Cultivate’s mission is to unite education, wellness,sustainability and economic vitality at the community level to drive meaningful, generational impact.
Cultivate Collective operates a two-acre urban production farm in Southwest Chicago, supplying fresh, organically grown produce to the Academy for Global Citizenship’s school meal program and the surrounding community. Our farm-to-school pipeline ensures AGC students eat produce harvested just steps from their classrooms. Cultivate also runs the Neighborhood Marketplace, a year-round hub for affordable, healthy food access, offering produce, pantry staples, and locally made goods. Beyond food distribution, the farm hosts community events, volunteer programs, and green workforce training.
We estimate that we serve approximately 2,000+ community members through the Neighborhood Marketplace (Little Leaf Market), health clinic visits, coordinated co-hosted events with AGC, and farm events.
We are in process of launching our farm for the 2025 season and estimate that we will grow over 30 varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Alongside this we are rolling out community workshops with our community gardens and workforce initiatives through Urban Growers Collective and Elevate Energy.