Hi Friends and Family,
If you've been with us long enough, then you already know: I founded TCI with just $627 in my bank account, in the middle of a global pandemic, from my one-bedroom apartment in East Hollywood.
No grants.
No endowment.
No wealthy benefactor.
Just a vision — and a whole lot of hustle.
We officially launched in October 2022 at LA Grind, a local coffee shop. The owner donated the space by reopening after closing, so that we could run our program, while she sat in her car for 2 hours. We had four girls total — three freshmen and one graduate student. Every Wednesday, they showed up with notebooks, questions, vulnerability, and a willingness to build this thing brick by brick with me.
The following semester, we moved to the Price School building at USC, where an incredible woman voluntarily extended her workday by two hours every Wednesday so we could host our confabs in a conference room after hours. At that point, we had six mentees.
We grew again, transitioning to the CBCSA as an invited guest on campus, serving 11 students. And now, we are a fully Recognized Student Organization at USC, serving 20 brilliant Black girls.
No building of our own.
No multi-million-dollar budget.
No full-time staff or national infrastructure.
Every single one of us — myself included — works a full-time job outside of TCI. I don't take a paycheck from this work. Our mentors volunteer. Our supporters give from the heart. And somehow, by grace and grit, The Collective Identity keeps growing.
