My name is Channing Lenert and I’m happy to have been a LIFTer since 2019. I began as a casual observer, then became compelled to become a personal contributor which evolved into my current and proud post as Chicago Board Chair. In my day job, I work at Polk Bros. Foundation, where our mission is working to make Chicago a place where all people have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
I LIFT because:
- I’ve been the personal beneficiary of comparable philanthropy and understand, through lived experience, how the deck is all-too-often stacked against single mothers.
- I’ve witnessed firsthand the care and dedication that the LIFT staff bring each day to serving more than 200 incredible and resilient families in Chicago, recognizing each of their unique needs and challenges.
- I’ve watched our fearless executive director, Sarah Spunt, bring the stories, best practices, and lessons learned from our member families to share within the highest halls of government in Chicago.
- We’re an organization that is unafraid of innovation. For example, alongside our brilliant partners at The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, we’ve piloted our cash and coaching model for a cohort of DV survivors, for which we know will lead to a positive correlation between coaching and monthly cash transfers on achieving stability for this population.
- I have the privilege to serve alongside a cross-sectional Board of civic leaders, in Chicago and across the country, who are relentless in achieving our mission to eliminate cycles of poverty.
- Like any great nonprofit organization, our ultimate goal is to go out of business. For the past 25 years, our team has developed an evidenced-based program model to bring families social capital and on a clear path toward economic mobility. We’re ready, willing, and able to take our work to the next level by investing in root cause approaches.
Just weeks ago, a Polk Bros. Foundation-funded study, The Color of Wealth in Chicago, found that median Black household wealth stood at functional $0. Amongst the study’s policy proposals to reverse this trend is a broader societal adoption of and investment in guaranteed income. Not only are these approaches that LIFT has understood for the past quarter century, but we’ve braided GI with human-centered coaching and through our nascent strategic plan are scaling impact through technical assistance and advocating for policies that seek to degrade intergenerational poverty at its core.
I can’t wait to see what the next 25 years will bring the organization and our families.