Bright Promises 2025 Awards: Honoring Leaders Who Transform the Lives of Children and Youth

Every year, Bright Promises Foundation celebrates extraordinary individuals who are shaping a brighter future for children and families across Chicago. These honorees embody service, advocacy, and innovation, creating lasting change in communities and systems that impact young people’s lives.

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Community Impact Award: Honoring Transformational Service and Enduring Impact

The Community Impact Award recognizes an individual who demonstrates exceptional commitment to direct service for children and families. This honoree’s work is deeply rooted in community and creates transformational, far-reaching impact through sustained engagement, leadership, and care.

2025 Honoree: Grace Araya, President & CEO, Concordia Place

Grace Araya is a seasoned leader with over 20 years in early childhood education and more than five years in nonprofit executive leadership. A former refugee from Eritrea, Grace grew up in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, where her passion for service began. Her career has been dedicated to advancing equity in education and improving outcomes for children and families, especially those most underserved.

Since joining Concordia Place in Fall 2023, Grace has:

• Welcomed over 200 newly arrived migrant families into early childhood and youth programs—one of the highest enrollment rates in the region.
• Partnered with Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services to enroll families directly in shelters.
• Built partnerships to provide essentials like baby formula, clothing, and books for new arrivals.

Previously, Grace served as Vice President of Community Impact at Illinois Action for Children, managing a $9M portfolio of programs and launching statewide early childhood initiatives. Her leadership continues to strengthen systems that support children’s daily lives and inspire lasting change.

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Champion for Children Award: Celebrating Bold Advocacy and Innovative Leadership

The Champion for Children Award honors an individual who advances the wellbeing of children through advocacy, innovation, and cross-sector leadership.

2025 Honoree: Tony Alvarado Rivera, Executive Director, Chicago Freedom School

Tony Alvarado Rivera is a nationally recognized youth advocate, cultural organizer, and educator with over two decades of experience in movement building, healing justice, and LGBTQ+ activism. As Executive Director of the Chicago Freedom School, Tony equips Black and Brown youth and adult allies with tools to develop actionable strategies for social change.

Highlights of Tony’s impact include:

• Founding and leading initiatives like PFLAG en Español and the Latin@ PRIDE Picnic.
• Developing award-winning programs such as the LGBTQ Mentor Program at the Broadway Youth Center.
• Serving on the education subcommittee for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transition team, shaping equity-driven policy.

Tony’s work centers healing, liberation, and radical education, creating spaces where youth voices drive systemic change.

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Elevating Youth Voices Award: Celebrating Emerging Leadership and the Power of Youth Advocacy

The Elevating Youth Voices Award recognizes a rising leader who champions the voices, ideas, and leadership of young people. This award includes a $5,000 grant to the recipient’s organization to support their professional development.

2025 Honoree: Maria Paula Gareza Degillo, Youth Director, Communities United

Maria Degillo is a powerful advocate for youth leadership and equity, whose work has transformed education policy and created healing-centered spaces for young people across Chicago. As Youth Director at Communities United and a founding leader of Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE), Maria has spent over a decade amplifying the voices of young people of color and dismantling systemic barriers.

Key achievements include:

• Spearheading the movement to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline in Illinois, leading to the nation’s most comprehensive school discipline reform law.
• Driving major revisions to the Chicago Public Schools Code of Conduct, reducing suspensions and expulsions.
• Cultivating a new generation of youth leaders through restorative justice and healing-centered engagement.

Maria’s leadership ensures that youth voices shape decisions, policies, and programs, creating a future where every young person feels seen, heard, and empowered.

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Special Thanks to Our Selection Committee

The Bright Promises Awards would not be possible without the dedication and expertise of our Selection Committee. These leaders bring deep knowledge, passion, and commitment to ensuring that our honorees truly reflect the values of equity, innovation, and impact for children and youth.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to:

• Nick Bruce – Wintrust Bank
• Daniel Anello – Kids First Chicago
• E. Chico – University of Illinois Chicago
• Eva Giglio – CME Foundation
• Myetie Hamilton – Leadership Greater Chicago
• Monique Jones – Forefront
• Maureen Kelly – Christ the King Jesuit College Prep
• Kafi Moragne-Patterson – Chicago Urban League
• Adrian Segura – The Luminary Collective

Your leadership ensures that the Bright Promises Awards continue to honor individuals who are making a transformational difference in the lives of children and families across Chicago.

About Bright Promises Foundation

Bright Promises Foundation invests in innovative solutions that address the most pressing needs of children and youth in Illinois. Through strategic partnerships and community-driven initiatives, Bright Promises builds capacity for lasting change.

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