At their core, the most important themes in life are universal. Across cultures and continents, humans share the same hopes: lives filled with love, safe communities, access to quality healthcare and education, and opportunities to explore their passions. The Make It Better Foundation and Better Magazine exist to make it easier for our audience to […]

“I felt misunderstood for so much of my life,” says Monique*, reflecting on years of therapy before receiving an autism diagnosis as an adult. She was labeled lazy by teachers, and what seemed easy for peers felt difficult for her. Monique felt she had to mask her differences to fit in. It was exhausting. Autism […]

The tension in the room was palpable. Board members dug in on opposing positions. A staff leader threatened to resign. The group’s leader called for a timeout before a vote to buy time. The scene was the 2022 board meeting of the India Philanthropy Alliance. The board members were debating a collective fundraising effort called […]

There is a question that haunts every fundraiser, every program officer, every grant writer who has ever stared at a blank page: How do you make someone feel the weight of a life changed? We try. We craft annual reports with glossy photographs. We write impact summaries with metrics. We build infographics that turn human […]

One of the world’s leading ocean conservationists and award-winning nature photographers, Paul Nicklen has spent more than three decades documenting both the beauty of the natural world and the accelerating impact of climate change. Trained as a marine biologist and shaped by decades of fieldwork, Nicklen — a National Geographic contributor for more than 20 […]

In Chicago’s Little Village — often called the “Mexico of the Midwest” for its vibrant Mexican-American culture — a neighborhood school was preparing to host a community event connected to The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros’ iconic coming-of-age story about growing up between cultures on Chicago’s West Side. The event was meant to be […]

I remember the day I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize the woman staring back at me. My stomach churned, my hands shook, and the circles under my eyes could no longer be covered with makeup. That was the defining moment I chose to rescue myself from my abuser, despite the privilege that convinced […]

The biodiversity crisis is often framed as a science problem, but at its core, it is a human one — and it calls for a human-centered solution. Around the world, species that anchor entire ecosystems are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services estimates that up to one […]

Charity may begin at home, but it doesn’t have to stay there. Galas for good causes nationwide can give you an even better reason to pack your bags than wanderlust.

Seventy-two percent of all jobs over the next decade will require a college credential, and nearly half of those will require a four-year degree. For 85 percent of “good jobs” that provide higher salaries, benefits, and protection from economic downturns, that credential is even more important. Yet, overall college enrollment is down from its 2010 […]

Patti Smith has worn many titles through the years — rocker, godmother of punk, poet, artist, writer, wife, mother, sister, advocate, friend, mentor, muse. For a brief chapter at the beginning of her story, she was also a Chicagoan. Returning to the city where she was baptized in 1947, Smith joined Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy […]

From book bans and attacks on journalists and free speech to federal funding cuts and the loss of literary spaces, the ecosystem that sustains reading and writing is under growing pressure. Libraries, newsrooms, classrooms, and independent bookstores are all feeling the strain. Taken together, these forces point to something larger. “[T]he biggest crisis of our […]