Mission
Help residents and young people understand, activate, and invest in the places they call home through leadership, education, community development, and access to practical resources.
Build Where You Live · People, Places & Possibilities
Helping people see what is possible where they already live.
Martell Collins brings community development, youth leadership, civic engagement, environmental justice, and neighborhood investment into practical conversations that move people from exposure to action.
Youth LeadershipCommunity DevelopmentEnvironmental Justice
Martell CollinsCommunity Strategist · Speaker · Executive Director
About
Community development grounded in lived experience.
Martell Collins is a Chicago-based community strategist, speaker, and Executive Director of Wood St. Collective. His work focuses on transforming overlooked spaces, strengthening youth leadership, and helping residents better understand and navigate the systems shaping their neighborhoods.
His work connects public space, civic engagement, environmental and agricultural justice, entrepreneurship, local ownership, and community investment — making those ideas practical, culturally relevant, and useful.
Through Build Where You Live and his leadership of Wood St. Collective, Martell creates pathways for young people, residents, schools, nonprofits, and community partners to move from ideas to action.
Mission & Vision
Building stronger people, places, and possibilities.
Vision
Communities where residents can recognize opportunity, build local ownership, strengthen relationships, and create neighborhood assets people choose to protect, invest in, and belong to.
Services
Choose the service that fits what you need.
Each service has its own guided process. Intake forms and scheduling only appear after you select the service so every client follows the right sequence.
Schools · Colleges · Nonprofits · Conferences$1,399
Keynotes & Interactive Workshops
Interactive speaking and learning experiences that help young people see themselves as leaders, decision-makers, and builders within their communities.
- Youth leadership and civic engagement
- Community development and investment
- Environmental and agricultural justice
- Entrepreneurship and facilitated conversations
Residents · Emerging Community Builders$200
Own Your Block — 1:1
A resident-focused pathway for understanding how to identify vacant land, navigate local systems, pursue acquisition, and turn overlooked property into a neighborhood asset.
- Land and opportunity identification
- Local-system navigation
- Acquisition pathway guidance
- Resource navigation and personal Q&A
501(c)(3) Nonprofit · Chicago
Wood St. Collective
Wood St. Collective is a Chicago-based nonprofit building accessible urban green spaces, strengthening local food systems, and advancing environmental work through urban greening, food access, youth sustainability education, and leadership development.
- Accessible urban green spaces
- Local food access and hunger relief
- Urban greening and tree planting
- Youth sustainability and leadership education
Who We Serve
Built for people and institutions ready to create local impact.
Young People
Teens and emerging adults building leadership, voice, confidence, and a stronger understanding of how communities work.
Residents
People who want to better understand land, neighborhood opportunity, civic systems, and pathways to local ownership.
Institutions
Schools, colleges, nonprofits, youth programs, conferences, leadership cohorts, and community-based organizations.
Chicago Communities
Work rooted in Chicago neighborhoods with lessons and frameworks that can travel to other communities.
Impact
Community work you can see and experience.
Martell's work connects neighborhood spaces, youth leadership, food access, civic participation, and environmental action.
The Work
From neighborhood ideas to community assets.
Wood St. Collective builds public-facing green spaces while supporting food access, urban greening, environmental education, and community participation.
Build Where You Live extends that same philosophy through speaking, education, and one-on-one guidance that helps people understand how they can participate in shaping their own communities.
Get Involved
Choose how you want to participate.
Wood St. Collective
Invest in community infrastructure that stays local.
Led by Executive Director Martell Collins, Wood St. Collective is a Chicago 501(c)(3) creating accessible urban green spaces, supporting local food economies, expanding food access, and advancing environmental efforts. Support helps sustain urban greening, food-access initiatives, youth sustainability and leadership education, and community-centered neighborhood programming.
Support Wood St. CollectiveLearn MoreVisit the official Wood St. Collective website for current programs and ways to support the organization.
Contact
Start a conversation.
For paid services, begin in the Services section so you enter the correct intake and booking sequence. For general partnerships and community collaborations, use Martell's Linktree.
Chicago, Illinois
Looking to book a service?
Select the service first. You will then be guided through the correct intake, payment, and scheduling process without skipping steps.
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