Join Us at the 41st Annual Luncheon!
Tickets are officially live for our 41st Annual Luncheon on October 20, 2026, at the Hilton Chicago!
We are honored to welcome Dr. Jessica Shepherd and the Lacks family as the featured speakers for the 41st Annual Luncheon: Health, Power, & Possibility. This year’s Luncheon theme begins with a powerful truth: health is the lifeline that makes power possible. Across every stage of life, women, girls, gender-expansive people, and the communities they call home need access to care, safety, autonomy, healthy food, clean environments, and the resources required to live fully. From that foundation, power grows. And when we meet community power with sustained investment, trust, and collective action, possibility expands.
Across Chicago, grassroots leaders and local organizations are already building solutions rooted in care, healing, safety, reproductive freedom, economic mobility, and justice. At this year’s Luncheon, we will gather to honor that work, move resources toward the leaders making it possible, and imagine what we can build together.
Investing in Community. Advancing Equity.
Since 1985, Chicago Foundation for Women has built a powerful network of funders and frontline leaders to drive community-led change. We invest in grassroots organizations, foster collaboration, and fuel long-term impact, so everyone in our region has the opportunity to live in a safe, just, and equitable community.
Our Approach
We amplify every dollar we raise, ensuring grassroots organizations receive the strategic, sustained support they need to thrive. By bridging funders and frontline organizations, we create a strong network that strengthens movements, advances equity, and drives real impact.
Our Impact Areas
Expanding Economic
Security and Mobility
We seek to expand economic security so all women, girls, and gender-expansive people can care for themselves and their families in all stages of life.
Advancing
Reproductive Justice
We champion reproductive freedom and fund local efforts that protect care, expand access, and defend the right to make decisions about one’s body.
Advancing Freedom from Violence
We work to ensure women, girls, and gender-expansive people are free from violence, including abuse, assault, harassment, trafficking, and more.
Improving Access to Health and Wellness
We work to expand access to quality mental, physical, preventive, and reproductive health services for women, girls, and gender-expansive people.
Explore what is new at CFW
Celebrate CFW’s 40-Year History
Chicago Foundation for Women is proud to launch our digital 40th Anniversary Commemorative Book, a celebration of the people, partnerships, and movements that made this journey possible. Inside the book are the stories of advocates, organizers, donors, grantee partners, and community leaders who believed in a more equitable future and helped build it together.
Register for Upcoming Events
Chicago Foundation for Women has an exciting calendar of upcoming events, including the 41st Annual Luncheon in October. Learn about upcoming events and get involved.
Join the 4 for 40 Challenge
At a moment of growing needs and shrinking resources, grassroots organizations are carrying more than ever. That is why we launched the 4 for 40 Challenge to expand our annual giving and increase investments in community-led change. Make a monthly gift, a one-time contribution, or a four-year pledge to move resources to where they are needed the most.
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