14 Chicago grassroots leaders win $25,000 grants

Analia Rodriguez’s 2003 Volkswagen Jetta finally broke down in May.

She bought the car in 2006 soon after becoming an organizer with the Latino Union of Chicago. The Union was founded in 2000 by a group of women temp workers to organize against wage theft.

Rodriguez, who was born in Mexico and came to the United States in 1995 at age 18, made the 9-mile drive from her home in Little Village to the union’s offices in Albany Park every day in her Jetta.

“My father is a day laborer. He’s worked in landscaping through temp agencies, factories and construction. I see my father’s reflection in the people I work with,” she said.

In October 2015, Rodriguez became the executive director of the Union. But nearly four years and thousands of miles later, her Jetta died. Facing an hour-and-a-half commute on the bus, Rodriguez bought a 2016 Jetta two weeks ago — a luxury, considering her nonprofit salary.

On Wednesday, Rodriguez got a big break: She’s one of 14 Chicagoans who were awarded a $25,000 grant by The Field Foundation of Illinois and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Another $25,000 grant will be handed out to the recipients’ organizations.

Rodriguez said she got the call last Friday. She was surprised to hear the news, and the award can be used as she and other recipients see fit, the foundation website says.

“There’s a lot of good people doing amazing work in the city. I’m humbled to receive this award,” she said. “It’s amazing to know I bought the car thinking the next five years would be really stressful. I can now stress out about work instead!”

The grants — part of what the foundations call “The New Leaders of Chicago” program — aim to bridge the gap between Chicago’s moneyed civic elite and grassroots organizers in neighborhoods across the city.

“Although more than 60 percent of Chicago residents are from African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American communities, the city’s civic leadership does not reflect these demographics,” according to a press release. The award “recognizes a range of established and emerging leaders who work across boundaries to build a Chicago that is responsive and equitable to all.”

Rodriguez said the money will allow the Latino Union of Chicago to continue organizing immigrant workers and to develop stronger community bonds.

“We use the money to build community power,” she said. “When you give people a space that provides you with a work center, child care and translation services, people come and share their stories and connect with one another. We’re here to collaborate with workers to bring these resources to their families, their church, their school — anywhere they go.”

The foundations announced the award in February and intend to hand out grants annually. To qualify, nominees must be city residents whose organizations have been awarded grants within the past two years by the Field Foundation or MacArthur’s Chicago Commitment or Jack Fuller Legacy Initiative.

More than half of this year’s winners are women and all of them identify as either African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, or Native American. They include Darryl Holliday, co-founder and News Lab director of City Bureau; Heather Miller, executive director of the American Indian Center; and Imelda Salazar, an organizer with the Southwest Organizing Project.

Carlos Ballesteros is a corps member in Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster Sun-Times coverage of Chicago’s South and West sides.