our mission
To strengthen partner schools in Chicago area neighborhoods by increasing access, supporting leaders, and being a catalyst for growth so more families may experience a high quality, Christ-centered education.
Our Vision
Every child in Chicagoland has access to a quality, Christ-centered school.
CORE VALUES
Equity: We believe at the core of what it means to be a human created in the image of God is the ability to choose. We believe every child should have access to a quality, Christ-centered school regardless of economic status and acknowledge the historical inequity in access to Christ-centered education.
Sustainability: We believe within creation, God has provided more than enough and continues to engage with this world in guiding the stewardship of His creation. Through sound leadership, shared resources, generosity and legislation schools can not only survive, but thrive anywhere in the city.
Collaboration: We have been created to be in community, and when leaders willingly challenge, encourage and share ideas and resources the result for each individual school will be a better version of what they currently are.
Growth: We believe in a God who is actively engaged in our constantly changing world. Because of this, we must consistently ask of ourselves and each other what growth looks like and embed this into the culture of our schools. This is both quantitative and qualitative.
Advocacy: We believe in the value and impact of a Christ-centered education and each family should have the right to choose a community-based school which is right for them. It is important for local, state and federal governments to be aware of and consider the community benefits a Christ-centered school provides, and the desire of constituents to participate in these schools. We will advocate for legislation which makes this possible.
Celebration: We believe in a God of joy and will celebrate the community which makes Christ-centered education possible.
Our History
In the mid-90s, several visionaries pictured a fund that would provide financial resources for urban Christian schools, particularly those which — once in financial crisis mode - are now ready to move from viability to sustainability. These people of vision dreamed and prayed. In 2010 they saw their dreams materialize in the formation of Bright Promise Fund for Urban Christian Education, a registered 501(c)(3), nonprofit charitable organization.
The Center for Christian Urban Educators
In addition to supporting our network schools with funds for tuition assistance, Bright Promise Fund supports the work of the Center for Christian Urban Educators (C-CUE) to provide leadership and professional development to our network schools. C-CUE provides a forum for mutual support and encouragement, prayers and the sharing of best practices. Together, these schools are stronger in their work and witness and give proof to the power of Christian education in Chicago.
Financial Transparency
Bright Promise Fund is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All gifts to Bright Promise Fund are tax-deductible.
Financial transparency means being accountable to God, our Board and supporters for the proper stewardship of funds. It is the Board policy and intent that all operating expenses are met through their gifts, interest earned on an invested estate gift and restricted foundation support. This means that all gifts from donors go directly to support our partner schools in strengthening their missions.
Here is a link to our most current Form 990. Our financial records are audited annually by the firm of Evenhouse Accounting, Elmhurst IL. A budget summary appears in each annual report shared in our newsletters with all donors.
Questions about financial transparency may be addressed to the Executive Director or the President of our Board of Directors.
Our Approach
A Promise to Meet the Challenge
Urban Christian schools face unique challenges. They intentionally recruit for economic and ethnic diversity, are challenged by financial limitations that impact program and staff development, are housed in aging buildings and often rely on external fund support.
But the bright promise these schools provide is an environment where all students are viewed as image-bearers of God, where faith is integrated into life and learning, where teachers and administrators teach with love and work hard at developing change agents for Christ, and where classrooms are reflections of the diversity of Christ’s kingdom. These urban Christian schools build character, conviction and community. They give parents a clear choice for excellence in an often discouraging educational landscape, and they give hope to their neighborhoods and promise to Chicago.
How can we bless more families with the promise of Christian education? Bright Promise Fund for Urban Christian Education, a registered 501(c)(3), non-profit charitable organization, was begun in 2010 to generate new sources of revenue for urban Christian schools in Chicago. All funds raised each year are distributed to our Chicago area network schools to provide tuition assistance and scholarship opportunities so that more students and their families may experience and benefit from urban Christian education and its bright promise.
We Can Do This… Together
Bright Promise Fund is calling on the business and corporate world in Chicago, city churches, foundations and individual donors to support the work of our network schools.
The bright promise these schools offer will be realized with your help:
A one-time gift
A promise to be a sustaining donor for a longer period of time
Remembering Bright Promise Fund in your estate planning. The Bright Promise Fund is a member of the Barnabas Foundation, which provides free estate planning consultations.
Adopting Bright Promise Fund for support by your church
Keeping Bright Promise Fund and its member schools in your prayers
Any and all of these options may be discussed with the Bright Promise Fund Director, Mr. Steve Blom.
Operating expenses for Bright Promise Fund come from three sources: an estate gift which established an ongoing endowment, gifts from corporate and family Foundations, and the support of our Board of Directors. With these three sources sustaining our operating costs, we can say with thanksgiving that all gifts from donors, unless otherwise restricted, go directly to the network schools.
Board of Directors
RYNE DEBOER
Vice President for Strategic Business Development, Morey Corp.
KEN ERFFMEYER
Senior Gift Officer, Calvin University
AMY GROENEWOLD
ESL Coordinator K-8, Catalyst Maria Charter School
LOU FAN
Strategic Sourcing Manager Transportation, Smithfield Foods
ANNE LARSEN VANDERWEELE, Board Secretary
Government Affairs Associate, Metropolitan Family Services
CLARENCE MEDEMA
CEO, Medema & Co. LLC
CHRIS WIESEHAN, Board Chair
Founder, CJW Capital
TED WILLIAMS
Political Science Faculty, City Colleges of Illinois
Staff
Steve Blom
Executive Director
Prior to joining Bright Promise Fund, Steve served in fundraising and on the Board of two Bright Promise network schools. He is committed to fulfilling the promise that Christ-centered urban education should be accessible to any family who desires it, and is thankful for the opportunity to connect this mission with the generosity God has provided through individuals, corporations, churches and organizations.
Steve is a graduate of Dordt University and Calvin Theological Seminary, and is thankful for the commitment to Christ-centered education that was instilled in him at an early age. He and his wife live in South Holland, IL and their three children attend Bright Promise schools.
“A commitment to Christ-centered education in urban and multicultural contexts shouldn’t be easy, but it is important and good, especially today.”
Office: 312-392-0953 | Email Steve >
Rosanna Farquhar
Executive Assistant
Prior to staying home to raise her three sons, Rosanna worked as a Human Resources Manager for PWC, a global provider of consulting services, and Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, a management and technology consulting services firm. It was through her experience at these firms that she gained a comprehensive background in HR generalist affairs. She also held a role as the Director of Human Resources at AllCell Technologies, a manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries. Her roots were founded in a financial investment consulting firm in Chicago named Ellwood Associates, where she worked as a research analyst.
Rosanna is a graduate of DePaul University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in the areas of both Finance and Management. Her school age children attend a Christian school in Chicago and Rosanna is excited about the opportunity to help Chicago families gain access to urban Christian education.
Office: 312-392-0953 | Email Rosanna >
Wendy Daniels
Finance Manager
After completing undergrad and graduate school at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Wendy worked for a number of years for a firm which provided MBE and WBE monitoring for the redevelopment of Navy Pier. Wendy worked out of the office of the construction manager and provided regular reporting to the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority documenting the participation of minority and women owned businesses on the project. Eventually, the project experienced some financial challenges and her employer was forced to reduce his staff.
Although the circumstances were not what Wendy would have chosen, there was a hidden blessing, as she was able to remain home for a number of months during the final months of pregnancy with her 2nd child and spent unplanned time with both children prior to returning to work.
During this time, Wendy was approached by a friend to provide part-time bookkeeping services to a friend of hers who owned an interior design firm. The hours worked well with Wendy’s family and she began providing services 2-3 days/week. While there, her employer recommended her to a couple of her colleagues as well – a manufacturer’s rep and an architect. During this time, it was better to switch to an independent contractor status as her client list grew.
Within 2 years of becoming an independent contractor, with the encouragement of her accountant father, Wendy incorporated and became an official small business. Books by Wendy, Inc has existed for over 20 years, and Wendy has been providing bookkeeping services for 24 years, specializing in Quickbooks software. Through the years, Books by Wendy has obtained extensive experience working with non-profit organizations, the majority of which make up her clientele. However, the firm also provides services to for-profit businesses.
The Books by Wendy team consists of Wendy and 3 assistants and continues to grow. Wendy’s passion is to help small organizations manage their finances, so they are free to provide their services or products without financial stress.
Office: 312-392-0953 | Email Wendy >