Cindy, the Founder of Good Basket, has joined forces with another Illinois woman respected for getting to the root of important problems, and solving through action, advocacy and education — Heather Canuel, Founder & Executive Director of the 501c3 non-profit, Art from the Heart. After becoming known as the last woman to give birth shackled to a prison bed, Heather has gone on to achieve vital firsts for the underserved and at-risk, globally and particularly in the Heartland. And specifically by providing heartfelt solutions and services to locals who are justice involved. (Heather’s bio is below)
Both Cindy & Heather have been serving Illinois at-risk communities for years. Now and together, Cindy & Heather are directing the fund-raising and giving campaign, known as “Local Roots.” The Local Roots 501c3 charity campaign is designed to achieve two primary goals :
Help local communities help others with local roots, and need
Grow roots in more Illinois communities for Heather’s social justice and family welfare programs & Cindy’s gender equity and cannabis sector employee engagement initiatives.
The Local Roots retail- & brand-driven fundraising effort operates simply with retail and consumer products brand partners at check out (point of sale). Funds for local giving are raised through the familiar and compliant Round up at Register option offered to retail customers. Additionally, brands, pledge to contribute to favorite retail partners’ Local Roots’ Round Up at Register outcomes, as well.
Operations and marketing are turn-key and white glove, and led by these two experienced community impact leaders who have been collecting & distributing donations, goods and services to at-risk communities for years.
The Local Roots’ team shows up to provide participating teams onboarding & ongoing support: compliant and co-branded signage & merch kits, pop-in staff training & customer pop-ups, team performance incentives, influencer marketing, employee talent development & in-market events, including community donation activations & retail and brand ambassador high-achiever celebrations. The Local Roots’ teams’ own funded marketing and promotional plans will showcase participating companies and celebrate outcomes.
There are no fees or out of pocket costs for participating retailers and brands.
Local Roots Organizers
Heather Canuel, Justice Involved Founder, Art from the Heart, 501c3
Heather Canuel is a justice system activist, educator, author and organizer. She began studying the problem and designing solutions 25 years ago when she became “the last woman to give birth cuffed to a bed” while incarcerated in Illinois. That lived experience sparked the Central Illinois woman to lead efforts to ban, worldwide, the criminal justice systems’ shackling of women during labor and childbirth and to dedicate her life to improving our knowledge of justice issues and their harmful impact on women and their children.
Today the mother and grandmother helps us address the multi-generational trauma of incarceration through the arts and humanities. She directs her own healing arts non-profit, Art from the Heart, and through it, for the last five years, has pioneered efforts to strengthen the reunification of mothers with their children. She also advises and develops programming and policy with and for The Women’s Justice Institute, Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prison, National Council on Higher Education in Prison and the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls.
Most recently, Heather returned to the nation’s largest single-site jail as a visiting teacher to introduce those inside to Art from the Heart. Her ongoing role is to guide both justice involved women and men through healing activities. The students, with Heather as their guide, use a syllabus and student workbook she created, entitled “Healing, from The Inside - Out.” Exposing more people to her proprietary curriculum and her personal guidance through it, is at the heart of her expanded initiative.
Cindy Kosydor, Founder of Good Basket, L3C
Throughout her professional career, Cindy has been mission-forward on gender inequalities and solutions. Because of her own roots….
Cindy was born to teenage, blue collar, working class Southern Illinois parents, and was able to advance professionally and economically during times when fewer strategies and measures existed to compensate capable women for historical and social disadvantages. She created Good Basket to cause economic and social progress for women through sector-specific educational and charitable initiatives. It aims to ensure everyone, regardless of gender, has equal access to opportunities through improved access to sector- and earnings-based education, training and skill development.
Her collaboration with Heather fulfills her mission to connect allies and communities committed to doing good for women and their children.
Rooted in Doing Good?
Donate now, for immediate impact
Your Donation is Tax-Deductible. Acknowledgement for your donation will include a receipt from the 501c3 charity, Art from the Heart
We want to hear from you
Please email Cindy and Heather about the needs of individuals in your community, the goods, services or time you can donate, collecting goods for an effort or hosting a field trip for our constituents, volunteering to assemble and deliver on one of our upcoming initiatives, or to have Heather meet your team.