Opportunities for Chicago Youth
Our work in education began in Greater Grand Crossing, the Chicago neighborhood where founder Gary Comer grew up. Together with other community stakeholders, Gary Comer Youth Center, Gary Comer College Prep and UtmostU help prepare young people to confidently lead in and out of the classroom through diverse programs, wraparound services, and career exploration.
Broadening our scope
Our education commitment has expanded to include workforce and economic development initiatives. Launched in 2023, Xchange Chicago, offers technology training and full-time apprenticeships that lead to high-growth careers in IT and other professional pathways, ensuring local talent has greater access to opportunities across our global economy.
A Unique Teen Program
Our legacy in environment and education affords us a rare opportunity to confront the climate crisis through our long-time work with youth and world-class climate scientists as well as our ties to local nonprofits and environmental justice organizations. In response, we’ve helped launch Teens Take On Climate to support youth to advance climate justice through experiential learning, employment, and engagement in their communities.
Investments in Higher Education
As funders of climate science research since 2004, we work with and support universities and institutions across the country. We’ve joined Columbia University in an effort to increase diversity in climate sciences within Columbia, the Climate School, and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. The foundation’s endowment will provide summer research experiences, scholarships, staffing and programming that encourage a new generation of climate scientists.
Medill Comer Scholars is a partnership with Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Students in this intensive one-year graduate program develop the expertise needed to communicate the complex science of climate change and to command attention for environmental issues. Nearly 80 graduates have gone on to successful careers in environmental and science journalism, fulfilling the mission to mobilize a vital new generation of reporters.
In the pathway to science careers, the graduate through postdoctoral stages are formative, providing defining experiences while advancing scholarly research. We support students seeking to complete their academic journeys, thereby strengthening the pipeline of young climate scientists.
