Our Core Values

Chicago Run utilizes the following core values as operating principles across all aspects of our work – internal operations, program implementation and partnerships, and strategy creation. We believe that they set the foundation for, and are critical to, achieving our mission.

Equity Philosophy

The need for Chicago Run's work – providing equitable access to inclusive, high quality running & physical activity programming – stems from pre-existing systemic inequities in Chicago communities. Nearly half of all youth in Chicago live in “low child opportunity areas”, meaning they lack access to resources for healthy development. These “low child opportunity areas” are a result of systemic and institutional racism that has benefited white communities in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs at the expense of communities of color, specifically Chicago’s Black and Latinx communities. Many other barriers exist as well that impact youth life trajectories and opportunities, ranging from economic disinvestment, to food insecurities, to violence and trauma, to educational inequities.

As we actively seek to understand and dismantle the systems of white supremacy that continue to disproportionately harm those with whom we work, we must be committed to centering equity across all facets of our work, from program design and implementation, to internal operations, to fundraising and communications and beyond. We are committed to ongoing growth in alignment with our organizational core values of ‘equity’ and ‘curiosity and learning’, to better partner with Chicago communities in working to reduce barriers for youth of color and create lasting impact and social change.