Newark Is…

Tamisha sits down with Citi Medina, the founder of Equal Space. Medina picked up his business from Brooklyn and moved to Newark 12 years ago, and hasn't looked back. 

Medina is a Creative Strategist and has worked in the Design & Strategy industry for over 10 years. Medina leads campaigns in an ever-immersive media world, driven by demanding multicultural millennial audiences. His passion for strategy and design led to the creation of MEDINA = CITI, a design collective, which delves into the worlds of Print Design, Web Design, Multimedia, Film Production, Photography, Ongoing/Contributing Marketing Strategies and Social Media campaigns. MEDINA’s tireless passion for entrepreneurship and technology has led to his founding of a Sharespace & Incubator facility in Newark, New Jersey called = SPACE (equalspace.co), a unique co-working space for financial tech, securities tech and large media platforms, which focuses on founders of color, LGBT-led startups and women ventures.

Hear about his co-working space and everything else he's working on around the city and check him and his company out around the web! @citimedina @equalspaceco

Robert "Kool" Bell is the founding member of the American funk band, Kool & the Gang.  Matthew McQueeny talks to Bell about longevity, growing up in Jersey City, the band's career, and its connections to Newark.

Robin Peacock, executive director of MEND, the largest food relief network in Essex County, stopped by Ironsound Studios for a discussion with Tamisha on helping the food insecure in Newark. Essex County has the highest food insecurity rate in the state at 17.1 percent. During the holidays MEND sponsors “Help-a-Family,” which started more than 30 years ago when MEND realized there would be families in its service area who would not be able to celebrate the holidays without some outside support.

Newark Is... was live on location at the NewarkBound event in October 2019 at Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment.  Host Tamisha Hallman talks with Vic Nichols (2:45), Vince Baglivo (6:55), Walter Douglas Jr. (9:30), Talia Young (15:42), Jeff Billingsley (23:27), Tom Cosentino (35:03), Charles Rosen (43:58), Byron Clark (54:48), Doug Zacker (1:05:42), and Dontae Muse and Wilford Charles (1:15:25).

Aisha Glover serves as the President & CEO of Newark Alliance, which plays a key role in leveraging the city's corporate and anchor communities' collective impact and helps carry out Mayor Ras J. Baraka's vision for inclusive economic growth.

Ms. Glover has over 15 years of experience as a convener, champion and agent for economic empowerment and social justice. She most recently served as the President & CEO of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation, where she led the city's bid to attract Amazon's second headquarters, strengthened the small business ecosystem, introduced innovative programs that provided resources to women and minority entrepreneurs, supported over $4B in real estate development and led the attraction of corporations and businesses to the city.

Prior to joining the Newark team, Aisha served as the VP of External Affairs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, the nonprofit organization that manages the city-owned Brooklyn Navy Yard, a national model for urban industrial development and job creation. There, she helped establish an exhibition and visitors center, oversaw strategic partnership development, community engagement, public affairs and fundraising and played a key role in supporting the Yard's growing economic development initiatives. Ms. Glover's impact there was informed by her tenure at the Center for the Urban Environment, New York City's largest provider of environmental education programs. There, she led a team that furthered the Center's environmental justice and education initiatives, helped create a local chapter of the nationally-recognized Small Business Alliance, and was instrumental in launching Green Brooklyn, the borough's first and largest sustainability event.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Hunter College of the City University of New York, a Masters of Public Administration from Baruch College of the City University of New York and an executive leadership certificate from the Columbia Business School, School of Social Enterprise.

Jeremy Johnson is the executive director of Newark Arts, a nonprofit whose "mission is to power the arts to transform lives." Established in 1981, Newark Arts was created to advance and expand the resources and offerings of arts and cultural organizations in the great city of Newark, New Jersey.

The Newark Arts Festival 2019 will take place October 10-13.

Tehsuan Glover founded The Newark Times in 2014, the city’s fastest-growing news & media platform to help reshape the narrative of Newark, NJ and shed light on its rich, deep history, international culture, robust art & entertainment scene, and constant push for innovation.

He then co-founded Studio Creative Group in 2016, a multi-media creative design, branding agency based in Newark, NJ to help organizations, institutions, and small businesses to present themselves in the best possible light and consistently adapt to the evolving digital lanscape.

Anthony Frasier serves as the entrepreneur in residence of Newark Venture Partners, a fund backed by Audible/Amazon. He helps to attract innovative tech startups to Newark and incubate promising talent locally. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed “Don’t Dumb Down Your Greatness: A Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Thinking & Being Great”, a motivational blueprint for young entrepreneurs of color. Frasier also serves on the board of directors for the NY Tech Alliance, focusing on making the greater New York City area more inclusive.

Ameer Washington is Director of Development at the Boys & Girls Club of Newark, NJ. 

Ameer grew up at BGCN, having joined the Club as a six-year-old in 1989. By his senior year in high school, he was elected Keystone Club President and Youth of the Year for the state of New Jersey. Ameer went on to earn a bachelors degree in economics from Temple University, and then returned to the Club to hold numerous leadership positions in the organization, including coordination of BGCN’s first school-based site at First Avenue School. 

Seth A. Grossman is the Executive Director and CEO of the Ironbound Business Improvement District (IBID). Home to over 570 businesses and more than 170 restaurants, the IBID is Newark’s shining star, promoting interest in the City as a great place to visit in addition to fostering economic growth and employment opportunities. Grossman joins Host Tamisha Hallman to discuss the Ironbound and much more on this edition of the Newark Is... Podcast.