For Black History Month 2023, the Chicago Fire encourages the Chicago community to continue to reflect, learn, acknowledge, and coalition build to help create a fairer and more equitable world.
Over the past year, the Fire have contributed to the amplification, education, and celebration of Black culture through the following programs and initiatives:
- Funded through the Chicago Fire Foundation, the Club licensed nearly 100 Black, Brown, and Women community coaches with their U.S. Soccer Grassroots coaching certificates, creating more opportunities for coaches with a diverse background in Chicago.
- The Fire certified two of its staff members as WellbeingNsoccer MLS Next Cultural Coordinators who facilitated the training on the MLS Pledge and Diversity Initiatives for the Club’s entire Academy coaching staff, the Academy players, and their parents.
- For the second consecutive year, the Club’s internal I.D.E.A. (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access) Council sponsored a $500 scholarship for the National Coalition of 100 Black Women’s Black Expressions Art Contest. This contest is for Black women in 11th and 12th grade. This year’s live showcase is set to take place at the Haitian American Museum of Chicago on February 26th.
- The Club offers Chi-Buy for its staff members, a program developed by CFFC staff that encourages the support of Black and other minority-owned businesses. An extensive list of Chicago companies that are Black and minority owned has been shared with CFFC staff in an effort to incorporate the support of these businesses. Staff who spend money at qualifying businesses are given a “punch-card” that can be stamped by members of IDEA Council and are then entered into a quarterly raffle for a gift card to a minority owned business of the winner’s choosing.
- The Fire Foundation will establish a permanent home for its P.L.A.Y.S. Program (Participate, Learn, Achieve, Youth, Soccer) at the North Austin Center in addition to providing 20 hours of free community programming at the campus each week. Set to officially open this week, the 10-acre campus will enable equitable access to education, sports, and critical wraparound services for members of the historically under-resourced community, serving tens of thousands of individuals annually.
Additionally, under the leadership of Sporting Director Georg Heitz and Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson, the Club recently rounded out its first team coaching staff with the addition of Fire original, Zach Thornton, as head goalkeeping coach. With the addition of Thornton, the Fire proudly employ one of the most diverse first team coaching staffs in the League – 60 percent Black and African American, 20 percent Latino and 20 percent White.
“While Black History Month is only twenty-eight days of the year, the annual public celebration is an important marker for the Club to internally and externally communicate its continued investment and support of the Black community through our Foundation, community projects, and internal processes." said Evan Whitfield, Chicago Fire FC vice president of equity, alumni relations and engagement. “By sharing our progress and ongoing work, we hope that this will inspire other individuals and organizations to continue to make advancements in this space.”
