The Community Trust was one of the first to develop a COVID response fund.
We raised over 21 million dollars.
Wow.
That's incredible and again I think it speaks to the incredibly
generous spirit of people here in this region.
Dr. Gale, it's such a pleasure to talk to you today
because I've been a fan of your work for more than a decade
I actually first became aware of you when you were the
president and CEO of CARE
and I had a friend who was heavily involved in the local chapter.
They had such reverence for your work,
and so when I heard that you were appointed to
the Chicago Community Trust two and half years ago
I knew what a big deal that was for our city.
And for people who haven't heard of the Community Trust.
They may not realize it's one of the oldest civic organizations in the country
and directs one of the biggest endowments.
Do you want to talk a little bit about the Community Trust and what it is?
Yeah so we've been around over 105 years now.
And as a major Civic actor here in Chicago,
it's a wonderful way in which people who care about their community can essentially
pool their resources and invest in the things that can make the biggest
difference for the citizens of this city and the Greater Chicago region overall.
You directs the giving of more than 300 million dollars a year locally.
Exactly, so we have about an asset base of just over three billion dollars now,
which I think speaks to the generosity of people here in this region,
and give out over 350 million dollars every year and
You know it goes to a wide range of organizations
from arts and education and health and economic development.
One of the things that's interesting is the Community Trust was
one of the first to develop COVID response fund
a few weeks ago when this pandemic began to really appear in the Chicago area.
How much should be raised and how are you directing some of those funds?
Yeah, so together with the United Way and we raised over 21 million dollars,
and we've been able to give out just under 9 million dollars in the first two rounds of funding.
That's incredible and again I think it speaks to the incredibly
generous spirit of people here in this region.
Well one of the things I didn't realize is that you spent 20 years with a CDC
and you focused so much of your career on HIV and AIDS.
At least I've read some comparisons of this pandemic to what happened
during the early stages of the AIDS crisis and the communities that were affected.
Do you want to talk about that a little bit and the context
of kind of someone who's been through the AIDS epidemic?
Yeah in fact it for me, it has a lot of similarities.
You know, first of all both were unknown diseases
sweeping through populations.
You know, eventually did expose our social and economic fault lines, if you will
and so just like in the HIV epidemic where
it might have started in one population but ultimately had its greatest toll on
communities of color, communities that were marginalized in society
The same thing is happening as we look at how COVID is
really having that same sort of disproportionate impact
but it also is almost like a Rorschach test, if you will,
for our systems and our our inequities and the vulnerabilities that already existed
become highlighted as a result and
amplified it as a result of these kinds of situations.
As you may have heard from your staff
we have in our May issue a list of the 50 most powerful women in Chicago
and you of course are on that list.
And one of the things we wanted to ask you about is
How did you find your power?
Was there kind of a pivotal moment in your life that you recall
where you felt the strength and and when you felt yourself kind of
become mobilized and become powerful?
Well you know, I don't know if there's a moment.
I never thought about power as a destination.
I never sought to become powerful.
but what I've always have wanted is to be able to create positive change.
There's a famous quote by Martin Luther King that says,
"power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose."
You know when I was at CARE, we had a campaign called "I am Powerful."
and it was a way of looking at empowering girls and women throughout the world
who oftentimes are the most marginalized in society,
don't have the ability to recognize their power,
and as I saw us creating this movement that made women feel like
they could tap into their own personal power
you know, it gave me power and greater agency as well
as I saw some of the poorest women in the world resonate with that notion
that I too can have power, that I too can make a difference
and so that notion of how power allows you to tap into your purpose
and create change, made a big difference for me.
We're lucky to have you in Chicago at the forefront of
a movement to really help this disenfranchised community
and also to be working on COVID right now because
I think we're all a little scared about what this means.
What would you say to people listening to this who
you know, are wondering how they can get involved or what they should support.
There's so much of a call to charity right now,
and I think that people are unsure ,you know, where do I give first
or how do I get involved or what do I do.
Well I think first in this immediate crisis
being generous which people have been already but continuing to be generous
you know as I mentioned we've raised over 21 million dollars
and that's great.
But the needs are even greater than that.
We really hope that people will continue to contribute to
whether it's our fund which is kind of a central pooling of resources
or just something that's more specific to a particular need
but you can go on the website for the Chicago COVID Relief Fund
and you know we would love to have more people contributing to that
but I think beyond that I think we
have to think about what's the world that we want to create afterwards
what's the world that means that when we have the next shock.
Whether it's the next biologic shock
whether it's the, you know, another environmental shock etc.
Are we going to be prepared and are we building a society
thinking about the foundation as much as we're thinking about the the roof and the rooftops
And taking an advantage of some of the things that we've been able
to do as a result of this emergency that we should be thinking about otherwise
So as an example, you know because of the fact that schools are closed
thousands of children now have laptops who didn't have them before
and we're working to bring broadband access to those parts of our community
that don't have them so that children can continue to learn
Why couldn't we have done that before? We should.
Cash transfers to people who need cash to be able to pay their rent
Why couldn't we have done that for financially insecure households before this?
So my hope for this is that we take some of the lessons
look at the things that we have fast forwarded in many ways
and let's think about putting some of those things in place in the future
when we come out of this crisis
so that when we face the next crisis we are so much more better prepared
I attend Zoom parties in the evening
and you know find creative ways to connect with friends and family and loved ones
I think we're all realizing as a society how much we do need human interaction
and I hope we keep hold on to that piece as well.
This was wonderful to get the chance to finally talk to you as
I mentioned I've been a big fan for so long
and and it's wonderful I think Chicago is very lucky to have someone
like you at the helm of the Community Trust and shaping the direction of this
105 year old organization in the years to come
Thank you