The Center for Creative Entrepreneurship supports entrepreneurship in the creative industries through ongoing hands-on training, mentorship, networking events, industry sector specific boot camps and accelerators, and archived content for both artists and creative entrepreneurs. CCE also maintains a focus on equity, ensuring its programs engage communities of color and other historically marginalized spaces for creative entrepreneurs.

With national and local unemployment rates at historic lows, underserved communities are still experiencing barriers to access and disparities in acquisition and advancement. The creative sector is a driver of innovation, cultural impact, and deep civic engagement with a unique opportunity to address development of underserved communities. Individual approaches from both the public and private sector do exist to address some workforce needs, but the creative sector currently lacks formalized, comprehensive infrastructure providing training, internships, apprenticeships, professional networking, and career and entrepreneurial education across industries.

CCE commits to helping expand the talent pipeline within the creative sector through advanced professional development, job and entrepreneurship training, relationship building, and access to capital for individuals, creative businesses, institutions, and community organizations.  CCE maintains a focus on equity, ensuring its programs engage communities of color, LGBTQ, veterans, and other historically marginalized communities for creative workforce. To accomplish this, we partner with established community based organizations and workforce development agencies that intentionally serve, prepare, place, and support job-seekers from disinvested communities.

CCE is a pilot project, fiscally sponsored by Arts Alliance Illinois and funded by the Coleman Foundation. 2112 serves as programmatic lead, with ancillary support from MediaTech Ventures and partner organizations in each focus industry (Music, Film/Video, Dance, Theater, Fashion, Visual Arts/Design, Media, Sports, Culinary).