NICI: A Force for Good

Small Illinois foundation punches above its weight

In the traditionally under-served Illinois communities of Joliet, Rockford and South Suburban Cook County,  a small nonprofit foundation is having a disproportionately large, positive social impact.

Northern Illinois Community Initiatives (NICI), a foundation established by Nicor Gas, is focused on providing financial support for programs that align with three pillars: economic mobility, commercial development and small business support. NICI launched with $20 million in 2021, and Executive Director Tovah McCord has led the foundation since its inception.

But her passion for social impact is not new.

Tovah McCord is the executive director of Northern Illinois Community Initiatives (NICI)

“I am the daughter of two educators, and they always taught me about giving back. I would say my parents were the most influential on where I am today and the desire to find and have real purpose in the work that I do,” McCord said.

And that early influence has guided her career path. Prior to entering corporate philanthropy, McCord worked in brand management for a personal care company and as a public-school teacher and administrator on the south side of Chicago. 

NICI: A Force Multiplier

Nicor Gas President & CEO Wendall Dallas and Tovah McCord (right) at the NICI Grantee Luncheon in November 2023

On one November afternoon in Naperville, Illinois, McCord, the NICI board of directors and program team, gathered for an annual luncheon to honor its grant recipients. Among the grantees in attendance were representatives of The Harvey Brooks Foundation (HBF). The Joliet, Illinois-based Foundation serves the local community, which is located in a food desert, through an after school program and a food pantry on the city’s east side.

NICI has watched HBF grow in scale and scope over the course of two years.

“They used our funding to take those programs to the next level,” McCord said. “For us, that’s what  success is all about: to see our grantees being able to thrive, being able to think bigger and more broadly then they have in the past.” Think Big, is also a second year NICI grant recipient.

The nonprofit organization promotes minority entrepreneurship and business development. In 2023, it expanded its programming in the Rockford, Illinois region to specifically support women entrepreneurs: Think Big + Women. “This segment of the small business community that has its own unique set of challenges, like not being taken seriously and have trouble getting access to capital and child care,” she said. “Bbeing a single parent or not being a single parent, oftentimes female entreprenuers still having the bulk of the responsibility at home, even with a partner.”

McCord is extremely proud of NICI’s role in uplifting communities and small business entrepreneurs through its allies. She credits her team with NICI’s success and its ability to direct resources to targeted communities in Northern Illinois.

“I have a fantastic team,” McCord said. "They care so much about the communities we serve, our grantees and the work that we are doing. I am just grateful to be on a team with them.” 

To learn more about the Northern Illinois Community Initiatives, visit: https://www.nici-il.org.