Experimental Salons

While each Salon is formatted as a facilitated discussion, they are meant to move participants beyond just discussion into focused brainstorming, coalition-building, and real-time experimentation. Salons are an ongoing commitment for a period of 6 months to a year, where participants are compensated for meeting regularly to ideate and implement a social justice-based program that serves their community.

For example, our upcoming 2022 initiative, The Neighborhood's Table, will incorporate two sets of cross-functional groups working across the intersection of gentrification and hospitality (e.g., individuals, activists, community organizers, developers, hospitality business owners). Our 2020-21 initiative, Equitable Representation in Food Media, brought together different groups of freelancers, producers, editors, stylists, and partnership professionals across the food media industry.

Note: Our Salons have changed significantly since their debut for our food media initiative.

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We aim to gather folks who do not often have a chance to work together and are willing to engage in blue-sky thinking as well as tactical action plans within their spheres of influence. We recognize that structural challenges cannot be solved with individual changes, and thus orient Salons around building connection and intimacy in order to realize effective collaboration. As we always say, change happens one conversation, one person, one relationship at a time.