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impactforequity.bsky.social
Impact For Equity
@impactforequity.bsky.social
270 followers 170 following 180 posts
Impact for Equity is a catalyst for racial, economic, and social justice in Chicago and Illinois.
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Want to learn more about the Chicago Healthy Homes Ordinance? Join the Metropolitan Tenants Organization for a virtual informational session on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, at 6:00pm CT on Zoom. To register, visit bit.ly/chho-sep23

#healthyhomes #chicago #freewebinar
Learn about the Chicago Healthy Homes Ordinance, Tuesday, September 23, 2025, at 6pm. Register at bit.ly/chho-sep23. Brought to you by the Metropolitan Tenants Organization.
September 9, 2025 at 2:10 PM
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The traffic stops policy proposed by the Chicago Police Department may be a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough to end this ineffective and racially discriminatory practice.
June 27, 2025 at 4:50 PM
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Yesterday, Impact for Equity’s Joi Imobhio and Amy Thompson testified at the City Council of Chicago’s meeting of the Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety. Their testimony explained how pretextual traffic stops, far from improving crime outcomes, in fact undermine public safety.
June 27, 2025 at 4:50 PM
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This past weekend, Criminal Legal System Staff Counsel Andrea Dantus joined a group of community leaders at the District Council Quarterly Meeting with members of the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA)! Andrea met with these leaders to focus on community empowerment.
June 9, 2025 at 7:09 PM
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The legal and social justice community lost one of its greatest champions last week with the passing of Alexander Polikoff (1927-2025).

impactforequity.org/pressroom/in...
June 4, 2025 at 4:56 PM
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There is only ONE WEEK left until Impact for Equity's annual event, PERSISTENCE THROUGH CHANGE, at the Bridgeport Art Center. Registrations are still open! Reserve your place today at impactforequity.org/persistence-...
Persistence Through Change: Impact for Equity 2025 Annual Event - Thursday, June 5, 2025
May 29, 2025 at 7:27 PM
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It's less than 2 weeks away from our annual event, Persistence Through Change! Tickets directly support our work fighting harmful traffic stops practices and the affordable housing crisis, and advocating to heal the harms of mass incarceration in IL. We'd love to see you there! tinyurl.com/5xtc47fd
A blue rectangle with darker blue rectangles that look like stairs. The third has a photo background of a white man in a black coat, and a black woman with a white scarf reading from a paper. The rectangle says: Join us June 5th. Tickets on Sale Now.
May 23, 2025 at 3:04 PM
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We also hope you'll join us at our follow up webinar and discussion on May 8th to explore the roots of mass incarceration and the power of bold, transformative strategies! Register here: tinyurl.com/2pc3hhs3
A square with an image of two Black people dancing with transparency behind text. The text says "Pathways to a Future Beyond Mass Incarceration in Illinois Thursday, may 8th from 12PM - 1:30 PM. Impact for Equity invites you to a webinar that explores the content of our new report, Pathways to a Future Beyond Incarceration in Illinois. This conversation will bring together directly impacted leaders, experts, and policymakers to examine the root causes of mass incarceration, challenge harmful narratives, and highlight the power of bold, transformative strategies." There are four circles with portraits in them. In the first a white man man holds his hands out and below it reads "Dr Dave Olsen Loyola Center on Criminal Justice". The second has a portrait of a Black woman with pearl earrings and necklaces and short curly hair. Below that reads Avalon Betts Gaston Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice. The third has a photo of a Latino man with a black baseball cap and white shirt, and below it reads Jimmy Soto Build Communities not Prisons. The fourth photo is a black man with a beard and mustache and underneath it reads King Moosa Coalition to Decarcerate Illinois.
May 1, 2025 at 9:54 PM
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And right now our housing team is also at City Hall supporting Green Social Housing! @danielkayhertz.bsky.social
A group of men in suits sit at a desk speaking before city hall. They look focused, clear, and concise.
April 9, 2025 at 6:39 PM
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IFE Staff on the train to Springfield for Lobby Day! We're in the Capitol working for Clean Slate legislation and amending AHPAA to push for supportive housing. 💪💯🚆
A selfie on a computer train car. In the foreground are a white woman with glasses holding the camera and next to her a black woman smiling. They are both wearing blue. Across the aisle a black woman is on a laptop and next to her a white man gives the peace sign at the camera.
April 9, 2025 at 2:59 PM
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Staff Attorney Marty Cozzola attended The Legal Landscape of Homelessness: Rights, Remedies, and Restoring Dignity last Friday, which featured Rodin Fellow (and former IFE intern!) Yael Pineda Chavez. Proud of our interns and their work post-Impact for Equity 👏
A group of panelists sit at a table during a symposium on the complexities of homelessness in the United States. A black person is speaking into the microphone, with five other panelists listening. There is a slide with art on the background reading, "Homeless and I am Still More Than Your Statistics" in a linoblock. Four Panelists sit at a table discussing the complexities of homelessness in the United States at a symposium. There is a slide behind them with art that says, "None of us are Home Until All Of Us ARe Home YEP". A white person is speaking into a microphone, with four other individuals listening.
April 8, 2025 at 2:23 PM
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Thank you to EVERYONE who came out to our rally and spoke out at last night's CCPSA meeting! It was a powerful night of making our voices heard and we are so grateful to be a part of the Free2Move Coalition. More to come!
A group of advocates stands outside a museum in the night time. A Black woman centered in the foreground has a sign that says "Traffic Stops Should Save Lives Not Ruin Them". A white woman to the right has a yellow sign that says, "Stop Stopping Us". Behind her someone holds a yellow sign that says, "Stop Pretextual Stops" Chicago's 7Th District Councilor Dion McGill speaks to a crowd at a rally in the evening. People are holding signs and listening to him. The signs visible say, "Free2Move".
March 28, 2025 at 9:24 PM
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"Rather than spending 1000's of officer hours on low-level violations like a single broken headlight or registration that expired last week, police should prioritize responding to driving behavior that is actually dangerous." IFE Policy Strategist Joi Imobhio @ the CCSPA listening session Wednesday.
March 21, 2025 at 8:26 PM
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Impact for Equity works with the Clean Slate Coalition to advance a system to automatically seal or expunge eligible criminal records. Check out one of the many reasons this work is vital from Clean Slate IL #CleanSlateIL #CSIL #ENDPP
March 19, 2025 at 2:56 PM
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We focus our work on the criminal legal system and housing, and survey's like this are vital to our work! The Cook County Department of Human Rights and Ethics is assessing the impacts of the Just Housing Amendment! Share with your networks and take it at this link: bit.ly/2025JHASurvey
A Blue Square flier has light blue text in the left corner that reads: "Just Housing Amendment Impact Assessment." Below that in white says, "Do you have a conviction or arrest record? Searching for rental housing in Cook County in the last 5 years? If you answered yes we want to hear from you! Take the survey at https://bit.ly/2025JHA Survey." This is below an image of a human figure in front of a screen reaching for a red check mark in a box. At the bottom right is the Cook County Commission on Human Rights logo, a circle with the cook county shape outlined prominently.
March 17, 2025 at 5:21 PM
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We're happy to be in thoughtful conversation w/affordable housing leaders in Chicago. IHC brough together our great community, and we'll continue working for safe, healthy, and affordable housing for ALL in Chicago and the state of IL! @aldermanmattmartin.bsky.social @danielkayhertz.bsky.social
A powerpoint slide on a big screen in an auditorium with a red backer has a white title, "Navigating "NIMBY"ISM: Legal and Policy Strategies for Affordable Housing Development." There are five photos in a row beneath the title, however they are not super visible. A room full of housing advocates speaks together at the IHC conference in Chicago IL.
March 4, 2025 at 7:26 PM
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Daniel Kay Hertz and Marty Cozzola from IFE's Housing Team joined IHC's "Navigating NIMBYism: Legal and Policy Strategies for Affordable Housing Development" panel w/Ald. Matt Martin, Richard Koenig (Housing Opportunity Development Corporation) & Kate Walz (Uptown People's Law Center) last Thursday!
Martin Cozzola from Impact for Equity in a black jacket sits at a table with a black tablecloth in front of a microphone listening to Kate Walz, in a blue jacket, speaking about Navigating NIMBYism: Legal and Policy Strategies for Affordable Housing Development at the Illinois Housing Council conference in Chicago Alderman Matt Martin in a blue jacket holding his hand up speaks into a microphone next to Daniel Kay Hertz in a black jacket listening during the Navigating NIMBYism: Legal and Policy Strategies for Affordable Housing Development panel at the IHC Conference in Chicago in February 2025.
March 4, 2025 at 7:21 PM
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Impact for Equity is still accepting candidates for our two open Staff Counsel positions working on our Criminal Legal System and Housing teams! You can submit your materials at www.impactforequity.org/work-with-us...
February 11, 2025 at 6:42 PM
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The time for a proactive inspection program and rental registry is now.
A yellow box has red type that reads CHJC and CHHC Statement. Below that reads A Rental registry will track who owns buildings in Chicago. Currently building owners can hide behind a web of LLCs, and it is very difficult to actually discern who owns a building. Ownership of 3024. W Gunnison St. is shrouded in complexity, which may have made City enforcement of past violations difficult. It may also complicate efforts to remedy the issues discovered on January 13th. The rental registry in CHHC's proposed Chicago Healthy Homes Ordinance could enable the City and tenants to lift the veil of corporate secrecy and shine a light on negligent property owners.
January 29, 2025 at 9:54 PM
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On Jan. 13th, a 10-year-old in Albany Park tragically died of carbon monoxide poisoning. As part of the the Chicago Healthy Homes Coalition, Impact for Equity believes it is our urgent responsibility to ensure that no child is ever harmed again by preventable hazards at home. Link: shorturl.at/hkdk4
A yellow and white square with a logo that says Chicago Housing Justice Coalition and Chicago Healthy Homes Coalition over a building picture has a header that says Statement. Below that says January 29 2025 and below that reads Chicago Housing Justice Coalition (CHJC) and the Chicago Healthy Homes Coalition (CHHC) respond to the devastating and preventable death of a 10-year old child from carbon monoxide poisoning at 3024 W. Gunnison St. in Albany Park on January 13th.
January 29, 2025 at 9:54 PM
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Impact for Equity's Criminal Legal Systems team has been researching and working in coalition to identify policy solutions to address decades of mass incarceration. We cannot continue to allow costly, harmful, and inefficient systems to persist and expand without a plan for transformational change.
A Blue Square has a light blue arrow in the left corner that has RELEASE TO RESTORE superimposed over it. A white heading says Healing the Harms of Mass Incarceration. The white text below it says In Illinois, outdated policies caused our prison population to surge. While it has decreased in recent years there are still too many people serving extremely long sentences, with no opportunity to earn their release. Meanwhile, Illinoisans are paying premiums to upkeep and rebuild dilapidated, understaffed, and half empty prison facilities. This carceral system is the result of hundreds of years of discriminatory and punitive practices that have led to the mass incarceration we see today A blue square has a light blue arrow in the left with the text Release To Restore superimposed over the arrow. There is a white heading that says In 2025, Impact for Equity's Criminal Legal Systems Team is focused on addressing the harms of mass incarceration by: Supporting legislation that would end harmful sentencing practices and; Expanding opportunities for rehabilitation and earned release; Ultimately reducing the size and scape of the Illinois prison system and fostering safer, healthier communities. To learn more visit impactforequity.org and stay tuned for our forthcoming report.
January 29, 2025 at 5:52 PM
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Healing the Harms of Mass Incarceration means our team will advocate with the Clean Slate Coalition focusing on expungement and sealing of records and reducing the size of the Illinois Prison System - we'll have a lot more to come on this in the near future!
A light blue square with a dark blue square centered in it has a yellow heading that reads Healing the Harms of Mass Incarceration, with two bullet points that read: Advocate with the Clean Slate Coalition for Legislation that would create a system to automatically seal or expunge certain criminal records in Illinois, and Reduce the size of the Illinois prison system by supporting legislation that would end harmful sentencing practices, and expand opportunities for early release.
January 21, 2025 at 9:17 PM
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It will be vitally important to Deliver on the Promise of Police Reform through holding CPD accountable to comply with the Consent Decree, empowering local District Councilors, implementing officer decertification, and looking at the impact of laws requiring officers to issue citations, not arrests.
January 21, 2025 at 9:17 PM
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Our Criminal Legal System team will be working on Reimagining Public Safety, looking to end CPD's use of pretextual traffic stops, educating the public on creating a racially equitable system of traffic safety, and legitimize alternative police responses to certain 911 calls.
A light blue square with a darker blue square centered in it has a yellow heading that reads: Reimagining Public Safety. Below that are three bullet points that read: End the Chicago Police Department's use of pretextual traffic stops and suspicion-less searches in Chicago through local policy change. Launch a statewide education campaign focused on creating a more racially equitable system of traffic safety in Illinois. Identify and legitimize more alternatives to police response to certain 911 calls to reduce harmful police interactions and save valuable resources.
January 21, 2025 at 9:17 PM
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Finally our Housing team will focus on Fair and Equitable Housing policy: increasing affordability across Illinois by supporting the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act and improving the Cook County property tax system to reduce racial inequalities and improve fairness.
A light blue square with a dark blue square centered on it has a yellow header that says Fair and Equitable Housing. Below this are two bullet points that read: Bullet Point One Increase affordability in the state’s highest-cost municipalities by supporting the implementation of the amended Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act (AHPAA), including improved affordable housing plans from subject communities and strengthening rules around appeals for rejected affordable developments, and Bullet Point Two: Explore improvements to the Cook County property tax system to reduce racial inequities and improve fairness and stability for low- and moderate-income homeowners.
January 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM