Expressions in Black

Actor Bobbi MacKenzie is a young, dynamic talent who goes to Tigard High School. She lived for two years in New York City attending the "School of Rock". She hopes to return to New York to attend The Julliard School. Her personal motto: "Stay ready so you don't have to get ready".

Kayode E. Balogun (Aka, Ambush) is the music curator and executive director at The Numberz, a radio station providing a unique listener and creator experience carving out a media space to empower communities of color. The intent of The Numberz is to give a full representation of the Black music experience.

Jocelyn Rice has worked for Columbia Sportswear, Nike, and Eddie Bauer, and has won multiple awards for her designs. Her interest in design in collaboration with history and culture began in college and has led to her work as a transformative designer of outdoor apparel, being a strong advocate for Black and Brown women in the outdoor industry and for informing modern design with racial equity work.

Ian Williams is founder of Deadstock Coffee Company, which he started in 2015 out of a truck, but moved on to create a neighborhood brick and mortar temple to NBA culture and sneaker design in Portland's Chinatown.

Jacqueline Alexander is the founder and CEO of Know Your Fruit / Puff Factory. “I've always felt like more black people should be involved in farming because it's our legacy,” Alexanders said. “We have lost so much land as Black people. In the ’20s, there were about 1.1 million Black farmers. Fast forward to today, there's only 46,000. My vision is for young people to understand that this is an option and it's how we build generational wealth. We need to own the land."

Easy McCoy is a Portland, Oregon, rapper and artist. His vision is to be true to his experience and vision in a personal and authentic way.

Astoria, Oregon resident Zachary Stocks is an educator, historian, National Park Service Ranger and the Executive Director of Oregon Black Pioneers. His work focuses on 18th and 19th century America, with particular emphasis on African American history and the history of westward expansion.

Jelani Memory is the CEO and founder of "A Kids Company About," which creates books to help kids and parents navigate tough conversations and meaningful discussions about real-life issues in the real world they are growing up in. In 2021, Jelani expanded his company to include subscription-based classes for teens and podcasts.

Jordan Dinwiddie is an award-winning Associate Creative Director at Wieden + Kennedy. She has been recognized as one of Adweek’s Creative 100 and BET’s 25 most influential people in sneakers. Born in Chicago, she moved to Portland 2013 after her blog caught the attention of her eventual Wieden + Kennedy peers.