MEET THE
2021 Fellows
Darrian Mikell
Qualifi
Darrian Mikell is the Co-Founder and CEO of Qualifi, a Saas platform that powers the fastest phone interview experience in the world and helps recruiting teams hire great candidates faster than ever before. Darrian is based in the Indianapolis area is also a dedicated husband and father of 3.
Dave Brown
Indie Night Film Festival
Dave Brown made his way to Hollywood after receiving a Bachelor of Arts from Morehouse College. He credits college friend, Morris Chestnut with giving him his introduction to Hollywood. In his earlier years, Dave sought out a night-life in the City of Angels. His inaugural endeavor, a networking First Sundays venture called “Out Of Sight/Out Of Mind”, was an instant smash. Brown insured that the party: the brilliant combination of all the right types in Hollywood, and a soothing, laid-back but festive environment; would be must-attend events. Dave continues to collaborate with influential pillars in the industry to create events at such a colossal caliber.
Dave has found success in filmmaking and working alongside his longtime friend, Grammy Award-winning actor, Jamie Foxx as part of his management team. It is his love for film and his ability to connect people that birthed Indie Night Film Festival, the only weekly film festival in the world. Indie Night has become a pillar of the independent film industry as it brings creatives from all areas of filmmaking together including actors, directors, producers, writers, casting directors, and film school students. In its ninth season, the film festival's home is the Historic Mann Chinese Theatres in the heart of Hollywood. Since COVID-19, Indie Night has expanded its’ platform to online at indienightff.com.
Dave Brown brings integrity, fortitude, and an uncanny ability to pull things together. If you want to know what passion in action looks like, Dave Brown is your man.
Erica Davis
The Sip
Erica Davis is the CEO & Founder of The Sip, a lifestyle brand that focuses on the education and discovery of champagne & sparkling wine. The Sip was inspired by her monthly girl’s night with best friend and Co-founder Catherine Carter. What served as a way for these collegiate friends to connect now is the fun & easy curated experience thousands of women get to enjoy today. As an Oakland native, Erica wanted to make sure she gave back to the city that gave her so much. That is why under her leadership the brand started a gift back initiative. Take A Sip, Give A Sip, which pledges that for every Sip purchase, they will give access to clean water for women and children in need through the East Oakland Community Project (EOCP). The Sip has provided over 1,000 gallons of water and counting! Erica is passionate about entrepreneurship, branding, product development and her family, and enjoys a great glass of Laurent Perrier while watching the Real Housewives of Potomac (guilty, but not so guilty pleasure).
Gahmya Drummond-Bey
Kid youniversity
Gahmya Drummond-Bey has taught through 2 pandemics, is a TED-Resident, global instructional designer, author, educator and CEO of Kidyouniversity. She has also redesigned learning programs in more than 20 countries.
Hardy McQueen
Fanbase Africa
I specialise at the crossroads of CULTURE x TECH x MEDIA x BRANDS, creating businesses that have culture at their core. My passions extend towards building and growing communities that resonate around purposeful products. Over the last 20years, I have dedicated myself to demystifying and updating notions about the African continent. Through this practice I’ve created and curated projects that cemented my position as a subject-matter expert on culture. Having a unique understanding of the landscape across the African continent has afforded me the opportunity to execute projects in Accra, Johannesburg, Lagos, Luanda, Dar Es Salaam and Nairobi.
Jamil Karriem
Hiki
Jamil is the founder and CEO of Hiki. Prior to starting Hiki he led the real estate team at Bungalow - helping to build the largest co-living operator in the world. He began his career in banking at JPMorgan, managing the assets of large endowments and foundations. After JPMorgan he helped launch Blackstone's first retail focused alternative investment platform. Jamil received a BA from Pomona College and still has dreams of returning west one day. He is passionate about leveraging technology to enable underserved communities to lead more fulfilling and equitable lives. When he isn't working on Hiki, you can usually find him tinkering on old motorcycles or playing golf with his old man.
Jehron Petty
ColorStack
Jehron Petty is is the founder and CEO of ColorStack, a 501c3 nonprofit increasing the attraction, retention, and success of Black, Latinx, and Native American college Computer Science students. While studying Computer Science at Cornell, he interned at companies like Two Sigma and Google as both a software engineer and product manager. One pivotal moment in his undergraduate career was being recognized as one of the top CS majors in the country by becoming a Neo Scholar, only offered to 12 students in the country at the time. Jehron turned down the Google APM program and instead raised over $500K in 2020 to seed ColorStack. In his free time, he plays an unhealthy amount of video games and streams on Twitch.
Michael Lloyd
Num Num Sauce
The Num Num Sauce Company is a healthy lifestyle consumer brand that produces healthy condiments using a Flavor Capacitor Flux Algorithm technology that mimics sodium and fat flavors. The bioprocessing technologies were passed down from 4 generations and therefore represents the taste of a hidden country secret. The vegan sauces are exceptionally low in sodium and impart full flavor to all foods without compromising great taste. The nutrient dense Num Num Sauces truly make health worth tasting.
Michael Lloyd is a Nutritional Biochemist, a Food Scientist and the founder of Num Num Sauce Company. Mr. Lloyd began his professional career as a Pharmaceutical Scientist working to develop vaccines in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. While working to save lives by developing immune-system boosting vaccines, Mr. Lloyd realized the healing was more effective coming from plants so he transitioned to Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences to commercialize his bioprocessing technologies and launched the Num Num Sauce Company to serve the people more effectively.
Nicole Kearney
Sip & Share Wines
Nicole Kearney is the Vintner/Founder crafting vegan wines for Sip & Share Wines and a writer with an MFA in Dramatic Writing. Nicole has been in the wine industry for 10 years when she started by representing Black winemakers. Now, Nicole is among the 1% of Black wineries and .001% Black women Vintners in the U.S. You can find out more about her wines at sipandsharewines.com and her writing through her streaming series on YouTube.
Paris Alexandra & Alicia Ferguson
BK Yoga Club
Paris Alexandra is an Artist and Co-founder of BK Yoga Club, a Black woman-owned body-positive yoga studio located in Brooklyn. Paris is a proud plus-size athlete, 3x half-marathon runner, 200 hour certified yoga teacher, and Institute of Integrative Nutrition graduate.
She is an MFA in Creative Writing candidate at Goddard College with a focus and Black Womanism and Storytelling. Her writing is featured in publications like Self Magazine & Well+Good.
Paris can also be seen representing plus-size diversity in NIKE's global yoga campaign. Her vision is to inspire self-love and transform dominant narratives in beauty, wellness, and the arts, believing that ‘Movement is a walking prayer, and through poetry and song we see our reflections in each other & create the world we want to see.’
Alicia Ferguson is a faith-based 200hr Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) receiving her certification through the internationally acclaimed YogaWorks. Her approach centers around untangling the mind and using PLAY as a creative superpower. Through dynamic sequencing her vision is to encourage students to move forward in love and allow creativity to sprout from within us all.
Alicia is also a C-Suite Marketing Executive with over 10 years of digital marketing experience under her belt. In 2021 Alicia was recognized as one of the Top 21 Black Beauty Executives & Innovators Changing the Beauty Industry by Instyle Magazine. As a leader in the beauty space, she recognizes the correlation between beauty and yoga in that it goes further than skin deep and more of an awareness of radical self acceptance.
In 2020, Alicia pioneered a new vision for Black beauty, launching a fully-funded brand called 4C ONLY. The newly launched haircare brand, challenged the cultural conversation around colorisim and hair texture shaming. It gave permission to women to rewrite the narrative around their kinky hair. No matter the lens, whether beauty or wellness, her vision is always the same, inclusion, self-acceptance and the empowerment of Black and Brown women.
Alicia Ferguson finds great pleasure in building community and inspiring others to take action - through movement in yoga. In her down time you can find her making intentional candles in her kitchen and dancing to old vinyl records.
Patrick Boateng II
anim labs
Patrick is the founder of Ceylon by Anim Labs. Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, Patrick was a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, serving in Guangzhou, China. His struggle with daily breakouts, acne scarring, and pigmentation issues led him to collaborate with Dr. McKinley-Grant to create Ceylon. He is also a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Graduate School of Design, and Morehouse College. Patrick draws inspiration from his experiences exploring the intersection of culture, health, technology, and desirability.
Samara Walker
Àuda.B
Samara Walker is a Boston-based entrepreneur, who is determined to have a seat at the table in an otherwise male dominant industry. She sought to create a Beauty Tech company that is inclusive for all, while offering health conscious luxury products for all skin tones. Àuda.B understands inclusion and diversity while providing a mobile platform integrating the standards and dynamics of beauty for all skin tones.
Samara is a young maven excited to dominate the beauty industry with technology and creativity, while providing luxury products that are vegan, non toxic and natural. Samara understands the importance and essentials of designing a beauty tech company that will provide a seamless experience for customers representing all shades and undertones of consumers.