Roxane Gay invested in Ethels Club. Here’s why
Building Ethels Club is a radical act. While co-working spaces and social clubs are taking over the American workplace, none of today’s leading brands (WeWork, The Wing, Soho House, Industrious, The Riveter) are optimized to the needs, safety, or comfort of people of color. The dismal state of racial bias in (and beyond) tech is well-known — and it’s no surprise if you’ve spent time in an NYC WeWork. Lots of white dudes, to say the least.
People of color want — and deserve — space to relax, create, and collaborate.
Just as many skeptics questioned whether women really needed their own space when The Wing launched, critics will have lots of feelings about Ethels Club focusing on people of color. This skepticism only amplifies our excitement to open our first space in Brooklyn this November. Membership is already over-subscribed, with a waitlist of over 4,000 people. If this number seems surprising, think again: in New York City alone, 67% of residents identify as people of color. By 2040, there will be more people of color than women globally.
Think on that for a second.
Until Ethels, no overarching, beautifully-designed “third space” has surfaced to fill the void of gentrification in many neighborhoods. That’s why we built Ethels Club. As founder and CEO Naj Austin explains, Ethels Club…
