East Freedman & Main

Dear Reader, Please join East Freedman & Main’s founder, Elisse Douglass, and managing director, Todd Hestand, for our next Economic Development Workshop on January 13, 2026, at 1 PM Eastern. Register Here In this session, Designing for Impact: Business Technical Assistance Programs for Community Wealth, we are going deeper into the "how" of inclusive commercial development. We will explicitly break down the Business Technical Assistance Program (BTAP) methodology as a strategic tool to:...

“This is ‘planting time.’ Planting is work. That work must be aimed at building ideas, theories, paradigms, institutions, skills, practices, and alliances that we can seed now for a future harvest — a fulsome and lush democracy that will reflect the very best of us.” — Professor Sherrilyn Ifill Friends, I’ve been spending a lot of time lately listening and learning, trying to understand how to respond to what’s happening in this country. What does it mean that so much of what we’ve fought for...

1600 S Lawndale will be a 15,608 SF adaptive reuse commercial redevelopment that will transform a long-vacant building into a vibrant small business incubator. As part of the North Lawndale Co-op, the space will house 6+ local tenants including a café, chocolatier, restaurant, art gallery, office suites, and event space. Led by Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, the project will foster community ownership, entrepreneurship, and is a key node in the 16th Street Corridor Revitalization...

Newsletter 001A Warm Welcome Friends, Welcome to the very first official East Freedman & Main newsletter! In honor of our 4-year launch anniversary — I want to take a moment to reflect on the journey that brought us here. Four years ago, I felt like we—as a nation—were on the verge of repeating a painful and familiar cycle. The pandemic was exposing the deep consequences of the racial wealth gap, and in the wake of George Floyd’s public murder, major institutions made sweeping public...