As we wrap up the month of March and we reflect on Women’s History Month, Chicago is a perfect place to celebrate and show support! From small grassroots organizations to larger movements, there are plenty of ways to get involved.
&Rise: Domestic Violence Support and Mental Health care
Interested majors: Psychology, Social Justice, English, HR management, Sociology, Women’s and Gender Studies
This organization centers on providing support to women who have faced abuse through educational resources, counseling, support groups, and coaching. There are many ways to show support, like through donations, and they also have a wide array of ways to volunteer. From interns who could help with grant writing and fundraising, to support group facilitators and newsletter creation, to even bookkeeping, &Rise presents many opportunities to get deeply involved in important work.
The Chicago Foundation for Women: Economic support, workforce development, and community building
Interested majors: Finance, HR management, Journalism and Media Studies, Marketing, Social Justice, Sociology
This organization is particularly unique because it actually works with investors who hope to connect with women’s empowerment organizations and movements to ensure that every dollar spent is used to the maximum. Guided by the values of empowerment, equality, diversity, collaboration, and integrity, the Chicago Foundation for Women hopes to expand economic security, ensure freedom from violence, and enhance access to healthcare. If you are interested in non-profit work or organizing, consider volunteering for boot camps and trainings!
Chicago Women’s Health Center: Healthcare support
Interested majors: Digital Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations, Exercise, Nutrition, and Health Science, Finance, Health Science Administration, HR Management, Management, Marketing, Psychology, Social Justice Studies, Sociology, Women’s and Gender Studies
This health center provides services to women and trans people, including gynecology, therapy and counseling, acupuncture, and massages. Through a self-pay sliding scale approach, patients can pay what they can and won’t be turned away. Although this organization centers on healthcare access, students from all kinds of disciplines can get involved. Volunteer opportunities range from administrative, health, and special skills (finance, law, marketing, etc.) Furthermore, consider applying for an internship! The Communication Internship would be perfect for students studying marketing or design, and the Development Internship would complement students interested in non-profit work and organizing!
The Honors Program centers itself on building community and collaboration within our school community. One of our central learning outcomes is using a multi-disciplinary lens to explore any given topic to understand the complexities presented within an issue, and volunteering or completing an internship with any organization can help provide first-hand experience. Through volunteering and similar experiences, you will be able to apply your Honors coursework to a civic issue and understand real-world applications. Learning from real world experience is equally important and vital. Your Honors coursework and experiences have also prepared you to be present in collaborative settings through discussion-based and project-based learning, as well as the ability to dissect and unpack difficult and complex issues. Through the ability to foster curiosity, you can be deeply involved and engaged with the work you do while also building social awareness.