Breakin' It Down Chicago

Breakin' It Down, a fiscal sponsorship project of Mujeres Latinas en Accion, is a volunteer-led group. BID fulfills its mission to advance racial equity in the field of nonprofit, philanthropy, and fundraising through its holistic, integrative approach to professional development, leadership excellence, outreach, equitable access, and advocacy initiatives. Since 2003, BID has engaged diverse nonprofit and fundraising professionals in empowering conversations about the present state and future of the nonprofit, philanthropic, and fundraising sector and its impact on under-represented and underserved communities in the Chicago area. At that time, the field was undergoing noticeable professionalization, making nonprofits and the under-represented and underserved they sought to help more vulnerable to new institutional pressures and expectations as well as goal displacement, resource dependencies, and career quality of BIPOC professionals in the field. It is our hope that Breakin' It Down will ignite human potential and galvanize philanthropic and community leaders, educators, policymakers, and diverse nonprofit professionals and volunteers to keep taking the steps to advance racial equity in the field. In particular, we hope to lift voices and embolden BIPOC community members and students to pursue careers in the field.