Mission
The Chicago Bar Foundation is dedicated to bringing our legal community together to ensure that everyone in the Chicago metropolitan area has equal access to justice, particularly the low-income and disadvantaged people who are in most critical need of the protections of our civil legal system.  Through grants, advocacy and other leadership, the CBF takes a system-wide approach to improving access to justice and focuses on those objectives that are best achieved by working together as a community.


Vision
The CBF’s vision is that all people in the Chicago metropolitan area have equal access to justice and that Chicago’s legal community fully embraces its leadership responsibility to uphold this fundamental American principle.


Values
1)  Equal access to justice is central to our democratic society, integral to the effective functioning of our justice system, and a critical part of the safety net for vulnerable members of our community.

2)  As trustees of our system of justice, lawyers have a special responsibility to be the leaders in ensuring the system is accessible to everyone.  As the charitable arm of The Chicago Bar Association, the CBF is firmly committed to upholding this fundamental responsibility of the legal profession and believes that the huge and persistent gap in access to our civil justice system is a call to action to the legal community.

3)  The concerted efforts of the legal community have the power to significantly improve access to justice for low-income and disadvantaged people in the Chicago metropolitan area and ultimately to ensure that our nation’s promise of equal access to justice becomes a reality.

4)  All of our stakeholders are equally important to fulfilling our mission: our donors; our grantees; our board, staff and volunteers; the CBA; our many other partners; and all of the people in the Chicago metropolitan area who ultimately benefit from our collective efforts.

5)  The CBF is committed to striving for excellence and transparency in all of our work, managing our resources effectively, and adhering to the highest ethical standards in our governance and management.