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Co-governance
PIlot Initiatives

What role does CUE play in the Co-Governance Pilot Initiatives?

In partnership with the Office of Equity and Racial Justice (OERJ), CUE is leading the implementation of three Co-Governance Pilot Initiatives to put Chicago’s Co-Governance Framework into practice. CUE brings its deep expertise in community-led decision-making to support these pilots through strategic guidance, resources, and co-facilitation. While each initiative is led by its respective community and City leaders, CUE and OERJ will collaborate to ensure alignment with the framework’s vision for equitable, shared governance.

How are the Pilot Initiatives Implementing Co-Governance?

Harvesting Food, Sustaining Communities, Cultivating Collaboration: Removing Barriers to Urban Farming and Food Access

  • The Challenge: Ensure farmers and community gardeners have shared decision-making power with City government over policies that affect urban agriculture, simplify access to City resources, and remove burdensome barriers.  

  • The Deliverable: Develop 2026–2027 policy priorities and an implementation plan for the Food Equity Council Urban Agriculture Subcommittee to advance equitable urban farming and food access.

Reimaging Reentry by Centering Lived Experience: Investing in Community-Driven Reform to Support Returning Residents

  • The Challenge: Implement a collaborative approach between the communities most impacted and government agencies to ensure limited resources address the most urgent needs of returning residents.

  • The Deliverable: Produce recommendations for better integrating City services with returning-resident service providers to reduce gaps and duplication; Launch a coordinated $500k Request for Proposals (RFP) and select grantees to fund programs supporting returning residents.​

Building Electrification and Healthy Communities: Equitable Strategies for Health, Affordability, and Climate

  • The Challenge: Address environmental racism in Chicago’s ‘sacrifice zones’ — areas where Black and Latine communities face disproportionate pollution, health impacts, and economic burdens — by prioritizing equitable building decarbonization and reduced energy costs.

  • The Deliverables:

    • Form an Advisory Committee rooted in co‑governance to guide policy, strategic planning, and program implementation for the next Equitable Buildings Decarbonization Strategy.  

    • Task the Advisory Committee with conducting a Program Assessment of two bond‑funded housing decarbonization initiatives (Green Homes Chicago and Multifamily Housing Decarbonization) to review completed projects and recommend design improvements for Phase 2. 

Learn more about these pilot initiatives at chi.gov/co-governance.

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