Diversifying Creativity with TONL

By working to highlight a diverse set of narratives from under represented populations, Joshua Kissi and Karen Okonkwo — two of Inc Magazine's 30 Under 30 — are addressing a huge gap in the creative market. Karen was at Arizona State University when she decided to start a blog for sorority women. It gained immediate attention. Yet, when a friend asked why there wasn't any African Americans showcased on the site, she was defensive. As an African American herself, she thought - of course we do! But as she pulled out her phone and started scrolling through the site, she realized her friend was right. She had fallen into the subconsciously biased, racially one-sided trap. Desperately focused on change, she began to showcase all types of women of color, sexual orientation, and under represented groups on her site. But she had a sense she was not doing enough. This work caught the attention of the Ghanian-American fashion, lifestyle, and brand photographer Joshua Kissi, and together they co-created TONL a photography and media agency focused on creating images of diverse people and sharing their stories with the world. Enjoy this inspirational, heartfelt and meaningful story of self reflection, discovery, creativity, and action, as we drop in on their presentation from CreativeLive's PhotoWeek. Learn more and help amplify your creative arsenal at: http://cr8.lv/pw2018

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