Our Chicago community

Last year, we launched the inaugural Obama Presidential Center Roadshows across Chicago's South and West Sides, previewing our upcoming cultural institution. Events in South Shore and Washington Park highlighted features like the Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit & Vegetable Garden, Teaching Kitchen, and the Home Court at the Obama Presidential Center, an athletic center, programs and events facility. We also hosted a youth input session to gather programming ideas for the Home Court, expanding community engagement citywide and beyond to all 77 neighborhoods.

In 2023, we hosted and participated in a total of 16 events across the city,engaging 2,340 attendees and volunteers for our events and service projects.

The Futures Series, created out of a conversation Mrs. Obama had with Hyde Park Academy students, introduces high school students to diverse professions across industries and reflects our ongoing commitment to inspire, empower, and connect the next generation. Through intimate conversations with accomplished leaders, students gain insights into career pathways and valuable lessons.

Over 200 students at Hyde Park Academy High School are selected based on their career aspirations, allowing them to meet professionals in fields ranging from medicine and entrepreneurship to art, hospitality, and, of course, public service. This connection to diverse career opportunities helps activate more people to participate in democracy, both at home and abroad. As the Futures Series continues at Hyde Park Academy, it will expand with larger sessions at Home Court at the Obama Presidential Center beginning fall 2025.

As part of the Futures Series experience, participants took a field trip to Navy Pier for a special event at EXPO Chicago, an annual showcase of contemporary and modern art. Students spent time with artists Hebru Brantley and Zanele Muholi to learn about career paths in the arts. They also toured an art fair featuring more than 170 exhibitors from 36 countries. This was the first year the Futures Series took place outside of Hyde Park Academy. Participants also visited Mielle Organics and Luella's Southern Kitchen. The future Obama Presidential Center will offer arts education programs for community members to explore their creative talents, supporting initiatives like this.

Our 2023 Future Series list of speakers included:

• Marty Nesbitt, Obama Foundation Board Chair, Founding Partner and Co-CEO, Vistria, LLC

• Chef Darnell Reed, Luella’s Southern Kitchen

• Melvin Rodriguez, Mielle Organics

• Hebru Brantley and Zanele Muholi, Artists

• Dr. Sewyln Rogers, Founding Director, University of Chicago Medicine Trauma Center

• J. Ivy, Grammy-Award Winning Artist/Poet

Local Lunchbox (Opens in a new tab)was founded in Chelsea, Massachusetts, by the Shah Family Foundation, an organization that supports transformative work in education, health care, and the community. 

We are thrilled to have worked together with the Shah Family Foundation to expand the program to Chicago in 2022. The program seeks to connect small food businesses with community organizations to provide meals to kids 18 and under—and it’s supported by funding from the United States Department of Agriculture. In 2023, the Local Lunchbox program served over 82,000 meals in partnership with YMCA of Metro Chicago and Greater Chicago Food Depository. 

Through this program, we were delighted to provide free meals to Chicago youth as part of our partnership with the YMCA of Metro Chicago. Community members aged 18 and under could stop by one of these Y locations (Opens in a new tab) for free breakfast and lunch provided by Local Lunchbox, in partnership with the Obama Foundation and the Shah Family Foundation. 

Local Lunchbox sponsors

YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago  (Opens in a new tab) 

Greater Chicago Food Depository   (Opens in a new tab)

Local Lunchbox meal site/distribution partners

Social Works (Opens in a new tab)

Imagine Englewood IF (Opens in a new tab)

After School Matters (Opens in a new tab)

YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago 

Local food vendors

Cajun Cafe Chicago

ChiFresh Kitchen