During the 2017–2018 school year, Urban Initiatives made a commitment to prioritize our efforts to foster unity, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). We believe these values are critical to our mission. Developing a plan and actions to be proactively an anti-oppressive and anti-racist institution is foundational in our work.
The World Cup is one of the clearest representations of the power of sport because of its international audience, its length and its worldwide appeal. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, and the World Cup is its greatest stage. The World Cup has pulled communities like our office together as millions of…
This year on June 2nd, Urban Initiatives celebrated our 6th Annual Work to Play Cup presented by Target. The Work to Play Cup is our opportunity to celebrate the hardwork and commitment shown by our continuum of programming participants throughout the year. These students step up to the plate every day in their classrooms, on…
On Friday, April 13th, 140 of our Take the Lead team captains traveled to Allstate headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois for their fourth retreat. The theme of the retreat was conflict transformation.
Over the last fifteen years, Urban Initiatives’ Work to Play program has grown from 12 students to 1,350 students in 44 Chicago Public Schools. Coinciding with this incredible growth is the increasing costs of transportation for our participants and their families. Busing remains a critical portion of our programming and mission. In order to continue…
Urban Initiatives is thrilled to announce that the The Chicago Blackhawks Foundation has granted us $50,000 for the third year in a row. We are so thankful for their continued support and know that their funds will go to great use for the Work to Play Program at Beidler Elementary, Otis World Language Academy and…
A first-person account from Frankie Baio, Urban Initiatives Student Board member
At Peterson Elementary, we are striving to help each child demonstrate success in our three core values: Cultural Ambassadors, Community Leaders and College Graduates. With the help of Urban Initiatives’ curriculum, we were able to create a new guide for the children to grow into our core values.
A first-person account of a recent UI field trip from Austin Haas, Urban Initiatives Associate Board Member
On Saturday, January 13th, 75 UI players from Nobel, Faraday, and Morton elementary celebrated the unifying powers of sport by participating in Nike’s Basketball Clinic at Marshall High School.
The Quest Foundation has selected Urban Initiatives as a grant recipient for the 2017/2018 school year! Since 2014, the Quest Foundation has been a dedicated supporter of our Work to Play Program and we are happy to say that they will continue supporting Work to Play with a $45,000 grant!
