City Club of Chicago: Intergenerational Insights €“ A Philanthropic Fireside Chat


Foundation: MacArthur Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, Chicago Public Education Fund

credit: Flickr

John Palfrey, president of the MacArthur Foundationone of the largest philanthropies in the US, with $7 billion to its nameis making a splash with a $10 million donation to Chicago's public schools.

The Chicago Community Trust, one of the region's largest community foundations, is giving the John D.

Palfrey Foundation $1 million each year for the next five years, with the goal of eventually increasing that to $15 million, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Palfrey, a Harvard Law School professor and legal scholar, says he was moved to make the generous donation after hearing about the "staggering" achievement of African-Americans in Chicago's public schools.

"I was deeply moved by the stories of these young people," Palfrey tells the Chicago Sun-Times.

"I was moved by their courage and their determination.

I was moved by their vision.

I was moved by their passion.

I was moved by their drive.

I was moved by their drive to make this city a better place."

Palfrey, who is also the author of several books, including Safe Spaces, Brave Spaces: Diversity and Free Expression in Education, says he wants to give back "in the same way I gave back in the 1980s," when he gave

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