About UsCalumet Collaborative catalyzes innovative partnerships between Illinois and Indiana community, government, business and nonprofit stakeholders to advance a thriving Calumet region.
Spanning southeast Chicago, south Cook County and northwest Indiana, the bi-state Calumet region boasts proud and diverse communities, important natural ecosystems, and a powerful industrial heritage. As the Calumet region builds on these assets toward a vibrant future for people, wildlife and businesses, Calumet Collaborative is fostering a new level of collaboration in sustainable development. MissionThe Calumet Collaborative is dedicated to achieving inclusive regional prosperity and improving quality of life by focusing attention and resources of diverse stakeholders on priorities and on-the-ground work that integrate community, economic, and environmental values and have regional impact.
VisionThe advancement of a thriving Calumet region through transformative sustainable development.
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Download our one-page fact sheet here.
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Our Model
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Foster stronger collaboration across agencies, organizations, and research institutions utilizing public private partnership (P3) principles to leverage resources and provide greater impact than any one organization could achieve on its own
Establish and promote a shared identity for the region and promote its assets Leverage the unique sustainable development opportunities to elevate and advance opportunities for regional development - compete as a Calumet region, globally Empower communities and stakeholders by providing pathways to engage and participate in transforming the region |
Our Definition of Equity
Climate Resilience & Equity are the overarching drivers of Calumet Collaborative’s work in the region, and it is Calumet Collaborative’s role as a regional unifier and collaborator is to convene partners on projects that incorporate these drivers. It is embodied in all the work Calumet Collaborative does, and it encourages innovation. We define Equity as the following:
- Racial Equity: Naming and working to break patterns of historic and current structural racism that has disadvantaged Black and Latinx communities.
- Participatory Equity: Ensuring those who are most directly impacted by an issue or outcome have voice in decision-making processes.
- Distributional Equity: Ensuring regional assets and investments—form capacity to funding—are distributed in an equitable way.
- Opportunity Equity: Improving access to opportunities and resources—from jobs and economic opportunity to transportation and recreation—for the communities that need them most.
- Outcome Equity: Ensuring that the impact or benefits of the work of sustainable development is experienced by those that could benefit the most and that it is equitably experienced.