Workbox, a Chicago-based coworking accelerator, is proud to announce the addition of Tim King, Founder, President and CEO of Urban Prep Academies and People magazine “Hero of The Year” to its Board of Advisors.
Creating a diverse community has been something Workbox has strived for since day one. “One of our main goals at Workbox is to give entrepreneurs the access they need to succeed through our accelerator programming”, says CEO John Wallace. “There are lots of talented, intelligent entrepreneurs from Chicago’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) and/or lower income communities that are missing out on that access simply because of systemic biases.” And Tim King knows about ‘creating access’ for Chicago’s Black community.
In addition to sitting on the company’s Board of Advisors, Tim King will also be spearheading Workbox’s diversity initiatives – both internally and externally. “There are communities that, try as we might, we just haven’t been able to connect with,” Wallace says. “That’s one of the many things Tim King will be helping us do: make meaningful, actionable connections that will have a positive impact on the City of Chicago.”
Mr. King is the founder of Urban Prep Academies, a nonprofit organization that operates a network of public college-prep boys’ schools in Chicago as well as other related programs aimed at helping students achieve college success. To date, 100% of Urban Prep students – all of which are African-American males and mostly come from low-income families – have been admitted to four-year colleges/universities.
A Chicago native, Tim King holds bachelor’s and law degrees from Georgetown University as well as doctoral degrees honoris causa from Adler University and Dominican University. Mr. King also serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at Northwestern University, teaching courses in Urban Education and Philanthropy. Mr. King and his work have been widely published in Chronicle of Higher Education, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Huffington Post, The New York Times and more. Mr. King’s additional accolades include being named “Chicagoan of the Year” by Chicago magazine, inclusion in Ebony magazine’s “Power 100” List and recognition by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
