We had the good fortune of connecting with Shania Accius and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shania, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Zawadi Cultural Collective has been helping the community for many years. One of our largest impact projects is our weekly food distribution. Every Saturday we serve community that is dealing with food insecurity. We serve an average of 100 families a week who have been coming to us on a consistent bases since the start of our distribution 4 years ago. We are different from most distributions in that we let the community pick the items that they want. We set up our distribution like a farmers market allowing the community to choose from a wide variety of breads, fruits, vegetables, meats and more.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When we started this organization we always believed in “if you build it they will come”. We live in an area that doesn’t necessarily support the Black experience and we found that our children and community were suffering from this lack of support. So if there was something I wanted to see, I created it. My daughter was always the only Black girl in classes and clubs, so I brought all the “onlys” together to create an all Black Girl Scout troop that became the largest troop in Los Angeles. And it wasn’t only the children feeling isolated. It was the community at large. So I created Black in the Valley , an online platform which became the hub to support local small Black businesses, share resources and encourage community engagement. It is very hard being so small with such a big mission. My home has become the physical community hub which can be stressful as a family. But I believe that my children will see that what we are doing in the community is worth the boxes, and racks and people that constantly flood our home.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my bestie came to visit, we would definitely take a trip to the beach. No particular beach, preferably one with free parking. LOL I would also take her to Mama Shelter in Hollywood because our friend from high school is the DJ there and it’s always a good time. And what’s interesting about these outings is that it usually takes a special occasion to get me out of the Valley. I’m not a fan of leaving the Valley, and to be even more specific, I don’t want to leave the West Valley.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We can’t do what we do without the community. We are a small organization with no funding, but we are able to pull off big projects because of community support. The biggest support comes from the village that makes up our Girl Scout Troop, Zawadi Troop 3246. We are the largest troop in Los Angeles, maybe even California, with over 108 girls ranging from Kindergarten to High School.

Website: Zawadiculturalcollective.com and Blackinthevalley.org

Instagram: @zawadiculturalcollective @blackinthevalleysfv @zawaditroop3246

Linkedin: Shania Accius

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.