Woods Fund of Chicago

The Woods Fund of Chicago is a philanthropic organization devoted to poverty relief and the promotion of social mobility. It as an offshoot of the Woods Charitable Fund, founded in 1941 by Frank Woods and his wife Nelle Cochrane Woods. Mr. Woods was a lawyer and telephone executive in Lincoln Nebraska and the foundation at first focused on his home state, expanding into Chicago after Frank Woods Jr. settled in that city. In the early 1990s, the Chicago and Lincoln charitable organizations were separated and have been run under different boards since. [ [http://www.woodsfund.org/site/epage/61430_735.htm Woods Fund of Chicago] article "History of the Fund"]

Mission statement

The fund describes itself as "a grantmaking foundation whose goal is to increase opportunities for less advantaged people and communities in the metropolitan area, including the opportunity to shape decisions affecting them. The foundation works primarily as a funding partner with nonprofit organizations. Woods supports nonprofits in their important roles of engaging people in civic life, addressing the causes of poverty and other challenges facing the region, promoting more effective public policies, reducing racism and other barriers to equal opportunity, and building a sense of community and common ground." [ [http://www.woodsfund.org/about/mission Woods Fund of Chicago ] ]

Finances

In 2006, the latest year for which an annual report is on its website, the Fund made $3.1 million in grants to over 70 local organizations. At the time time, the Fund had $58 million in assets. [ [http://www.woodsfund.org/site/files/735/61423/253619/352030/WoodsFund-2006AR(web)_9_27.pdf | Woods Fund of Chicago 2006 Annual Report] ]

Board membership

2008

* Laura S. Washington - Board Chair - Ida B. Wells-Barnett University Professor and Fellow of the DePaul Humanities Center
* Jesus G. Garcia - Board Vice Chair - Executive Director, Little Village Community Development Corporation
* William C. Ayers - Distinguished Professor of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago
* Lee Bey - Director of Media and Governmental Affairs, Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill LLP
* Doris Salomón Chagin - Community Affairs Director, Midwest US, BP America Inc.
* Beth E. Richie - Professor and Head of the Department of African American Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago
* Patrick M. Sheahan - Executive Director, Public Affairs, UBS Investment Bank
* Charles N. Wheatley - President, Sahara Enterprises, Inc.

2001

* Howard J. Stanback - Board Chair - Manager, New Kenwood, LLC
* Maria G. Valdez - Board Vice Chair - Attorney-at-Law, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
* William C. Ayers - Distinguished Professor of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago
* Cynthia M. Campbell - President, McCormick Theological Seminary
* R. Eden Martin - President, Civic Committee and the Commercial Club
* Barack Obama - State Senator and Lecturer, University of Chicago Law School
* Charles N. Wheatley - President, Sahara Enterprises, Inc.

Election controversy

The fund would come "under siege" [cite web| url=http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/index.php?id=4427 | title=Wood Fund 'Under Siege' after Obama-Clinton Debate | work=The Chronicle of Philanthropy | last=Panepento | first=Peter | date=April 17, 2008 | accessdate=2008-06-29] after former board member Barack Obama was asked about his relationship with fellow board member William Ayers in a debate with Hillary Clinton during the course of the 2008 democratic primaries.

References

External links

* [http://www.woodsfund.org The Woods Fund]