Founded in 2016, Male Mogul Initiative (MMI) provides mentorship and entrepreneurial training to young BIPOC men in Chicago to equip them with the tools needed to be leaders in their communities. Earlier this month, the nonprofit achieved a long-term goal by celebrating the grand opening of a small business incubator in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood called Co-LLAB that will expand the organization’s capacity to help young entrepreneurs succeed. Designed as a place for film, arts, and enterprise to meet, Co-LLAB includes dedicated spaces for screen printing and the manufacture of clothing and artwork; a storefront to sell the products; and dedicated space for hands-on training in the skilled trades, financial literacy and leadership development classes, and content creation.
IFF provided MMI with a $220,000 loan in January 2024 that enabled the organization to purchase equipment and a vehicle to support the programming taking place in the Co-LLAB facility. IFF previously provided MMI with a $50,000 flex loan in September 2022 that was refinanced and combined with the most recent loan.
To date, MMI has served more than 3,000 young people and helped more than 200 of them secure sustainable employment or launch their own businesses. With its new space, the organization will be able to provide additional support to aspiring entrepreneurs and to serve more young people annually. To learn more about MMI and the Co-LLAB facility, scroll down for media coverage of the grand opening.
Male Mogul Initiative · Youth Services
Building Capacity to Achieve a Long-Term Facility Goal
Learn more about Male Mogul Initiative and how the nonprofit built capacity in recent years as it worked toward acquiring its facility in our 2022 story, “New IFF Loan Program Reduces Barriers to Capital for BIPOC-Led Nonprofits on Chicago’s South and West Sides.”
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