Welcome to our blog post series, Conversations with Courageous Changemakers, where we interview inspiring social justice leaders. In this series, we invite people that inspire us to share their stories - their career and leadership journeys, how they incorporate equity into their work, and what motivates them to sustain the work. In each post, we will focus on a leader in an issue area we care about. We hope these conversations provoke your thinking and inspire your work!
We are thrilled to talk with Chase for the second post in our Conversations with Courageous Changemakers series!
Chase L. Cantrell is the founder of Building Community Value, a non-profit, community-based corporation dedicated to implementing and facilitating real estate development projects in underserved neighborhoods throughout Detroit. The organization does this by providing training to Detroit residents who wish to become small-scale real estate developers through its program and by providing consulting services to community development organizations that wish to implement neighborhood development projects. Building Community Value aspires to bring true value to the communities they serve by involving residents and local leaders in every aspect of the development cycle.
A Detroit native, Chase built his career as a transactional attorney by helping companies of all sizes in matters related to real estate and corporate law. In March 2016, Chase founded Building Community Value in order to more directly pursue his passion for real estate development and community service.
1. Tell me about what you do and why you do it.
I’m a strong advocate for the city of Detroit, my native city. Prior to college, I had always said that I would go to law school and then use the legal degree to do something beneficial for my community. I thought I would do something in policy, but I got really interested in the built environment and placemaking during my studies. I was working on transactions in downtown Detroit as well as the Cass Corridor. It dawned on me that I’m in a city that’s full of mostly black and brown people, but most of our clients were white, wealthy, and male. I was thinking about who was benefitting from the built environment. I reflected that I’d built a specialty and I wanted to use it to help my community. So I started Building Community Value, and I wanted to teach community members to shape their environment - ensuring that those who are benefitting from the development are those that live in the neighborhood.
We run a training program called Better Buildings, Better Blocks that happens twice a year. It’s a fairly intensive training for residents of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park to learn the basics of commercial and residential development. We provide technical assistance to help them do the projects they want to do. We also help local community organizations with residential and commercial development. The goal is to make sure that native Detroiters are guiding how the city comes back from bankruptcy.
2. What does equity mean to you?
The idea that those who are impacted by a decision are crafting, implementing, and benefitting from the decisions that get made. I’m thinking not just about development but how capital is distributed in Detroit. As we’re developing new City departments and initiatives, looking at who are the programs made for. Who are the decision makers? And who is mostly benefitted? It’s making sure that those who were courageous enough or had no other choice but to stay in Detroit are the ones that benefit.
Internationally, people are moving back into cities. It just so happens that in a lot of US cities, because of a lot of systemic reasons, we have black and brown people in the cities, and white people in the suburbs. People talk a lot about diversity and inclusion. For the context of Detroit, increasing diversity would mean that you’re diluting the black and brown population, and the power dynamics of that. And when you talk about “inclusion” in a majority black and brown city, that doesn’t make sense – why do you need to include black and brown people in Detroit? This framing basically admits that there’s a skewed power dynamic.
3. What’s next for you? What’s your vision?
No matter what I do, I’m going to work on those three buckets: built environment, policy and politics, and data and transparency. That’s my life’s mission. I will probably at some point run for office, which was my original vision as a youngster. There is a mayoral and city council election in 2021, and my mentors have been pushing me in that direction. But for now, I believe that I can have a lot of impact doing what I’m doing in real estate. At this stage, making sure that we have a hand in how development happens is key. That whole system is still very fragile. Making sure that we actually understand on the ground what’s happening and how resources get to the people that need them is critical. I think I’ll be doing this work with Building Community Value for the next 5 years. But after that, I may work in or for government, whether as an employee or elected official.
4. What is one thing your future self would tell you now?
I think my future self would say – don’t take on too many disparate projects. Focus. Last year, I took a step back and hired a life coach. He was amazing. I went in with some very high-level questions – e.g. should I run for office? Also understanding how I understand and value time. Even though you’re good at something and you know that you can do a thing, doesn’t mean that you should do it. I find myself raising my hand all the time to volunteer because I have an understanding of things that not everyone has. But that doesn’t allow me to think deeply about a few key things. I’ve been trying to remove myself from things, and my future self would say to do that even more.
5. What advice do you have for people who need to be inspired to sustain their social justice work?
One, you have to work with other people. A lot of social justice warriors think that they have to carry a burden on their own. But you can tap into your networks; you don’t have to do everything alone.
Second, the idea of rest. I’m seeing this more in social justice spaces. Not guilt or shame in taking some time to rest before re-engaging. It can be really hard. I had a real vacation a few weeks ago, and it felt very weird. But so important, so that you have enough energy and strength and power to come back and do the work.
6. What are you reading right now?
Right now, I have a friend who is writing a book. He has been working on it for a very long time. He’s about to send it off to a publisher. It’s fantasy mixed with a little sci-fi. I’m helping with some of the edits. I can’t wait for the world to see it. And I’m a harsh critic!