Chicago, IL
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Right
Por D. Stanford October 2025 
              Día de los Muertos Community Altar/OfrendA
Por Odalys Ramirez October 2025 
              Skate Englewood
Por Nakiyah Longstreet October 2025 
              Art in Motion Pop-Up: Douglass Library Edition
Por Patty Aikonedo September 2025 
              OP*ERRATIC
Por Caitlin McKechney August 2025 
              Quilt Church Chicago
Por Stevie Emrich August 2025 
              Honor Boxes: Flowers While They’re Here
Por Chinella Robinson July 2025 
              Music In The Gardens
Por Daniel Kumapayi June 2025 
              The Black Man from Macon
Por Frank Maugeri May 2025 
              Made in Chicago Literary Fun Run Tour + Q&A
Por Allison Yates April 2025 
              Fab Lab for underserved students
Por Matthew Olsen March 2025 
              Queer little Library
Por Kristin Conway February 2025 
              Bonds Behind Bars
Por Lucky Jefferson January 2025 
              Dream Girl Sewing Class
Por Seneca Stevenson January 2025 
              Queer Soup Night Chicago
Por Mariel Brown-Fallon December 2024 
              The Scarecrow
Por Anthony Michael Stokes November 2024 
              Engaged Arts and Craftivisms
Por Sabaha Lee Round November 2024 
              Improvised Music for Pipe Organ in Chicago
Por Jack Langdon October 2024Raising the Bar for Women's Cycling in Chicago
Por 606 Racing September 2024 
              Little Village Arts Fest 2024
Por Laura Nunez August 2024 
              Ceasefire Choir Convening in Chicago
Por Jennifer Kovar July 2024Disability Dance & Ensemble Thinking Workshop
Por Shireen Hamza June 2024 
              Guardians of the Earth and Sky
Por Irene Hsiao May 2024 
              Euripides' Medea by Bump in the Night Theatre
Por Garrett McCann May 2024 
              The Big Bata Weekend
Por Cuán McCann April 2024 
              The Black & Brown Femme Film Festival
Por Vici Howard March 2024 
              Martial Arts & Self Defense for Refugee Kids
Por Said Hatim February 2024 
              Saturday Morning
Por Jeffrey Nils Gardner January 2024 
              Soul Jack Digital Lab
Por Mr. Tony Montes December 2023 
              Chicago Circle Singing
Por Davin Youngs November 2023 
              Performances for hospice and bed bound older adult
Por Lauren Latessa October 2023 
              Chicago Baking Buddies
Por Emaan Mohsin October 2023 
              Wolves
Por Chris X September 2023 
              Alzheimer's/Dementia Ofrenda
Por Amelia Garza September 2023 
              Bike Carrier Trailer for Orchard Village Bike Club
Por Julia Morrow August 2023 
              Liberation Library
Por Bettina Johnson August 2023 
              LGBTQ/Seniors Movie And Dinner Events
Por Eurydice Moore June 2023 
              Like A Rose Conference
Por Chandria Taylor May 2023 
              Picnic with the Pollinators
Por Angela Courtney April 2023 
              Clear the Chicago River Bank of Invasives!
Por Kerrie Rovito March 2023 
              Ladies of Song Button-o-matic
Por Christy Bennett February 2023 
              Women Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe
Por Ellie Levine February 2023 
              Satire at the End of the World
Por Christine Wenc January 2023 
              FLOW Box
Por Kisha Barrett January 2023 
              Kindness Kiosk
Por Michelle Kliman + Michael Greene December 2022 
              The Angels of Menachap
Por Logan Mulch December 2022 
              Seeds of Hope garden
Por Laura Thiessen November 2022 
              Let's Carve Stone
Por Jyl Bonaguro October 2022 
              West Side Equestrian Trick Riding Club
Por Beatrice Scescke September 2022 
              South/West Side Community Jams
Por Bril Barrett August 2022 
              Nita’s Love Train
Por Juanita Tennyson July 2022 
              Reentry Program for women at Cook County Jail
Por Jenna Pasanen July 2022 
              Public Classes in the Ancient Art of Popotillo
Por Breanne "Cari" Carlson June 2022 
              Souper Heroes Feeds Chicago
Por Lauren Tighe (on behalf of Kenneth Purnell) May 2022South Side Book Fair
Por Kevin Lilly May 2022 
              Readers' Bridge
Por Chris Houchens April 2022 
              Urban Native Transit Project
Por Becky DeGraffenried, Chicago American Indian Community Collaborative April 2022 
              Community Cook-Outs 2022
Por Diego Garcia March 2022 
              Real world skills in the surreal world.
Por Jeremy Bower March 2022 
              Our Faces Our Voices
Por ben salus February 2022 
              Mutual Aid Garden and Free Seed Library
Por Jen Delos Reyes February 2022 
              Sounds of Solidarity
Por Amara Martin January 2022 
              The Go Hub: A Community Mobility Center
Por Olatunji Oboi Reed January 2022 
              Shoreline
Por JeeYeun Lee December 2021 
              compileHer Hackathon
Por Olivia Jerdee December 2021 
              Babies and Barbershops
Por Vikki Collier November 2021Humboldt Park Cinema Club
Por Lindsay Vallance November 2021 
              KEEN Winter Care Packages
Por Laura Fillenwarth October 2021 
              AbundantChi
Por Jorden Smith October 2021 
              Nightingale-in-Residence
Por Emily Eddy September 2021 
              Gardening Club for Individuals With Disabilities
Por Dana DeBofsky September 2021 
              Youth Art Fest
Por Dianna C Long August 2021 
              Outdoor Micro Gallery for Terrain
Por Elaine Luther August 2021 
              EveryMom Chicago Newborn Kits
Por Jamie Taratoot August 2021 
              M.E.A.N. Girls Empowerment Wellness Picnic
Por Falon Lawson July 2021 
              Sensory Kits for Students at Esperanza School
Por Madeleine Starr July 2021 
              Mofindu's Urban Village
Por Markeya Howard July 2021 
              Summer Gardening /Recreation Youth Project
Por Charles Wilson June 2021 
              Heat Lightning
Por MaryAnn McGovern June 2021 
              Williamson Street Mural
Por Conner Wild June 2021 
              Anne's Haven - Women in the Workforce
Por Allegra Bradley June 2021 
              OnWord Skate Co. Building a Better Chicago
Por Lid Madrid / OnWord Skate Collective May 2021 
              Mural Dances
Por Rachel Damon May 2021 
              Sneaker Design Challenge
Por Ben Salus May 2021 
              Covid Self-Care Kits in Domestic Violence Shelters
Por Pearl O. Ugwu-Dike May 2021 
              Casitas para Pajaritos
Por Theodora Z Salazar April 2021 
              Window Plays
Por Nikki Bauer April 2021 
              Storytelling for Children with Visual Impairments
Por Tekki Lomnicki April 2021 
              Asphalt to Awesome: A Monarch Butterfly Garden
Por Anna Wassenaar March 2021 
              Field Trips to the Circus
Por CircEsteem March 2021 
              Feed The Community
Por Niquenya Collins March 2021 
              Real Freedom Projects
Por Brett Swinney March 2021 
              Into the Frontier
Por Rex Cassidy and Alex Cassidy February 2021 
              The Gage Park Mural Project
Por Mario Mena February 2021 
              Stone Temple Community Garden - Fencing in Peace
Por Tony Abruscato February 2021 
              A Place to Demand Justice
Por Maxwell Emcays January 2021 
              Put Your Hands Together-Emergency Food Assistance
Por Jayne Siou January 2021 
              Marvelous Machines
Por Wynter Rose January 2021 
              Project 1033: A proposal to empower Chicagoans
Por Institute for Transparent Policing December 2020 
              Turning the Page
Por Elizabeth Ferry December 2020 
              Austin Gallery
Por Human Scale December 2020Awesome Tenners
Por Chicago Awesome Foundation December 2020 
              The Connection Community Garden
Por Margaret Morris November 2020GetMePPEChicago
Por Tricia Pendergrast November 2020 
              CPR for the Deaf and Disabled
Por Zaineb Al-Abdulla October 2020 
              Word Choice Cafe
Por Venita Williams September 2020 
              BIPOC Terp Fund Chi
Por Chelsea Bundy August 2020 
              Bike Lane Uprising
Por Christina Whitehouse August 2020 
              Rogers Park Community Response Team (RPCRT)
Por Heidi Massey July 2020 
              Jumping Juniors Double Dutch
Por Paulette Jones July 2020 
              Community Language Classes
Por Angela Lin June 2020 
              COVID-19 Emergency Response Programming
Por Colin Higgins June 2020 
              You Got The Juice (COVID-19 Emergency Assistance)
Por Keevan Dantzler May 2020 
              Online Scholastic Chess Tournaments
Por Lee Lazar May 2020 
              The Arts for Illinois Relief Fund
Por EVA SILVERMAN April 2020 
              Craft Circle to Empower Our Youth
Por Lariel Joy March 2020 
              Culture Coach Stage Comes to Your Neighborhood
Por Susan Fox February 2020 
              The Elders of South Side Music Legacies
Por Brandon Payton-Carrillo January 2020 
              Wasted - A Youth Production about Pollution
Por Free Street Theater December 2019 
              Manga Arts Studio
Por Eric Zaragoza December 2019 
              Reflections on Fire: Abandoning Old Ideas
Por Frank Maugeri November 2019 
              Douglass 18
Por Space p11 November 2019 
              Chicago Artists Exhibit
Por Ivonne Cruz October 2019 
              The Chicago Tool Library
Por Tessa Vierk September 2019 
              Flu Shots & Drink Shots -- Immunology @ a Bar!
Por Monica Metzler August 2019 
              Helping Rebuilding Exchange Build for the Future
Por Julian Pastin July 2019 
              Community-Based Scent Education
Por Jas Brooks June 2019 
              TRQPiTECA Queer Pride Chicago 2019 - Sound System
Por Natalie Murillo May 2019 
              AMFM Presents: Feast "A Festival in Three Courses"
Por Ciera Mckissick May 2019 
              The Chicago Mobile Makerspace
Por Maya Bird-Murphy April 2019 
              Throwing a Citywide Wedding Ball for LGBT Muslims
Por Mahdia Lynn March 2019 
              Energy Audits Evanston
Por Aaron Boxerman February 2019 
              Crafternoons with LGBTQIA Elders
Por Mikey Anderson January 2019 
              KEENSports
Por KEEN Chicago December 2018 
              Know Your Rights Education
Por Diana Vargas November 2018 
              Black Dog Metal Arts
Por Jamie Caitlin Lovell October 2018 
              Safety Planning Clinic for Undocumented Families
Por Rebekah Rashidfarokhi September 2018 
              Refugee High
Por Elly Fishman August 2018 
              An Arm and a Leg:Podcast re: Cost of Health Care
Por Dan Weissmann July 2018 
              Ghostskate 2018 Season & Chicago Expansion
Por Stuart Anderson June 2018 
              Sewing Literacy 101
Por Amy Malysa May 2018 
              Glass Case Mini Art Gallery at The WasteShed
Por Eleanor Ray April 2018 
              World's Fair 2018
Por Sasha Tycko March 2018 
              Afrofuturist mural in Englewood!
Por Ryan Wilson February 2018 
              Where is Washington Heights?
Por Hana L Anderson January 2018 
              Scream Class
Por GOLDGRRL December 2017 
              Awesome Weekend
Por Dave Stanford December 2017 
              Refugee Education & Adventure CHallenge (REACH)
Por Shana Wills November 2017The East Side Project
Por Mary Kate Witry October 2017SHE CAST : a for-youth by-youth podcast
Por Kayla Lane Freeman September 2017 
              Back of the Yards - Bread truck mobile art exhibit
Por Megan E. Doherty August 2017 
              TECHNE: Electronic Music Powered by Girls Chicago
Por Jessie Marino July 2017 
              BarberQue
Por Megan Hinchy June 2017 
              OPEN STUDIO: A CELEBRATION OF CHICAGO'S DRAG SCENE
Por Molly Hewitt June 2017 
              Prison Interview Series
Por Michael Fischer April 2017 
              YogaCare: Training Yoga Teachers on the South Side
Por YogaCare March 2017 
              Operation Evergreen: Guitars Over Guns Program
Por Andrew DeMuro February 2017Empowering Teen Authors & Teen Publishers
Por Jennifer Steele January 2017 
              All-Latino re-imagining of WAITING FOR GODOT
Por Tympanic Theatre Company December 2016 
              A Dance of Welcome
Por Shawn Lent November 2016Bridging the Gap
Por Quabeeny Daniels October 2016 
              Floating Museum
Por Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford September 2016 
              Project Onward Artist Book
Por Rebecca Lyn Beaird August 2016 
              Water for a Thirsty Therapeutic Garden
Por Elizabeth Lindau July 2016 
              Sandcastle Maker
Por Tim Parsons June 2016 
              Operation Endangered Species
Por Catherine Zdunek May 2016 
              Free stamps and envelopes on tax day
Por Roy Trakovski April 2016 
              Walk All Night - A Drum Beat Journey
Por Elilta Tewelde March 2016 
              Seat buttons
Por Annie Morse February 2016 
              4Us Girls Club Self-Image Zine Project
Por Annette kelly January 2016 
              The Music Box
Por Aquil Charlton December 2015 
              Thresholds: Illusions for the Senses & the Mind
Por Jeanette Andrews December 2015 
              Drums for the Deaf
Por Tiana Pyer-Pereira September 2015 
              Pop-Up Puppet Truck
Por Donny Gettinger August 2015 
              Open Source Furniture: Enzo Mari Design Workshop
Por Chicago Design Museum July 2015 
              Literature Emitting Diodes
Por Carley Gomez June 2015 
              "I Looked Up To The Screen Above"
Por Simon Pyle May 2015 
              Making Hermosa hermosa!
Por Colin Bird April 2015 
              The Scarlet "S" Project
Por Catherine Paula Muskett March 2015 
              StudentsXpress
Por Rachel Switall February 2015 
              Red Line Comfort Stations
Por Rhoda Rosen and Billy McGuinness February 2015 
              The Kung-Fu Cage
Por Andy North December 2014 
              The Beauty Pack
Por Gena Palmieri November 2014 
              Cage and Garden
Por Katherine Miles August 2014Beach Party at the End of the World
Por Katie Mazzini July 2014 
              Memoir Writing Workshops for Seniors
Por Hazel A. Domangue June 2014 
              Community Portraits: North & South Lawndale
Por William Estrada May 2014 
              Cook County Sheriff Beekeeping Initiative
Por Kathryn Dunne February 2014 
              Multi-generational Community Engagement Screening
Por La Toia Janine Brown February 2014 
              Chicago Recipe Box
Por Chelsea Middendorf on behalf of Potluck: Chicago December 2013 
              Community Nursing Home Garden
Por Barbara Dykes December 2013 
              Hook & Eye
Por Laboratory Dancers October 2013 
              Home is where the heart is...
Por Chang October 2013 
              Love Life Balloons (Johnny's Red Balloon Project)
Por Johnny Michael August 2013 
              World's Largest Cardboard Box Castle
Por Blake Grigsby May 2013 
              Clean Graffiti
Por Elizabeth Ortiz & Gilberto Sandoval April 2013 
              Dunes Learning Center Food Waste Education
Por Alexandra Schindler March 2013 
              Garfield Park Positive Improvements
Por Matt Litwin January 2013 
              It's A New Day at CVCA
Por Charity White December 2012 
              Wake Up! Waltz
Por Josie Elizabeth Davis November 2012 
              Free Art for the Residents of Englewood
Por Timothy Campbell October 2012 
              Jurassic Geriatrics
Por David Daniels September 2012 
              Milwaukee Avenue Mini Golf Course
Por Katherine Darnstadt August 2012 
              The Great Fire: A Traveling Truck Show
Por Kayce Bayer July 2012 
              Layin' Down Tracks
Por Dyan Flores June 2012 
              Chic-A-Go-Go
Por Jake Austen May 2012 
              Learnapalooza Chicago
Por Maggie Schutz April 2012 
              Free art hunts
Por Patrick skoff March 2012 
              Silent Theater Seeks Voice
Por Lacy Campbell February 2012 
              Da Favela to the Guetto: Pinhole Photography
Por Paco Barba December 2011 
              Poetry + QR Codes
Por Felix Jung November 2011 
              City of Big Shovels
Por Ben Helphand October 2011 
              Open Source Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Por Sacha De'Angeli October 2011 
              Possibility Potlucks & "What if" Stores
Por Melanie Kahl September 2011 
              Neighborhood Little Free Library
Por Rick Brooks July 2011 
              Acerca de Nosotros
The Chicago chapter of the Awesome Foundation has been funding awesomeness in Chicagoland since the summer of 2011. We've funded everything from little free libraries and puppet shows to electron microscopes and a temporary mini golf course on Milwaukee Avenue with no-strings-attached $1,000 grants. See a map of the projects we have funded over the years. We are proudly and excitedly connected to the wider Awesome Foundation network.
What's your awesome idea? Do you have an awesome idea that would make your Chicagoland-based community awesome? Of course you do. Apply today for a $1,000 no-strings-attached grant to make your awesome idea a reality. Our short grant application is available here. The trustees review period is from the 15th to the 14th overlapping months. We evaluate each month’s applications on the fourth Tuesday of the following month (2025 expected dates: March 25th, April 22nd, May 27th, June 24th, July 22nd, August 26th, September 23rd, October 28th, November 25th, December 17th) If you are unsure if your idea matches the types of project we fund, please review our past award winners listed above.
Join us! If you'd like to play a direct role in deciding what we fund next, become a trustee! Our group is comprised of community members who commit to the following:
- Financial Contribution: Commit $100 per month in the interest of Awesome in Chicago for at least 6 months. This contribution goes towards the $1,000 award we grant each month. Reach out if this is a barrier to joining
 
- Participation: Play an active role in accepting and reviewing applications, and in deciding with the other trustees by consensus who will receive the grant.
 
- New Projects: With no specific leadership roles, every trustee is a leader in their own right. We like trustees to come up with new project ideas for the chapter to do, and help organize the group into getting it done.
Trustees serve until they resign. If you're interested in joining us as a trustee, we invite you to complete our rolling application, and we'll try to get back to you shortly.
Keep in touch! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and sign up for our newsletter.