Diona Murray has spent the last four years advocating for equity in birthing experiences like access to reproductive health care and resources for Black women through her nonprofit, Barren Fruit.

On Sunday, Salim Weldon will host dozens, including those who went to Mecca with him in 2016, for an iftar meal at the Ubuntu fine art gallery in Germantown where they will break fast at sunset. 

“...No matter your wealth status, we are all fasting,” he said. “So from the richest to the people that are less fortunate than us – we're all on the same level. We're all fasting and we're all trying to please Allah and then when we are breaking fast, it doesn't matter who it is if you know this person or not. All Muslims are trying to feed other Muslims, fasting Muslims.”

 After more than 15 years of working in the health and wellness industry, Ayana Bennett quit her corporate gig to open Da Smoothie Jawn on Girard Avenue. 

“I want to provide education in a space where people feel comfortable asking questions that they wouldn't feel comfortable anywhere else,” she explained.

After a long career in the fashion industry, Cheryl Wadlington switched her style to service. She founded the nonprofit Evoluer House in 2004 to empower young girls of color in Philadelphia.

Breaking Bread on Broad started as a summer meal program for students five years ago, but when the pandemic hit, needs began to change and so too did the organization. 

“We realized that their parents also were impacted in terms of their ability to provide for their families,” said Ellen Poster, the program’s co-chair. “And so we turned our program into a food pantry, which is what we have now.”

When Monica Miraglio purchased her first home, it was also the groundbreaking of her career in design and construction. She said she did all the projects in the house on her own. 

“I started laying tile. I started putting in cabinets,” she said. “I would go back and forth to Lowe's or Home Depot, and I would ask constant questions to the guys there.”

That was 20 years ago. Today, as the founder and CEO of Girlbuild, Miraglio is helping women gain the tools they need to build whatever they want — whether it be their homes, their lives, or their dreams.

Autumn Womack is an assistant professor of English and African American studies at Princeton University. The Philadelphia native is also a Central High school alumnus, and the scholar’s latest project is turning pages across the country.

“It’s called the Cado Experience,” said Deborah Charmelus, creator of the Cado Experience. “It’s a day-long Black creative market that brings together more than 50 Black vendors in one space for a chance to exchange goods, ideas and culture.”

Felicia Harris-Williams has blended her passion for tea, holistic healing and wellness into the perfect brew. The mother of three, and volunteer for the Philadelphia Commission for Women, started Gynger Tea House in 2015 after a major health scare that required open heart surgery.

She uses her brand to fight racial inequities in health care by educating and empowering other Black women and advocating for their wellness.

“I'm privileged to be able to have a platform to advocate for women, to raise these concerns, to share resources about things that can save our lives,” she says.

Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow is a teacher-turned-best-selling author. KYW Newsradio's Antionette Lee talked with Thompkins-Bigelow about her journey.