What Ujima STL does

Ujima STL is a St. Louis, Missouri-based non-profit founded in 2018 by Nick Speed that operates as a pay-what-you-can service provider delivering integrated programming across three mission pillars: food justice, environmental stewardship, and youth empowerment. The core operating assets are George Washington Carver Farms (GWC Farms), an urban farm and green infrastructure site at 3714 Penrose Street that includes an outdoor classroom, demonstration garden, native garden, event space, and the Victory & Peace Park meditation/grief garden, and The Sunflower Institute (TSI), a six-pillar teen summer job program covering agriculture, culinary arts, occupational therapy, conservation, entrepreneurship, and professional development, delivered in partnership with River City Outdoors and the Missouri Department of Conservation. Supporting programs include outdoor education field trips for PreK through undergraduate students, environmental justice cleanups in North St. Louis City (delivered with earthday365), Teen Mental Health First Aid training for 15–18 year-olds, and produce distribution through mutual aid partners A Red Circle, Solidarity Economy, Growing Food Growing People, and three farmers markets (Be Well, A Red Circle's Healthy Community Market, and City Greens Market).

Name

Ujima STL

Legal name

Ujima

Website

https://ujimastl.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ujima STL is a St. Louis-based non-profit founded in 2018 that provides pay-what-you-can access to food, outdoor education, and youth employment through George Washington Carver Farms, The Sunflower Institute, and community cleanup programs serving North St. Louis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

St Louis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Primary revenue stream from individual donations, monthly recurring donations, and event-based fundraising. Accepts PayPal, CashApp, checks, and credit card contributions. The organization runs annual galas and events as fundraising vehicles.
2. Pay-What-You-Can Service Fees: A non-profit pay-what-you-can service provider model where participants contribute based on their ability, ensuring equitable access to food, education, and employment services.
3. Event Revenue: Revenue from events such as the Bloom & Build workshop ($20 per participant), gala tickets, and merchandise sales including GWC Farms merchandise.
4. Outdoor Education Services: Fee-for-service outdoor education experiences including agriculture workshops, field trips, farm tours, and service learning projects for schools and organizations in St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and East St. Louis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ujima STL is a nonprofit pay-what-you-can service provider that delivers equitable access to food, education, and employment through food justice, environmental stewardship, and youth empowerment programs. Its operational assets include the George Washington Carver Farms urban farm and Clay Community Garden, plus service programs such as The Sunflower Institute teen employment program, outdoor education field trips, environmental cleanup efforts, and Teen Mental Health First Aid training.

Product overview

Ujima STL is a non-profit pay-what-you-can service provider offering a portfolio of community-focused programs centered on food justice, environmental stewardship, and youth empowerment. The core offerings include George Washington Carver Farms (an urban farm producing fresh food and providing agricultural education), The Sunflower Institute (a teen employment and development program), and service offerings including outdoor education, environmental cleanup initiatives, teen mental health training, and food distribution. These programs operate collaboratively to serve North St. Louis communities affected by food apartheid and environmental racism.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• George Washington Carver Farms (GWC Farms): Urban farm that restores abandoned and unsafe land, creating space for fresh food, native plants, outdoor education, jobs, healing, and justice. Includes an outdoor classroom, demonstration garden, native garden, event space, and Victory & Peace Park meditation/grief garden.
• The Sunflower Institute

Products and services

• George Washington Carver Farms (GWC Farms) An urban farm initiative that restores abandoned and unsafe land in North St. Louis, creating space for fresh food, native plants, outdoor education, jobs, healing, and justice. Produces over 2,000 pounds of produce, herbs, and flowers annually and includes an outdoor classroom, demonstration garden, native garden, event space, and Victory & Peace Park.
• The Sunflower Institute (TSI) A summer job program for teenagers and young adults delivering a holistic community experience across six pillars: agriculture, culinary arts, occupational therapy, conservation, entrepreneurship, and professional development. Since 2021 the program has worked with 22 local teens with 21 graduating.
• Outdoor Education Experiences Agriculture workshops, field trips, farm tours, and service learning projects delivered in-person or virtually, serving PreK through undergraduate students and small groups, as well as schools and organizations in St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and East St. Louis.
• Environmental Justice Services Community cleanup efforts in North St. Louis City, partnering with organizations like earthday365 to fight environmental racism and remove trash from neighborhoods that have experienced environmental neglect.
• Teen Mental Health First Aid Training program for 15-18 year olds designed to identify mental health emergencies and connect peers and families with local mental health professionals.
• Food Justice Program Distribution of fresh produce, herbs, and flowers to communities affected by food apartheid through farmers markets including Be Well Farmers Market, A Red Circle's Healthy Community Market, and City Greens Market, as well as through mutual aid partner organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,000 young people engaged in outdoor education since 2020
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• River City OutdoorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to facilitate The Sunflower Institute, a holistic community program for teenagers providing education and employment opportunities. Ujima, GWC Farms, and River City Outdoors collaborate on this teen empowerment initiative.
• Missouri Department of ConservationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in facilitating The Sunflower Institute, providing conservation education and expertise as one of the 6 pillars of the program. Supports occupational therapy and conservation training for teens.
• earthday365coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner supporting cleanup efforts in North St. Louis City. Enables Ujima to host environmental justice clean up events and fight environmental racism in St. Louis communities.
• A Red CircleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMutual aid organization supported by Ujima through produce donations. Ujima provides produce, herbs, and flowers to support their Healthy Community Market operations.
• Solidarity EconomyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMutual aid effort supported by Ujima through food justice programming and produce donations as part of mutual aid efforts across the Greater St. Louis Area.
• Growing Food Growing PeopleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMutual aid organization receiving produce support from Ujima. Partner in food justice efforts across the Greater St. Louis Area.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• DC Central Kitchen: Non-profit that combines food distribution, culinary job training for youth and adults, and healthy school meals. Closely mirrors Ujima's integrated food-access + youth-workforce-development model, with similar social-enterprise funding mix.
• Urban Growers Collective: Chicago-based non-profit operating urban farms that produce food for underserved communities while providing youth job training and education. Comparable urban-agriculture-plus-youth-empowerment model, differing only in geography.
• earthday365: St. Louis-based environmental non-profit focused on neighborhood cleanup and fighting environmental racism in North St. Louis — explicitly listed as a Ujima partner. Most directly comparable peer for the environmental-stewardship pillar.
• Detroit Black Community Food Security Network: Detroit-based non-profit operating the D-Town Farm and advocating for food sovereignty in Black communities. Comparable mission around urban agriculture, food justice, and community self-determination; serves a similar demographic.
• Big Green: National non-profit that builds learning gardens in schools and trains educators to use them for food and outdoor education. Directly comparable to Ujima in combining youth education with food access, but operates at national scale rather than a single city.
• Soul Fire Farm: New York-based non-profit farm focused on food sovereignty, racial justice, and youth leadership programming. Directly comparable food-justice-and-youth-empowerment mission, with an explicit anti-racism framing similar to Ujima's.

Broad incumbents

• The Food Trust: Philadelphia-based non-profit working on food access, nutrition education, and healthy retail across the Mid-Atlantic and nationally. Broadly comparable food-justice mission but with policy/advocacy emphasis rather than direct farm operation.
• Wholesome Wave: National non-profit that partners with farmers markets and retailers to double SNAP/food-stamp value for produce, improving food access for low-income families. Comparable food-access mission at national scale but focused on incentives rather than direct farming.

Emerging players

• Common Threads: National non-profit that teaches cooking, nutrition, and gardening to children and families in underserved communities. Comparable youth-focused food education, though less emphasis on urban farming and job training than Ujima.
• Green City Growers: Boston-area for-profit/social enterprise that installs and maintains organic vegetable gardens for homes, schools, and corporate sites. Overlaps with Ujima's urban-agriculture and outdoor-education activities but operates as a fee-for-service installer rather than a non-profit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ujima-stl

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ujima STL