The Open Philanthropy Project recommended a grant of $125,000 to The People’s Lobby Education Institute to support its work on prosecutorial accountability in Chicago. This grant falls within Open Philanthropy's work on criminal justice reform.
The People’s Lobby Education Institute is a nonprofit organization that develops strong grassroots leaders. It plans to use this grant to a) support local organizing to work with Cook County State’s Attorney (SA) Kim Foxx to ensure that her policies are ensuring the safety of Cook County communities without overly relying on jail and prison incarceration, and b) build these groups’ capacity to relate to SA Foxx in a productive way. Possible activities include town hall meetings, prayer vigils, and quarterly meetings with SA Foxx to determine whether she is meeting the groups’ standards for community accountability and reduced use of harsh criminal justice sanctions. Open Philanthropy believes that holding SA Foxx accountable is important to the long-term success of the strategy of prosecutorial accountability.