All Chicago residents deserve to live in healthy and holistic communities with access to jobs, education, housing, retail and other baseline amenities. In Black and Latinx neighborhoods, financial resources to support community development and revitalizations are often difficult to obtain.
Community Desk Chicago works with nonprofits, community developers and entrepreneurs to assemble the necessary capital, expertise and other resources to increase real estate development in their neighborhoods that promote a high quality of life and provide wealth-building opportunities.
Celebrating the launch of The Desk!
News & Announcements
From The Desk: Is a CIV right for my neighborhood?
Community Desk Chicago works to facilitate greater participation in Community Investment Vehicles (CIVs) because we believe they present an exciting opportunity to grow community wealth and give communities greater control over the real estate assets in their...
Meet Patrick Brutus: The Desk’s new Senior Director for Real Estate Programs
In April 2024, Patrick Brutus joined Community Desk Chicago as our new Senior Director, Real Estate Programs, bringing more than 25 years of public sector experience in economic and community development. He got his start in public service at the Illinois Department...
Brunch Bunch: Ja’Net and Patrick talk funding opportunities on AM1390
Community Desk Chicago President and CEO Ja'Net Defell and Senior Director of Real Estate Programs Patrick Brutus joined the Brunch Bunch show on AM 1390. It was a great platform to share our work in the community and to discuss critical issues impacting the ability...
Strategic Plan: Community Desk Chicago launches “Phase 2.0” as independent not-for-profit with 5-year strategic plan
Community Desk Chicago has been incubating for 5 years – a time when The Chicago Community Trust, JPMorgan Chase, and Boston Consulting Group supported our growth from a mere concept to a fully independent not-for-profit. We leave the nest secure with funding,...
Panel Video Englewood Economics: How community and capital are coming together to drive resurgence (video)
Community Desk Chicago CEO Ja’Net Defell recently moderated this panel at the City Club of Chicago in front of an audience of more than 150 Chicago leaders and executives. The discussion included our NDI participant, Cecile DeMello of Teamwork Englewood (read her...
Spotlight on Humboldt ParkOne of three communities chosen to participate in our Neighborhood Developers Initiative
Our July 2023 issue of Deskside, our regular newsletter, was devoted to Humboldt Park, one of three communities chosen to participate in our Neighborhood Developers Initiative (NDI). Let’s learn more about the leaders, organizations, and efforts happening in Humboldt...
Client Profile: Juan CalderonAdvocating for Humboldt Park is His Life’s Work
If life is a tapestry of experience, the threads of Juan M. Calderon’s existence are inextricably woven with Humboldt Park — and by extension, the Puerto Rican Cultural Center (PRCC). Calderon, born to a Puerto Rican father and a Mexican mother, also identifies as...
Chicago Tribune As development comes to South Shore, gentrification is focus of group aiming to safeguard residents
Near the corner of 71st Street and Crandon Avenue, Michael McDowell mans the flat top at Surf’s Up South Shore as he has nearly every day since 2014. McDowell, who took over the Southern seafood and wing shop franchise from his stepmother, has seen South Shore’s ups...
Spotlight on EnglewoodOne of three communities chosen to participate in our Neighborhood Developers Initiative
Our May 2023 issue of Deskside, our regular newsletter, was devoted to Englewood, one of three communities chosen to participate in our Neighborhood Developers Initiative (NDI). Let’s learn more about the leaders, organizations, and efforts happening in Englewood...
Client Profile: Cecile De Mello She never stops searching for solutions to revitalize Englewood
Cecile De Mello likes to ask questions. So much, in fact, that she once considered doing so professionally. “When I was in high school,” she says, “I wanted to be a journalist. I was very inquisitive about the way my community was set up.” De Mello was living in...