Greater Southwest Development

We are a team of passionate advocates, resources, and powerbrokers. Staff members are former business owners, individuals with decades of economic development experience, parents, children and residents of the South and Southwest Side of Chicago. We work in service of a multicultural, prosperous and economically vibrant southwest Chicago, one rooted in social justice and racial equity. Together with the community, we strive to build generational, inclusive and sustainable wealth on Chicago’s southwest side. Our vision: A thriving Southwest Chicago community Our mission: To be a catalyst for creating and maintaining a vital Southwest Chicago community by empowering, building and sustaining development that raises the quality of life for our neighborhood residents, businesses and industries. Through collective effort and lots of hard work, we have managed to make improvements throughout the organization that will position us for a brighter future. This year alone, GSDC has worked with more than 1,800 business owners affected by the pandemic to secure $4.2M in emergency funds, engaged with 124 community residents on foreclosure prevention and rental assistance counseling, and continued to provide safe affordable housing for 250 seniors. In particular, our senior building staff has worked tirelessly to make sure that our seniors are safe and comfortable given all that is happening around them.