CHICAGO, Dec. 6, 2024 – The Chicago Yacht Club Foundation has announced its first executive director, two-time Olympic sailor and Chicago native Margaret “Maggie” Shea.

November 25, 2024

by Greg Miarecki

Dear Friends,
This might be the most exciting month in CYC Foundation history. Next week, we welcome our new Executive Director, Maggie Shea, to the CYC Foundation family. And our Annual Appeal is off to a fast start!

November 25, 2024

by Nick Camino

The CYC Foundation is in the thick of our 2024 Annual Appeal! We have an ambitious goal, to raise $400,000 to fund an equally ambitious suite of programs in 2025. We're off to a strong start, but we can't do it without our dedicated supporters––YOU!

November 25, 2024

Incoming CYC Foundation Executive Director Maggie Shea is no stranger to boating, to hard work, or to success. She is an Olympian, having represented the United States in sailing in the Tokyo and Paris games; a two-time Pan American Games medalist; and an overall winner of the 2011 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, which she raced aboard her family’s boat, Windancer.

October 25, 2024

by Greg Miarecki

As I write this, I can see the last few boats heading down the river to their winter homes. As the end of our boating season approaches, it’s a great time to reflect on the prior season. 2024 has been an epic year for your Chicago Yacht Club Foundation. 

October 25, 2024

by Megan McNichols Mahon

Getting more kids from underrepresented communities on the water this summer was the goal of a new collaboration between the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation and Columbia Yacht Club’s Chester Kuttner Foundation.

September 27, 2024

by Greg Miarecki

When I look at the progress your Foundation has made over the past few years, I sometimes wonder if I am dreaming. Thanks to the hard work of our professional team and our many partners, we have launched more than 30 programs in the past three years.

September 27, 2024

by Danyell Shin

This summer, the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation (CYCF) partnered with BUILD Chicago Inc. to offer an exciting week-long Adventure Boating Camp, designed to inspire hope and provide new opportunities for youth in some of Chicago’s most challenging neighborhoods.

September 27, 2024

by Caroline O’Malley

This past summer, the Foundation embarked on an exciting journey to bring community sailing to Monroe Harbor! We had six wonderful weeks of fun aboard our graciously donated J100 sailboat and one of the Chicago Yacht Club's 23-foot Sonar keelboats.

August 27, 2024

by Greg Miarecki

Dear Friends,

It’s hot here in Chicago this week, but it’s been a very hot summer here at your Chicago Yacht Club Foundation. We’ve already doubled the number of kids we served in 2023 with a massive expansion in programs.

August 27, 2024

The CYC Foundation's support for community organizations' swimming programs tripled this year, from 120 participants in 2023 to nearly 360 this year. Under this model, the community organizations choose the swim instruction provider and facility, and the Foundation offers financial support to enable as many children as possible to learn this vital life skill, critically important for young people in Chicago, with its proximity to Lake Michigan.

August 27, 2024

The CYC Foundation continued our flagship Lead HER Ship program in July 2024, with nine young women taking part in a five-day cruise on Lake Michigan aboard the 77-foot gaff-rigged tall ship Inland Seas.

Hardly a leisure cruise, this one, led by our educational partner the Inland Seas Education Association, had the teens serving as crew and learning to operate the boat, taking water samples from Lake Michigan and analyzing their contents, and standing night watch.

July 25, 2024

by Greg Miarecki

Summer is in full swing, and your Chicago Yacht Club Foundation is hard at work, expanding opportunities for hundreds of Chicagoland kids

July 25, 2024

by Danyell Shin

Now in its second year, the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation (CYCF) continues its partnership with the Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing Foundation and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.

July 25, 2024

by Diane Foote

You’ve probably seen him around the Chicago Yacht Club; he attends many Club and Foundation events. You’ve likely heard about him and/or his own Foundation.

June 25, 2024

by Danyell Shin

For the third consecutive year, the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation and SOS Children's Villages in Chicago have forged a transformative partnership.

June 25, 2024

by Greg Miarecki

The weather is heating up now that we are in June. And so are the activities at your Chicago Yacht Club Foundation.

June 25, 2024

by Diane Foote

Earlier this month, the Chicago Yacht Club and the CYC Foundation collaborated to host "Hooray for Marseille! An Olympic Send-Off Soiree" to celebrate CYC members Steph Roble and Maggie Shea's Olympic campaign.

June 25, 2024

by Megan McNichols Mahon

Community sailing camps for kids are coming to Monroe Harbor this summer. The CYC Foundation is thrilled to announce the launch of a new Monroe Harbor-based community sailing program for Chicagoland children beginning Monday, June 24.

May 22, 2024

by Greg Miarecki

The boats are appearing in the harbors and our beloved lakefront is beginning to buzz with activity. At your CYC Foundation, we have so many great things happening.