UpMetrics Cohorts

Leveraging impact data to better serve nonprofits in Chicago

The Chicago Cohort was spearheaded by the Foglia Family Foundation 7 years ago, and has supported more than 75 grantees over that time.

Active Funders: The Cohort is currently celebrating its 5th year of being funded by three foundations: Foglia Family Foundation, IMC Chicago Charitable Foundation, and Christopher Family Foundation.

Current Grantees: 15+

Grantees participating in the cohort are focused on the following initiatives:

Strengthen relationships with funders.
Collaborate and exchange ideas with fellow changemakers.
Build long-term capacity around data collection, analysis, and management.
Reimagine burdensome reporting across multiple stakeholder groups.
Define and communicate their story of impact.

Meet the Current Grantees

Spreads the love of boxing to provide life-changing opportunities to Chicago's youth.

The BLOC Chicago contributes to the momentum of improving Chicago's future by attracting youth least likely to join mentoring and tutoring programs-- the kids who like
to fight. They offer an enriching opportunity for no cost to the 100 youth enrolled and their families.

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Disrupts out-of-touch education and limiting paradigms to vision a radically different way forward.

The Gray Matter Experience inspires, educates, and empowers the next generation of Black changemakers by bridging the entrepreneurial knowledge gap and driving positive community change.

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Unites and empowers the next generation of extraordinary public and private sector leaders committed to service beyond self.

The Pat Tillman Foundation identifies remarkable military service members, veterans and spouses, empowering them with academic scholarships, lifelong leadership development opportunities and a diverse, global community of high-performing mentors and peers. These scholars are making an impact as they lead through action in the fields of healthcare, business, public service, STEM, education and the humanities.

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Helping replace misinformed opinions with positive experiences.

The GenderCool Project is a youth-led movement bringing positive change to the world. The Champions are helping replace misinformed opinions with positive experiences meeting transgender and nonbinary youth who are thriving.

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Develops youth to be empowered, informed, and active citizens who will promote a just and equitable society.

Mikva Challenge was founded on the premise that youth voice and participation matter, and that our civic and political life will be stronger when youth participate and help shape their own destinies.

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Provides high-quality skills training and support services to help lower-income and unemployed workers achieve self-sufficiency.

JARC’s mission is to promote strong communities, businesses, and households to ensure that people who work do not live in poverty. JARC provides high-quality skills training and support services to help lower-income and unemployed workers achieve self-sufficiency. JARC’s job training programs, called the Careers in Manufacturing Programs (CMP), provides low-income adults with technical skills training combined with bundled supportive services.

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Preparing students with the education and resources needed to guide them to, through, and beyond college.

For nearly 60 years, LINK Unlimited Scholars has changed the lives of Black students and families through their proven model. Their four programmatic elements—Academic Enrichment, College Access, Leadership Development, and Career Exposure—give LINK Scholars the resources they need to reach their full potential.

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Empowering youth through mindfulness and social emotional learning (SEL) based art programming.

Through art and storytelling, The Simple Good has empowered youth across the globe, fostering self-awareness and life skills while creating a ripple effect of positivity in communities worldwide.

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Believes in the potential of young men to achieve all their aspirations.

CHAMPS Mentoring specializes in helping students develop: positive racial identity formation & self-awareness; self-management & social awareness; improved relationships; decision making; and leadership.

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Creating opportunities that help Chicago's youth succeed in all areas of life.

Outreach With Lacrosse and Schools (OWLS) is bridging the opportunity gap for Chicago’s underserved schools. They do this through mentorship, academic support, enrichment experiences, and one of the greatest games on the planet.

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Provides broad scope programming for Illinois' growing number of high-risk youth.

Chicago Area Alternative Education League (CAAEL) aims to eliminate the critical interscholastic athletic and activity gap created when at-risk/special education students are removed from their regular school programs.

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Aims to give all children in Chicago, especially underserved communities, an opportunity to learn, play, and compete in chess.

Chicago Chess Foundation (CCF) believes that chess can be a catalyst for profound change in the lives of youth and their families, contributing to the betterment of our community. Their programs utilize the game of chess to transmit intangible academic, social-emotional, and leadership development skills.

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Serving young and old with physical fitness programs, after school and recreational programs.

Ring of Hope's mission is to provide disadvantaged young men and women with an alternative to drug use, gang violence, hopelessness and despair. Founded on the principles that physical well being, moral strength, emotional health and a hopeful outlook can be nurtured simultaneously.

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Builds brighter futures for Chicago's youth and adults through supportive relationships and life-changing programs.

Chicago Lights meets people where they are and build trust and true connection, partnering with thousands of students and adults as they pursue their goals and lead fulfilling lives.

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Enabling pre-k thru 12th grade Lutheran schools to deliver quality & values-based education.

CLEF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funding scholarship support, resources, programs, and consultative services to a community of 20 Chicago-area Christian schools. Ranging from pre-K to high school, these schools offer rigorous academics and enriching educational experiences in a values-based Christian environment.

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Celebrates young girls who dream big and take action.

Girls in the Game provides sports, health and leadership programs in partnership with schools, parks and community centers in Chicago. Participants can try a variety of sports like soccer, lacrosse, yoga or volleyball in a friendly, non-competitive environment while also learning about important health and leadership topics like self-advocacy and positive body image.

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Cohort Funders

Hear from the Grantees

UpMetrics has made a substantial impact on the ability for our small organization to both collect and report out data. We are able to utilize the platform to collaborate on information and make data-informed decisions to guide our organization forward. UpMetrics has become an essential part of our toolkit as we plan to grow our organization

Matthew Kearney

Executive Director, Chicago Chess Foundation

The UpMetrics team's ability to coach organizations in developing relevant and measurable KPIs, in conjunction with the functionality of the UpMetrics dashboards, have been indispensable in facilitating data accessibility for cross-functional teams.

Jessica Dargiel

Data and Learning Manager, Thrive Chicago

We are so invested in this process and it's really giving us the space to evaluate how we think about our data. This [cohort] will certainly mature us as an organization."

Rebecca Monro

Senior Director of Operations, The GenderCool Project

Interested in co-sponsoring an existing Cohort or starting one of your own?

Complete the form to share a little about your organization and what you're looking to accomplish this year.

Foundations and other grantmakers:

You can choose to either sponsor your own Cohort or co-sponsor an existing Cohort.

Nonprofits:

Reach out to see how you can become a participating grantee in one of our sponsored Cohorts.

FUN FACT:

Nonprofits that participated in one of our cohorts and learned how to measure and communicate the impact of their programs using UpMetrics increased their funding by 55.8% year over year.

Chicago Cohort

Leveraging impact data to better serve nonprofits in Chicago

Meet the Current Grantees

Cohort Funders

News and Updates

Hear from the Grantees

Matthew Kearney

Jessica Dargiel

Rebecca Monro

Interested in co-sponsoring an existing Cohort or starting one of your own?

Foundations and other grantmakers:

Nonprofits:

FUN FACT:

Nonprofits that participated in one of our cohorts and learned how to measure and communicate the impact of their programs using UpMetrics increased their funding by 55.8% year over year.