Tethered to Community: Apriel Campbell

The name Apriel means new beginnings - a fresh start to stem the tide and help set things in a new direction. 

For Apriel Campbell, the name her grandmother gave her couldn’t be more appropriate. Each venture the entrepreneurial North Lawndale native pursues seems to set herself and her community on a new path. 

It’s no secret that the North Lawndale community has had its share of challenges over the years. From housing and racial discrimination, to economic disinvestment and a dramatic increase in crime - but each time, it responds. 

Apriel is one of the grassroots leaders spearheading the latest incarnation of the revival, taking a multi-faceted approach to community revival through entrepreneurship, property ownership and community engagement. The key is to meet the people where they are to drive personal investment.

“I help people reach community members that they have a hard time reaching,” she said about her community engagement work as a business consultant.  

“North Lawndale tends to be a bedroom community, where a lot of the people who live there work outside of the neighborhood and by the time they make it back to the neighborhood, it’s time to go to sleep. So they’re not as community engaged, as civically engaged.”

That disengagement has created gaps in a variety of sectors, notably in community-driven activity. 

“There are a lot of vacant lots in the ward, so you don’t have block clubs being amplified - action on a community level being amplified,” she said. 

But there are businesses and organizations trying to change that dynamic, and Apriel is a conduit to the people. 

“Because I’ve been in the neighborhood a long time, intergenerationally, I’ve used those networks and those relationships to scaffold upon to build what I have today, and to offer deeper connections for any partners that are a part of my network so that the community members can get what they need.” 

Apriel’s work with organizations ranging from youth programing, recidivism reduction, women’s leadership and social determinants is predicted on her access to community. That access proved invaluable for community health workers who were trying to reach North Lawndale residents with vital, potentially life-saving information during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There was such a disparity between Latino and Black neighborhoods and communities being given accurate information around the COVID pandemic, around the vaccine.”

Apriel has taken ownership in her community, managing several properties in North Lawndale as an avenue to reclaim and revive her neighborhood.

“If you beautify the neighborhood, I feel like that changes people’s minds about what should be happening.” 

Enhancing the image of the neighborhood through clean-ups and similar efforts would encourage more people to explore and enjoy the outdoor spaces while interacting with their neighbors. 

One approach toward that end, according to Apriel, would be to empower the people and engage community members of all ages to take pride in their neighborhood. 

“I think we should be empowering block clubs or those grassroots leaders that are taking the initiative to clean up their blocks and the surrounding areas.” 

“I think there’s room to have a torch pass or civic education about why litter isn’t good,” she remarked about intergenerational action. 

“When you have hyper-local movements, they’re more sustainable. You want to encourage people who are living, working and playing in a community to continue to thrive in that community.”

Apriel’s outlook on life in North Lawndale was shaped by own experience. One where she had to take life by the horns. 

Her freshman year at George W. Collins High School, now the Collins Academy, was her first experience with the Chicago Public School system, and it was a pivotal segment in her life. 

“I remember having to stand in line every morning to go through metal detectors. I had to wear clear backpacks. It was at that point that I realized that either I had to go up or I’m going to fall down.” 

During that year, she made the decision on her own to transfer to North Lawndale College Prep, a school a few blocks away from Collins and across the street from her house, but the process wasn’t as straightforward as she anticipated. 

A few months into her freshman year at Collins High and on her own, she walked into NLCP and requested a meeting with the principal. As a 15-year-old without an appointment, she waited for more than an hour before she had to leave to arrive on time to her job. Telling them she’d be back.

“I did that for about four months,” Apriel said of her frequent drop-ins. “I was just going in there periodically, asking to speak to the principal.” 

“The last time I went in there, I got a little pushy,” she recalled of her interaction with the front office staff who had repeated the same placating assurances of assistance time and again. “I was like, ‘No, you always say that, and I end up sitting here and no one comes out. He needs to come out and talk with me.’”

The principal begrudgingly helped schedule Apriel for an entrance exam that set her on path to finish her scholastic career at the school at the top of her class. 

Her tenacity has persisted. 

After finishing her degree at the University of Wisconsin, Apriel wanted to return to her hometown and make a difference. 

“I didn’t know how much I needed community until I left,” she said. “I feel like I bring the best out of people.”

It was another opportunity for a new beginning. 

“I left North Lawndale and came back. I choose to live in North Lawndale.” 

She’s been nonstop ever since. From a fresh college graduate hustling to earn a living, Apriel has become a dedicated community influencer that’s driving investment in the West Side. 

“I really care to hear what the individuals who live in the neighborhood would like to see. They should be able to capitalize on new developments and economic activity that comes into the neighborhood.”

In her role as a chief operating officer for the newly established chamber of commerce in North Lawndale, she’s looking to get local business owners established before the masses catch on.

“We want to get a head start before people set their eyes on this neighborhood that is in such close proximity to downtown and public transit amenities.” 

Apriel can see the potential in North Lawndale and has a vision for it to thrive, from within and driven by people like her - those who have invested their efforts in its renaissance. 

“I want to continue to be tethered to community,” she said. “Community should be what community wants it to be.”