The Grupo Mecca team is led by professionals (US citizens, Colombians and other parts of the world) multiculturally associated and united by a great purpose, who have experience in real estate development, community economic development and education.
Grupo Mecca’s strategic business units allow strategic, creative and efficient synergies throughout the organization and for each project. The ability to leverage relationships, knowledge, and shared experiences is critical to the effective deployment of human and financial capital throughout the evolution and life cycle of each project.
Grupo Mecca is developing a comprehensive approach to implement an inclusive strategy for economic development and community investment. Our philosophical approach includes the main goals of home ownership and rental opportunities for residents to stabilize families; high-quality educational facilities for your children; and the development of industrial hubs to support job creation and workforce advancement.
Positively impact underserved communities globally, promoting sustainable economic development and community investment. We seek to generate inclusive and equitable opportunities for the African diaspora, with a geographic focus on the Caribbean and South America. Through our various strategic business units and comprehensive approach, we strive to foster family stabilization, home ownership, quality education, and job creation. We work in collaboration with communities and other key stakeholders to build a sustainable, inclusive and prosperous future for all.
Our vision is to be drivers of economic development and equity for underserved communities, generating a positive impact globally, always committing to use our shared resources, relationships and knowledge to effectively deploy human and financial capital, driving social and significant economic value in every project we undertake in the long term.
Dr. Omowale Crenshaw is the co-founder and Managing Principal of Grupo Mecca Colombia, based in Santiago de Cali, Colombia. Grupo Mecca is developing a comprehensive approach to community economic development by leveraging technology and the built environment to: develop eco-friendly industrial parks to improve productive capacity in the transformation of export-driven value-added agricultural products; operate shared working spaces to support emerging technology entrepreneurs; build targeted sustainable residential workforce housing communities; and develop a network of world-class, multilingual secondary school leadership academies serving purpose-driven Afro-Colombian youth.
Dr. Crenshaw was formally a Regional Director at Canyon Capital Realty Advisors with the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facility Fund. He was based in Miami, Florida where he worked with clients throughout the Southeastern United States. He was responsible for analyzing, negotiating, and executing investment opportunities totaling nearly $100MM for high-performance charter school organizations. Prior to Canyon-Agassi, Dr. Crenshaw served as the Managing Director of Capital Asset Development at Howard University, where he oversaw capital planning and real estate development. Under his leadership, the combined projects represented more than $300MM in development.
Omowale began his real estate career leading various community development corporations (CDC’s) in Philadelphia. Real Estate and Business Ventures for Universal Companies, a residential community development corporation with affordable and market rate housing in southern Philadelphia founded by legendary music mogul Kenneth Gamble, and Enterprise Heights in western Philadelphia. Total combined development impact exceeded $75MM.
Dr. Crenshaw formally sought several business enterprises throughout the African continent. These included agribusiness opportunities in Ghana, Nigeria, and Cote d’Ivoire. He also served as Senior Vice President of Commerce at an Internet company based in South Africa targeting African expatriates and the Africa Diaspora in general. As a consultant to the African Private Sector Development Group of the World Bank, Omowale supported several projects in Moçambique designed to resurrect the local Moçambican economy.
Fluent in Spanish, Dr. Crenshaw has also worked or consulted with corporate, public, and non-profit organizations throughout the Americas. His work has taken him to Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Barbados, Honduras, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru among other countries in the region. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures and international development activities, Omowale was an associate with the strategic consulting firm of McKinsey & Company in their Washington, DC. office.
Dr. Crenshaw is currently a visiting professor at the Universidad Santiago de Cali in Colombia. He is also a lecturer in Howard University’s School of Business Executive Education Program. Omowale is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, Fraternity, Inc. He is a member of the Real Estate Executive Council (REEC) and the Urban Land Institute. He also served on the Board of Trustees for KIPP Philadelphia Charter School for six years.
He has a BBA in International Business from Howard University; an MBA in Finance, Strategy and Entrepreneurship from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; and a Master of Science in International Real Estate Development from The Johns Hopkins University. Omowale received his Doctorate in Global Executive Education from the University of Southern California.
Professional in finance and international business and automotive mechatronic maintenance technologist, he is a proactive, friendly, respectful and responsible person. In the future he would like to specialize in innovation and business development, international finance, renewable energy and learn several languages, with the purpose of to expand its horizons and with it more opportunities for the organization, it has been part of the Mecca group since 2023; he is currently developing the industrial ecopark project.
Professional in finance and international business, he has been part of the Mecca group since 2023, contributing with his knowledge in the financial sector, international business and digital marketing, he stands out for being a responsible and proactive person before the proposed objectives, with leadership skills and creativity. She has experience in the sales and customer service sector, with the skills to analyze and make decisions to generate added value for the company, good management of digital marketing and fluency in English.
Finance and International Business Professional from the Santiago de Cali University, she hopes to specialize in financial areas, business and international relations, she considers herself a responsible, creative person with the initiative to solve problems efficiently to achieve the proposed goals and objectives. She graduated from the Villa del Sur Commercial Technical Educational Institution, she as a bachelor of accounting and accounting assistant. She has been part of the Mecca group since 2020, currently supporting research for the Tom Baltimore case study.
Professional in finance and international business, she hopes to specialize in international business, foreign trade and corporate finance, with extensive experience in the area of imports, customer service and feasibility plans. She stands out for being a responsible, punctual person, with great initiative to solve problems and develops when working under pressure. Helen, graduated from her high school at Colegio Compartir (2018), has an accounting assistant technician. She has been working at GRUPO MECCA since 2020, throughout these years she has carried out market studies, project management and research in favor of growth within the company.
Finance and International Business student with technical training in Commerce and Logistics. He is an achievement-oriented professional with effective interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a team. He is committed to keeping up with global market trends and has practical experience in finance and international business. His comprehensive approach to business process analysis makes him highly qualified to contribute to any work team.
Is a student at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a focus on Finance and ESG, Originally from Finland.Currently, Malin is interning as a Summer Market Analyst at Grupo Mecca, where she conducts research on the cacao market, high-quality cacao products, and sustainable cacao programs.
