Ashara Ekundayo is an Oakland-based cultural worker of the urban landscape and has served as catalyst, curator, educator, and producer for more than 20 years. Through her company BluBlak Media Consulting, she has worked with local and national organizations to build capacity for increased community engagement through the uses of creative practice, exhibition, strategic communications design and project management. She is a serial entrepreneur and activist committed to social change, and has supported individuals and grassroots companies in the redesign of their brand strategy through permaculture principles and is an expert at negotiating collaborative space within the intersections of the public and private sector. In 2009 Ashara was selected by the Ashoka Foundation and the City of Denver in the U.S. launch of the “Change Your City” Campaign as a social innovator “stimulating the green economy” being manifested through her local programmatic work in food justice and green jobs design, and has held Fellowship positions with the U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs and Green For All.  She currently serves as the Marketing Director for the San Francisco Green Festival, is a member of the "Future of Soul Think Tank" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, is the STEAM Curriculum Developer for BlackGirlsCode.com, and is a burgeoning food blogger at "Grits & Greens." Ashara is a member of the Founding Team for Hub Oakland opening in Fall 2013. Follow her on Twitter @BluBlakwomyn Blog Entry 1 | Blog Entry 2