Pittsburgh resident Khamil Bailey is helping her community evolve through her nonprofit organization Greenwood Plan, which supports “the communal health of Black communities.”
Although local businesses are choosing to move to other locations in the city, the entrepreneur is helping to create opportunities for people of color in the Pittsburgh community, according to WPXI. At the top of the year, the organization went from being a tenant to owner in The Pitt Building that sits downtown on Smithfield Street.
“People who live here, get to experience the local arts, local theatre, local performances,” Bailey said in an interview with WPXI.
During her interview with WPXI, Bailey shared that the third floor of the space, which is empty, will be transformed into an event space to be utilized by community members. Her goal is to support small Black-owned businesses by offering an inclusive environment that allows them to fully thrive.
“Because we focus on a marginalized community, like Black businesses, we fill a gap that exists and has existed in this region for a long time,” she said.
This expansion of Greenwood Plan owning the commercial property comes just a couple of years after Bailey founded the non-profit in 2021. Her charitable institution kicked off its mission with Emerald City, a “12,000-square-foot co-working, event, and social space dedicated to catapulting Black entrepreneurs and businesses to wealth and regional success,” according to its website.
“This feels like an anomaly to what’s going on downtown because we are growing, we are thriving and people love to be here,” Bailey said to WPXI.
Before Bailey became the owner of the Pitt building, multiple storefront spaces were available, but that will soon change under her ownership.
“We want to make sure that we bring people into the building that positively impact the community,” she said.
She hopes her actions inspire others who can do the same to action and help communities that are often overlooked.
“We are the first now, but ideally there are a ton of buildings that can become Black-owned spaces,” she said, “and change the dynamic of the city for Black people who are here.”
