If you don’t spend time in southwest Atlanta, you may not be familiar with the Cookie Lady. But if you live in Ashview Heights, Westview, the West End, or Adair Park, you’ve probably eaten one of Raisha Williams’s chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, or butter toffee cookies. She sells them for $3 each or $5 for […]

Ever had a great idea you thought would make a good business? Sure, we all have. But then reality sets in – how to make it happen. Taking that great idea from the kitchen table to assembly is daunting. And the first big hurdle is getting the cash to get it off the ground. Meet […]

NPR’s Debb Elliot is featuring Marddy’s on Kitchen Table Conversations, a series from NPR’s National Desk that examines how Americans from all walks of life are moving forward from the presidential election. Listen Here

Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, Keitra Bates has lived in Atlanta’s Westside for nearly a decade. As an entrepreneur and mother of five children, Bates used to own Westview Pizza Cafe, where she sold pizza and fries made from fresh potatoes. But one day, the building was sold and the new owners’ vision for the […]

Keitra was one of eight fellows selected for the Center for Civic Innovation’s Westside Innovation Lab. Through the Fellowship, Keitra was able to receive business training, mentorship, and early stage capital. Now, six months later, with her building purchased and renovations and repairs underway, Keitra is edging closer to the “sweet smell of success.” Read […]

The westside innovation lab is a program run by the center for civic innovation to identify and support community-driven and community-built ideas and interventions within neighborhoods on the westside of Atlanta, primarily within the zip codes 30314 and 30318. These ventures will be supported with business training, partnerships, mentorship and early stage capital. Read More […]