Pritzker Traubert Foundation Awards First-Ever $5 Million Chicago Talent Challenge to City Colleges, Cook County Health

Inaugural Award Will Enable City Colleges and Cook County Health System to Train and Place Thousands of Chicagoans in Good First Jobs in Health Care

Pritzker Traubert Foundation Awards First-Ever $5 Million Chicago Talent Challenge to City Colleges, Cook County Health

Inaugural Award Will Enable City Colleges and Cook County Health System to Train and Place Thousands of Chicagoans in Good First Jobs in Health Care

CHICAGO – The Pritzker Traubert Foundation announced HealthCatalyst Chicago as the inaugural winner of the Chicago Talent Challenge, a $5 million investment to accelerate the training, placement and success of workers in critical healthcare roles.

Launched in 2025, the Chicago Talent Challenge is a competitive open call focused on funding bold ideas to help low-income workers access good jobs in the sectors that need them most. The Pritzker Traubert Foundation focuses on expanding economic opportunity in Chicago by investing in innovations to help residents adapt, adjust and thrive in a changing labor market.

The inaugural Chicago Talent Challenge centers on health care in recognition of the industry’s unique capacity to produce the creative and scalable solutions that our national workforce challenges demand.

HealthCatalyst Chicago is expected to train and place Chicagoans into 1,000 health care jobs over the next three years and up to 400 positions annually thereafter. The initiative is a transformational partnership led by City Colleges of Chicago in collaboration with Cook County Health, with additional employer partners supporting hiring and placement. The goal is to build a single, coordinated pathway for talent tied to real hiring demand.

Built on a successful relationship between City Colleges of Chicago and University of Chicago Medicine that helped prepare and place more than 200 City Colleges students in healthcare roles over two years, HealthCatalyst Chicago will scale proven training and hiring pathways to meet growing workforce demand across the city.

“The Chicago Talent Challenge sought bold ideas with the potential for real impact, recognizing both the urgent demand for talent and the need for greater access to good first jobs across our city,” stated Bryan Traubert, cofounder and trustee of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation. “As a physician, I’ve seen firsthand how important these jobs are for care delivery and how entry-level roles can open the door to lasting careers that change a family’s trajectory. This is why we are so proud to support HealthCatalyst.”

A partnership built to meet urgent workforce needs

Working together, HealthCatalyst Chicago partners will expand and align training, clinical placements and hiring for in-demand roles including medical assistants, patient care technicians, medical laboratory technicians and nurses.

The initiative will scale City Colleges’ training capacity, increase access to clinical rotations and coordinate hiring with major health care employers to ensure graduates secure strong first jobs.

HealthCatalyst Chicago will also launch a first-of-its-kind City Colleges training program at Provident Hospital of Cook County Health, along with an innovative pre-hire apprenticeship program designed to accelerate students’ work readiness and shorten the path from enrollment to employment.

HealthCatalyst Chicago is also designed to help area hospitals address chronic frontline staffing shortages while improving long-term financial stability by reducing reliance on costly staffing agencies.

Cook County Health aims to save approximately $1M annually through reduced use of temporary staffing agencies, savings that can be reinvested to sustain and grow the program. And as enrollment increases, City Colleges of Chicago will reinvest new tuition revenue to further expand training capacity.

“This award recognizes City Colleges’ role as Chicago’s go-to workforce partner, prepared to meet the talent needs of high‑demand industries such as healthcare,” said Juan Salgado, Chancellor, City Colleges of Chicago. “HealthCatalyst Chicago expands high‑quality training that moves students quickly into critical public health roles across our city. This project is made possible through the visionary support of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, in particular, Penny Pritzker and Bryan Traubert, who are incredible leaders supporting creative and scalable solutions that will help more Chicagoans achieve their dreams.”

An open call for bold ideas

The Chicago Talent Challenge was launched through an open call that attracted more than 50 applicant teams representing more than 200 organizations and partners across the city. Proposals were evaluated based on leadership strength, demonstrated commitment, projected impact and a clear path to long-term financial sustainability.

“What distinguished HealthCatalyst Chicago was its combination of ambition and practicality,” noted Cindy Moelis, President of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation. “The initiative is designed not only to place people into jobs quickly, but also to sustain and grow over time through strong partnerships, exactly what the Chicago Talent Challenge was created to support.”

While the inaugural call focused on health care, future Chicago Talent Challenges will source bold ideas with potential large-scale impact for other sectors.

Advancing opportunity through workforce development

The Chicago Talent Challenge reflects the Pritzker Traubert Foundation’s ongoing commitment to connecting Chicagoans to good jobs while strengthening the city’s economy. Central to this work is the belief that building the workforce Chicago needs requires investment in strong leaders and bold ideas that leverage public funding for greater impact. Since 2020, the Foundation and its affiliates have committed more than $30 million to scalable workforce solutions across Chicago, including major initiatives such as Skills for Chicagoland’s Future and P33. This work is informed by Penny Pritzker’s long time leadership on this issue and experience as U.S. Secretary of Commerce, where she launched the department’s first ever dedicated workforce development initiative.

The gift will be made to the City Colleges of Chicago Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, that raises charitable contributions to support community college students from all backgrounds in reaching their academic and career goals.

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