BARTLEBY’S HOMEMADE ICE CREAM

Bartleby’s Homemade Ice Cream was founded in 2024 by Rachel Kamins and Jeff Osborn, both transplants to Chicago who love ice cream and believe their adopted city needs more of it. They teamed up to create a funky, friendly, community-centered space where they serve great ice cream and creative frozen treats.

Learn more at bartlebysicecream.com.

FEAST FITNESS + NUTRITION

Feast Fitness strives to be the best gym Chicago has to offer by serving the lifelong health and happiness of their community, getting their members fit for life, and building gritty, grateful, and humble members and coaches. Opened in 2019, their goal is to have you physically and mentally fit for whatever life brings. They design and coach their functional training and group nutrition so that athletes of all skill and knowledge levels can come together under one cohesive program to become the best version of themselves.

Learn more at feast-fitness.com.

TRAFFIC JAM! SWING

Started in 2016 with an idea over brunch, Traffic Jam! Swing is a Chicago nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the Chicago Swing Dance and Lindy Hop scene. Their mission is to promote the education, history, and culture of swing dance in Chicago by organizing events including regularly occurring dances, leveled classes, and weekend intensive workshops.

Learn more at trafficjamswing.com.

SPACCA NAPOLI PIZZERIA

For over a decade, Spacca Napoli has made pizza faithful to the authentic Neapolitan style. Dough is tended daily as a blend of love and craft and baked in an oven built by third and fourth- generation artisans from Napoli. Ingredients are carefully sourced from trusted vendors, many of which are unavailable anywhere else in Chicago. Wines and music are selected to create just the right experience and mood.

Learn more at spaccanapolipizzeria.com.

BEGYLE BREWING

Located in the Ravenswood Industrial Corridor of Chicago also known as “Malt Row”, Begyle Brewing prides itself on offering a diverse and approachable selection of quality beer that brings people together. The’ve built a community of beer lovers with their Community Supported Brewery program, offering members 6 or 12-month growler-fill subscriptions and by hosting events and supporting local organizations. Begyle’s brewery and taproom have become a neighborhood staple, as well as a destination for travelers. 

Learn more at begylebrewing.com.

SPOKEN

Spoken is a premier cafe located in Ravenswood serving breakfast and lunch with some Cajun respects as owners Will and Sido are both from Southern Louisiana. Their locally roasted organic coffee and espresso beverages, bagels, breakfast sandwiches, local pastries and lunch fare all made with in house ingredients sourced locally and organically whenever possible. Spoken Cafe also features an extensive retail line of preserved ingredients from the menu such as jams, pickles, ferments and sauces all made in house.

Learn more at spokenchicago.com.

HAZEL

Hazel Gift features a well-curated collection of goods for all ages and styles. Starting mainly as a greeting card and paper store, Hazel quickly expanded to showcase a wide variety of goods including jewelry, accessories, baby gifts, housewares, and gifts for men. Hazel Gift is excited to feature items from local independent designers as well as wares from around the world. Throughout all areas, a wide variety of prices and styles creates a wonderful selection of gifts for everyone on your list, including yourself!

Learn more at hazelchicago.com.

PONNOPOZZ

Ponnopozz is the studio of Chicago-based artist Adrianne Hawthorne. Adrianne comes from a graphic design background but prefers the act of making art with her own hands. She initially felt uneasy putting so much of herself out into the world, but has since felt a satisfaction that she never found in corporate America. Ponnopozz is named after two imaginary friends, Ponno and Pozzer, that the artist had as a child. The name is a daily reminder of the unbridled creativity of childhood that she continues to nurture through the act of painting and drawing.

Learn more at ponnopozz.com.

RAVENSWOOD LOFT

Ravenswood Loft provides great opportunities for corporate clients and private events alike to have full service or DIY options that are fully supported by the Ravenswood Loft staff in their efforts to offer their guests a unique experience in meeting space, private dining, or celebrations in an environmentally sustainable fashion. Offering in-house service ware and staffing, as well as connecting clients to great local vendors for the myriads of catering and decor services that Chicago has available, is just a part of what makes Ravenswood Loft a perfect match for the community’s variety of needs.  

Learn more at ravenswoodloft.com.

TRAFFIC JAM! SWING

Started in 2016 with an idea over brunch, Traffic Jam! Swing is a Chicago nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the Chicago Swing Dance and Lindy Hop scene. Their mission is to promote the education, history, and culture of swing dance in Chicago by organizing events including regularly occurring dances, leveled classes, and weekend intensive workshops.

Learn more at trafficjamswing.com.

MIND CHICAGO

Mind Chicago is a community of clinicians guided by common goals and values to help children and families make meaningful change that is important to them by using treatment that works. They move towards this goal by bringing together highly skilled, responsive, and affirming professionals who are passionate about evidence-based care to provide data-driven assessment, evidence-based therapy, and educational workshops for children, teens, young adults, and parents.

Learn more at mindchicago.com.

RAVENSWOOD ARTWALK

The Ravenswood ArtWalk Tour of Arts and Industry is a weekend-long celebration of our local creative community. Stretching from Lawrence south to Irving Park along Ravenswood Ave, the Ravenswood ArtWalk features open studios and galleries, pop-up performances and activations, an outdoor arts market featuring 60+ local makers, two stages of live music, a pop-up beer garden, kids activities, food trucks, and more!

Learn more at ravenswoodchicago.org.

RAVENSWOOD’ COMMUNITY FARMER’S MARKET

Ravenswood Community Farmers Market is a collaboration between vendors, local businesses, residents, and The Ravenswood Evangelical Covenant Church. A vibrant, weekly gathering where fresh, locally grown produce, artisanal goods, and homemade treats come together in the heart of the neighborhood with a focus on sustainability and supporting local farmers and makers. It’s the perfect place to find quality, hand-picked ingredients and to connect with the community.

Learn more at ravenswoodcommunityfarmersmarket.com.

MARGARET O’CONOR

This year’s winner is someone we might just be able to name the award after, Margaret O’Conor the Executive Director of Common Pantry. Under her leadership, Common Pantry has met the increasing needs of our most vulnerable neighbors by growing physically and programmatically. They’ve opened a beautiful, welcoming new building on Lincoln Ave, where they serve over 800 households a month. That’s roughly 700,000 pounds of food donated, powered by nearly 10,000 volunteer hours. Inspired new programs from Common Pantry include free nutrition and cooking courses, monthly meetups with free support from licensed social workers and dietitians, and creative volunteer opportunities for kids that teach skills and foster compassion.

MATT MARTIN

Over the last several years you’ve likely noticed several vibrant new large-scale murals in the neighborhood: Ponnopozz’s For My Neighbors With Love at the intersection of Ravenswood and Berteau, Christophe Gausparro and Jeff Zimmermann’s beautiful piece on the exterior of the Levy Senior Center, and the recently completed Ravenswood Walls of Togetherness by Mac Blackout at the Ravenswood Metra Station. Each of these projects would not have been possible without collaboration and support from this award winner: 47th Ward Alderman Matt Martin. Without investment and support from Alderman Martin, these projects wouldn’t have been possible. Not only do these murals redefine and elevate spaces in our community- each of these projects centered participation opportunities for senior neighbors or local high school students.

ANDREW SMERCZAK-ZORZA

This year’s award goes to Andy Smerczak-Zorza, who recently transitioned from president of the Ravenswood Neighbors Association to focus on chairing of its Greening Committee. Under Andy’s stewardship, RNA has helped create and maintain countless parkway and corner native flower gardens, which support local pollinators, increase biodiversity, and beautify the neighborhood. During that time, RNA also established new events for Ravenswood focused on greening and sustainability, including the recently wrapped up Mulch Madness with Begyle Brewing and WasteNot Compost, and the annual Ravenswood Garden Crawl. Andy and his team have been vital in engaging neighbors over community greening projects, cleanup days, and other sustainability initiatives. We can’t wait to see what he gets up to with hopefully a little more time on his hands.