Launched in 2021 and guided by the collective wisdom of an advisory group, the Prince Charitable Trusts’ Aya Initiative seeks to support Black-led and Black-serving organizations committed to nature and the environment and actively engaging Chicago neighborhoods/communities and the people who thrive in them.

For more information visit our Aya Initiative page.

Some of Chicago’s most vulnerable youth are those who experience homelessness or housing instability. LGBTQ, African American and Latinx youth make up a disproportionate percentage of this population; many are pregnant and/or parenting. These young people need housing and support services that respond to their unique strengths and challenges, providing them with the resources and skills they need to mature into healthy, productive adults.

We invest in organizations and special initiatives to end homelessness among unaccompanied youth. Our funding prioritizes:

• Organizations providing shelter to homeless youth as well as services that prepare them to live independently
• Organizations providing holistic, trauma-informed programming for youth experiencing homelessness with an emphasis on groups that utilize positive youth development principals and comprehensive mental health supports
• Special initiatives exploring innovative approaches to meeting the needs of youth experiencing homelessness

Inspired by a trustee’s positive experience with sports as a youth, PCT provides general operating support grants to sports-based youth development (SBYD) organizations in Chicago. SBYD combines best practices from youth development, mentoring, athletics and physical fitness, and academic enrichment. It contributes to improved health and fitness, and just as importantly, helps youth become better at planning, coping with stress, and engaging in positive relationships with peers and adults. Such benefits may prove particularly crucial for youth who face risks and challenges like concentrated poverty, higher rates of obesity and other chronic health conditions, exposure to violence, and limited availability of afterschool and recreational activities. PCT gives preference to organizations serving middle-school-age youth and to those that provide coaches trained in youth development and implement trauma-sensitive approaches to service delivery.

SBYD organization requirements
PCT will consider SBYD organizations that:

• Have SBYD as their primary focus
• Have operated at least three years
• Deliver services to a program population in which 75% or more of youth have family incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level or in schools where 75% or more of students are eligible for free and reduced price school lunch
• Have at least one professional program staff person
• Serve a consistent group of school-age youth in most or all of its programming
• Provide at least 90 minutes of programming per week for at least 20 weeks of the school year
• Promote physical and emotional well-being
• Foster an age-appropriate and positive environment when competition is part of the program
• Train coaches and program staff to deliver a consistent program model or curriculum and build positive relationships with youth
• May provide or connect participants to academic supports and/or help them access higher education.

If you have additional questions about our SBYD requirements, please review the FAQ’s.

For an important update visit MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity and the Arts at Prince.

The people of Chicago need and deserve a thriving cultural life.  The arts reflect and demonstrate the richness and diversity of the city’s people and, by representing the basic human truths, help us to connect.  The Trusts support the core missions of outstanding arts organizations with general operating support and occasional project grants to enhance their creative artistic products.

The Prince Arts Program supports arts groups in the city of Chicago with annual budgets above $2,000,000.

Large operating support grants
Application for large operating support is by invitation only. Unsolicited proposals cannot be accepted.

These grants reward organizations with budgets over $10,000,000 that meet the highest standards of artistic quality, professional and financial management, good planning and community participation. These are the leaders in the arts community that provide models of best practice. Grants of up to $25,000 per year may be awarded. Application to this category is by invitation only.

Mid-sized operating support grants
Grants of $20,000 may be awarded to companies with budgets between $2,000,000 and $10,000,000 that meet similarly high standards of artistic excellence, organizational strength and service to the community.

Special project grants
Each year the Trusts make a small number of special project grants to grantees who are of particular significance to the cultural life of Chicago. They may support programs or positions that strengthen the management or artistic capacity of the organization. Please contact Benna Wilde, Program Director, Arts and Culture to discuss the project before applying. These grants are not available to grantees of the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince.

The people of Chicago need and deserve a thriving cultural life.  The arts reflect and demonstrate the richness and diversity of the city’s people and, by representing the basic human truths, help us to connect.  The Trusts support the core missions of outstanding arts organizations with general operating support and occasional project grants to enhance their creative artistic products.

The Prince Arts Program supports arts groups in the city of Chicago with annual budgets above $2,000,000.

Large operating support grants
Application for large operating support is by invitation only. Unsolicited proposals cannot be accepted.

These grants reward organizations with budgets over $10,000,000 that meet the highest standards of artistic quality, professional and financial management, good planning and community participation. These are the leaders in the arts community that provide models of best practice. Grants of up to $25,000 per year may be awarded. Application to this category is by invitation only.

Mid-sized operating support grants
Grants of $20,000 may be awarded to companies with budgets between $2,000,000 and $10,000,000 that meet similarly high standards of artistic excellence, organizational strength and service to the community.

Special project grants
Each year the Trusts make a small number of special project grants to grantees who are of particular significance to the cultural life of Chicago. They may support programs or positions that strengthen the management or artistic capacity of the organization. Please contact Benna Wilde, Program Director, Arts and Culture to discuss the project before applying. These grants are not available to grantees of the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince.

Our commitment to healthcare goes back to our very founding. Our health program seeks to improve health outcomes for children and youth from Chicago neighborhoods who are experiencing the highest levels of health inequities and negative impacts due to social determinants of health. PCT recognizes gun violence as a public health issue and seeks to support organizations using evidence-based and innovative strategies to interrupt the cycle of violence in Chicago communities through street outreach programs and/or hospital-based intervention programs.

PCT will prioritize funding organizations that:

• Focus primarily on youth 12-24
• Is for Street Outreach and/or Hospital-Based Intervention programs only
• Work in Chicago communities with the highest level of gun violence on the city’s south and west sides
• Identify youth and young adults at the highest risk of being involved in violent interactions and provide them with comprehensive services, such as behavior health supports, legal services, and job training to help them envision and begin a better life

Additionally, preference will be given to organizations whose staff includes individuals who share lived experience with program participants.

If violence reduction is central to your organization’s mission you will be eligible for general operating support. If violence reduction is only part of the work of your organization, we will consider funding for that specific program area.