Social Enterprise – North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

Cook County Commission on Social Innovation, Social Enterprise Alliance Host Technical Assistance Session at Sankofa House

Posted on November 5, 2016November 5, 2016 by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

The Cook County Commission on Social Innovation and the Social Enterprise Alliance, Chicago Chapter, teamed up to host a technical assistance session at the Sankofa House in North Lawndale. Michael Hyzy, Creative Director with Nutricio, was the moderator.

The session opened up with a presentation of the Social Innovator Award to Valerie F. Leonard by Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia, Chairman of the Cook County Commission on Social Innovation and Attorney Marc J. Lane, Vice Chairman.

Mark Mulroe, Vice President of A Safe Haven Foundation, stressed that nonprofits must diversify their resources and begin to generate income other than grants. He shared insights on how nonprofits can start social enterprises and used examples from his organization, which operates a number of for-profit businesses, including landscaping and property management.

Marc J. Lane, Founder of the Marc J. Lane Wealth Group, shared various legal structures for social enterprises, with an emphasis on the L3C, while explaining the pros, cons and tax implications. Click here to view an excerpt from Attorney Lane’s discussion.

Include the West Side in the Community Catalyst Fund

Posted on October 26, 2016 by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

We thank the Austin Weekly News for publishing the following letter to the editor. Photo credit: Second City Cop Blog.

The Mayor has proposed the new $100 million Community Catalyst Fund designed to invest in businesses in communities that are most in need. A governing board consisting of the City of Chicago CFO, City Treasurer, Commissioner of Planning and Development, and four mayoral appointees will establish investment criteria and policies with input from an advisory council consisting of two aldermen and three community representatives. The targeted communities and manner in which investment decisions will be made are yet to be determined.

We, the members of the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council (NLCCC), support the overall concept of the Community Catalyst Fund, and would encourage the team responsible for the implementation to solicit further input from local communities as the program is finalized. This will only strengthen the program.

NLCCC is a group of North Lawndale stakeholders, including nearly 300 community-based organizations, business owners, elected officials and individuals that have come together to guide our community’s first comprehensive planning and implementation process since 1958. We believe that there should be representation from Chicago’s West Side on the Community Catalyst Fund (“the Fund”) governing board as well as the advisory council. In times past, the West Side has been excluded from a number of the City’s innovative economic development programs, and we are under-represented on the governing boards for various City commissions. It is important that communities that are in most need also have a voice at the policy level to ensure that programs are responsive and deliver the maximum impact.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to small business development, and every establishment is different. The Fund should take a comprehensive approach that will tap into a variety of public and private resources to provide a broad array of financial products and services to small businesses that are at varying stages of development, from start-up to mature. Examples include low interest micro-loans, New Markets Tax Credits, mezzanine debt and equity investments with longer investment horizons. At the same time, the Fund should provide funding for community-based CDFI’s (community development financial institutions), SBA-certified Small Business Development Centers and other intermediaries to provide technical assistance to small businesses seeking funding in order to minimize investment risk.

The Fund’s board should develop investment criteria that are more flexible than conventional financing while safeguarding investor capital, and prioritize projects that will create jobs and provide incentives for hiring residents of the communities in which the projects are located. There should also be accountability to ensure that jobs that are promised materialize. Finally, the Fund should consider clustering public works projects to enhance its investments and spur additional private investment in high need areas.

We look forward to an investment fund that will catalyze investment on the West Side, and high-need communities around the City of Chicago.

— North Lawndale Coordinating Committee Exec. Subcommittee

Valerie F. Leonard, Rodney Brown and Dr. Dennis Deer, Members

The Social Enterprise Experience Comes to North Lawndale

Posted on October 23, 2016 by North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council

The Chicago Chapter of the Social Enterprise Alliance to Provide Technical Assistance, Recognize Valerie F. Leonard at Sankofa House

The Chicago Chapter of the Social Enterprise Alliance will be providing a technical assistance session and recognizing Valerie F. Leonard for her work in social enterprise on Wednesday, November 2, 2016, from 9:00 am – 11:00 am at the Sankofa House, 4041 West Roosevelt Road. Annetta Wilson is the Executive Director. This session is free, and is intended for small businesses, nonprofits and anyone who is interested in social enterprise. Outlined below is a project description.

Do you want to learn how to grow your organization or community using existing resources? Do you want to learn more about resources that are available to you?

Come join us and find out how social entrepreneurship can work for you. The session is brought to you by Social Enterprise Alliance-Chicago Chapter (SEA) and Cook County Commission on Social Innovation

Jesus “Chuy” Garcia gives the opening remarks as a charismatic public figure who has advocated for social justice all throughout his career.
Mark Mulroe leads off with his extensive experience and talent running a nonprofit/for-profit hybrid with the module “Missions and Models.”
Marc J. Lane brings his brilliance in social enterprise law to the second module “Legal Design and Structure.”
We will be honoring Valerie F. Leonard for her excellence in social enterprise work!

SEA will close with questions from the audience and time to network and get to know each other.

Michael Hyzy will be moderating the event and taking any questions beforehand.

Refreshments will be provided. We thank Ms. Annetta Wilson, Executive Director of the Sankofa Safe Child Initiative for hosting the event. We also thank the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council for providing promotional support.

Modules:
Module #1 – Missions and Models

The missions and models module will survey basic principles of social enterprise, with particular attention to social enterprise missions and models. The module will examine strategic elements that strong missions and robust operational models contribute to the operational unity of fee-based revenue and social purpose. Participants will learn: (1) a framework for conceptualizing social enterprise and differentiating it from purely for-profit and non-profit realms, and (2) lessons instrumental to pivoting toward social enterprise operations and strategies in their own projects.

Module #2 – Legal Design and Structure

The legal design and structure module will include the key legal, tax and financial considerations in launching and scaling a social enterprise, examining in specific: the selection of the optimal non-profit, for-profit, or hybrid legal structure; Benefit Corporations and L3Cs; mission-related, program-related and other impact investment models; and the maintenance of charitable status for non-profit social ventures.