exhale. collective

exhale. is a community building initiative ignited by black women for black women. Our mission is to support, connect, and uplift black women and girls through gatherings that unite and inspire. We curate social spaces for black women and girls to breathe easy, to come and just be, in an environment where they alone are enough.

exhale. hopes to create social spaces where black women and girls are emboldened to release  -even if just momentarily- and allow themselves to be nourished, inspired, and united in community.

Our campaign is in support of our 2019 vision and beyond. As curators, we developed intentions to guide the events and spaces we hoped to create over the next year. Our intentions represent things we hope will manifest through our work. They are inspired by our personal journeys, the current climate for black women in America, and conversations with loved ones. It is our desire to continue to provide moments of exhale through rest, nature, wellness & healing, creativity & art, faith, and community & connection.

Your support will help us ensure that exhale. events are accessible to all. We try to host events that free or low cost, and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Your contributions will help support things like space reservations for our open mic series, subsidized tickets for events such as our annual black girl magic brunch, and honorariums for guest speakers in our new ‘exhale. Table Talk’ series. Contributions will also help us in our pursuit of 501(c)(3) non-profit status. We are grateful for any amount of financial support as we pursue these endeavors.  

Our name is inspired by the science of breath and the impact of racial weathering on black women's bodies. Without exhalation, stressors remain in the body – setting forth a cycle that weathers and effects overall health and well being. As black women we shape and we shift into countless roles and responsibilities. We are sisters, teachers, providers, healers, partners, mothers, spiritual guides, humans -each role with its own weight. Black women carry families, trauma, institutions, restoration, justice, and nations.

We are driven by the idea that connection can change lives. Ariel is a transportation engineer by day and all things creative by night. Christine loves the art of dance, she finds it another way of coming to love oneself, one’s body and reclaim space through movement and emotional expression. She works in the healthcare industry. We came together in 2018 to co-currate exhale. collecive with a passion to create space for black women and girls to celebrate and hold one another in uninhibited joy.

While we represent exhale. collective, we want to honor and acknowledge that there are a lot of black women who hold us in this work. This collective is a powerful extension of the women who have seen, and continue to see, and nurture the vision within us. 

Thank you for your support of our campaign!