Get to Know Root to Bloom

As creative entrepreneurs, we know how important creative voices are in shifting paradigms and realities. We believe that creatives from historically marginalized communities often have game-changing insights into life and business and that when they become entrepreneurs they have a perspective on the world that helps bring more equitable realities for everyone. At Root to Bloom, our goal is to connect creatives, social entrepreneurs, and change catalysts with like-minded funders to truly bring about radical visions of the future and strengthen our communities. 

Root to Bloom focuses on helping creatives and change catalysts become the best versions of themselves. This means that every creative and changemaker gets a tailored approach to their circumstances and needs. We work with incredible groups and initiatives that need a little root to bloom magic to reach full fruition. Root to Bloom is grounded in a multidisciplinary, planet-conscious, feminist & racial equity-driven approach and we bring that interdisciplinary ethos to every aspect of our work. 

Over the past couple of months, we’ve been introducing our incredible collective of communicators, fundraisers, strategists, and big-picture thinkers to our community. We’re excited to share our collective with you today. Ranging from communications experts to career fundraisers and passionate creatives, Root to Bloom is a well-rounded collective of experts who are dedicated to actualizing the visions of our clients. What we bring to the table is more than expertise, it’s passion and a deep commitment to intentional care for our work and our communities. This translates into the relationships we’ve built with the organizations we’ve worked with. Get to know our collective, below!

#MeettheCollective

Valérie Bellande

Co-founder

Valérie is originally from Haiti and currently spends her time in Montreal, Canada, and San José, Costa Rica. She is deeply committed to providing creatives, entrepreneurs, and investors with the support they need to fund their impact. Valérie loves movement. She is a student of different African Diasporic dance practices and enjoys yoga, pilates, and healing movement practice. 

Ré Phillips

Co-founder

Ré Phillips is a London-based multidisciplinary artist, social impact strategist, creativity coach, and doctoral researcher from the ancestral lands of Muscogee communities in the American South. Her work sits at the intersection of art & social advocacy, and she unpacks complex human experiences and global challenges through her creative practice. Ré is polylingual, and in her spare time enjoys practicing Mandarin and learning new words in Amharic.

Roohi Singh

Consultant

Roohi Singh is a Program Manager at The Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. She is a passionate advocate for social justice and equity with a background in fundraising, organizational communication, and program development. She specializes in distilling complex issues, developing creative narratives, and finding effective policy solutions rooted in a community-first approach. In her spare time, Roohi enjoys going on long walks, caring for her house plants, and finding new things to try in New York.

Isabel Bagsik

Consultant

Isabel is a designer, multidisciplinary creative, art director, space holder, and creativity wellness guide. Isabel earned a double B.A. in Design and Technocultural Studies from the University of California, Davis. She has experience in digital content, public relations, marketing, and magazine publishing across a variety of industries. Isabel loves discovering new poetry, communing with nature, and enjoying native fruits when traveling.

Divya Walia

Consultant

Divya Walia is a 2024 MBA-MIA dual degree candidate at Columbia University's Business School and SIPA (School of International and Public Affairs), focusing on International Economic Policy. Before graduate school, Divya worked as an investment analyst at Goldman Sachs, advising ultra-high-net-worth families and foundations. Apart from her professional work, Divya is passionate about increasing global access to education for underserved communities.

In her spare time, she enjoys running, exploring NYC museums, and watching reality TV.

Alia Mahmoud 

Consultant

Alia is a multifaceted founder, consultant, and fundraising professional. Passionate about the intersection of business and social good, she supports mission-driven entrepreneurs through her firm, Mahmoud Management. Based in both NYC and Miami, she serves as the part-time Director of Growth and Innovation at Radical Partners, a social impact accelerator that invests in change agents solving South Florida's most pressing issues. She is also the co-founder and CEO of Fouta Harissa, a social enterprise that designs and produces hand-loomed textiles that preserve artisanal weaving in Tunisia. In her free time, she enjoys doing yoga, going to art museums, and seeing live music.

Senda Ben Jebara

Consultant

Senda Ben Jebara is a queer feminist originally from Tunisia and now residing in Montreal, QC, Canada. She has over a decade of feminist and queer activism mainly in Tunisia and across the South West Asia and North Africa region. Five years ago, Senda shifted to philanthropy first with FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund and presently serves as a Program Officer at the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice where she focuses on grantmaking, project management, and philanthropic advocacy. Passionate about intersectionality, she dedicates herself to LGBTQI+ rights and migrant/refugee advocacy across the Middle East and North Africa and beyond. In her free time, Senda enjoys cooking and sharing Tunisian food with friends.

Maame Akua Kyerewaa-Marfo

Consultant

Maame is a singer, writer, and feminist activist based in Accra, Ghana. She has spent the last 7 years working in communications within feminist activist spaces. She's passionate about helping people tell their stories, crafting campaigns and engaging in creative collaboration across teams and organizations. She is deeply invested in the feminist community and is one of the organizers of the Young Feminist Collective. Maame understands the power of the arts and the written word, as well as their ability to change reality and has dedicated her career to creative storytelling. In her spare time, she loves baking and burning experimental cookies, making music, reading, and laughing loudly with her friends and family.

Gabrielle Rousseau

Consultant

Gabrielle is originally from the Ottawa/Gatineau region of Canada and is currently based in Montreál. While pursuing her career as a professional dancer and choreographer, she is completing her Bachelor’s in Digital Media Communications, with a concentration is Artificial Intelligence, at the University of Quebec. Driven by creativity + sustainability and passionate about the impact of algorithms and the circulation of information within the public space, she hopes to guide the emergence of important new technologies. Gabrielle is also skilled in strategic social media planning and channels her creativity to guide developers to showcase their potential online. She supports creators to reach their goals through the analysis of their content, platform, and potential/current audience. Throughout her dance career, she has also provided budgeting, grant writing, and team organization support. In her spare time, Gabrielle enjoys going to the gym, playing video games, and reading fiction.