If you doubt whether quintessential “old fashioned” Midwestern values still work to achieve success in our increasingly complex world, please get to know Peter McNitt. He embodies those values — including a good attitude and gratitude for family, friends, community, and the opportunity to serve. As an entry level employee at Harris Bank who rose […]
Ace Hotel Chicago, scheduled to open in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood in September 2017, will donate 10 percent of its bookings revenue through mid-April to local charities that support Chicago’s youth, ultimately hoping to reach its $25,000 goal. Ace Hotel Chicago will work with Little Black Pearl, YCA and 826CHI during the launch of the hotel’s bookings. […]
Need inspiration to lean in and embrace your faith, intellect, gifts and power to create impact? Please get to know Shirley Ryan. Other-centered, eloquent and determined, she is a social entrepreneur extraordinaire, whose strategic and values-driven work to create opportunities that lift up others was honored at a ceremony celebrating the integration of two groundbreaking […]
Once nameless and homeless, a southern sea otter pup is now a permanent resident at John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. In January, the 10-week-old pup was found alone on Carmel Beach in Carmel, California. Staff at nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium tried but were unable to find her mother. Monterey Bay rescued the pup, then […]
Chicago’s top sports teams are making an impact in local communities through their charitable arms. We asked each team to tell us more about these nonprofits, their achievements and how players and coaches get involved. Chicago Cubs Nonprofit: Chicago Cubs Charities Mission: To provide increased access to sports opportunities and target improvements in health, fitness […]
Juan Vaglienty remembers very clearly the first time his toddler daughter, Amelia, spotted and grabbed an object. Amelia, now five, was two at the time. Vaglienty had placed a toy, a musical, blinking robot encased in a clear plastic ball, on Amelia’s breakfast tray. As the ball spun, emitting light and music, “we saw her […]
At Make It Better, we’ve long enjoyed profiling individuals whose work makes our community better. We consider them Local Treasures. We realized though that businesses that embed good social practices in their work culture and business plans often have even greater impact. Of course, we want to amplify and inspire more of this kind of […]
Restaurateur and social entrepreneur Hecky Powell proudly honors and reflects the values of his great-grandfather — a slave who learned hard work in cotton fields, escaped using the Underground Railroad, raised a large family and eventually settled in Evanston as the town’s first black barber. Powell owns Hecky’s Barbecue in Evanston, which was voted Best […]
Thanks to a $2.1 million grant awarded at the end of 2015 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI) at Indiana University has begun work on an expansive three-year project that will produce a variety of accessible, easy-to-use resources for the benefit and use of the public, nonprofits and Melinda Gates herself. “This kind of […]
Businesses built on good values ultimately become the most successful. Think Whole Foods, Starbucks, hospitals built to the highest LEED standards using designs known to uplift spirits and promote healing, high-end event vendors who give back, and (ahem) Make It Better. As Wharton Business School wunderkind professor Adam Grant demonstrates in his New York Times best-selling […]
