CHAT – Life Changing Speech Therapy Chosen as Comcast/NBC5 Projection Innovation Grantee

Jul 13, 2022 | News

LOMBARD – July 13, 2022 – CHAT – Life Changing Speech Therapy (CHAT) has been chosen as one of eight Chicago region non-profits to receive “Project Innovation” grants from the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation and NBCUniversal Local, a division of NBCUniversal that is home to NBC/Telemundo owned stations. The grants are being given to 90 organizations that foster a culture of equity and inclusion in their communities.


CHAT was awarded in the Culture of Inclusion category for the Executive Functioning program being offered at the Little Village Reconnection Hub in Chicago. CHAT developed its Executive Functioning program for youth aged 10-22 in response to a lack of access to executive functioning supports for many underserved students. Offering this program, free of charge, to opportunity youth in Little Village is teaching essential life-skills to kids who would not otherwise have access to such a program.

The Executive Functioning program takes an innovative, language-based approach to strengthen skills such as self-advocacy, time management, goal setting, planning, and organization. These skills are fundamental for academic, professional and personal success. 

“The lack of accessible executive functioning services drove us to create one,” says Karine Fiore, CEO of CHAT. “Expanding this program to community partners across the Chicago region is critical toward communication justice for all.”

Katie Trainor, Director of Therapeutic Services, and Victoria Del Real, Associate Board Member, accepted the Project Innovation award on behalf of CHAT.

“Project Innovation” aims to support programs that are uplifting the diverse communities in 11 U.S. NBCUniversal markets. A total of $3.475 million was awarded to 90 non-profit organizations nationally. Click here for a list of all 2022 Project Innovation grant recipients. 

 “Supporting non-profits in the communities where we do businesses is core to our philanthropic strategy at NBCUniversal,” said Jessica Clancy, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, NBCUniversal. “We’re honored to partner with NBCUniversal Local to make these grants to organizations who are enhancing equality in their cities.”  

About CHAT

CHAT (formerly known as Center for Speech & Language Disorders) increases access to life-changing speech-language and other services, removing systemic barriers to access to enable more equitable services. We call this communication justice. 

Focused on inclusion and centered in social justice, CHAT provides life-changing speech therapy to children with few—if any—other options. Through our clinic, in schools, and in partnership with community nonprofits, we tailor services to children’s needs, building on their strengths. CHAT exists to include and empower children whose voices have not been heard, helping them to access a better future. For more information, visit: https://chatwithus.org/ 

About The Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation
The Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation continues the work of the foundations founded by Comcast Corporation and NBCUniversal to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on the communities we serve. Its mission is to empower communities to thrive by helping to provide access to technology, relevant digital skills and training, and inspiring volunteerism and service. More information about how Comcast NBCUniversal supports the communities it serves is available at https://corporate.comcast.com/

About NBCUniversal Local
NBCUniversal Local is NBCUniversal’s local media division that delivers English and Spanish-speakers and bilingual audiences in 31 U.S. markets and Puerto Rico, the very best in local sports, news, weather, consumer and investigative reporting, and lifestyle entertainment across any platform and screen. NBCUniversal Local is comprised of three individual media groups including the NBC Owned Television Stations, the NBC Sports Regional Networks and the Telemundo Station Group. The division is also home to multicast networks LX News, COZI TV and TeleXitos, the regional cable news network NECN, a MeTV station, as well as NBC Spot On, an advanced video advertising business designed for local/regional CTV and OTT advertisers and several in-house companies including production company LXTV, marketing and promotions company Skycastle, its out-of-home business NBC Everywhere, and the Arthouse, a graphics design group. With six regional sports networks and 43 NBC and Telemundo stations serving 38 percent of U.S. homes, NBCUniversal Local is the only network-owned local media division that is home to the largest bilingual local newsrooms within the country’s top 10 TV markets. NBCUniversal Local’s stations and networks serve diverse audiences and communities across linear, streaming, OTT, digital web, mobile and audio, and cable platforms and work together to keep local audiences informed anytime and anywhere. For more information, visit NBCUniversal.com.

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