Foodwise Talk: Building Equity for Black Entrepreneurs
Wednesday, June 21, 2023, 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
As we honor Juneteenth and celebrate Black liberation this month, how can we continue to support Black communities and businesses year round, in San Francisco and beyond? Black Americans continue to face systemic barriers and have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, but Black-led community organizations are leading the way to create a more equitable future.
Hear from organizers and food entrepreneurs who are developing innovative, community-based models to uplift Black food culture and traditions, provide market opportunities, and build wealth, health, and power in Bay Area Black communities. Join us to learn how you can support these efforts and get involved.
This event features partners in Foodwise’s Building Equity program, which supports the business growth, economic viability, and asset-building of BIPOC food entrepreneurs.
Speakers
- Andrea Baker, Executive Director, En2Action
- Dontaye Ball, Founder, Gumbo Social
- Tiffany Carter, Co-Founder, SF Black Wallstreet; Founder, Boug Cali
- Sabine Dabady, MPH, Entrepreneurship Development Manager, Mandela Partners
- Shakirah Simley, Executive Director, Booker T. Washington Community Service Center (Moderator)
Location
SHACK15 is located on the 2nd floor of San Francisco’s Ferry Building. Please use the elevator to come to the 2nd floor in the Ferry Building’s “Office Lobby” – located underneath the giant clock tower, on the left side of the main market entrance.
RSVP Required. Tickets are non-refundable. The price of your ticket helps unwrite the costs of producing this event, including speaker honoraria.
Run of Show
- 5pm – arrival and networking
- 6pm – panel discussion
- 7pm – reception
This event is 21+. Please review SHACK15’s House Rules and Guest Code of Conduct.
About the Speakers
Andrea Baker created Baker Foods Inc, a consortium of eight businesses including restaurants, catering and retail gift shops. She later started and managed Andrea Baker Consulting; and is the founder of En2action. Her proudest professional accomplishment is having provided hundreds of jobs within the BIPOC community and supporting the dreams of numerous Black & Brown entrepreneurs. She lives in Bernal Heights, San Francisco.
Gumbo is nothing new for Chef Dontaye Ball. His grandma first served it to him when he was eight, and it made a deep impression. He never forgot his first bowl. And over the years he learned to blend his knowledge of traditional African stews with his classic French Escoffier training. He learned the basics—the gumbo guidelines, if you will—and then learned how to break them. In 2022, Chef Dontaye announced the opening of his first brick and mortar location and ran a successfully funded Kickstarter. Gumbo Social, located at 5176 3rd St. in San Francisco, will open normal business hours in July 2023.
Chef Tiffany Carter, a San Francisco native, brings back your favorite bodega with the bounty of fresh California produce on a Dutch Crunch roll. At Boug Cali at the La Cocina Municipal Marketplace, Chef Tiffany Carter, a San Francisco native, offers specialties, like gumbo, smoked sausage and po-boys, and jerk tacos — interpretations on the dishes she grew up eating with her family and friends in her Bayview neighborhood.
Raised in Brooklyn, New York to Haitian Immigrants, Sabine Dabady is grateful for the path that brought them to California and now, Mandela Partners. In 2015, they moved to the Bay Area to complete a graduate degree in Public Health at UC Berkeley. In their role as Entrepreneur Development Manager, Sabine collaborates with East Bay entrepreneurs in service to promoting their businesses and contributing to positive shifts in community wealth and health. They lead Mandela Partners Food Business Pathways workshops, coaching, and sales channels which center early stage BIPOC-led micro-businesses. In their free time, Sabine swims regularly to keep them sane and hopes to complete a (non-competitive) swim from Alcatraz.
Shakirah Simley is a writer, seasoned organizer, and community development and policy strategist with over fifteen years of experience working on social justice and equity issues. She was the inaugural Director for the Office of Racial Equity for the City and County of San Francisco, and is currently Executive Director of Booker T. Washington Community Service Center. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and a Fulbright Scholar. She is a former food artisan and forever food justice advocate. A native of Harlem, New York, she lives in San Francisco.