On October 5th, over 120 students from five Chicago public schools gathered at Midway Plaisance Park for the 11th Annual Connection Cup, an event celebrating diversity, culture, and connection through play. The day was brought to life by 30 dedicated volunteers, including UI associate board members from Chicago’s corporate, nonprofit, and fitness communities, as well…
The Fourth Annual Urban Initiatives (UI) Associate Board (AB) Pizza Party was held on Thursday, November 17th at the law firm, Kirkland & Ellis. Students from Beethoven, Greene, and Davis Elementary all attended this year’s pizza party.  As Associate Board member Shreya Canakapalli puts it, “The Pizza Party is a fun evening that provides Associate…
Coach Cecilia shares highlights from her parent/player scrimmages at Stevenson Elementary! The primary goal at Urban Initiatives is to empower Chicago’s youth to become agents of community change through academic success, healthy living, and leadership development. Family involvement within the Work to Play program is very important at Urban Initiatives. During the course of the last…
The morning after the election, coaches from the Chicagoland area came together for the 2nd annual Sports-Based Youth Development Practitioners’ Summit at the Breakthrough FamilyPlex on the west side. This event will take place annually as a social-professional opportunity for program staff to learn about how their work fits into the larger landscape of sports…
Our Take the Lead retreat at William Blair was a huge success. Friday morning, the city was buzzing in anticipation of the Cubs World Series parade. That did not stop 160 of our finest Team Captains from having a great experience at the William Blair Headquarters in downtown Chicago, even though classes were not in…
On Friday, October 21st, over 100 Urban Initiatives participants from Jahn, North River, Howe, Bateman, and Jordan took a trip to Wilmette to play in the 16th Wilmette Crosstown. One of the longest running UI events, the Wilmette Crosstown demonstrates one of the hallmarks of our programs: using sport and play to bridge communities. As UI teams arrived at…
The 11th Annual Soccer Ball Presented by Allstate, January 27 at Morgan Manufacturing in Chicago is Urban Initiatives’ annual benefit. The event draws over 1,000 people from the Chicagoland area from various professional, academic, and artistic backgrounds for an evening of cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and celebration. In 2016, the Soccer Ball raised nearly $600,000 to…
REC Coordinators are vital to Urban Initiatives’ mission of empowering Chicago’s youth to become agents of community change through academic success, healthy living, and leadership development. They drive systematic change by connecting stakeholders and strengthening the social fabric of the community. Meet Dorrian, one of UI’s newest REC Coordinators! Basic info: Name, birthday, where you last went…
REC Coordinators are vital to Urban Initiatives’ mission of empowering Chicago’s youth to become agents of community change through academic success, healthy living, and leadership development. They drive systematic change by connecting stakeholders and strengthening the social fabric of the community. Meet Anna, one of UI’s newest REC Coordinators! Basic info: Name, birthday, where you last went…
The 14th Annual Urban Initiatives Halloween Bash was a huge success. For the third straight year, Chop Shop and 1st Ward Events welcomed us back to not only have a ton of fun but to support UI’s sports-based youth development programming. Over 400 friends joined us for what some call, “The best Halloween party in…
The weather had begun to cool, but the chill in the air did not stop Urban Initiatives’ Work to Play students and a group of volunteers from PwC from traveling to Chicago Indoor Sports on October 21 for a Friday afternoon Game Day. Participants from Claremont, Davis, Greene, and Morrill played in three rotations of…
On a beautiful fall afternoon, four volunteers from Motorola Mobility joined Goethe Elementary’s Work to Play squad for a series of scrimmages at Haas Park in Logan Square. The Goethe students were excited for the scrimmages – they had worked hard in practice and in the classroom all week, and this afternoon of friendly competition…
