The Community Alliance for Regional Equity creates deeper partnerships between community-based organizations and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). It is part of CMAP’s multi-year investment to make our engagement more equitable and inclusive of communities that are traditionally excluded from the planning process.

Members of the Community Alliance for Regional Equity will:

• Influence decision making that impacts their communities
• Work with a government agency to get things done
• Network and build relationships with each other
• Get compensated as experts

The Community Alliance for Regional Equity is a group of 12 community-based organizations that will work with CMAP to make our investment processes more equitable and strengthen community collaboration. To compensate them for their time and expertise, each member organization will receive a $10,000 honorarium.

Community Alliance for Regional Equity members will contribute their expertise and lived experiences to projects co-developed with CMAP, either adding to existing CMAP work or developing new projects together. Participants will:

• Accelerate transportation and safety issues: Elevate local, on-the-ground issues and project priorities
• Contribute to regional decision-making processes: Funding priorities, large-scale infrastructure capital investments, technical assistance support
• Collaborate in engagement and planning tools: Best practices, engagement strategies, and data sharing
• Reflect and shape the alliance’s processes and outcomes: Regular exchange, feedback, and learning opportunities to improve the engagement experience

The $10,000 honorarium recognizes the organizations for their expertise and compensates for participation in the collaborative for one year.

As our region’s comprehensive planning organization, CMAP recognizes the past and present roles the agency and planning profession have played in harming communities through policy. CMAP is dedicated to partnering with communities to build new relationships and repair old harms.

CMAP’s work with the Community Alliance for Regional Equity is guided by seven principles.

Seek voices at the margins

We know that many people across our region have long been excluded from decisions that affect their lives. We will actively center historically marginalized voices and their lived experiences.

Show up in solidarity

We will start from a place of respect for our community partners, by co-defining shared outcomes and the collaborative process to achieve them and by consistently sharing resources, keeping our promises, and learning from our mistakes.

Elevate community wisdom

We recognize that our community partners already have the wisdom, expertise, vision, and skills to drive meaningful change. We also recognize that we have much to learn from our community partners. We will reduce barriers to engagement and leverage our connections, resources, and investments to amplify their power.

Invest in trust

We will invest time into earning and maintaining trust with our community partners and show up with humility, candor, and transparency for these important, transformational relationships.

Listen to understand

We will listen deeply and approach relationships with a learning mindset to challenge our assumptions, broaden our perspective, and invite critical feedback to change what we do.

Evolve decision-making

We commit to bringing the perspectives, information, and insights of our community partners into regional decision-making processes.

Recognize the past to do better in the future

We will acknowledge and reflect on past decisions that have led to inequitable outcomes in order to learn from them and do better.

The 12 organizations that form the inaugural CARE cohort are Access Living, Alliance of the Southeast, Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County, Batavia Community Diversity Initiative, Elgin Community Bikes, Evanston/North Shore NAACP, Faith in Place, Far South Community Development Corporation, Hanul Family Alliance, North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council, Northwest Center, and Palenque LSNA.

Access Living ignites the power and pride of people with disabilities, provides critical services, and breaks down systemic barriers to create a more inclusive, and therefore much stronger, society.

Alliance of the Southeast builds the capacity of leaders, organizers, and associations that carry out community and social change. It envisions a powerful grassroots base that impacts decision makers and wins real improvements in our neighborhoods.

Alliance to End Homelessness in Suburban Cook County works to end homelessness in suburban Cook County, through cross-sector collaboration, data-driven decision making, and removing barriers to housing.

Batavia Community Diversity Initiative cultivates and strengthens Batavia’s commitment to diversity, equity, and belonging.

Elgin Community Bikes uses bike riding to make Elgin a healthier, happier, and more equitable community.

Evanston/North Shore NAACP achieves equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminating discrimination, and accelerating the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.

Faith in Place empowers people of diverse faiths and spiritualities to be leaders in advancing environmental and racial justice, providing resources to educate, connect, and advocate for healthier communities.

Far South Community Development Corporation alleviates low-income communities within Chicago's far South Side and south suburban Cook County of poverty, blight, and economic distress through effective economic and community development.

Hanul Family Alliance provides the most comprehensive care and direct services to older adults and immigrant families throughout Chicagoland.

North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council improves the physical, economic, and social fiber of the local community through strategic and comprehensive planning, civic engagement, and implementation of stakeholder-driven initiatives.

Northwest Center identifies and responds to the needs of the community to improve the economic well-being and quality of life for the Belmont Cragin neighborhood and surrounding communities.

Palenque LSNA is a catalyst for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and immigrant communities and allies to take care of one another and take strategic action for systemic change and a just, resilient, and joyful future.

Have questions or comments? Contact Cindy Cambray, CARE project manager, at ccambray@cmap.illinois.gov or (312) 386-8748.