Giving Compass' Take:

• This Marshall Project article profiles Kim Foxx, the new Cook County state's attorney trying to bring reform to the criminal justice system in Chicago after the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald.

• Foxx's experience growing up in the projects and experiencing homelessness helps inform her views on racial equity. How can her story serve as inspiration for us all looking to push fairer policies?

• Here are ways that philanthropy can support criminal justice reform.

On the afternoon of Dec. 1, 2016, Kim Foxx, her husband, their two daughters and several of her new senior staffers rode an elevator to the 32nd floor of the Cook County administration building in downtown Chicago and found their way to her new office.

During her 12 years as a Cook County prosecutor, Foxx had never had occasion to step foot in the boss’s office. It was barren this afternoon, but large and impressive, with a sweeping view of the lake and the Loop. Her older daughter, 13-year-old Kai, made a beeline for the leather swivel chair behind the desk and spent most of the afternoon in the seat of power. Kai, 10-year-old Kendall and Foxx’s husband, Kelley, oohed and aahed over the panorama.

Foxx, 44, had been inaugurated a few hours earlier. In a ceremony at the Harold Washington Library, named for Chicago’s first black mayor, she’d become the first black woman to be Cook County state’s attorney. Among the personal effects she’d soon bring to her new office was a brick salvaged from the razing of one of the most notorious housing projects in America, a remnant from an earlier part of her life and a reminder of what set her apart in her new role.

Read the full article about the new state's attorney trying to bring reform to Chicago among racial strife by Steve Bogira at The Marshall Project.