Partnerships
Dessert brings people together and is the ultimate blank canvas for creativity. From an artist or chef collaboration to partnering with countless charities around Chicago, our desserts are a reflection of the community that built us.
Programs
Project Wright Access
In 2022, our president, Marc Schulman, learned about a workforce development grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and had an idea: create a workforce development program for people with disabilities.
Project Wright Access (PWA) was quickly born, thanks to the amazing people and schools who said yes: City Colleges of Chicago–Wilbur Wright College, Jacqueline B. Vaughn Occupational High School, and the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences.
Over 60 students across 15 cohorts have completed internships at Eli's, and we've hired more than 10% of our graduates.
Envision Unlimited honored the program with its Humanitarian of the Year Award at the Bright Futures Ball. After we received it, the father of one of our graduates, now an Eli's team member, worried his son would have nothing to do after high school. Now he has found a home at Eli's and loves his job. This is why PWA was created, and we hope more businesses will join us so we can hear even more stories like this.
RefugeeOne
For over 30 years, we have partnered with RefugeeOne to create job opportunities for our newest Chicago residents. Whether it's a stop along the way or a career, our goal is to create a welcoming home with good jobs for people who have experienced extreme hardship and need a place where they can be part of a community.
Some of our longest-serving and most senior associates came to us through RefugeeOne, and we are so grateful for this long-term partnership.
The Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences
Our passion for food education and entrepreneurship runs deep. Since 2001, our president, Marc Schulman, has served as co-chair of the business advisory board at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences (CHSAS). This Chicago Public Magnet high school on Chicago's south side, is one of the only schools in the country with a working urban farm.
We host a summer entrepreneurship program and award scholarships to CHSAS graduates to pursue career and technical education (CTE). We are also proud to use CHSAS honey in our products, which is produced by student bee keepers.
The Happiness Club
Eli’s is proud to support The Happiness Club (a 501c3 nonprofit), a diverse group of Chicago kids who encourage positive values and social change through the creation of original hip-hop and pop music, rap and dance. The Happiness Club’s mission is to positively influence kids through the arts, to guide their peers in making sound decisions, and to help them become role models in their communities.
Products
Nick Cave X Eli's Cheesecake
Artist
Eli's Cheesecake and prolific artists Nick Cave and Bob Faust co-created a limited-edition set of Cheesecake Cuties inspired by Cave's 2022 exhibition Forothermore at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
Net proceeds benefited Facility Foundation, their charity to support young and underrepresented artists.
"I see these tenets as guideposts as well as filters that warm and connect us to each other."
Nick Cave
Natasha Pickowicz
Pastry Chef
We teamed up with our friend Natasha Pickowicz, NYC-based chef, writer, and a three-time James Beard Foundation Award finalist.
Natasha's dream cheesecake started with her famous olive oil cake, made with Graza extra virgin olive oil, topped with Eli's legendary Vanilla Bean Cheesecake, a wave of passion fruit curd, toasted coconut, and a fluffy layer of mascarpone mousse.
Proceeds benefited God's Love We Deliver, a New York nonprofit that prepares meals for people affected by chronic illnesses.
JP Graziano
4th Generation Family Business
Holy cannoli! To celebrate National Cheesecake Day 2024, we teamed up with JP Graziano, the legendary family-owned Italian grocery and sandwich shop in Chicago, to create Cannoli Cheesecake.
We took JPG's perfect cannoli and turned it into a cheesecake! Creamy ricotta was folded into Eli's famous Chicago-style cheesecake with candied orange peel and bittersweet chocolate chips, all baked on a cannoli crumb crust. We finished it with mascarpone mousse and a wild Amarena cherry imported from Italy. On launch day, we set up outside JPG and handed out free slices with our mascot, Big Slice. It was the perfect Chicago day!
Paw Paw Farms
The Most Unique Midwestern Fruit
When Kipp Lykins and Jane Fox of Paw Paw Farms, Inc. decided that cheesecake and pawpaw would make a great combination, they called us.
Our Pawpaw Cheesecake featured pawpaw and brown sugar cheesecake, topped with pawpaw gelée and a classic sour cream topping, all baked on our signature all-butter shortbread cookie crust.
Pawpaw, the largest edible fruit native to North America, has a custardy texture and a flavor that's a cross between a banana and a mango.
The cheesecake debuted at the Illinois Pawpaw fest. All proceeds were donated to the Paw Paw Lions Club Pawpaw Tree Restoration Initiative. 23 trees were planted!
Pretty Cool
Handmade Chicago Ice Cream
We love Pretty Cool Ice Cream, the innovative pop shop by award-winning pastry chef Dana Cree. We were so excited when Dana reached out to us about creating a signature Eli's Cheesecake Pop! After an innovation session with Dana and pastry chef Aja London, that one pop quickly became three different ice cream treats.
We made a Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Pop, Mini Cheesecake Ice Cream with Black Raspberry, and an ice cream pint inspired by one of our favorite Taste of Chicago treat, the Dipper. It was a limited release, but you can visit Pretty Cool at their shop in Logan Square for an amazing selection of pops!
Community Impact
"Charity will never bust you" - Eli Schulman
