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As the air has turned crisp and autumn leaves continue to fall, we’ve put away our summer shirts and replaced them with thick turtlenecks. Among other things, the holiday season is a time for reflection and giving, where we thank and appreciate those closest to us. During this time of year, we may not realize it, but there are two kinds of giving: giving thanks and giving to those in need. 
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 The Face Behind The Company Laura Jean-Jacques is a Haitian-American entrepreneur, community advocate, and business consultant living in Brooklyn, NY. She’s also a graduate for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Laura was a fellow in Represented Foundation’s Spring 2021 cohort, where she grew the idea for her company Zansèt Tea Co. Looking back, considers her time in Represented’s incubator Vision. Execution. Results. (V.E.R.) to be a transformative period for her, thanks in part to to instructors like Precious, Nakia, and Noel who helped her flush out her ideas and create Zansèt Tea Co. “I had this burning feeling in me that I needed to be creating something... I knew I wanted it to be a healing tool in the holistic space. And it happened to morph, over a five month period into a tea product.”  Our founder Noel sat down to join the Ashe Academy podcast, a podcast which focuses on the difficult yet necessary conversations with artists, professionals, and community leaders of color about their work, their thoughts, and their concerns with the world around them. We're here to inspire, uplift, and engage.
During the episode they discussed his career and what inspired him to found Represented Foundation. Throughout the episode, they examined the complexity of diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging.  In the United States, Hispanic Heritage Month takes place every September 15 to October 15. This month is a time to celebrate and recognize the Hispanic community in the United States. You can contribute to a Latinx organization, volunteer, or support Latinx-owned small businesses this month to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. At Represented Foundation, we are proud of our history of entrepreneurship, and this month we are proud to highlight the contributions Latinos have made to our economy as business owners.
 The yin to her yang
Kaniya Samm and Anika Carter are two amazing ladies who make up team Rooted LLC. a wellness startup providing clients with culturally empowering services. Co-founder Anika gave us some time over the phone to speak about their Legacy. Carter and Samm make great business partners, each filling in gaps for one another. While Anika says she’s more abstract in her ideas, Kaniya usually balances her out by being detail-oriented and focusing on the execution of plans. But their connection goes beyond just being business partners; the two have been best friends since sophomore year of college. Written By: Andrea Sanchez-Mendoza When owning your own business one typically dances on a fine line of work and play which can sometimes be blurred. Putting in the extra hours to make your enterprise thrive is okay but it’s when those extra hours completely overhaul your personal life that raises the question of when is too much, too much?
Written By: Andrea Sanchez-Mendoza  The Re-Brand Afiya Williams is the founder and director of Wildfiya, a social enterprise focused on creating racial justice through lifestyle transformation. “Wildfiya is my baby, and I started it technically by name, back in 2016”, expressed Afiya over the phone from New York after getting off of a long flight from Costa Rica. In the past year, she restored her brand to focus on her mission “to empower black women and women of color to live joyful and liberate lives. We will do that by providing life-enriching or joy enhancing experiences, and tools that empower those shifts”. Women are the pillars of many communities, they lift up families, and economies but sadly they are often “left behind, misunderstood, or violated… And I feel that is usually black women”. “Black women still continue to carry the broad responsibilities of their community, homes and being able to move things forward. So from women who live in the projects to women who can sit around the boardroom table, it just feels like we deal with stress, our well-being, experience conformity, and conditioning just to belong in different spaces”. It's finally here!! We are proud to announce that we have just launched Represented Foundation's first official impact report!!! Our Impact Report will showcase all about our cohort 3 fellows, what our curriculum entails, and the impact we have made together over the years.  Written By: Andrea Sanchez-Mendoza Taking breaks from sports, at work, or even in life in general is not typically seen as a power play in our society, but in the current sports season, many athletes have taken themselves out of competitions to focus on their mental health. Most recently, Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in her generation withdrew herself from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics team gymnastics competition over concerns about her mental health. It takes a strong person to admit they need help, and an even stronger person to know when to take a break and to stop pushing so hard.  "I say put mental health first … if you don't, then you're not going to enjoy your sport and you're not going to succeed as much as you want to. So it's okay sometimes to even sit out the big competitions to focus on yourself because it shows how strong of a competitor and person that you are — rather than just battle through it". Written By: Andrea Sanchez-Mendoza  Nicole Barnwell has been breaking down closed doors and creating a pipeline from New York City to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Since 2016, Nicole has been forming a supportive space for highschoolers as the founder of The HBCU Hub helping 1,500 students discover the benefits of HBCUs and prepare for college.
Nicole’s Time with Represented: Nicole was one of Represented Foundation’s fellows from the 2020 cohort. As I interviewed Nicole over the phone, she gushed about her time with Represented. “(Being) from a background that wasn’t nonprofit related, it helped me to understand the social impact and nonprofit space a lot better...especially as a black woman, entering into a predominantly white space”. |
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Tax ID# 82-1686527
Represented Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
Tax ID# 82-1686527
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