Rebuilding Community & Legacy: Bonita Harrison’s Path to Purpose

Video Format https://youtu.be/-zrbQImTayk

In this episode, host Bo Kemp interviews trailblazing developer Bonita Harrison, the powerhouse behind Sunshine Management, whose mission-driven work is transforming communities, restoring generational wealth, and rewriting the narrative around development in Chicago.

Bonita shares her remarkable journey — from being discouraged by her entrepreneurial family to pursue business ownership, to walking away from a brief corporate career to follow her calling: revitalizing neighborhoods like North Lawndale and West Woodlawn with dignity, inclusion, and long-term vision.

Together, Bo and Bonita unpack how she led the revitalization of 100+ properties, creating 300 jobs for people of color, returning citizens, and women entrepreneurs. her leadership in the “Buy Back the Block” initiative, a nationally recognized effort to preserve Black culture and prevent displacement, and why building for the “missing middle” in housing is critical to urban revitalization — and what most developers overlook.

Featured in Essence, Crain’s, Chicago Sun-Times, and on major national networks, Bonita’s story is a masterclass in purpose-driven leadership and community-based development that’s as personal as it is powerful. This is an episode for builders, dreamers, and anyone committed to changing the game — and the neighborhood.