Chicago Small Business Incubator from the Male Mogul Initiative's Co-llab Program in Englewood Helps Young Entrepreneurs Succeed

CHICAGO (WLS) — There is a program on the south side of the city designed to help young people of color succeed.

The program is called Co-llab, and was launched by a mentoring group in Chicago started by a former NFL player and high school teacher.

Co-llab Warehouse is a first-of-its-kind effort to help Black and brown youth become business owners. It opened Thursday in the Englewood neighborhood.

The name Co-llab is a combination of collaboration and laboratory. The space occupies two floors in a building near 60th Street and Wentworth Avenue.

The program is the brainchild of former NFL player and high school history teacher Walter Mendenhall. He is the founder of the non-profit mentoring and entrepreneurship program, Male Mogul Initiative, or MMI.

MMI started in a local church with just five children in 2017, and has since had about 3,000 participants and created more than 200 jobs.

“A lot of times a lot of young people make mistakes based on critical attitudes, and we are here to provide solutions to that to combat the problem,” Mendenhall said.

He said nearly 45% of African Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 are not in school or working, and that he hopes to create an ecosystem of business and community wealth.

“I was 15, and I didn't have a lot of positive male influences in my life, so when Walt came along, it was like a dream come true,” said Joris Winston, Co-llab director and MMi alumnus.

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The initiative provides machines to print and manufacture products, such as clothing, artwork, storefronts and workshops. There is also access to experts in finance, branding and marketing.

“This space is amazing,” said Dorian Robinson of Chicago Hope Academy. “These are students who want to become interested in fashion and have their own brand and company.”

At least six young men of color from a male mentoring and development organization have developed their own clothing line. Gentlemen, I plan to use the space.

“Six weeks later, here we are in a new Co-llab space that will allow these young people to share their creativity and monetize their ideas,” said I Am A Gentleman Executive Director Jermaine Lawrence Anderson.

Co-llab charges a small monthly membership fee of $20, but the roughly $100,000 cost of the initiative is largely borne by companies and organizations.

“I fell in love with the work he does to touch the lives of young people in our communities,” said Stephanie Townsell, chief program officer at the MIGMIR Fund.

By the end of the year, the Co-llab hopes to have approximately 120 members.

“We're trying to provide that light,” Mendenhall said. “We're trying to provide opportunities and give them something they can invest in, which is their creativity.”

Big things are happening this summer. Not only do they recruit for the incubator and summer drone and tech camp, but they also help people get summer jobs.