Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT)

Background

The Center for Neighborhood Technology was started in 1978 to address redlining and advance the environmental movement. The organization pushed solutions such as rooftop gardens, recycling, urban flooding, energy conservation, data sharing, and transportation alternatives. It claims former President Barack Obama as a former board member. ¹

Early work of the CNT included rooftop gardens, hosting the Chicago Recycling Coalition, energy conservation, and publishing The Neighborhood Works. The CNT’s core areas of work include Urban Analytics, tools to map disadvantaged communities, and Urban Resilience, which includes Rain Ready and climate equal outcomes, and the co-founding of Elevated Chicago, a coalition for equal outcomes in transit. ^{1  2}

Related Organizations

The Center for Neighborhood Technology established the Community Energy Cooperative in 2020 with Commonwealth Edison to reduce peak demand electricity usage that evolved into real-time pricing plans and the first residential hourly market-based pricing program. In 2007, it became CNT Energy and was again rebranded as Elevate Energy, an independent nonprofit. ³

Activities and Initiatives

In partnership with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, the Center for Neighborhood Technology published a Chicago Truck Count Data Portal to highlight the disparate impact of rapid shipping practices on low-income neighborhoods. ⁴

The CNT created the H+T Affordability Index, which combines the cost of housing and transportation designed to guide municipalities in reducing the cost burden on households. ⁴

The CNT partnered with the city of Evanston, Illinois and Elevate Energy to provide a one-stop home improvement program designed to aid the city in reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. ⁴

The CNT launched Elevated Works to provide technical assistance and coaching that guided the building of a community center and coffee shop designed by Duo Development. ⁴

The CNT supported three primary initiatives according to its 2024 income tax return. Transportation and Community Develop received $1,924,084 in support of its program to minimize the use of cars and promote public transportation systems. Sustainable Strategies and Urban Analytics received $1,179,941 for the provision of evidence-based tools and analysis to help cities develop and manage the promotion of sustainability and equal outcomes. The Water Program received $690,751 to encourage the adoption of environmental infrastructure to manage stormwater and protect regional water sources. ⁵

Funding

The Center for Neighboring Technology reported on its 2024 income tax return $2,151,540 in government grants or nearly 51 percent of the total contributions, gifts, and grants received. ⁶

The CNT recognized the Arabella Advisors-managed Windward Fund, the Movement Strategy Center, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and multiple others as funders, partners, and donors in 2023 and 2024. ^{7  4}

Grants

The Center for Neighboring Technology granted $ 690,751 in 2024, including $108,667 to The Endeleo Institute, Inc, $46,500 to the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, and $10,000 to the NAACP Illinois State Conference. ⁸

People

Bennett Johnson III is the board chair of the Center for Neighboring Technology and managing director of Oceans Holdings LLC. ⁹

As of August 2026, the CNT chief executive officer was Nina Idemudia, who was Chicago Recovery Plan Director for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, and is a board member of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. Idemudia received $211,166 in compensation in 2024. ^{10  11}