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About BCL

Welcome to Brooklyn Creative League

 

Founded in 2009, Brooklyn Creative League was one of the first coworking spaces to open in the United States, and the original Brooklyn coworking space. Founded by the husband-and-wife team of Erin Carney and Neil Carlson, BCL earned a reputation as a top-notch coworking space with a uniquely welcoming and tightly-knit community of members. We expanded our Gowanus location in 2010, a year after opening, and filled the entire space by the time we opened. We expanded again in 2015, with the same result. Our steady, disciplined growth has allowed us to build an extraordinary space and authentic professional community while also providing great service to our members, great jobs for our employees, and support for local charities and mission-driven investments.

Our Mission: A Commitment to Community

Brooklyn Creative League creates extraordinary coworking spaces and cultivates authentic professional communities. We support companies and individuals who share a commitment to community, collaboration, and mutual benefit. Together, we create businesses, communities, and local economies that are vibrant, inclusive, resilient, and just. You can find us in Clinton Hill, by the Brooklyn Navy Yard at 275 Park Avenue.

Our Principles


Here at BCL, we are committed to using coworking as a tool to nurture what we call “community capitalism” — successful, sustainable, community-minded businesses that balance private profits with the public good. We believe that business, structured thoughtfully and managed with integrity, can help create a more resilient and equitable economy–and a better, more just society. Here are the Business Principles that guide our long-term vision and inform our day-to-day work:

  • Extraordinary Coworking Spaces. At BCL we are committed to designing, building, and running extraordinary coworking spaces.
  • Authentic Professional Communities. If space is BCL’s yin, community is our yang. We create communities that are warm, welcoming, diverse, and durable.
  • Great Service. Since BCL’s employees are responsible for running an extraordinary space and nurturing our community, we lead by example, providing great service day in and day out.
  • A Unique Place to Work. BCL is committed to being a fun, challenging, and fulfilling place to work.
  • Solid Profits. Profits are the wellspring of all we do. We are committed to generating profit that supports business growth, investor returns, and the wellbeing of staff, owners, members, and our local communities. We operate at a healthy level of profit and invest for the long term.
  • Sustainable Growth. Through Direct Community Ownership. We are committed to sharing investment opportunities with a broad range of investors, including BCL members, employees, local neighborhood residents, and mission-aligned investors.
  • Generosity and Justice. We believe that practicing generosity while also building a more just and equitable society is good business.

Our Vision

In 2017, we rolled out the our Business Vision 2027, an audacious 10-year plan that will transform BCL from being one of many coworking spaces in a growing industry into something truly unique: a foundry for community capitalism. Using our core coworking business as a launchpad, we will develop an enterprise network of at least five new coworking spaces and three new complementary businesses that allows us to combine social and financial capital to create economic value for our members, investors, employees, partners, and local communities. By 2027, BCL and its members will generate at least $120,000,000 in annual revenue, creating a significant multiplier effect for neighborhoods with BCL locations. Through mentorships, community fellowships, and charitable giving, BCL and its members will generate $2,000,000 annually in grants, social investments, and pro-bono services to support our local communities. Click here to download.

Featured By…

Our Vision & Values in Action

How to Grow Your Business and Build Your Network Through Coworking | By Zontee Hou

Member Zontee Hou shares just a few reasons that joining the coworking community at Brooklyn Creative League has helped her business grow.

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Honest Materials, Built With Care: How We Designed a Space that Looks, Feels, and Functions Great

It’s been over a decade since I asked my old friend, the award-winning interior designer Malcolm James Kutner, for guidance with Brooklyn Creative League, but I remember his advice like it was yesterday: “Use honest materials."

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This Must Change

As business owners, we have a special obligation to rectify these historic wrongs by building a fairer, more just economic system. BCL will do this by focusing on three specific areas: capital, culture, and community.

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Christine Pluta

Global Director of College Counseling / Dwight School Global Network

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“Superior place to cowork. Superb management, great desk options available, homey and professional, all at once.”