DEI

Leading up to Black History Month, I proactively pitched a DEI initiative to the agency in which the aim was to organize a team and mobilize our talents towards two Black-owned small businesses: Gumbo Social, a pop-up restaurant in San Francisco, and Blk Girls Green House, a plant and specialty home goods shop in Oakland.

Blk Girls Green House: “A Beautiful Time to Grow”

In the summer of 2020, friends Kalkidan “Kalu” + J’Maica were sowing the seeds for a place that would “provide an escape, an oasis, from everything that is happening around us right now with covid, and with this secondary pandemic that is happening among Black people in America.” They wanted to invest in the community and cultivate a beautiful refuge for Black people in Oakland, as well as an outlet for Black-made goods. Their plant sanctuary is known as an “absolute vibe” and I can confirm, it truly is. It was an honor to work with them to bring their story to life.

Gumbo Social: “Eat More Gumbo”

Chef Dontaye Ball created his pop-up restaurant with the ambition to show people why gumbo is one of the most important dishes in America, one bowl at a time. He believes “it’s a dish that comes from the soul, and it’s social at its core. Much like the ingredients that come together to make a good pot, gumbo has the power to bring people together and establish community.” We worked with Dontaye to re-design his logo and build out a website to help establish his footprint in the Bay Area.