Àròko Cooperative is a multidisciplinary creative organization dedicated to cultivating a future of Black Liberation, care, and wellbeing for Earth and all of her inhabitants. We design, develop and support a range of projects, services, and products to nurture and elevate communities in the margins and propagate equity, liberation, and Eco-centricity.

Àròko Cooperative began with Design to Divest, a call for designers to come together and use their design skills to bolster the work of Black-led organizations and on-the-ground organizers put out into the world by Van Newman. Our first Zoom call in June was filled with over 300 designers from around the world.

In the following weeks, Design to Divest established a Black leadership team that would work collaboratively to activate our community over a series of design challenges, host weekly workshops to discuss curated reading materials, and produce speaking engagements and other events specifically to empower Black designers.

Design to Divest has since evolved into Àròko Cooperative. Our team of 8 designs, develops and supports a range of projects, services, and products to nurture and elevate communities in the margins and propagate equity, liberation, and Eco-centricity.

I have been a member of the team since the first Zoom call back in 2020, and perform a wide variety of functions within the group in close collaboration with the rest of the team. These have included: running Zoom workshops, giving talks and presentations, designing our project management workflow, brand design, art direction for motion graphics and illustration, and more.

To learn more about us, please visit us on our website. 

To engage with our Design to Divest manifesto, visit us here.

To find our past projects, find us on Are.na.

If you would like to join our community, find us on Discord.