Chicago United For Equity Continues To Work Toward Equity And Inclusion

Terri Johnson is the Board Chair at Chicago United for Equity. PHOTO PROVIDED BY TERRI JOHNSON.
Terri Johnson is the Board Chair at Chicago United for Equity. PHOTO PROVIDED BY TERRI JOHNSON.

Chicago United For Equity Continues To Work Toward Equity And Inclusion

By Tia Carol Jones

As Chicago United for Equity enters a season of transition, its mission remains the same, to build a just, equitable and inclusive city.

Chicago United for Equity was founded in 2016 by Niketa Brar and Elizabeth Greer as part of activism around and National Teachers Academy, where the population at the school and its surrounding communities were changing. There was a need for a different kind of leadership in the city.

Chicago United for Equity opened applications for its 2024 CUE Fellowship. The goal of the fellowship is to hone the skills of people who are interested in doing racial equity work in the city of Chicago. Since the fellowship was launched in 2018, there have been 200 fellows who have completed the program.

CUE Fellows are leaders, innovators, disruptors and healers. Chicago United for Equity looks for people with creativity, a new vision for Chicago and the ability to help others see a new vision, understand the importance of collaboration, as well as the ability to build relationships. They also should understand how systems work, as CUE tends toward the systemic side of transformation.

It started out with a large group of people going through a shorter process. Now there are less fellows going through a yearlong process. Fellows come from community organizing, philanthropy, government and other civic organizations. They take what they’ve learned during the fellowship and take it back to their jobs, others take it to their volunteer work. Some recent CUE Fellows were part of Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transition team.

In some instances, CUE has taken a fellow and built a senior fellowship around their expertise and what they were passionate about and created a different opportunity for them to use their skillset.

Terri Johnson is the Chair of the Board of Directors for Chicago United for Equity. Johnson had been doing equity work for a long time, then stopped and when she returned to it, she wanted to have a different kind of community. She wanted to be around people who understood equity the way she understood it, who weren’t afraid of having conversations about racial equity.

“We have a tendency to have conversations about equity and we don’t necessarily want to grapple with race,” Johnson said.

Johnson wanted to be around people who were explicitly talking about racial equity. She wanted to be around people who were hopeful about the work, and were willing to try new things, recognizing that some of the things that were done weren’t working the same way as they had in the past.

Brar is stepping down from her full-time role as Executive Director but is moving into a part-time role to support the staff in her transition. Chicago United for Equity has hired a search firm and will begin the search for Brar’s replacement in January.

Johnson said CUE is balancing the need for leadership with the need for the organization to take its time to find the right person.

“We have a really strong staff and the board will be working more closely with them to have support,” Johnson said.

In looking for an Executive Director, CUE is looking for someone who will be able to take its strategic plan and give that life, as well as build, nurture and repair relationships. The Executive Director would also have to continue to have the staff grow and develop, as well as continue to work with the CUE Fellows and build and strengthen that network. Because Brar was the only person in the Executive Director role since the organization was founded, the new Executive Director would have to come in and make it their own.

The fellowship application deadline has been extended to Jan. 16th. For more information about Chicago United for Equity, visit chicagounitedforequity.org.

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