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Support the Giving Project

LEADERSHIP BUILDING AND MOVING MONEY FOR REAL CHANGE IN CHICAGO

GIVING PROJECT

Since 2014, Crossroads Fund’s Giving Projects have raised more than $1.29 million from over 1,700+ donors—engaging 209 committed Chicagoans who are now part of our growing Giving Project Alumni community. The Giving Project allows us to organize donors and build a foundation of support for movements.

THE 2026 GIVING PROJECT COHORT HAS COMMITTED TO RAISE $150,000

Crossroads Fund is excited to announce that our 2026 Giving Project cohort – a multi-racial, cross-class, intersectional group of 26 people- has committed to fundraise $150,000 to fund movement work in Chicago.

Over the course of six months, this group will have deep personal conversations on race and class, will make a monetary donation that is significant to them, will fundraise their network through a process of “donor organizing,” and will practice participatory grant-making supporting strategic, necessary, and underfunded social justice organizing work around the city.

Meet the 2026 Giving Project Members

SUPPORT THE GIVING PROJECT!

Past Giving Project Cohorts

Meet our past Giving Project cohorts and see how much they’ve raised in the past years.

Past Cohorts

2026 Giving Project Members

Alexandra Fosburgh

Alexandra Fosburgh

About

Alexandra Fosburgh currently serves as a Youth Programs Specialist at the Chicago Housing Authority. On the CHA Youth Opportunities team, Alexandra focuses on empowering youth through innovative career exposure, academic enrichment programs, and higher-education access. By leveraging a passion for education and youth opportunities, the role contributes to the organization’s mission to uplift communities. Alexandra also volunteers as Career Coach for One Million Degrees at Harold Washington College and a Mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters. In her free time, she enjoys intramural LGBT kickball, stand-up comedy, dancing, live music, and creative arts. She is excited to uplift Chicago Communities and learn more about the Social Impact Projects benefitting people through the Giving Project cohort.

Brenda Becerra

Brenda Becerra

About

Brenda Becerra is the Development Manager at the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization where she has focused on grant writing and fundraising for the last 7 years. She obtained her BA in Public Policy from DePaul University. Brenda has a passion for environmental justice, education, and the arts. She currently serves as an Associate Board Member of Merit School of Music.

Christian McKenzie

Christian McKenzie

About

Christian McKenzie is the Director of Lofty Ventures, a giver-centric community on a mission to connect visionary people and fuel entrepreneurship and economic development. She began her career as a retail buyer, curating products for over 250 Macy’s stores, before moving into the startup and tech ecosystem with companies like Meta and Pear (acquired by Custom Ink). Wanting to work more closely with the entrepreneurs behind the brands, she has shifted her focus from scouting consumer brands for retail distribution to investing in them.

Crystal Johnson

Crystal Johnson

About

Crystal Johnson, a dedicated advocate for education and community empowerment, brings a wealth of experience from her roles in real estate and community engagement. As the Executive Director of One United Community, Crystal aims to address the intersectionality of blackness, LGBTQ+ issues, and overall wellness, driven by her commitment to inclusivity and empowerment. With a passion for public health, Crystal is pursuing a degree in Biological Sciences while raising her two sons with her wife, embodying her dedication to informed advocacy and community leadership. Her favorite pastimes are reading, watching a great movie or writing poetry.

Daniela Herrera

Daniela Herrera

About

Daniela Herrera has nearly a decade of experience engaging with community based organizations in Chicago and the Midwest to help them fulfill their self determined goals. She has worked in private foundations, intermediary funds, and as a philanthropic consultant working with clients to address pressing environmental and climate justice issues. Currently, she is the Grants Program Manager at the Chicago Frontlines Fund. Daniela grew up in Cicero and now lives in Edgewater, Chicago. She’s a founding organizer with Chicago BIPOC Birders, on the Steering Committee for Chicago Latines in Philanthropy, and enjoys walks along the lakefront with her dog, Abi. Daniela has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Loyola University Chicago.

Daniela Torres

Daniela Torres

About

Daniela Torres is a Chicago community organizer and the heart behind Blooming Space- a series of gatherings rooted in reflection, movement, and collective healing. She cares deeply about creating spaces where people can slow down, be intentional, and build real connection- not only with others, but with themselves. Daniela joins the 2026 Giving Project to deepen her practice of community care, resource sharing, and collective healing across Chicago.

Dilnaz Waraich

Dilnaz Waraich

About

Dilnaz Waraich serves as the president of the WF Fund, a Chicago based funder focused on unifying communities and amplifying impact across the country. Dilnaz sees herself as a philanthropic advocate, a role that shapes both her professional and personal life.

As president of the Fund, Dilnaz was instrumental in establishing the Community Collaboration Initiative, a three-year community-based research project of the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy where she serves on the Board of Visitors. The initiative, which included the Year of Learning and Muslim Collaborative Prizes, charted a new path for Muslim American nonprofits to learn and work together, and created a model for other intra and inter-faith collaboration. 

From 2023-2025, Dilnaz served as a fellow for the National Center for Family Philanthropy. Through her fellowship, the WF Fund launched Inspired Generosity, a storytelling showcase. Opening in Atlanta in 2024, Inspired Generosity continues to uplift stories of Muslim American generosity as it moves around the country from Chicago in the fall of 2025 to Minnesota in the spring of 2026.  

 

Grounded in her own faith and family, Dilnaz has spent over 30 years engaging in interfaith communities toward deeper cultural sensitivity, spiritual engagement, and civic empowerment. Her early career as an elementary school teacher helped shape her desire to uplift those from historically marginalized communities. Whether it’s serving as a Trustee at the Catholic Theological Union, or doing regular visits as a volunteer hospital chaplain, Dilnaz fosters inclusion and belonging in everything she does.

Eilene Ladson

Eilene Ladson

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Eilene Ladson (she/ her) is a South Side resident with a background in youth services, trauma-informed practices, nonprofit management, and strategic planning. She uses systems-thinking and healing-justice frameworks to advance community self-determination and foster social conditions rooted in collective care and intersectional justice. She currently serves as a Program Officer on the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation’s Social Impact team, leading the Thriving Communities focus area and partnering with communities and organizations working toward a more just and liberated future. Guided by radical joy, curiosity, and a commitment to collective power, she is a bridge builder who connects people and groups striving toward shared goals.

She is a member of the 2020 New Leaders Council Chicago cohort and a 2022 Civic Leadership Academy Fellow at the University of Chicago. Outside of her day job, she enjoys dance, the Fast and Furious series, traveling, and exploring Chicago with her pitbull, Queenie.

Jes Olvera After Buffalo

Jes Olvera After Buffalo

About

Jes Olvera After Buffalo works at the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. During her time at the Young Center, she has led values-driven discussions that identified how the Development and Communications teams can both internally and externally live out their values; she was part of the Values Committee in which identified the Young Center’s organizational values; and has worked towards creating a more inclusive work environment among her colleagues through the practice of Community Centric Fundraising.

Prior to working with the Young Center, Jes worked at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee and Sojourner Family Peace Center. During her time at Sojourner, she worked as a Domestic Violence Survivor Advocate where she assisted survivors in petitioning for restraining orders, provided emotional support during court hearings, and co-facilitated a multi-week curriculum for women and children that provided education in coping skills, conflict resolution and rebuilding trust. At the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, Jes worked alongside the Development department where she provided global support to the team and coordinated gift-in-kind donations. Additionally, during her time in Milwaukee, she served in the AmeriCorps program Public Allies which aims to create a just and equitable society and the diverse leadership to sustain it.

Karina Sanchez

Karina Sanchez

  • Pronoun

    She / They

About

Karina Sanchez (she/they) is a holistic health and wellness practitioner and food justice organizer based in Pilsen. She co-leads Veggie Mijas Chicago, supporting plant-based education, mutual aid, and community programming for Queer BIPOC communities. Karina is an herbalism apprentice with Urban Growers Collective, a yoga teacher-in-training through the Latina Sweat Project, and an energy healing apprentice at Verde Holistic Wellness Studio, where she studies Mesoamerican healing practices and facilitates trauma-informed, culturally rooted wellness offerings. With over a decade of experience in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and community engagement, she brings a strategic and relational approach to systems change. Her work centers on reconnecting people to land, plants, and ancestral healing for individual and collective liberation.

Katie Ragsdale

Katie Ragsdale

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Katie Ragsdale (she/her) lives in Hyde Park. She has a masters in social work, a background as an educator, and currently works as a grants manager for a large non profit. She loves going to the lake, spending time with her friends and baby niece, and the rush of setting a new personal record on the New York Times crossword.

Kelly McGrath

Kelly McGrath

About

Kelly McGrath is a foundation professional with over five years of experience in the Chicago nonprofit sector. She is a member of the Grants Management team at The Chicago Community Trust where she supports competitive grant programs which aim to build a more equitable Chicago. Before joining the Trust, Kelly worked with several Chicago-based nonprofits focused on poverty alleviation, human services, civil rights analysis, and services for individuals experiencing homelessness. Kelly holds a bachelor’s in anthropology from DePaul University and a master’s in social work from The University of Chicago.

Louisa Wyatt

Louisa Wyatt

About

Louisa Wyatt is a Chicago transplant from Tennessee whose passion for entertainment led her to the Chicago area for college, where she fell in love with concert production and efforts to make live music events more accessible. Since then, Louisa has built a career that combines her love of live music with her advocacy for accessible entertainment, including advancing arts equity initiatives in CPS schools and developing social impact initiatives for the city’s largest music festivals. Outside of work, Louisa enjoys writing and editing essays and short films with her partner, watching way too much TV, and a masochistic relationship with Tennessee sports teams.

Lyntrina Broadnax

Lyntrina Broadnax

About

Lyntrina Broadnax is a longtime south side Chicagoan, who has developed a passion for inspiring constituents in underserved communities to develop better relationship with financial wellness. Believing families should have access to proper housing and basic needs to live. I believe in unity, integrity, and impact will us prevail.

Michelle Luu

Michelle Luu

  • Pronoun

    She / Her

About

Michelle Luu (she/her) has been a Program Associate with the Harold M. and Adeline S. Morrison Family Foundation since February 2025. She supports the Foundation’s grantmaking and strategic initiatives to advance their mission of increasing equitable access to the outdoors. Driven by her own formative experiences in nature, Michelle’s work is rooted in wanting all communities to have the opportunity to experience their own joy and connection to the outdoors.

Prior to the Foundation, Michelle worked as a Development Officer at Faith in Place supporting the organization’s fundraising efforts primarily through grant writing and individual giving campaigns. Michelle’s commitment to grassroots organizing, community-shaped programming, and the importance of powering these movements with the resources they need to succeed is informed by her time as a fundraiser.

Michelle graduated from Haverford College, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies with a focus in Environmental Chemistry and Economic Policy. Originally from Waukegan, IL, Michelle enjoys camping, collaging, reading, and running at local forest preserves or on Lake Michigan!

Miranda Quinn

Miranda Quinn

About

Miranda Quinn, a proud Chicago native, is an educator with more than two decades of experience advancing equity, impacting student success, and fostering financial wellness for historically underserved communities. Her work centers on transforming systems and expanding opportunities for communities impacted by racial and economic inequities.

Miranda most recently served as the Postsecondary Student Success and Retention Specialist for DePaul University’s TRIO Student Support Services program, where she supported hundreds of first-generation and low-income students in their academic, financial, and career journeys.

In her free time, Miranda is an active supporter of local nonprofit organizations that create opportunities for Chicago residents. She serves as a volunteer tax preparer with Ladder Up and as a volunteer for college and career programs across the city, including Chicago Scholars, the Common Ground Foundation, Target H.O.P.E., and America Needs You (ANY). Through her community-based financial wellness work, she seeks to dismantle structural barriers, elevate community voices, and build pathways to lasting stability for individuals and families.

Miranda holds a bachelor’s degree in African and Black diaspora studies and a master’s degree in public service management from DePaul University. She is a lover of language and a creator of worlds through her poetry and critical essays. She also enjoys Pilates, dancing, fencing, and archery. Miranda is a proud parent of a college freshman and is joyfully embracing her new chapter as an empty nester.

Nancy Ibarra Medrano

Nancy Ibarra Medrano

About

Nancy Ibarra Medrano Artist and Business Professional from the South Suburbs of Chicago, a 2020 graduate from the Gies College of Business with 5 years of experience in marketing and operations management. Most recently Nancy has worked in sales and administration, after a few years of introducing Chicagoland residents to their backyard birds with the Chicago BIPOC Birders. Nancy has a range of interests, but always come back to storytelling and connecting people to one another, or to what they need.

Nasuna Kiyimba

Nasuna Kiyimba

About

Preston Hogue

Preston Hogue

About

Preston Hogue is a nonprofit professional originally from Charleston, South Carolina who recently celebrated ten years living in Chicago. He has over a decade of experience working in community-based faith spaces, nonprofit management, and fundraising, mostly with smaller, grassroots organizations on the West and Northwest Sides of Chicago. Now, as the Director of Development at One Family Illinois, he is committed to ensuring that the dedicated professionals there, working in social services, have the resources and support they need to accomplish the organization’s mission. Preston has an M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a bachelor’s from Emory University.

As a marathoner, triathlete, commute cyclist, and regular at the gym, he likes to stay active and be outdoors. Preston is also a proud guncle who loves beaches, deep conversations, and spending time with friends and family.

R.E. Foreman

R.E. Foreman

About

R.E. Foreman, or Alexandria, works at the intersection of community, technology, and economic justice, using technology as a tool to strengthen neighborhoods and expand opportunity. She is an ecosystem builder focused on cultivating relationships, shared resources, and community-led solutions rooted in culture and place. Alaxandria is the co-founder of Chi Tech Collective, a Chicago-based community of over 1,200 technologists, organizers, founders, and funders committed to an inclusive local tech ecosystem. Through South Side–based programs and gatherings, her work supports collective learning, access, and long-term community wealth.

Rachel Dukes

Rachel Dukes

About

Rachel Dukes is a Texas-born, Chicago-based independent writer, curator, and arts administrator. She received her undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Arkansas and her master’s degree in Museum and Exhibition Studies from the University of Illinois Chicago.

Rachel is an archivist at the South Side Community Art Center and a curatorial resident at Chicago Artists Coalition. Her writing has appeared in the Chicago Reader, New City, LVL3, Sixty Inches From Center, and the International Journal of Surrealism.

A passionate advocate for community-based arts programming, Rachel serves as board president for Chicago Tap Theatre, a tap dance organization based in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.

Saikat Panda

Saikat Panda

About

Saikat Panda is a young global social impact professional who cares deeply about fairness, access, and community. Growing up, he watched many small organizations work hard for their people but struggle because they lacked the support and tools they needed. This stayed with him and shaped the direction of his work.

He is the founder of Socialys Evidentia Global Consulting, where he focuses on building simple and affordable technology to help small and mid-sized nonprofits manage grants, connect with donors, and stay organized. His aim is to make philanthropy easier and more accessible for groups that do not have large teams or big budgets. He believes every community organization, no matter how small, deserves a fair chance to grow and create change. He also oversees the I3 Global Nonprofit Leadership Academy. He is also the host of The Nonprofit Blueprint Podcast, where he plans to share global insights on philanthropy, technology, and community-driven change.

He currently serves as an Affiliate Board Member at the Leukemia Research Foundation and as a Development Specialist at Enlace Chicago. He also provides fundraising consultancy to United People Global and is an incoming fellow of the 2026 cohorts of the Change Collective.

Sarah Buchhorn

Sarah Buchhorn

About

Sarah Buchhorn Originally from rural Texas, Sarah has lived in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood for over seven years. Much of her personal and professional work centers on sustainability and equitable climate action at multiple scales – from caring for neighborhood trees and ecosystems to advancing public housing decarbonization and regional energy efficiency plans. She is continually inspired by the community groups and campaigns she has played small roles in, and is excited to contribute to systems change in a new way through the Giving Project.

Serena Loren White

Serena Loren White

About

Serena Loren White is a Chicago-based, community-oriented advocate dedicated to immigrant justice and cross-cultural solidarity. After earning her BA from Columbia University in the City of New York, she spent two years in Madrid, Spain as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. During her time there, she also volunteered with Dragones de Lavapiés, a grassroots youth organization supporting immigrant and refugee families. Her experiences in Spain deepened her commitment to community-based leadership and public-interest work. Now back in Chicago, Serena volunteers with Neighbors United for Mutual Support, supporting families seeking asylum through intakes, translations, and legal documentation. She is passionate about building cross-class and cross-neighborhood connections across the city and plans to pursue a career in civil and human rights law. Serena is excited to join the Giving Project to learn, contribute, and connect across communities.

Tynetta Hill-Muhammad

Tynetta Hill-Muhammad

  • Pronoun

    They / Them

About

Tynetta Hill-Muhammad (they/them) is a lifelong learner dedicated to transformative health education, community-engaged research, and popular education practices. Their work centers on fostering intersectional, sustainable, and interdisciplinary development within marginalized communities. With multiple experiences in community engagement, project management, and organizing across Chicago, on campaigns such as Bring Chicago Home and Erase the Database, Tynetta has continued to be committed to collective liberation. They believe in the power of storytelling and creativity to shape a shared vision for justice and freedom.

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