Help create a place for members and partners to connect, collaborate, strengthen organizational capacity, and improve international development strategies. Working together, we will enhance Chicago’s global impact.
Where We Work
Our members engage in community based partnerships across the globe. This interactive map shows where member organizations have ongoing operations.
Photo: The Posner Center
Programming
We provide opportunities to engage with global development thought leadership, new initiatives, field reports, a resource library, and more.
Members and Partners have access to
- Connections: Peer engagement and affinity groups, coaching and mentoring.
- Learning: Trainings, capacity building and professional services, intern program.
- Enhanced Impact: Grant opportunities, shared amenities, needs and markets, board development programs.
Photo: The Voices and Faces Project
Global Philanthropy
Philanthropy supporting Chicago-based global development nonprofits has a multiplier effect.
- Philanthropists can realize their strategic goals through collaboration with local nonprofit organizations.
- Funders can connect easily with nonprofits to assess needs, receive updates from the field, and refine giving strategies for greater impact.
- Local donations amplify Chicago’s role as a global city and strengthen the work of locally-based, globally-active groups.
- Support of the Simmons Center programs enables member nonprofits to reduce overhead costs, reallocating resources to the important work on the ground.
The Simmons Center curates resources for philanthropists in the Global Solutions section.
Photo: The Posner Center
Job Board
Search for jobs with our member/partner organizations, or external positions in a field related to global development. You can also share opportunities for the Simmons Center to include on this list.
The Center
The Simmons Center strengthens the international development community in Chicago and highlights Chicago’s profile as a global city. It brings together globally engaged nonprofits with like-minded professionals, donors, and businesses.
Located in the heart of Chicago, the Simmons Center catalyzes the positive work that is already being done by creating connections, building community, and offering shared amenities and services.
Explore our ever-growing collection of curated resources.
Tools
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Jobs Board
Opportunities listed here may be with Simmons Center member/partner organizations, or in a field related to global development. Although this list is reviewed regularly, prospective applicants should check with the posting organization to confirm details and requirements. If you are not a member/partner of the Simmons Center, and wish to add a job posting to our board, please send an email with Job Board in the subject line. Please note the Simmons Center will not forward job applications to postings.
Check out the Careers Without Borders panel conversation co-hosted by the Simmons Center and SID-US, sponsored by Opportunity International.
Chicago area college students - the Simmons Center offers paid flexible internships. Learn more here.
Opportunities with Simmons Center members/partners:
- Chicago-area college and graduate students interested in the role of visual arts in human rights advocacy - ART WORKS Projects offers year-round internships. Learn more here.
- Apna Ghar, an organization that provides culturally competent services and conducts outreach and advocacy to end gender violence, is looking for a Housing Advocate
- Chicago Council on Global Affairs hosts a year round unpaid internship program. Check out the position descriptions here.
- Chicago-area college students who are interested in supporting girls who have been displaced globally by conflict and persecution – GirlForward offers year-round, unpaid internships in Education, Education Logistics, Programs, Mentoring, Operations, Communications, Development, and Safe Spaces.
- Heartland Alliance International, an organization that works to secure the rights and well-being of vulnerable people and communities worldwide, is seeking a Case Manager for their Survivors of Torture Program.
- Heartland Alliance International is also seeking a Senior Case Manager, SOT.
- Heifer International supports smallholder farmers to sustainably address hunger and poverty in their communities to make a global impact, and they are seeking an Associate Counsel (English/Spanish) in their legal department.
- The MacArthur Foundation, committed to building a more peaceful world through their programs and grants, is seeking a Coordinator for their Program Management team.
- The MacArthur Foundation is offering a one-year Residency in Nonprofit Law to a recent law school graduate to work in its Office of the General Counsel beginning fall 2025.
- The MacArthur Foundation is seeking a Program Officer, New Work Exploration.
- NPH USA, a fundraising organization for NPH International, works to help children, families, and communities in need in Latin America and the Caribbean, and they are seeking a Vice President of Individual Giving.
- Opportunity International strives for a world where all people have the opportunity to achieve a life free from poverty, and they are seeking a Senior Director in the Office of the CEO.
- Opportunity International is also seeking a Senior Vice President of Finance.
- Project C.U.R.E. provides upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level college students hires unpaid interns for the Fall, Spring, and Summer for their Global Healthcare Internship Program.
- Upwardly Global helps work-authorized immigrants and refugees get back to work in their chosen fields in the U.S., and they are seeking a Director of Major Gifts.
Other Opportunities in the Field:
- Henry Crown & Company’s philanthropic division is seeking a Global Health Program Analyst with field experience in global health, cultural sensitivity, and a deep interest in community-based solutions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights is seeking a Movement Building Director.
- Karam Foundation NFP is an organization that impacts Syrian refugee youth and families, and they are seeking a remote Finance and Administration Manager.
- WaterAid America is seeking a remote Finance Officer, Grants & Revenue, apply by April 28, 2025.
- Plant with Purpose focuses on reducing deforestation and poverty through sustainable development. They are seeking a remote Vice President of Development & Marketing apply by May 1, 2025.
- MedGlobal is seeking a Security & Humanitarian Access Manager, apply by April 20, 2025.
- MedGlobal is seeking a Communications Coordinator apply by April 25, 2025.
- 350.org, an organization focused on climate action, is seeking a North America Regional Director apply by April 27, 2025.
- World Relief is seeking a Student Success Coach & Program Coordinator.
Peer Organizations
As nonprofit centers flourish across the country, theme-based centers galvanize mission-aligned groups by creating economies of scale, finding avenues for collaboration and synergy, providing opportunities for cost savings, and more.
The international nonprofit community faces a unique challenge of balancing workspace and community in the US with the operations of their primary work abroad. Finding community and collaborators in the US while focused on project operations and teams around the world can be particularly challenging and lonely. In cities across the US, several global development focused nonprofit centers have emerged to meet this need.
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