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Roger Baldwin Foundation of ACLU

Chicago, Illinois

Grants

2023 (2 years)
$400,000

The Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU of Illinois (ACLU-IL) works to protect and extend liberty and equality to all in Illinois through litigation, coalition-building, strategic communications, advocacy, and public education on a broad array of issues affecting our constitutional rights. The award supports the organization’s Privacy, Technology, and Surveillance project, which seeks to ensure that technology is used in a way that respects the civil rights and civil liberties afforded to all persons by local, state and federal laws and constitutions. Areas of substantive focus include protecting biometric information in Illinois; working to end the use of discriminatory automated predictive technologies in the Illinois criminal legal and child welfare systems; mitigating the harms of surveillance technologies; addressing the intersection of reproductive rights and privacy; and exploring new policy questions raised by generative artificial intelligence. This work will be advanced through a mix of public education, policy analysis, advocacy, and litigation.

2022 (3 years)
$525,000

The Roger Baldwin Foundation is the charitable arm of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU), a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization that protects liberties and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The ACLU has long been a leader in promoting criminal justice reform in Illinois, working in coalition with other advocates, community groups, and governmental actors to press for reforms that reduce unnecessary incarceration and address racial disparities in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. This award supports the ACLU’s continued research, public education, and outreach activities in support of these goals.

2020 (2 years)
$300,000

The Roger Baldwin Foundation is a charitable arm of the American Civil Liberties Union of IL, a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization that protects liberties and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The award provides flexible support to the organization’s work focused on privacy, technology and surveillance, which seeks to ensure that technology is used in a way that respects the civil rights and civil liberties afforded to all persons by local, state and federal laws and constitutions. Areas of substantive focus include ensuring that technology and data used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois is done in a way that advances equity and protects civil rights and civil liberties, as well as addressing the use of technology in the Illinois criminal justice and child welfare systems.

2020 (2 years)
$300,000

The Roger Baldwin Foundation is the charitable arm of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU), a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization that protects liberties and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The ACLU has long been a leader in promoting criminal justice reform, working alongside other advocates, coalitions, community groups, and governmental actors to reduce unnecessary incarceration and address racial disparities in the criminal adult and juvenile legal systems. This award supports their Illinois Justice Project's research, public education, and outreach activities to promote criminal justice reform to reduce incarceration and address racial and ethnic disparities in jails in Illinois.

2018 (1 year)
$100,000

The Roger Baldwin Foundation of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU of Illinois) is the charitable arm of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU of Illinois defends the U.S. Constitution, federal law, and state law where those authorities protect individuals. It seeks to overturn laws or policies that deprive persons of their rights. With this renewal award, the ACLU of Illinois responds to threats to the rights and liberties of Illinoisans, with a particular focus on protecting the rights of immigrants and refugees. To counter these threats, the ACLU of Illinois engages citizens and mobilizes public campaigns, advocates for policies that protect individual rights, and litigates in the courts to preserve civil liberties.

2018 (2 years)
$300,000

The Roger Baldwin Foundation is the charitable arm of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU), which promotes and defends civil liberties in Illinois. The ACLU has long been a leader in promoting criminal justice reform aimed at reducing incarceration and expanding diversion and reentry options in the state. This award supports further research, public education, and outreach to policymakers in support of criminal justice reform to reduce incarceration in Illinois, bringing the Safety and Justice Challenge to ground in the Foundation’s home state.

2017 (1 year)
$150,000

The Roger Baldwin Foundation of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLU) is the charitable arm of the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU of Illinois defends the U.S. Constitution, federal law, and state law where those authorities protect individuals. It seeks to overturn laws or policies that deprive persons of their rights. With this award, the ACLU of Illinois responds to threats to the rights and liberties of racial, ethnic, religious, and social groups in Illinois. These threats stem from aggressive law enforcement in general, and from policies directed specifically toward immigrants, refugees, Muslims, and other minorities. To counter these threats, the ACLU of Illinois engages citizens and mobilizes public campaigns, advocates for sound policy, and litigates in the courts.

2016 (2 years)
$300,000

The Roger Baldwin Foundation (the Baldwin Foundation) supports the American Civil Liberties Union’s education, advocacy and litigation strategies to promote and defend civil liberties in Illinois. As a leader in justice reform in the state, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois’ (ACLU) has aimed at reducing the state’s population of incarcerated individuals and improving diversion and reentry options. This award brings the Foundation’s incarceration reduction strategy to ground in Illinois by enabling the ACLU, as part of a “right-left” collaboration with the Illinois Policy Institute, to expand public engagement and build support for criminal justice reform, helping to create the supportive public climate necessary to achieve success. This award supports research, public education, and a targeted outreach campaign aimed at gaining public and policy maker support for diversion and reentry reforms in Illinois.

1994 (1 year)
$50,000

To support the Race and Poverty Project.

1990 (1 year)
$15,000

To support work in reproductive rights.

1983 (1 year)
$42,000

To support Institutionalized Persons Project.