In Spring 2024, Teonna Cooksey prepared to graduate from Columbia University with a dual degree in the Master of Architecture and Urban Planning Programs. While completing her studies, she launched a small business of her own, drawing on her experience growing up Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“Depending on where you are in the city, you’ll either experience vacancies and boarded-up houses, or beautiful brick buildings and lush parks,” Teonna explained. “Living in such a segregated city allowed me to experience both worlds, and I was always curious about why the city was set up like that.”

Teonna’s business, Mecca Development, is an urban strategy and development advisory firm specializing in adaptive reuse, spatial equity, and system innovation.

“I really wanted to focus on sustainable development practices and strategize around maximizing the return on investment for development deals without displacing folks,” she shared. “It’s really thinking about the intersection of design, development, and technology.”

Mecca Development was built to be a holding parent company with smaller subsidiaries that would work on different aspects of technology and design. Regal.ia, for instance, is a data-powered platform that helps developers and architects assess feasibility, unlock funding, and align with community and climate goals before breaking ground on projects. Critical Conversations, another example, is an event series that takes lived experiences and input from different communities to translate into data for Regal.ia’s use.

With different branches of Mecca Development in mind, Teonna sought help to get the legal entity structuring correct.

“I wanted to make sure that I had trademarks, copyrights, and intellectual property protection for any of the methods and frameworks that I was creating,” she said.

Teonna attended a clinic hosted by the City Bar Justice Center’s Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project, which she came across through a series of online business support platforms. The Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project provides free legal support to microentrepreneurs who seek to achieve financial stability through business ownership. At the Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project’s clinics, entrepreneurs meet with volunteer attorneys for brief consultations on key business legal topics.

The Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project took Teonna’s case after the clinic, closely assessing her business and legal needs. After confirming her eligibility for pro bono assistance, Teonna’s case was placed with Steptoe LLP volunteer attorneys for help with protecting her subsidiaries’ intellectual property.

“It’s just been a great help because they send me so much information about the back end of getting something copyrighted or trademarked,” she said. “This process helped me understand what is more likely to get through the filing process and what I should think about possibly changing.”

As Teonna irons out the details of her subsidiaries, she has made substantial progress in other areas of her business. Mecca Development completed an international pilot program and is also preparing to start operations in Wisconsin. She also gave a presentation about Regal.ia at the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Conference.

“I don’t know how long it would have taken to get this level of support without access to resources such as the Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project,” Teonna said. “I would like to say thank you, not only for the guidance and connection, but also for the patience as I figure out how to scale and build capacity in this business.”

Want to learn more about the Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project? Visit the project’s webpage.

Stay informed about upcoming clinics and other events on the City Bar Justice Center’s Events page.