5 Black Do-Gooders We Love | Three(i) Presents: The Do-Gooder Awards

By: Brianna Smith-Herman

As we celebrate Black History Month, Three(i) Creative Communications is honoring five prominent Black Americans by awarding them the inaugural ‘Do-Gooder Awards’. These individuals are carving their own historic paths and trailblazing in their respective industries. 

From working to create equal access to food, to addressing the discrimination faced by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, these Do-Gooders are creating real and lasting change, leading our communities and champion justice.

We salute these five Black futures who are using community-led solutions, their platforms, influence, passion, and strategic savvy to get the Do-Good work done! 

Mia Jaye - @iammiajaye 

@blackmendeservetogrowold

On August 22, 2021, Jeremiah Jerdine, whose brand name is Mia Jaye, initiated the Black Men Deserve to Grow Old Campaign, under her Respectfully Mom-E-O brand. The campaign, which incorporates the selling of “Black Men & Boys Deserve To Grow Old” merchandise, collaborates with influencers to discuss methods of change and shares heart-wrenching statistics on the reality of gun violence. 

Mia launched the campaign in honor of her brother, who was killed in a senseless shooting in 2020. The Black Men Deserve to Grow Old Campaign has a mission to serve two purposes. The first purpose is to raise awareness regarding the rising homicide numbers in the black community. The second is to support three families tragically impacted by the loss of their husband, father, brother or son. It is unfortunate that the cause Mia worked so hard to bring awareness to recently struck her family again. This time her life partner and children’s father, rapper Young Dolph. Mia has been actively advocating for Black Men and Boys to Grow Old for some time now and, ironically, she posted a video to her social media a few months ago speaking about the ongoing crime in the community and how residents needed to unify and figure out a way to combat the senseless crimes and killings. To support, share and keep up with Black Men Deserve to Grow Old Campaign, follow @shopmomeo or visit www.shopmomeo.com.

Kenny Thompson, Jr. - @kennythompsonjr

@PepsiCo 

Kenny Thompson, Jr. is a public affairs executive with expertise in building corporate strategies and assessing political risk in the public and private sectors. He applies his experience with social impact, corporate responsibility, sustainability, advocacy, and communications to generate new business, amplify PepsiCo’s business partnerships, and grow PepsiCo’s reputation as a responsible corporate citizen. Under his leadership, the External Affairs team ensures PepsiCo’s stakeholder engagement plan delivers long-term value and sustained purpose to investors, employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities that PepsiCo serves. 

Before joining PepsiCo, Kenny held several positions in the Obama White House, including Director of Message Events for Vice President Joe Biden, Senior Advisor to United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk, and Special Assistant and Advance Lead for President Barack Obama. In 2020, Thompson was selected to serve on the Biden – Harris Transition as the Private Sector Liaison where he provided strategic and management oversight of the interaction with the private sector while managing relationships with Fortune 500 CEOs, Wall Street firms, venture-backed enterprises, and industry groups. Currently, Kenny serves on the Board of Directors of the Women's Congressional Policy Institute and the Board of Trustees at Texas Christian University. In 2021, Thompson was appointed by President Biden to serve as a Commissioner on the President's Commission of White House Fellowships.

Meek Mill - @meekmill 

@reform

Robert “Meek Mill” Williams is a Grammy-nominated rap artist, entrepreneur and criminal justice reform advocate. Meek evolved from one of Philly’s hottest underground rappers to one of the world’s prominent musical artists, having released a ton of smash studio albums and singles. 

Meek uses his public platform to generate awareness around the problems within the criminal justice system and highlight how they disproportionately affect multicultural communities, using his own story as proof. Until July 2019, Meek had been entrapped in the criminal justice system and shuffled through the prison system over technical probation violations – all despite never committing a crime as a probationer.

Beyond his work in criminal justice, Meek also serves as the President of Dream Chasers, his exclusive record label that is part of a joint venture with Roc Nation. Additionally, Mill is a co-owner of sports apparel retailer Lids, the largest retail seller of hats and licensed sports products in North America.

Monique Nelson - @MoniqueUWGCEO

@uwginc 

Monique Nelson is chair and CEO of UniWorld Group, Inc., the country’s longest-standing multicultural marketing agency. The agency focuses on multicultural outreach; for clients that include: Ford Motor Company, Colgate-Palmolive, The Home Depot, Bacardi U.S. and Coca-Cola, to name a few. As one of the country’s leading multicultural agencies, UWG services its clients with General Market, Black, Hispanic, Asian and LGBT marketing and advertising, digital and traditional advertising, consumer insight, public relations, consumer healthcare communications and cultural fluency consulting.

Monique  has expanded the agency’s client list and has led her team in the development of several award-winning campaigns that show the wide range of the agency’s expertise, as well as its ability to connect its clients with the growing and diverse cultures of today’s marketplace.

Under Monique’s stewardship, UniWorld continues to thrive as a company that understands the value of culturally relevant viewpoints, approaches and philosophies. Her vision for UWG is to continue its history of providing the deep insight, knowledge and cultural nuance that keeps its clients connected to their consumers.

Jasmin Crowe - @jasminecrow

@goodrco

Social entrepreneur Jasmine Crowe has one mission: feed more, waste less. Her company Goodr is tackling food waste and getting food to those who need it most. 

Goodr is a startup based in Atlanta, that is leveraging technology to combat hunger and food waste, by collecting surplus food from organizations like Turner Broadcasting Systems, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and others, and redirects that food to nonprofits who distribute the food to people experiencing food insecurity. 

The company also works directly with cities and governments to purchase quality food for certain communities. Crowe has collected and donated more than two million food items worldwide and fed more than 80,000 people through the Sunday Soul Homeless feeding initiative. The initiative started out as formal pop-up dinners for the homeless community of Atlanta.  

Crowe also recently released "Everybody Eats," a children's book to inspire the fight against hunger.

Please join us in a sincere superhero salute to these influential Do-Gooders, and all the do-gooders out there making communities better and more diverse in your own ways.