Pro Bono Partners

There are meaningful benefits to providing pro bono support to Civic Consulting Alliance.

Your firm will:

• Strengthen its own value proposition to recruits who increasingly expect their employer to be civically engaged;
• Retain staff when they are offered high-impact, pro bono options;
• Increase its visibility to city, county, and state government, and
• Benefit from the flexibility that Civic Consulting Alliance offers its pro bono partners - in project teams, multi-month full-time Fellowships, or one-off expertise providers - all in time frames that make sense for your business

Your staff will:

• Flex new muscles as they work alongside Civic Consulting Alliance professionals and learn how government and non-profits drive impact and address racial inequalities in our region;
• Be rejuvenated, doing the work you've trained them to do but in a challenging new setting, across Chicago communities for the social good, and
• Expand their network and develop relationships with senior public sector decision-makers and future leaders who are passionate about civic issues

Your Chicago community will:

• Have more effective government, benefitting from access to the best talent and expertise;
• Become safer, more just, better educated and have more inclusive economic growth, and
• Continue striving to be a great place for everyone to live in and work

World class firms provide pro bono resources through Civic Consulting Alliance because we have a track record of impact and our unique relationships with the public sector. Working on projects provides unmatched professional development opportunities for partner staff.

Civic Consulting Alliance staff sizes and scopes projects, with a focus on:

• Fit (with our mission/values/platforms)
• Impact (client, institutional, regional, and/or cross-sector)
• Racial Equity (identifying, documenting, and working to reduce inequities)
• Client Strength (prior experience, ability to commit resources, etc.)

We work with partners to keep abreast of their skills, capabilities, and interests. We keep a pipeline of active and prospective projects that is distributed to a broad list of partners, highlighting support needs.There are many ways we engage with our pro bono partners. The most common include:

• Project teams: Donate a team of multiple individuals for full-time, 2-6 month project engagements. View a list of recent projects.
• Fellowships: Assign an individual to Civic Consulting Alliance for 3-6 months to be part of project teams we assemble.
• Thought Partnership: Provide specific expertise (i.e. training, guidance on specific topics, etc.) to Civic Consulting Alliance staff and/or clients.
• Corporate Contribution: Support Civic Consulting Alliance general operations or in support of specific platform or project work.

We are grateful for support in any of these forms! If you want to learn more about becoming a Civic Consulting Alliance pro bono partner, please contact Rebekah Scheinfeld, CEO.

A Fellowship at Civic Consulting Alliance is a unique opportunity to work on projects of consequence, interact with top civic leaders and have a lasting, positive impact on Chicago and the broader region.

Fellows are high potential staff members “on loan” from sponsoring private sector firms who work full time at Civic Consulting Alliance, integrated with our project teams. Sponsoring firms benefit from a unique professional development opportunity for their staff who often work on issues and take on levels of responsibility they might not get at their firms.

Fellowships generally range from 3-6 months in duration and can be customized to utilize a full range of experiences (from junior professional to seasoned executives), and professional competencies (i.e. finance, process engineering, change management, data analytics, etc.)

Applicants should have the following qualifications and attributes:

• A deep desire to address critical community issues and help the Chicago region thrive
• Significant analytical and problem solving abilities
• Strong presentation, communication and client-facing skills
• Proficiency with common desktop applications, familiarity with quantitative data analysis and an ability to learn and apply new technical skills
• Ability to multi-task and handle ambiguity
• Commitment to Civic Consulting Alliance’s core values – Collaboration, Impact, Leadership, Sound Judgment and Excellence – and our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion values and goals

Examples of partner firms who have provided fellows in recent years include:

• Bain
• BCG
• CIBC, U.S.
• KPMG, LLP
• McKinsey

Examples of recent projects can be found here. If you are interested in being a Civic Consulting Alliance Fellow, talk with your firm about its sponsoring and/or selection process and then contact Rebekah Scheinfeld, CEO.