ABOUT US
Team

Carmen
Founder, CEO
Carmen has a B.S. degree in business with a focus in marketing and has worked as a makeup artist in the entertainment industry for over 13 years. Always the champion for her community, it makes sense for her business mind and creative spirit to merge in the creation of Prosperity Market.

Kara
Founder, COO
Kara has spent 15 years in the fashion world, split between retail management and fashion design. She also studied Psychology at Howard University and has always had a passion for food, health, and wellness. Her commitment to empowering the community makes her a natural fit as co-founder of Prosperity Market.

Carmen
Founder, CEO
Carmen has a B.S. degree in business with a focus in marketing and has worked as a makeup artist in the entertainment industry for over 13 years. Always the champion for her community, it makes sense for her business mind and creative spirit to merge in the creation of Prosperity Market.

Kara
Founder, COO
Kara has spent 15 years in the fashion world, split between retail management and fashion design. She also studied Psychology at Howard University and has always had a passion for food, health, and wellness. Her commitment to empowering the community makes her a natural fit as co-founder of Prosperity Market.
ORIGIN STORY
OUR STORY
So, what makes a Hollywood makeup artist put down her makeup brushes, and a fashion designer lay down her fabric to start a farmers market?
Long story short, we credit the pandemic and the state of Black America.
Amid the pandemic and social unrest, we observed the impact on our country, the economy, and Black America in particular. We heard all too many unfavorable statistics about the black economy, which was our inspiration to create change.
Prosperity Market grew out of a desire to create economic impact in our communities.
We believe the first step in addressing any systemic constraints is to strengthen our economy, and what better way to do so than with the very thing we all need for health and survival? Food!
Food insecurity and economic instability have long been linked in a vicious, systemic cycle that we talk more about here. Prosperity Market was created to be a solution.
prosperity market
PARTNERS
We are inspired by our partners. Each individual and organization works tirelessly to empower our communities. In their own right they are powerful, and collectively we are magic. Collective impact looks like this:
Brandi T. Biggles
Chef & Creativepreneur with over 25 years experience, specializing in kitchen improvisation.
Compton Community Gardens
The Compton Community Garden serves a multi-faceted purpose bringing hope and restoration to our community.
Holistic Divine Innovations
HDI’s mission is to show innovative, holistic ways of living by teaching self-sustainability through gardening and agriculture, herbalism, and maintaining one’s connection to nature.
Anima Digital
Our virtual market experiences are powered by Anima Digital, a BIPOC, woman-owned & operated, web development and design agency.
Visibooth
VisiBooth powers our virtual photo booth experiences, so you can join the market fun from anywhere in the world! Check out the gallery for images from previous events!
Party On Demand
Party on Demand is an event equipment and party rental company and they have generously offered their partnership and support for our in-person markets.
Meet The
prosperity market vendors
Our Why
Our mission is to transform our local ecosystem and our economy through agriculture, food access, nutrition education, and community partnerships.
The Short Story
California is the largest agricultural producing state in the country, yet Los Angeles has the highest number of people experiencing food insecurity.
In other words, we grow the most food and we have the hungriest people.
Currently there are 2.6 Million Angelenos struggling to access healthy, affordable food. The numbers continue to fluctuate, and without an effective solution, are likely to trend even higher as we face continued economic uncertainty.
South Los Angeles only has 91 grocery stores to service its population of 820,000. That equals 1 store for every 9,025 residents.
The problem
1 in 8 people in Los Angeles have said they can’t find fresh produce in their neighborhoods, and 1 in 5 can’t afford it.
A lack of access to healthy affordable food causes a reliance on fast food and convenience stores, which puts residents at risk of diet-related health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity. These are all pre-existing conditions which make black and brown communities more susceptible to COVID 19.
Only 2.2% of U.S. employer businesses are black-owned, and they receive less than 2% of the nation's sales. ⅔ of all black businesses are located in the hardest hit COVID areas, resulting in 41% having to close. Black farmers make up only 1.3% of the 3.4 million total farmers in this nation.
The Solution
As a mobile market, we are uniquely positioned to address the issues of food insecurity that disproportionately affect our community. We believe that by focusing on our local food system, not only can we feed our neighbors, we can also create a substantial economic impact.
By providing a platform for black farmers and food producers who have long been marginalized, we are creating jobs throughout the entire supply chain, strengthening our ecosystem, and stimulating the economy. We are creating an equitable solution to an age old problem. Prosperity Market is a win for everyone!
Sources
Chauncey Alcorn “Black-owned companies are shutting down twice as fast as other businesses”. CNN. 4 Aug. 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/04/economy/black-business-coronavirus-study/index.html
Los Angeles Food Policy Council. 2020 Food Systems Dashboard
https://www.goodfoodla.org/foodsystemdashboard
“There were nearly a million black farmers in 1920. Why have they disappeared?” The Guardian. April 2019,
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/29/why-have-americas-black-farmers-disappeared
Usafacts.org. “A higher share of Black-owned businesses are women-owned than non-Black businesses.” 23 Sept. 2020,
https://usafacts.org/articles/black-women-business-month/
“Virtual Townhall: How Can We Build a Resilient Food Systems Panel”, California Climate & Agricultural Network (CalCAN), 14 Dec. 2020.
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