conveningco-creating

open sourcingco-location

Director's Statement Mission & Vision

Education

Small BusinessMarkets

ResearchSupport

Time at the PlantFinancialsDonors & Sponsors

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This year has been monumental for Plant Chicago. We’ve reflected deeply on what it means to beco-located, to convene, collaborate, and open source information. Co-location should not be limitedto the boundaries of a building, but must include those businesses and people that surround you.With that in mind, we have transitioned from a singular focus on the community inside of ThePlant to focus our impact with small businesses and residents across the southwest side ofChicago. In the past year, we launched our Local Circular Economy Leadership Network, releasedour Circular Economy Toolkit for Small Businesses, and perhaps most significantly: we’ve moved.

Our new location is a former firehouse which we are repurposing into a center for circular economyprogramming. Located just a few blocks away from our former home, The Firehouse allows us to notjust continue our innovative programming in education and small business support, but alsoevolve and grow more in line with our mission and values. Straddling both the commercial corridoron Ashland Avenue and the residential area around Davis Square Park, we’re positioned to workcloser with small businesses and residents in the Back of the Yards neighborhood and southwestside of Chicago.

It’s incredible to witness what has happened in just 4 months: with the collective effort of staff andvolunteers, we moved entire farms (indoor and outdoor), and rebuilt the main engine hall to be ableto accommodate school groups, host mission aligned summits, film screenings, and other events.Most amazingly, despite the fact that we spent the last quarter of 2019 moving and preparing tomove, we still hosted thousands of youth in education programs, led 24 markets with over 40vendors, and organized small business forums.

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DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

In the coming year, The Firehouse will be the home of the only shared indoor growing spaces forcommercial use. This "indoor victory garden" will feature shared space for growing both plants andfungi, with wet labs, sinks, and space for small commercial growers as well as individuals thatwant to learn how to grow indoors. The retail shop will feature the food grown on site, plus products which are actively diverting materials from the landfill, andopportunities to collect materials from the neighborhood.

From battery recycling, electronics collection, and communitycomposting opportunities, we’ll be working with our smallbusiness and residential neighbors to divert materials from the landfill.

It’s an exciting time for Plant Chicago. If you havesupported us as a donor or volunteer, we thankyou.

J O N A T H A N P E R E I R AExecutive Director

Plant Chicago’s mission is to cultivate localcircular economies. We envision a paradigmshift in production, consumption, and wastedriven at the local level, generating equity andeconomic opportunity for all residents.

At the local scale, it can be described as a collaborative economic practicesustained by local circulation of materials, nutrients, knowledge, andmoney. It’s empowered by transparency, diversity, and inclusion.

Plant Chicago’s small business program supportssmall businesses to engage in circular economypractices while improving their bottom line. Programactivities include our Circular Economy LeadersNetwork, one-on-one support for businesses oncircular economy projects, and opportunities foradditional revenue and community engagementthrough our farmers market and partner workshopofferings.

“Being able to host workshopshas widened my reach, peopleare starting to get to know me

and the work I do. I can paybills, especially the months Iteach a workshop and alwaysfeel an energetic boost fromthe beautiful community, so

thank you!”

Worked with a variety ofstakeholders to create a CircularEconomy for Small Businesstoolkit. The toolkit helps smallbusinesses understand,benchmark, implement, measure,and communicate circulareconomy initiatives within theiroperations.Recruited 14 small food businesseson Chicago’s southwest side for ournew Circular Economy LeadersNetwork.Hosted 18 partner workshops ontopics ranging from beekeeping tovegan baking, generating over$7,000 in additional revenue forlocal small businesses.

Members of the new Circular Economy Leaders Network willcollaborate with Plant Chicago and each other to set andachieve at least one circular economy goal over the course ofthe year. Businesses are working on projects like sourcingingredients from local farmers, reducing landfill waste,measuring their impact on the local community, and more.

Circular Economy Leaders Network

New Retail Space

Plant Chicago will launch a circular economyretail space at our new location. This is anexciting opportunity for us to think about whatretail could look like within a local circulareconomy system.

Photo by Ingrid Bonne

The event brought together local chefs and innovativegrowers/food producers for delicious meals and reflections onwhat it means to eat and make food in a world filled withalmost 8 billion people! Meals courtesy of:

Photo by Ingrid Bonne

Chef Abra Berens (Granor Farms, James Beard nominee),Emergy Labs; a meal that focused on the opportunities of“alternative” proteins, including the mycelial based proteinbeing made from Emergy Labs. Chef Kuan (French Kitchen, Yappah) , Adam Pollack (ClosedLoop Farms); we explored the cultural tensions that arise whendiscussing eating meat. The meal featured both vegan tracksand a “nose to tail” meal made from “offal” from animals.

We awarded small businesses that are working to create localparadigm shifts in production, consumption, and waste at ourannual Harvest Dinner, including:

Closed Loop Farms and Just Ice for their collaborations to divertmaterials from landfillsSte. Martaen for going 100% compostable and making veganfood that is planet-friendlyChefs Abra Berens of Granor Farm, Iliana Regan of ElizabethRestaurant & Milkweed Inn, Eric Mansavage of FarmhouseChicago, Won Kim of Kimski, and Laviyah Ayanna and Nahum St Martin of Ste Martaen.

Over 100 attendeesGarry Cooper, Founder of Rheaply, gave a keynote 12 diverse breakout sessions throughout the day gave participantsa chance dive deeper into circular economy practicesPlant Chicago created a list of local circular economy action itemsbased on what we learned during the forum and sent the list toforum participants. We also collected comment cards fromattendees to let the City of Chicago know what actions they couldtake to cultivate a local circular economy in Chicago

Our second annual Closed Loop Forum, brought together peoplefrom all backgrounds and perspectives for discussion around thecircular economy – what it is and different ways communities andbusinesses are implementing and benefiting from it.

Photo by Ingrid Bonne

WOMEN-OWNED

Plant Chicago’s farmers marketstarted in 2015 with a goal to create asafe space for community members togather, and to provide fresh, locallygrown. Our farmers market acceptsLink/EBT and matches Link purchasesdollar for dollar up to $25 to supportour farmers and ensure produce getsinto the hands of those who need itmost.

O W N E DP O C

$1,760worth of groceriesdistributed inLINK/EBT program

3,521VISITORS

Photo by Leah Kuhn

Photo by Leah Kuhn

In 2019, Plant Chicago was a lead organizer ofthe Chicago Farmers Market Collective, a groupthat aims to encourage collaboration betweenall of the markets in the city of Chicago.

At each market, we represented a partnerednon-profit: Forest Preserves of Cook County,Citizens Climate Lobby, Shedd Aquarium,Chicago Tool Library, Community Glue, CitizensUtility Board, MWRD, and more!

Plant Chicago will work with the ChicagoFarmers Market Collective to create acommon application to simplify theapplication process for vendors

Pilot “Grab Bag” program at our summerfarmers market to increase participation inLink Match

In the summer, our farmers market willmove to Davis Square Park. Unlike last year,the summer market will be every week!

"Plant Chicago is a great place to be in, great people to workwith and surely a great place to grow a healthier community...our partnership with Plant Chicago has allowed ChicagoCommons to not only bring clean locally sourced produce butalso to expand [our] network of resources. Not only do [ourcommunities] learn about new small business, but they alsolearn about ways to improve their day to day lives through food,gardening, homemade products for the whole family ... I lookforward to our continued collaborations as we work together togrow a healthier community"

Andrea Guzmán - Family Hub Manager at ChicagoCommons Paulo Freire Center

Photo by Leah Kuhn

Photo by Leah Kuhn

Closed Loop Labs are hands-on workshops that engage

K-12 students from the Chicago region with circular

economy principles and make connections between

economic and ecological systems.

3,600one-hundred-and-fifty programs

of programs were offered

F R E ETO BACK OF THE YARDS SCHOOLS

"Students had a wonderful experience at theaquaponics workshop. Even while in transition tothe new facility, our facilitators led exemplary tourand lab investigation. I would recommend PlantChicago to all chemistry and biology high schooleducators!" - Emma Koropp, University of ChicagoCharter School - Woodlawn Campus

With our recent move, our education team is excited tobe closer to some of our partner schools, making it even

easier for community groups to participate in ourprogramming. Through a small grant from

kidsgardening.org, Plant Chicago will start building outan outdoor pollinator garden. Weather permitting, the

garden will be visited by nearly all of our schoolprograms, providing an excellent natural

the new build out of ouraquaponic systems, which

will display different systemdesigns and be easy for

students to explore.

space for students to explore during ournative pollinator Closed Loop Lab. Theeducation team is also excited about

Early stage entrepreneurs and hobbyists needresources, knowledge, and networks to besuccessful. Our research program focuses onopen-sourcing information and leveragingshared knowledge, resources, andinfrastructure to provide support to early stageentrepreneurs, hobbyists, and academicresearchers.

Chicago Social Mycology met every month in 2019.Attendance is concentrated around a core group ofa dozen enthusiastic individuals, with growing to65 people. The group completed a 5 month longinternal education program and began assistingthe education staff with the creation of mycology-focused closed loop labs. Makeup of the group isprimarily hobbyist enthusiasts, with a handful ofearly stage commercial operations.

As part of the development of the Firehouse, in 2020 we willestablish a dedicated mycology clean room and associated

growing space. We will begin offering at least one mycology-focused Closed Loop Lab, as well as a mycology-centered

general public workshop.

The Firehouse presents a tremendous opportunity for PlantChicago to help support established and early stage growers. Ourplans are to offer a wash/pack room and research wet lab, as wellas dedicated growing space and equipment. Refrigerator, freezer

and dry storage space are planned to allow for various methods ofcrop storage and preservation. Alongside this increase in material

support for growers and entrepreneurs, we will be adding to ourroster of hobbyist groups, with a focus on topics that interest our

neighbors in Back of the Yards.Photo by Leah Kuhn

With the support from ourvolunteers, interns, and donors,Plant Chicago is able to provide low-cost programming for schools,launch research projects, andsponsor local small businesses.

Plant Chicago’s volunteer program isevolving from informal open hours

every Saturday, to more focusedmonthly work days. We are excited tohave targeted work days to get more

accomplished and make the most outof our volunteers’ time and efforts.

Hosted 2 major work days forregular volunteers, each with atlease 25 people in attendanceHosted 13 volunteer groups, someschool, some corporate, some nonprofit Sustained an active AuxiliaryBoard comprised of 15 youngprofessionals150 Active volunteers 2,048 total volunteer hours

Moira Mulhern - Supported Plant Chicago’s wastediversion programs through creating a guide forthe waste station and designing interactive waysfor people understand waste streams(decomposition activity)

Eliana Torrero - Supported Plant Chicago’s onsiteand offsite markets through outreach andresearch

Eva Durance - Worked with Arize Kombucha andKombuchade to experiment with using SCOBYsas a vegan alternative to leather. Created a walletas an example of how the ‘textile’ could be used

AK Miller and Tyler Bogartz-Brown - Explored therelationship between mycorrhizal fungi and leafyproductivity

Lia O’Bryan - Served as Plant Chicago’s OperationAssociate for summer 2019. Supported staffthrough answering emails, phone calls, and fieldtrip requests. Facilitated Circular EconomyWorkshops, maintained indoor and outdoorgrowing spaces, and provided general supportduring farmers markets.

An internship with Plant Chicago is aunique experience. In addition toworking closely with our staff andother businesses, our interns alsocomplete a closed-loop project of theirown design.

In summer 2020 we are looking forward to hostingup to 4 Circular Economy Project Interns who willsupport small food businesses in our network tobenchmark, implement, and measure circulareconomy practices within their operations.

We will host 1-2 interns from Back of the Yardsthrough the Career and Technical Education(CTE) program through CPS this summer. We alsoanticipate hosting 2-3 interns to support ournutrition programs at our weekly summerfarmers market.

For over 8 years, Plant Chicagoserved as a critical supportstructure for "The Plant". By theend of 2019, it was clear that theecosystem of businesses therewas stable enough that anonprofit was no longer needed.

"The Plant" is now entirely acommunity of small, for profitbusinesses. If you supportedPlant Chicago throughout thistime, either throughvolunteering your time ordonating money, we thank you!You supported a wildly uniquecommunity and its successwould not have been possiblewithout you.

In November, PlantChicago moved out ofthe facility known as"The Plant"

LOOKING BACK

60,000+people joined us for toursand workshops

15,000+people visited our year-round farmers markets

From 2011-2019...

10 academic researchers12 small businesses20 interns

Plant Chicago collaborated with

to conduct research projects on theeconomic and environmentalpotential of "waste."

$500,000+dollars of economicbenefits were brought tothe community of co-located small businesses

Rent / Utilities10%

Accounting/Audit7%

Foundations3%

Supplies3%

COGS + Sales Tax3%

Consulting2%

Special Events2%

Misc2%

Personnel64%

Foundations45%

Fees for Service14%

Government14%

Corporations9%

Special Events7%

Individuals6%

Retail3%

Misc2%

Total revenue$365,063

Total Expenses$350,579

Plant Chicago continues toprogress with the support of localand national foundations,government grants, corporatesponsors, and individual donors. Earned income comes fromprogram fees such as workshops.With your help, we look forward togrowing our impact in our newlocation at The Firehouse.

*Revenue received for the 2019fiscal year without donorrestrictions.

REVENUE

Personnel is the largest expensefor the organization, representingthe long term tenure of talentedstaff. In 2019, PC was a utility+rent-paying tenant of The Plant.

$0.77 of every dollar supportsdirect program costs.

EXPENSES

Revenue and expenses based on audited unrestricted figures.

Expenses not listed in chart:Management Expenses 2%

Program Expenses 2%

Albert Pick FoundationAnonymousCynthia and George Mitchell FoundationDart FoundationGems AcademyMartha Struthers Farley and Donald C. Farley,Jr. Family FoundationRobert and Tony Bader FoundationWalter S. Mander Founation

Barack FerrazzanoBlue Cross Blue Shield ILColeman FoundationConagra Brands FoundationEarthshareFirst Midwest BankOatlyPatagoniaWest Monroe Partners

The list below are those foundations and businesses that have

supported Plant Chicago through grants, sponsorships, in-kind

services, or product donations for events.

Apologue Liqueurs, Arize Kombucha, Beyond Meat, Bike a Bee, Butterdough,Cedillo's Fresh Market, Closed Loop Farms, Four Letter Word, Great AmericanCheese, Just Ice, Kombuchade, No Denial Foods, Pixie Dust Salts, Sacred Serves,Tea Squares, Virtue Cider, Whiner Beer, Yappah

AnonymousAnneli AlersDiego Alonso BlondetMartha AndersonSusan ArcherMichelle BavermanJohn BilsonMerri BizjackBrian BradyRobert BrennerStephanie BugyisDelanie CarneyRebecca CasipleDenise CharbonnetBebs ChorakChristian CloughArlene Cohn RubinGary ColemanKristie ConklinBeth ConleyBarbara CooperBarbara CraysClo DavisRobert DieckmanNicholas DiganiColleen DohertyJason DomanskiAllie Epstein-Miranda Alejandro EspinozaColleen FantBryan FeldmanMark FingerChadwick FloresEdith FoltaKim FreierSari FreierLori FrischerJohn FudaczKatarina Ganko-RodriguezTaylor GendelEmily GeorgeChristopher GladbachAllison GoerlerAlexis GrecoJack HannahJane HardickKeith HaskinsBeth Haverkamp PowersOlwen HawnMadisyn HennenDiana HessDora HinesNoah Jemison

Daniel KachAvi KazenAngelo KelvakisNancy LandrumChristine LeeKatie LevinAllison LieferJudith LieskeMaureen LighthallCharlie MahoneyBrian MalloyRay MankowskiHarrison ManningDarren MattinsonMike McEvillyGabriella MeffertMary NaftzerCamille NealSusan PelkaMargaret PelkaJanna PenhaleJonathan PereiraDaniella PereiraCarolyn PereiraKelsey PetersonPostell PringleDonna RakowEmily RheaAdam RodriguezAndrew RohmHeather SchwartzJohn ScottMaggie SereikaRobert SeseLaurel SingletonBridgett SlaagsCarl SledgePat SmithOllie SolomonGermania SolorzanoPatsy SteimerRobert SternthalInez SuenBarabara SwansonJesse Vega-PerkinsMarie VeronicaDiane VillagomezRachel VrabecJanet WalkerJulie WilliamsSandy WilsonRuth WollJustin WrightJanet Zhang