Loyola University Chicago, Chicago Urban League Form Partnership to Advance Equity for Black Chicagoans

The Chicago Urban League and Loyola University Chicago’s Institute for Racial Justice (IRJ) have formed a strategic partnership that combines academic research with community expertise to advance equity across Chicago neighborhoods.  

The collaboration brings together Loyola’s interdisciplinary faculty, data analysis, and public scholarship infrastructure with the Chicago Urban League’s century-long legacy of racial justice advocacy, direct service, and community research and analysis.  

“Research has long been an important component of the Chicago Urban League’s work, and we’re excited to build on that through this new collaboration,” said Karen Freeman-Wilson, president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League. “The partnership with IRJ will increase the capacity of our Research & Policy Center, bring more academic rigor to our research and analysis, and ultimately strengthen Chicago communities by informing our work to help people find jobs, pursue education, become homeowners, start businesses, and grow their leadership skills. 

As part of the partnership, Malik S. Henfield, founding dean of IRJ, will also serve as vice president and executive director of the Chicago Urban League’s Research & Policy Center (RPC), which anchors the League’s efforts to drive systems change through research, convening, solutioning, and advocacy.  

IRJ and RPC—together and in collaboration with others—will produce research reports, peer-reviewed manuscripts, accessible data visualizations, and community narratives that inform systems-level solutions rooted in lived experiences. 

“This collaboration aims to ensure that research reflects the realities of Black Chicagoans and also supports solutions that communities are already working to advance,” said Henfield.  “By embedding this work in long-term, reciprocal partnerships, the collaboration will also help shape our faculty research agendas in ways that elevate questions defined by the people most affected by the issues under study.”  

The IRJ and RPC partnership is not exclusive, and both entities will continue to collaborate with a range of organizations on research.  

The collaboration will expand IRJ’s citywide network of research partners, connecting faculty, students, alumni, and community scholars across institutions to research efforts rooted in community priorities. It reflects IRJ’s Strategic Engagement model, which aligns university-based research and teaching with community-led initiatives to address pressing social challenges and builds upon Henfield’s role as co-leader of the Scholars Strategy Network Chicagoland Chapter, which convenes faculty from universities across the city to create opportunities for scholars to contribute. 

For the Chicago Urban League, the partnership deepens its capacity to advance data-informed policy and strengthens the RPC’s role as a hub for producing actionable research, amplifying community voices, and driving collective action.  

“This partnership highlights the power of reciprocity,” Henfield said. “Faculty gain opportunities to join research teams working toward real policy and practice solutions to Chicago’s most pressing challenges, while the League benefits from access to a broad base of research talent.”  

This approach drove the 2023 State of Black Chicago report, co-produced by the Chicago Urban League and IRJ with contributions from university scholars, students, and community partners. The new partnership builds on that model of collaboration and success.