These are the 2022 Leaders for a New Chicago.

They are artists, advocates, educators, organizers, social change agents and storytellers. Coming from different geographic backgrounds and income levels, these leaders represent a diversity of age, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, and sexual orientation.

Like our previous Leaders for a New Chicago cohorts, ALL of them are redefining leadership in Chicago. As we think about dialogues around relief, recovery and reimagining in the city, leadership is an essential element.

This award recognizes past accomplishments in the fields of Justice, Art, or Media & Storytelling and promotes and advances a range of leaders whose influence will inform decision making across the city of Chicago. Each leader will receive a $25,000 cash award in recognition of past accomplishments, and their affiliated non-profit organizations will each receive an additional $25,000 general operating grant.

This program is unique because leaders select leaders. For this year’s selection committee, we invited last year’s awardees to lead the process and identify the 2022 cohort. Meet the 2022 Leaders for a New Chicago.

Photography by Felton Edward Kizer