Strategic Plan 2026–2036.
Building pathways. Powering communities. A ten-year plan to turn 548 Foundation into a permanent engine for economic mobility on Chicago’s West Side.
Vision, mission, and the values that guide us.
To envision a world powered by clean energy, where sustainable jobs and hands-on training empower communities and change lives.
To transform communities through education, empowerment, and innovation to make sustainability accessible to all.
Community Empowerment · Job Creation · Economic Equity
We aren’t testing a new theory. We’re scaling a proven one.
548 Foundation began with a simple mission in 2016: delivering hands-on job training in a local Chicago church basement. Named after the address where I grew up in government housing, 548 was built on a lived understanding of what it takes to rise above systemic disinvestment and create tangible opportunities for others.
Operating across scattered, temporary locations, we have already successfully trained and graduated 544 justice-involved and disadvantaged individuals into high-demand, family-sustaining clean energy careers. But to meet the massive demand of Illinois’s surging green transition, we must eliminate our final operational bottleneck: temporary, scattered locations that limit our student capacity.
“We aren’t asking our partners to test a new, unproven theory... our workforce is ready, determined, and proven.”
— Robert ‘AJ’ Patton, Founder & Board President, 548 Foundation
Read the full letter in the Strategic Plan →The foundation we’re building from.
Baseline figures from the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) Workforce Hub initiative.
From stabilizing to leading nationally.
Stabilize + Prove
Secure and activate the 548 Campus, raise ~$5.48M, and expand student success and barrier reduction services.
Scale + Diversify
Raise $15.48M, launch new training pathways (electrical, HVAC, CDL), and grow employer, union, and placement partnerships.
Institutionalize
Reach a cumulative $35.48M capital & endowment target and achieve full financial self-sustainability for the 548 Campus.
The 548 Campus at 3250 W. Lake Street.
A permanent, $18.9 million infrastructure anchor in East Garfield Park — advanced technical training labs, holistic counseling suites, and corporate hiring partners under one unified roof.
A three-year capital campaign to raise $15.48 million by 2028, with a 10-year target of $35.48 million by 2036.
Read the full 10-year strategic plan.
Vision, financials, phased priorities, and the impact scorecard — all in one document.