Partners

In partnership with multiple entities, the Green Era Campus is transforming 9 acres of brownfield in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood into a vibrant hub for green energy and jobs, fresh produce, small business incubation, educational programming, and community green space. Each partner entity is responsible for a distinct financial or operational aspect of Green Era, with all working closely together to ensure the initiative is successful and impactful.

“This is not a project where you come to a neighborhood, build and leave. Our partners are committed to establishing roots by giving those in the community equity in the project.”

—Ryan Huddlestun, Green Era Sustainability Partners

Partnering Entities

Urban Growers Collective

Urban Growers Collective (UGC) is a Black and women led 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Chicago, IL. Rooted in growing food, UGC cultivates nourishing environments which support health, economic development, healing and creativity through urban agriculture. UGC addresses inequity and structural racism that exist in communities of color and through the food system using urban agriculture as our tool and method. UGC will manage all aspects of the Green Era Campus, including programming, community engagement, garden center, permaculture design, product sales, and more. The Campus will function as the headquarters of UGC’s operations (offices, training programs, etc.). UGC currently has a 99-year lease on the site.

Farming, food access, job training, and education
Compost buyer along with affiliates
Strategic partner

Green Era Educational NFP

A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, this entity serves as the land owner and site developer for all other entities operating business on the site. Green Era Educational NFP served as the fiscal agent that launched Urban Growers Collective.

Food waste education and outreach
Site owner

Green Era Sustainability

Green Era Sustainability’s mission is to recycle food waste diverted from landfills to reduce its carbon impacts, by converting it to renewable natural gas and fertilizer for urban farming, while creating jobs and workforce training and education programs on Chicago’s South Side. Focused on biotechnology and green energy, and composed of urban growing experts who are dedicated to sustainability and social justice, this organization holds the seed investments for the overall initiative. Green Era Sustainability is managed by Urban Growers Collective and Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working to foster and promote revitalization of low-to-moderate-income neighborhoods in Chicago utilizing comprehensive community development strategies and initiatives.

Project developer
Investment entity

Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation

Change does not happen in isolation. The Green Era Campus is one piece of a larger plan to invest in the wellness and prosperity of the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. The Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation’s healthy lifestyle hub is an essential member of our #GreenEraEcosystem.

This project involves the restoration of a long-vacant building on West 79th Street near Halsted Street, acquired by GAGDC in 2019. GAGDC’s hub will serve as a congregation of health and wellness services in a neighborhood largely described as a medical healthcare desert.

We are thankful for our deep partnership with GAGDC and their work to better our community.