Calvin
Co-Founder & Creative Director

Calvin has spent close to two decades working for some of the largest advertising agencies, creating campaigns for globally-recognized brands. At McCann New York, he worked on award-winning campaigns for Cigna health, Nikon, American Airlines, and the U.S. Army. He also spent over six years working with clients such as Verizon Wireless, Reebok, and Burger King during his time at McGarryBowen New York. He also freelanced for Publicis, KBS, McCann Health, Possible, and the Burns Group, to name a few. Calvin is trained as Graphic Designer with a strong background in production and years of experience as an Art Director in traditional advertising. He has a love for brand identity, print, 360 design, and television advertising.

Calvin is also an honorably discharged Navy veteran who serving as an electrician on amphibious assault ship USS Ashland from 1996 to 2000. In 1998 Calvin served in special operations in Kuwait and the Gulf region. He is Guyanese born and have always had a love for art and creativity. He received his B.A. in Graphic Design from Pratt Institute.

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Akili
Senior Producer & Project Manager

Akili is a visual artist, producer, and trained graphic designer. He has a B.A. from Howard University and M.S. from Pratt Institute. He has worked in design education and publishing for over ten years. His partial project list includes clients such as the Harlem Children’s Zone, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Urban Assembly School of Music and Art, and Oxford University Press.

Akili wears many hats and takes pride in being the connective glue on projects. He is a people person, organized, and flexible. Akili understands that things can get crazy while working on any given project. Yet, he is always excited by the opportunity to align talents and resources to create something celebrated by the entire team.

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Learn more about Akili’s company The Universal Fresh

Nicole
Senior Strategist

As a multi-hyphenate creator (visual artist, writer, director, mentor), she brings a wealth of experiences and insights from an array of creative processes. She has worked at major art institutions and media companies.

Nicole’s vast background is an expression of her work as a Strategist. She has worked in an array of roles and positions from Culture Writer, Digital Media Coordinator, Brand Director, Arts Educator, Arts Administrator and Radio Operations Supervisor.

Nicole is a visionary creative strategist that leads with a client’s why. Her motto is "deconstruct to build up". Equal parts dissector and connector, Nicole is a strategic collaborator who guides the breakdown of client goals, needs and wants, and assembles roadmaps emphasizing innovation, originality, historic cultural relevance, energy and longevity.

She works towards all parts of a brand’s presence working well together to create connection, a cohesive story and opportunity.

Her tool kit includes authoring relevant case studies, research and imagination. As our resident Archivist, Nicole applies archival tools that propel value.

Learn more about Nicole’s company 3rd Star

Howard
Copy Writer/Creative Director

As a former writer and creative director in advertising, becoming a director was a seamless choice for him to make. He believes that directors should be strong in vision but able to adapt accordingly to the project in front of them. That is why he is considered to be so versatile. He has done a range of award-winning work that spans from Time magazine and the Kaiser Foundation to Moet Hennessy and ESPN.

Howard’s ability to connect with the culture helps to inform a lot of his work and humor. Being able to quickly relate with people helps him to get the best out of the talent he gets to create with. He has worked with a range of celebrities from Robert Downey Jr. to Ice Cube as well as many of the cultural influencers of the last decade.

Howard is soccer fanatic, world-class doodler and has never had a finsta account. Howard also wrote this in the third person.

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Brent
Digital Project Manager

Learn more about Brent’s company eFlat