Blog

  • Makin’ Moves: Springfield to City Council

    The recent regime change in Illinois politics brought about significant policy reform in the past few months, and UCAN has been there every step of the way.

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  • The 20th Annual Youth Leadership Awards

    Not only is it our 150th anniversary, but this year marked 20 years of the Youth Leadership Awards! We always wonder if can get better, but every year our Youth Leadership Awards raises the bar. We appreciate those who attended and our fantastic sponsors who contributed to this inspiring event that raised over $900,000 for UCAN’s… Read more »

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  • Chicago’s Tomorrow Interviews Chicago Today Episode 7

    In this series, youth poised to be Chicago’s future leaders (UCAN program participants and recent alumni) interview current Chicago leaders in their fields of interest. Finance, the future of Chicago, and how young people from any background can find a career. In this episode of our interview series, Yusuf Aljabri, a UCAN participant and aspiring… Read more »

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  • Chance Connections to Deepened Relationships

    By Andrea Lee, MPA, Manager of External Affairs April was National Volunteer Month, which to me, is a month of possibilities: possible connections, possible relationships, possible awakenings to one’s own city. I am dedicated to connecting community members to UCAN’s programs and people in meaningful ways. Through these relationships across geography, wealth, age, race, and… Read more »

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  • Chicago’s Tomorrow Interviews Chicago Today Episode 6

    In this episode a budding activist in the fight against food insecurity, interviews the Vice President of Community Impact at the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

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  • Opportunity Doesn’t Knock

    Chase Larkin is a living, breathing example of UCAN’s vision and mission: he went from passively attending a youth group to leading it. 

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  • UCAN Celebrates Women

    UCAN practices and celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion year round, and in honor of International Women’s History Month held two women-centric events for all genders.

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  • Chicago Today, Chicago Tomorrow

    A doctor. An actor. A businessman. A reporter. 

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  • Retracing MLK’s Footsteps: A Day of Service

    “Today we are celebrating Dr. King while also coming out to support our community,” said Nadine Toussaint, a student at UIC. 

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  • Mentees to Mentors

    At the very core of UCAN is youth development. It’s the underlying constant within each program, and of the tools used to support their development, mentoring remains one of the strongest and most effective. “Mentor” can mean someone who you look up to or someone you aspire to be. It can be someone who pushes… Read more »

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