touch with our leadership about what’s on your mind. You may reach out to Board and Committee leaders directly, or feel free to use our contact form or email.
Thank you for all you are doing to co-create the equitable, inclusive, and connected social sector we envision. We look forward to our continued work together.