Cofounder, Southside Blooms and Chicago Eco House
UW Major: History
In 2014, he cofounded a social enterprise that pairs two nonprofits, Chicago Eco House and Southside Blooms, to transform empty urban spaces into opportunity.
This model provides greater freedom and control over Eco House’s work and future. From the COVID-19 pandemic to the elimination of government grants, “nonprofits have faced all sorts of challenges lately,” Blackwell says. “Being more financially sustainable makes us more resilient.” It also allows leadership and governance to better reflect community priorities.
Today, Chicago Eco House operates six solar-powered, pesticide-free flower farms on 11 acres. Three dozen young adults are employed working on the farms, making bouquets and learning skills in agriculture, renewable energy, and small-business operations. Southside Blooms sells those flowers, and the revenue supports Eco House. In 2024, sales exceeded $676,000.
Blackwell shares his commitment to serving Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood with his wife and cofounder, Hannah Bonham Blackwell. Hannah leads the creative vision and design, Quilen focuses on business strategy and growth, and together they’re raising three children. When they met, they were both active in youth outreach and saw firsthand the need for economic opportunity. As they searched for an industry that could take root locally, they explored possibilities from biofuels to 3-D printing before landing on flower farming.
“Floristry is creative, and it’s something young people can pick up quickly and apply in a real business,” Blackwell says. Plus, in a market where 80 percent of flowers sold in the U.S. are imported, locally grown blooms eliminate shipping costs and reclaim empty lots.
Blackwell first saw that approach as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand, where communities build upon their existing assets, working collectively on farming co-ops or women-led small businesses.
His path to the Peace Corps began in Madison when visiting volunteers spoke at his high school. By eighth grade, he was already volunteering at a community center. Service had always been a core value in his family. Watching his parents participate in civic affairs and organizing “was very formative,” he says. “I saw that community action can lead to real and tangible change in your own neighborhood.”
Those values further took shape at UW–Madison, where he took advantage of opportunities to try new things, including starting a student organization focused on social justice. Blackwell credits mentors like Dr. Mercile J. Lee, founding director of the UW’s Chancellor’s Scholarship Program, for her commitment to her students, and professor emerita of history Colleen Dunlavy, for teaching the importance of clear communication.
In 2006, he earned his bachelor’s degree in history, learning to look for patterns from the past and apply them to present-day challenges. Leaders like Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver — who used research and outreach to educate and empower Black farmers — showed him how creative thinking could turn limited resources into opportunity. And as a self-taught farmer, Blackwell leaned into another lesson from the UW: he embraced the Wisconsin Idea, rolling up his sleeves, asking questions, and researching how to grow not only flowers but also his community. “Everything comes from a place of wanting to serve,” he says.