Chicago has a long and vibrant history of nonprofit organizations engaged in community reinvestment organizing. Many ideas that were incorporated into the original Community Reinvestment Act were developed in Chicago such as the efforts against redlining, restrictive racial covenants, and contract buying fraud.

During the 1970s a critical mass of neighborhood activities and academics founded several advocacy and policy analysis groups dedicated to ending financial discrimination which still operate effectively today. However, as the burden of bricks and mortar housing development and social service provision is shifted to the non-profit sector, many younger, single issue organizations with a deep-seated interest in community reinvestment are unable to participate in the debate because of resource or staff time constraints. The Illinois Community Investment Coalition serves as an umbrella organization for these types of organizations whose mission depends on critical lending and investment activity by private sector financial institutions.

Join the Illinois Community Investment Coalition by completing the registration form below and indicating the task force that best describes your interests. You will be contacted by a coalition member shortly to discuss your specific interests. Membership is only open to individuals and representatives from nonprofits and government agencies. There is no cost associated with membership.

If you are a representative of a financial institution and wish to meet with members of the Illinois Community Investment Coalition, please contact Woodstock Institute. To recieve regular information on community reinvestment issues, subscribe to Woodstock Institute's mailing list accessible on the front page of this website.