Press Forward Chicago is a grantmaking initiative administered by The Chicago Community Trust—designed in partnership with the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and local journalism donors and practitioners.
Donor Name: The Chicago Community Trust
State: Illinois
City: Chicago
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/06/2026
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
Chicago needs more education-focused reporters. With school board elections in November 2026, and recent drastic changes to education funding, the timing is critical to increase education reporting, and to amplify that work to those who need it. Press Forward Chicago is seeking to create a playbook around coverage areas that have seen a steep decline in reporters in recent years. These include education, immigration, healthcare, housing, the criminal legal system, and the environment.
Goals
- Press Forward Chicago is based at The Chicago Community Trust and is part of a network of more than forty Press Forward chapters across the U.S. focused on supporting sustainable local news and information models.
- While a lot of emphasis for Press Forward Chicago is on shared services, new revenue and audience growth models, they are also leaning heavily into topic-based funding of media organizations. They believe that through the lens of specific subject matter, they can engage new funders and strengthen coverage areas that are critical to civic life and democracy. At the same time, they will create a healthier media network.
- The goal of this particular collaboration/grant program is to inform Chicagoans about the upcoming Chicago Board of Education election in November 2026. The main outcomes of this project will be a voter guide, distributed digitally and in print, and profiles of all candidates across 21 districts, in addition to ongoing coverage about the races.
- In the application, they ask that you report back on outcomes using Measures of Progress. Please limit the total number of Measures of Progress and indicators to five maximum to minimize the reporting burden.
Funding Information
These are the types of grants available for this opportunity:
- Tier 1: There will be up to six grants of $40,000 to Chicago-based independent media organizations with a proven record of covering education, school board races, or similar policy issues in Chicago.
- Tier 2: There will be up to two grants of $15,000 each to media organization(s) with a proven record of training youth in media, to involve youth in covering the school board elections.
- Tier 3: There will be up to eight grants of $10,000-$15,000 for media organizations with limited education coverage experience but a willingness to attend trainings and cover these issues and the elections.
Eligibility Criteria
- Organization must agree to work with Chalkbeat Chicago as the project coordinator and send representatives to all related meetings.
- Organization must serve audiences in the city of Chicago. Because this project is focused on Chicago Public Schools, outlets that primarily serve Chicago suburbs are not eligible at this time. In 2027, they will offer another education journalism funding opportunity that is open to beats outside CPS.
For more information, visit CCT.
