On Monday, May 12, nearly 10,000 Chicago residents will gather around breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert tables across the region to discuss the future of the city.
These mealtime conversations are part of an initiative from grant-making organization The Chicago Community Trust called "On the Table."
"On the Table is an effort that is designed to mark our 99th anniversary as an institution," said Daniel Ash, chief marketing officer for the trust. "The objective is to inspire up to 10,000 Chicago area residents to participate in what we are calling mealtime intimate conversations where the topic is our community."
The organization said that so far more than 700 people have signed on to host conversations, with each expected to have between 10-12 diners.
The trust is encouraging as many residents to participate as possible.
"Specifically, we want people to look forward and imagine the possibilities," Ash said.
Several members of the LGBT community will participate in On the Table. A number have signed on to be hosts, including Precious Davis of the Center on Halsted, Elliott Greenberger of Divvy, Kristen Kaza of No Small Plans Productions, Jorge Valdivia of the National Museum of Mexican Art, Mary Morten of the Morten Group and All In's Shannon Downey.
"As a host, I have selected to focus our dinner conversation on the future of the [LGBTQ] community," Downey said. "I am arranging a dinner location, creating some conversation prompts and inviting 12 folks who identify as [LGBTQ] to sit around the table and share their visions for our community. I'll be documenting the conversations to share with the trust."
She said the conversation at her table would most likely center on what comes next following the recent marriage-equality victory.
"Marriage Equality has been driving the conversation for so long and now that that is a reality I think this a prime opportunity to be talking about what's next, what and whom got left behind in the grand push for marriage equality and how can we as a community become more inclusive and address our internal community struggles," she said.
Downey is involved in several different projects around Chicago, including head of the advisory council for Geek Bar Chicago, which is opening this summer, co-host of The Gay Agenda, a monthly web series dedicated to elevating the GLBTQ community in the media and addressing topics that matter, faculty member at DePaul University, founder of TEDxWindyCity, and a member of several nonprofit organization's board of directors.
Downey said she signed on to be a conversation host because it's an opportunity for not only the loudest voices to be heard, but for all voices to be heard.
"The reality is that every single Chicagoan has a story and a voice and a vision for this great city that should be heard and considered," she said. "The fact that the trust is encouraging everyone to find their voice and share it is disruptive and exciting.
"Providing Chicagoans with an opportunity to really be heard and to be able to engage in dialogue with others around their vision for the future of Chicago creates a feeling of hope and unlimited possibility."
She hopes the diversity of the LGBT community will be well-represented around the many tables on May 12.
"I just want to be sure that Chicagoans take this opportunity to share to their voice, story and vision," she said. "I want to help provide a space for the [LGBTQ] community to feel safe to share and I hope everyone walks away feeling empowered, exciting and ready to create change."
Mealtime conversations were specifically chosen by the trust because of the type of atmosphere breaking bread with others creates.
"We all know that when people come together around a meal it tends to be a completely different atmosphere in that moment," Ash explained. "When you think about it much of our public discourse should probably happen over mealtimes versus media channels … We come together over a meal with high-level respect, but at the same time a commitment to making this place better for all."
He noted that the conversations would help the organization identify priorities and begin to gather possible solutions.
"What better way to mark a milestone like a 99th anniversary than to put your ear to the ground and inspire this type of public discourse," he said.
The trust plans to use the information to inform its 100th anniversary celebration next year and its future grant making decisions.
"We are going to take the steps into our second century by going back to our core mission, our charter, which is to do good for this community and in doing good, inspire others to give more to this place that we share," Ash said.
Each year the trust grants $30 million to a variety of Chicago focused organizations, programs and initiatives. It also administers another $70 million in donor directed funds.
Ash said grants tend to fall into two types: large-scale impact efforts and small, targeted neighborhood organization programs.
Just this past January, the trust awarded grants to three LGBT organizations, the About Face Theatre Collective, to support its participation in the third and final year of the SMART Growth capacity-building program; Center on Halsted, to support for its Homeless Youth Services Program; and Howard Brown Health Center, to support of the Access to Comprehensive Primary Care for Uninsured Low Income Individuals with Chronic Disease program.
The trust will compile the information from the mealtime conversations through participant surveys, host interviews and social media channels, and plans to begin sharing information on June 18 during CEO Terry Mazany's annual state of the community address.
"We are going to use that as a moment to share out our top line information," Ash said.
Additional information will be shared as it becomes available and the trust intends to provide access to other organizations to the data gathered, in hopes that it will help them with their decision making as well.
"Every voice has power, every voice should be listened to, everyone should feel comfortable expressing their ideas," Ash said.
To learn more about On the Table, visit http://www.cct.org/impact/onthetable.
