The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has announced a $26 million commitment to the Obama Foundation in support of the forthcoming Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

The majority of the grant ($25 million) will support a physical space for the Democracy in Action Lab (DIAL), which will facilitate community convening and inspire civic participation by hosting community gatherings, workshops, talks, and other events as well as serve as a meeting point for emerging leaders in the region and from around the world. The remaining $1 million will support the Obama Foundation’s Leaders Program, which aims to inspire, empower, and connect regional cohorts of changemakers.

“Thanks to the generosity of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, we are establishing a permanent home on the South Side of Chicago for young leaders to come together as part of the Obama Presidential Center,” said former President Barack Obama. “The Democracy in Action Lab will serve as a global community center, where young people from all over the world can put their idealism to work. Because progress depends on having leaders committed to the values that are vital to preserving and improving democracy.”

“It will take imagination and courage to create the truly public spaces for dialogue and civic engagement this era of polarization and disruption demands,” said SNF co-president Andreas Dracopoulos. “We need to ensure that those spaces are welcoming and inclusive. The Obama Presidential Center is thoughtfully doing this work, imagining a new paradigm for what a public forum for civic engagement and civil discourse can look like on the South Side of Chicago, and SNF is proud to be a part of the effort.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/FG Trade)