Welcome

Co-empowering with Youth.
Honoring The Past.
Building Movements For Change.

Rooted in the long legacy of liberatory education, Chicago Freedom School (CFS) provides education and leadership development for young people and adult allies to create a just world.

Join us in our mission to catalyze
youth-led social change.

Youth Programs

Chicago Freedom School believes in the power of young people. We support Black and Brown youth to become informed, strategic, and holistic leaders for social justice. We support young people to lead action on pressing issues of inequity in their communities.

Youth Organizing

Chicago Freedom School supports young people to take action for justice in their personal lives and communities. Our Youth Organizers partner with youth leaders across the city to address some of the most pressing issues facing Black and Brown communities.

Workshops & Trainings

Chicago Freedom School equips individuals & organizations to build networks and strategies to dismantle oppression in all forms. CFS trainings and workshops are rooted within our frameworks of Healing and Transformative Justice, Anti-Oppression practices, and Popular Education.

Our Approach, People & History

About

Celebrating 17 Years Of Radical Youth Work

In 2004 a group of youth and allied adults came together to ask “what is needed in Chicago to support youth activism?” Three years later, the Chicago Freedom School opened its doors as the first freedom school of its kind in the midwest. CFS is now a hub for community-building, learning, and action for thousands of youth and allied adults working to create a world free from oppression.

Learn more about our youth programs

Youth Organizing

Supporting new generations of young people to create a just world.

CFS takes an innovative approach to civic engagement, leadership development, and movement building. Our programs, resources and trainings invite young people and adult allies to study of the work of past movements, deepen their understanding of current social problems, build new coalitions and develop strategies for change.

Get Involved

Testimonials

“The Chicago Freedom School has blessed me with the experience of learning about history of people of color and the importance of social justice as well as a safe environment and a support system I can count on whether I am in Chicago or away at school. The staff is a group of sincere people who care about educating the young and old about the injustices of the world and giving youth the confidence to change the world a little bit at a time.”

Shemika C.
Youth

“I began to look at life differently thanks to Chicago Freedom School in 2009. Our program was all the way until May 2010. In our summer program, we received the chance to learn about oppression and build leadership skills. I never knew how these skills would develop throughout my outside life. In school I began to challenge my teachers and surroundings without even thinking about it. Being a liberator became my priority.”

Asucena L.
Youth

“I work with a childcare organization that helps parents participate in community organizing, and the Freedom School has been one of our biggest supporters. I am also a part of another collective focused on the prison industrial complex and popular education, and CFS has similarly served as a huge resource and ally to our volunteer-driven, grassroots-funded and/or un-funded work. Beyond even their own incredible programs, they do so much for the community that they are a part of.”

Lewis P.
Youth Ally

“I love this place, it's warm and welcoming. The minute you walk through the door (front or back, haha) you feel like your home! This place always has something going on, between meetings and open-events, its a place where youth and adults can come together with no boundaries. I love this place, it really is like a second home to me.”

Genesis G.
Youth

“I became a Freedom Fellow in 2009 at the Chicago Freedom School. Through the trainings and the guests speakers I gained a lot of knowledge. I developed skills like, leadership skills and public speaking skills. I learned about issues that affected my community. In this place, I was able to talk to other youth and adults and I learned about oppression. This opened my eyes to reality and now I am able to step up to issues that make me feel uncomfortable.”

Cristina R.
Freedom Fellow