Chicago Urban League Opens Empowerment Center In West Chatham

Community stakeholders and elected officials cutting the ribbon on the Chicago Urban League Empowerment Center in Chatham. Photo by Lanette L. Warbington.
Community stakeholders and elected officials cutting the ribbon on the Chicago Urban League Empowerment Center in Chatham. Photo by Lanette L. Warbington.

Chicago Urban League Opens Empowerment Center In West Chatham

By Tia Carol Jones

The Chicago Urban League recently celebrated the opening of its Empowerment Center, located at 8331 S. Stewart. The hope is that with the opening of the center, community members and Black people across the city will have access to equitable opportunities, from good paying jobs to quality education, owning homes and building generational wealth.

The Chicago Urban League was founded in 1916 as an affiliate of the National Urban league, with the mission to address the needs of Black people. Suzet McKinney, DrPH, MPH, is the Principal and Director of Life Sciences, Sterling Bay, is the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Chicago Urban League.

McKinney said the Empowerment Center represents a new chapter for the Chicago Urban League. It will enable the organization to expand its reach beyond the 15,000 Chicagoans it serves each year to also have a physical presence in Chatham and make a positive impact there. She added that Karen Freeman-Wilson, President and CEO of the Chicago Urban League, has made equity the foundation of her career.

Freeman-Wilson said when she first saw the site, she knew that it was imperative that it be reactivated for the community. She said the Empowerment Center represents an opportunity for the community to grow and build wealth. She said that creating sustainable careers and creating sustainable businesses that can be passed on for generations are both ways to build wealth.

She said that wealth will also be built through all of the opportunities for health work. She said that there are conversations taking place with a healthcare provider to build a health clinic at the facility. She added that it would be a beneficial addition because money and power are nothing if a person does not have their health.

“This is a great day, not just for the Chicago Urban League, but for the Chatham community, and for the Chicagoland community,” Freeman-Wilson said. She added that the center is a place where people can fulfill their hopes and dreams.

Andrew Wells, Director of the Chicago Urban League Empowerment Center, said what makes the Empowerment Center so unique is that it allows the organization to advance that work it is doing in workforce development and entrepreneurship, while leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in career skills training and business development.

People who participate in workforce development programs will be trained on AI essential skills, including prompting and AI engineering. He said training people in AI skills will allow them to compete for the thousands of jobs that require AI skills that are posted each month. For entrepreneurship, business owners will be coached on how to navigate platforms like Apollo and Seamless, which can generate business-to-business leads. He said the entrepreneurship department will also be able to use AI models for predictive analytics and forecasting.

Melinda Kelly, President of the Chatham Business Association, said that Chatham has always been a place where people look out for one another and collaboration is not just encouraged but expected and where success is something that the members of the community build together. She said the Empowerment Center serves as a living reminder that when people are connected, it strengthens the community and the city as a whole.

The Twenty-first Ward Alderman Ronnie Mosley said that Black businesses, Black homeowners, Black people in trades and careers will come out of the Empowerment Center.  The Sixth Ward Alderman William Hall said that Freeman-Wilson has taken the Urban League to new heights.

“Against all odds, the Urban League always reminds us to continue to go forward. This center is not just a place for us to gather, it is a place for us to make decisions for the future,” Hall said.

For more information about the Chicago Urban League, visit www.chiul.org.

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