Ignite Welcomes Amy Griman to Board of Directors during Foster Care Awareness Month

Ignite is pleased to welcome new member: Amy Griman, Global President of BMO Family Office to Ignite’s Executive Board. Griman has a passion for working closely with families to see a successful implementation of their family legacy for generations.  

Amy also serves as the chairperson for the Ignite & Shine Gala Committee.  

“BMO is focused on where we can make a difference and I'm proud to build on that goal and serve on Ignite's Board. The impact and efficacy of Ignite's mission and work is compelling and connects to a deep passion I have for seeing young people reach their potential.” 

Amy Griman, Global President of BMO Family Office 

Ignite looks to its Executive Board of Directors—especially members like Griman, whose expertise in family centered solutions is important—to bring insight to Ignite’s mission. This May is Foster Care Awareness Month and the releasing of the Black Homelessness in Illinois report from University of Illinois at Chicago Insitute for Research on Race and Public Policy (IRRPP) shows the fight toward creating equitable pathways and housing options for the youth of Chicago continues.  

Anywhere between 20-30% of individuals in foster care experience some form of being homeless and unhoused within their adolescence or as they venture into adulthood.[1]  

This number increases when divided demographically, showing that Black youth in foster care stand at an even greater risk of facing homelessness after aging out of the foster care system than their white counterparts.[2]   

More than half of the youth Ignite serves identify as Black or African-American. Ignite understands and combats these systemic barriers through a nationally recognized and comprehensive model of continued care that meets youth where they are and focuses on what they need to thrive. Through programming, Ignite helps over 590 young people annually through a spectrum of services from street outreach, drop-in centers, and emergency shelter to transitional and independent apartment-based housing. Providing a unique model of care and affordable housing program to Chicago, Ignite offers youth safe and stable housing for up to 5 years with the opportunity to assume leases upon program completion.  

Ignite is proud to welcome Amy Griman to the Executive Board of Directors, whose work in familial communities through BMO helps to bring more understanding to the work and programming of Ignite. As this work continues, Ignite calls on those in Chicago and surrounding communities to enact change in empowering our youth.  

For more information about Ignite and our Executive Board of Directors, please visit us at ignitepromise.org or contact Andi Dumas at adumas@ignitepromise.org 

 Sources 1 & 2: https://news.wttw.com/sites/default/files/article/file-attachments/BlackHomelessnessInIllinois_FULL%20REPORT.pdf