Making connections to create a more equitable Chicago and Suburban Cook County
The Chicagoland Opportunity Zones Consortium facilitates connections through matchmaking, education, and technical support to attract Opportunity Zones investments that create quality jobs, build wealth, and promote equitable development in Chicago and suburban Cook County, Illinois.
Our five core goals
Attract Opportunity Zones investments
Prioritize projects that lift up priorities outlined in community plans and further public and philanthropic community investment strategies.
Inform and support community partners
Arm local communities with knowledge and support a range of developers and business owners across the spectrum of experience and sophistication.
Create jobs and build wealth
Prioritize projects that create quality jobs for local community residents and that result in the local developer or business owner sharing in the financial upside and/or tapping into local vendors to spread neighborhood wealth.
Transform communities through equitable development
Support comprehensive, racially equitable strategies by investing in local entrepreneurs and in commercial, industrial, retail, residential, and community facility real estate projects that benefit residents of all backgrounds.
Facilitate lasting partnerships
Connect community partners with impact investors and private actors who invest in Chicago and suburban Cook County’s low-income neighborhoods.
The Consortium represents 135 Opportunity Zones in the city of Chicago and 48 Opportunity Zones in suburban Cook County.
In addition to facilitating connections and providing technical support, the Consortium will work with investors and project owners to connect to applicable incentive opportunities, including the City of Chicago’s INVEST South/West Initiative, State of Illinois OZ matching funds, and prioritized investments in suburban Cook County Opportunity Zones.
Partner Organizations
4S Bay Partners
Allies for Community Business
Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen
Chicago Community Loan Fund
Chicago Community Trust
Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives Inc.
City of Chicago
Community Investment Corp
Cook County
Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation
DL3 Realty
Enterprise Community Partners
IFF
Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University
JP Morgan Chase
JP Morgan Chase Foundation
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
LISC Chicago
National Equity Fund
Preservation of Affordable Housing
Robert R. McCormick Foundation
S.B. Friedman Development Advisors
SomerCor
South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association
State of Illinois
Woodstock Institute
World Business Chicago