Our Purpose

DuPage Foundation was formally established in 1986 as a fund of The Chicago Community Trust. A volunteer committee of local leaders – led by our founders Brooks McCormick, Mary Eleanor Wall, and Jerry Bradshaw – was appointed to guide the Foundation in its earliest days. In 1987, we awarded our very first grant of $10,000 to the DuPage County Historical Society. Just one year later, we distributed $50,000 across six local organizations. 

In 1987, the Foundation hired our first part-time employee, Ann Henderson. Just a few years later, in 1990, Bonnie Heydorn began her Foundation career. Bonnie would go on to become our first Director of Grants and would be on staff for 18 years, retiring in 2008.

In 1994, we officially became our own independent 501(c)(3) organization, ensuring our future as a DuPage organization.

In 1998, Dave McGowan was hired as Executive Director. He would go on to lead the organization as its chief staff officer for the next 25 years. That fall, we celebrated a new grantmaking milestone: $1,000,000 in cumulative grants.

Our community support continued to grow, and by the early 2000s, we were managing more than $15 million in charitable assets. Carole and Dick Cline and Joe and Bess Kindlon both honored the Foundation with our first $1 million endowed gifts. 

In partnership with the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, from 2000-2004, we helped 25 nonprofits establish nonprofit investment and endowment funds, providing grantee agencies with a $10,000 match when they raised $40,000 or more for their funds.  

In 2003, we, along with several other Illinois community foundations, began a five-year, multi-million dollar partnership with Grand Victoria Foundation designed to help improve the economic and environmental health of local communities across our state through technical support and the creation of permanent endowments. The Foundation elected to concentrate on early childhood education and, together with lead investments from Grand Victoria Foundation and several area donors, ultimately created our Bright & Early DuPage initiative.   

In 2006, our longest serving Trustee, Cleve Carney, retired from the Board. Cleve served for nearly 17 years, including eight years as Board Chair. He was an instrumental part of our growth, including starting our Annual Benefit.  

As DuPage County grew and changed, so did the Foundation. In 2007, we launched the Next Generation Initiative, focused on building a pipeline of future philanthropic leaders. That same year our Legacy Society—made up of individuals who’ve included the Foundation in their estate plans—grew to more than 100 members. 

By our 25th anniversary in 2011, we had awarded more than $10 million in cumulative grants and grown our assets to more than $30 million. Two years later, we launched Bright & Early DuPage, a county-wide initiative focused on helping young children, from birth to age five, receive the tools they need to succeed in kindergarten and throughout their lives.  

In 2016, we created Arts DuPage to support and promote the local arts community. That same year, we moved into our current home at 3000 Woodcreek Drive in Downers Grove.  

And in 2017, a landmark investment from the Gustafson Family Foundation created our largest donor-advised fund to date, nearly $17 million, and solidified a shared vision for community impact. 

In 2020, when COVID-19 disrupted lives across DuPage County, we quickly set up our COVID-19 Response Fund, distributing nearly $1.8 million in emergency grants to help our neighbors in need. By our 35th anniversary in 2021, we had surpassed $125 million in assets and more than $60 million in cumulative grants awarded.   

In January 2022, recognizing residents’ continued needs in the areas of food insecurity, housing instability, mental health, and substance use disorder, DuPage County and DuPage Foundation created the DuPage Community Transformation Partnership, a $10 million, five-year grant program to support local social service nonprofits helping residents hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic while building systems to address these issues on an ongoing basis. 

In December 2022, Dave McGowan retired after 25 years as the chief staff officer. Mike Sitrick, formerly our EVP for Advancement, succeeded him as president & CEO. 

Today, the Foundation is celebrating 40 years of community impact. We manage more than $175 million in assets and have awarded over $115 million in grants. From early childhood development and workforce readiness to mental health, housing, and the arts, we continue to invest in what matters most to our community.  

As we look ahead, our goal remains the same: to raise the quality of life throughout DuPage.  

And with your support, we’ll keep growing a stronger, more vibrant DuPage together.