Medill School of Journalism’s Cause Marketing Initiative held its annual kick-off party Friday, marking the first time the 2026 cohort of Integrated Marketing Communications graduate students met with their nonprofit partners.
CMI is a student-run committee that partners with organizations in the Chicago area. Since 2008, the program has offered pro-bono marketing services to help them expand their reach and deepen their social impact.
Chris Cahill, one of CMI’s faculty advisers, said, in theory, the program shouldn’t work because the entire cohort changes every year. However, each year proves this assumption wrong, he said.
“(CMI) reconstitutes itself in whole and carries on the work,” he said. “Each year it gets better and better. It’s a little miracle within Medill.”
According to Rhea Sheth, IMC graduate student and CMI’s project management director, this year’s cohort consists of 83 students. Participants were divided and matched with the program’s 20 different partners based on their skills and interests.
Working with nonprofit organizations requires an almost entirely different approach to corporate marketing projects, said IMC graduate student Boren Zhang, a participant in this year’s cohort.
“It’s so different,” Zhang said. “Just talking to one of the clients, I was like, ‘Wow, so surprising — their main goal is to give back to the community instead of just making money for themselves.’”
To him, this aspect adds another layer of meaning to the work he is preparing to do with the Jacques Pépin Foundation, an organization dedicated to providing culinary and life skills training.
IMC graduate student Grace Kan, another CMI participant, was paired with the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Energy Nexus, an organization working collaboratively around the world toward tackling global challenges. Kan said she believes more people should focus on nonprofit marketing.
“Most nonprofits are contributing to society more,” she said. “It’s important to place marketing efforts on that so more people can get to know the incentives nonprofit organizations are striving to advocate for.”
This year, in addition to the Jacques Pepin Foundation and WEF, students partner with organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Ballet Chicago and WINGS.
Cahill said Northwestern’s work with Chicago’s nonprofit ecosystem goes beyond CMI, citing programs like Kellogg’s Center for Nonprofit Management.
“I’m really proud of Northwestern in general because there are so many different ways that the University as a whole is making a commitment to nonprofits,” Cahill said.
Clarification: This story has been updated to include the full name of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Energy Nexus.
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— NU’s Cause Marketing Initiative holds annual kick-off party
— Garage startup Vouchd bridges the gap between nonprofits and high school volunteers
