Black Chicago Tomorrow
About Us
Black Chicago Tomorrow (BCT) was founded in 2016 by Samuel C. Scott III, retired chairman and CEO of Corn Products International, Inc. (today known as Ingredion), as one response to a growing sense of urgency to address the interconnected and complex issues that African American communities face in Chicago. Scott called on Chicago's business community to come together in a coordinated way to support and provide resources to address neighborhood-level challenges and community-wide barriers for African Americans. This partnership, he argued, would lift up both the African American community and Chicago overall.
This idea led to the launch of BCT. BCT aims to revitalize the African American community through holistic, place-based and community-wide initiatives that will drive better coordination of resources and ensure that community voices are heard.
Our Vision
Black Chicago Tomorrow envisions a vibrant African American community that benefits from and contributes to the region's economy and society.
Our Approach
BCT's work is guided by our belief that vibrant communities contain the following:
- Economic opportunity for its residents
- Quality educational systems
- Easy access to health systems and good health outcomes
- Perception of safety
- Great family support systems
- Robust infrastructure
These six vibrant community characteristics set the foundation for how we approach our work.
Our Work
Our work is centered in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood where we work closely with community leaders and community partners to build on existing efforts to accelerate and catalyze development. We do this through coordinating and convening stakeholders and connecting community residents to a network of partners that can provide additional resources and capacity in support of the community's identified needs and priorities.
Key Catalytic Projects in Auburn Gresham:
Green Era Urban Farm and Green Energy Campus: $30 million, state-of-the-art project located on a 9-acre, vacant brownfield site. The project features an anaerobic digester which will help breakdown organic waste to produce renewable energy and compost that can be used for urban gardening. Led by Green Era Sustainability Partners and Urban Growers Collective, this will provide nutrient-rich compost for local food growers and provide direct benefit to the community in the form of jobs, training, STEM education, and access to healthy foods.
Healthy Lifestyle Building: This $14 million redevelopment, led by the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, will transform a vacant 40,000 square foot space located at 839 W. 79th St. into a mixed-used development that will house a health clinic, pharmacy, a community restaurant, and more.
Our Team
Danielle Harbison
Danielle Harbison serves as the executive director of Black Chicago Tomorrow and is responsible for leading the organization's vision of creating a vibrant African American community that benefits from and contributes to the region's economy and society. Most recently, Harbison was an associate principal with Civic Consulting Alliance; prior to this, she served as the Chicago executive director for Peer Health Exchange, a nonprofit focused on advancing health equity for young people. Harbison is a graduate of The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
She can be contacted at danielle@bchitomorrow.org.
Lynnette McRae
Lynnette McRae serves as the director of neighborhood strategy for Black Chicago Tomorrow. Her role revolves around bringing the civic, public, private, and philanthropic sectors together in support of that community-driven priorities and needs, and identifying opportunities to influence systems-wide change that drives equitable investment and wealth in black communities. McRae is a community development professional who is passionate about economic justice and eliminating the racial wealth gap. She has worked as a community development practitioner at the federal, nonprofit, and municipal level and has received degrees from Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Michigan.
She can be contacted at lynnette@bchitomorrow.org.