CFW is a community foundation that was founded in 1985 by four philanthropists named; Marjorie Craig Benton, Sunny Fischer, Iris J. Krieg, and Lucia Woods Lindley.
Members of each giving council and circle pool their dollars to expand their investments into local organizations making a difference in the lives of women and girls in their communities.
[6] The South Side Giving Circle was created in 2018 with the goal of providing aid to black women and girls within the communities that suffer from gender and race inequities.
This group has been awarded more than US$95,000 towards 12 organizations and programs: which include the Youth Empowerment Performance Project (YEPP) and Affinity Community Services.
[10] As of 2019, their biggest fundraiser thus far was the Annual International Women's Day Dance at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture.
Their 32nd luncheon, which was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Thursday, October 19, 2017 featured Black Lives Matter co-founders Alicia Garza and Dolores Huerta, who are farm workers advocating as speakers.
[17] Some of the honorees at the impact awards have been Tracy Baim, who co-founded and published the Windy City Times, LGBTQ activists, Terry Cosgrove, and Jane Saks.
[23] CFW awarded a total of US$1million to organizations in the Chicago area to improve workforce training, support services, and programs designed to stabilize the economic status of women.
Acción Chicago, a small business support organization, received US$15,000 to educate minority, women in low-income communities about entrepreneurship.
Jane Addams Resource Corporation received US$75,000 for their Women in Manufacturing Program which offers aid and education to female housewives.
CFW awarded US$15,000 to GirlForward, a refugee support organization for young girls, to improve their education after going through violence by partnering them up with a mentor through their mentorship program.
The Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative received US$19,000 from CFW for their Perinatal Enhanced Case Management program which provides health resources for pregnant HIV positive women.