Ethel's Club: The Digital Social Club Celebrating & Centered On People Of Color

When The Wing, the co-working space for women, opened in 2016 and earned widespread praise and success, Naj Austin wondered if a space made for and by people of color could harness the same momentum. It has.

Austin first launched Ethel's Club (named for her grandmother), a private social and wellness club "designed with people of color in mind," in 2018. Within the day, 600 people had signed up for the wait list. A year later, Ethel's Club debuted a chic, brick-and-mortar clubhouse in Williamsburg offering not only a chill workspace, but also workshops, performances, discussions, and more led by and centered on POC. But when the coronavirus pandemic forced its Brooklyn location to close, Austin and her team pivoted to digital, allowing the Ethel's Club cool-kid community of artists, creatives, and thought leaders to become even more far-reaching than before.

"It’s imperative to create a space where [people of color] can gather as one, hold space for our fears and hopes, heal, and ultimately create new futures as a community," Austin told Bon Appetit's Healthyish back in March. Now, in the midst of a global outcry for Black lives, her words ring truer than ever.

In addition to its regular wellness, creativity, cultural, and entertainment programming for virtual members, Ethel's Club is offering free group healing sessions for the Black community, featuring performances and offerings by Black artists and healers, throughout the month of June.

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Ethel's Club is hosting two free, one hour virtual group healing & grieving sessions open to Black people across the world.⁣ ⁣ Both events will be led by licensed Black therapists to help hold space and process the weight of the many complex emotions that we are feeling and carrying right now.⁣ ⁣ June 9 & June 23rd | 6pm EST⁣ ⁣ Click our bio link to register and join us.
A post shared by Ethel’s Club (@ethelsclub) on May 28, 2020 at 12:05pm PDT

Interested in joining the community that's fostering connections and propelling what's been called "the new renaissance"? Learn more and become a member HERE!

[Photo via @ethelsclub]