About Us
Welcome to Cultivate Collective, a national model for holistic community revitalization. Our mission is to unite education, wellness, sustainability, and economic vitality to create a resilient, equitable, and vibrant future for all.Â
Located on a six-acre demonstration site in the heart of Chicago’s southwest side within the historic LeClaire Courts public housing community, Cultivate Collective is dedicated to addressing systemic inequalities and fostering a thriving community.
Our Vision
At Cultivate Collective, we envision a healthy, sustainable, and thriving future for all Chicagoans. Our approach is rooted in social and racial justice, aiming to close the racial wealth gap and cultivate a just community.Â
Through unparalleled environmental sustainability, climate resiliency, multi-generational learning, and innovative public education, we strive to create cradle-to-career pathways, green job training, community health and wellness, improved food security, urban agriculture, and community economic vitality.
Our Impact
Our comprehensive health and wellness services provide access to health care, fresh food, community gardens, nature-based playscapes, and wellness programming to improve the overall health and well-being of our residents. Through net-positive energy initiatives, nature-based stormwater management, and carbon sequestration efforts, we are committed to creating a sustainable and resilient community.
Our innovative educational programs serve over 620 children annually and extend learning opportunities to adults and seniors, fostering a culture of continuous growth and development. We create green jobs, support local businesses, and provide training and apprenticeship opportunities to enhance the employability of community residents. Our initiatives encourage community participation, knowledge sharing, and skills development, building a strong, interconnected, and empowered community.
Our Approach
Cultivate Collective is committed to setting a precedent for sustainability as the first Midwest facility to meet the world’s most ambitious Living Building Challenge environmental standards. Our initiatives include producing our own food, achieving energy and water net-positivity, and fostering regenerative urban agriculture.
Education is at the core of our mission, starting with our Early Childhood Education Center that provides a nurturing environment focused on holistic development through play-based and nature-integrated learning. Our K-8 public school, the Academy for Global Citizenship (AGC), is a world-renowned leader in environmental education, wellness, and social justice, offering dual language instruction and fostering global citizenship within the International Baccalaureate framework.
Beyond traditional education, we offer multi-generational learning opportunities, including green job training, workforce development, community classes, and intergenerational learning experiences, providing continuous learning pathways for all community members. Our comprehensive health and wellness services address systemic and racial health inequities through a community health care center, a Food as Medicine program, a food pharmacy, and urban agriculture initiatives, all designed to improve holistic well-being.
Economically, the Green Business Institute catalyzes vitality by providing education, tools, and access to capital for both existing and new businesses. This creates living-wage green jobs, reduces transportation costs, and supports local economic growth. Our collaborative, trusting partnerships with community leaders, neighborhood partners, green industry experts, and construction business diversity organizations amplify our impact and help build an ecosystem greater than the sum of its parts.
Join Us
Cultivate Collective is dedicated to reversing decades of regional disinvestment and fundamentally changing the trajectory of health, wealth, education, and sustainability for all residents. We invite you to join us in our mission to create a brighter, more equitable future for our community and beyond. Together, we can cultivate a community that thrives on resilience, sustainability, and justice.
Our Journey
Building upon seventeen years of deep collaboration with community leaders, neighborhood voices and local constituents, community-based organizers have worked collaboratively to revitalize six previously vacant acres of a former low-income housing community into a thriving development that officially launched in Fall 2023.
Our Partners
Community-based collaborators have been instrumental in working hand-in-hand to develop a vision for revitalizing Cultivate's six acres within a larger 40-acre Chicago Housing Authority project site into a thriving community wellness, learning and sustainability hub. Partnerships with best-practice providers and operators are central to our mission to provide high-quality, evidenced-based and comprehensive programs, services, and economic benefit to our local community.
Meet Our Partners
Press & Media
Central to our vision for systemic impact and scale is sharing our impact through the voices of our community. We welcome media inquiries and those who wish to learn more about Cultivate's journey through the stories that have been shared to date.
News About Cultivate