As we approach the holiday season, it’s essential to acknowledge and celebrate businesses owned by women and people of color especially since they often face unique challenges.
The list below is comprised of businesses recommended by AFN members and staff. Your patronage is sincerely appreciated during this giving season!
Are you an AFN Member with a business to share? Fill out our form.
Food & Beverage
A 2nd Cup coffee and cafe was established in 2012 to raise awareness of human trafficking issues in Houston—and to develop resources that help create a second chance for survivors.
Black Leaf Tea & Culture Shop tea blends are here to spread joy and inspire all who sip to be as creative and bold as the blends they drink. Along with delicious and unique tea blends, Black Leaf Tea & Culture uses their platform to engage the community and celebrate Black culture.
Café X: By Any Beans Necessary is a family-owned, Black woman-owned cooperative coffee shop built to support generational wealth building in the Black community and other marginalized communities.
Charlotte Truffles welcomes and celebrates the diversity of our community through chocolate. Our chocolate selections are unique because we choose flavors that represent specific cultures.
Chef Sarah and The Farmer x the Chef is an Oakland-sourced creator of small-batch artisanal condiments and infused oils.
Chicago French Press (CFP) is a coffee destination. Freshly roasted in the Windy City, CFP delivers premium fair-trade, non-GMO coffee to coffee lovers nationwide.
City Tasting Box curates a blend of packaged goods from famed Memphis restaurants and chefs, up-and-coming local food artisans, and other Memphis inspired crafts all packaged in a well-designed mailer box.
Kitchens of Africa was created with one simple mission – to introduce the diverse and exotic cuisine of Africa to the rest of the world.
Omsom is a loud and proud Asian food brand led by two daughters of Vietnamese refugees. Their starters let you cook restaurant-quality Asian dishes in under 30 minutes.
Tallio’s Coffee is a coffee roaster, beverage brewer, cafe, and retailer focusing on bringing quality, high end coffee and beverages including ginger, tea, and coffee brewing training to neglected communities.
At Three Sisters Kitchen we believe that good food, health, and economic opportunity are for everyone. Our Local Foods Shop celebrates the bounty of New Mexico with locally grown, raised, and produced foods for retail sale.
Fashion & Accessories
4KINSHIP is a Diné (Navajo) owned sustainable artwear brand dedicated to producing handmade, one of a kind, restored, repurposed and lovingly upcycled, artisanal and small batch products.
FOR THE FEW (FTF) is a sustainable intimates apparel brand. We provide a sanctuary for those struggling to discover their perfect size and fit, and also master our consumers’ ideal shade of nude — a longstanding plight for many black and brown women.
Nta-woven offers beautiful, handcrafted clothing and accessories sustainably made by women throughout the African Diaspora. Nta-woven seeks to connect the tapestry of women’s lives across the globe through the vibrant colors of African fabric and fashion.
Belemaa currently offers hand-crafted beaded necklaces, hand-woven straw baskets, and Kimono-style batik robes, all produced in Ghana. Belemaa’s core belief and vision is that realizing the richness of different cultures and regions will connect Black diasporans back to the continent.
H Kyle is a place where you can find cute gifts and accessories, as well as contemporary and fashionable ladies’ apparel in the parish of Ascension, outside of Baton Rouge, LA, and online.
Joyas Piel Canela Jewelry is a product of a leap of faith, embracing change, and my parents’ hard work and sacrifice. While education and working with teens is my calling, I decided to branch out and continue the family business of owning a jewelry store.
Love Iguehi is a custom clothing and apparel company located in Oakland, California. We are a “Made-in-America” brand that uses strikingly beautiful bold African Ankara prints.
By selling clothing and accessories, Maison Black amplifies the innovative design of Black creatives who exemplify design excellence. Maison Black creates community, fosters unity and creates space for Black creatives to build legacies and Black heritage brands.
Nooworks is a woman owned, women run business. We make limited edition textiles with artists we love in cuts to make you look and feel good. All our garments are produced in California.
SONSON accessory designs are inspired by cultural celebrations, art, and personas. Our redefined fashion accessories serve as a catalyst for conversations–further building relationships from “one son to another.”
Womxn on the Moon is an LGBTQ+ Afro-Latina owned business. In addition to creating unique earring designs, this small business also focuses on uplifting female artisans and maintaining inclusive branding made for all womxn.
Housewares & Gifts
Black Paper Party’s well-curated collection includes gift wrap and ornaments with nods to the African Diaspora for everyone to enjoy. When you see our designs you will know it’s gonna be a party!
Frères Branchiaux Candle Co. is a home fragrance company based in the Washington, DC Metro area created and managed by 3 brothers, Collin (16), Ryan (13), and Austin Gill (11).
Ari’s Glow Candles are handmade in small batches with clean, plant-based ingredients. Each candle is made with you and your family in mind and a lot of love, using only the highest quality, sustainably sourced fragrances and materials to ensure that we are giving back to the planet we live on.
Gifted by FreeForm is a social enterprise focused on generating wealth for survivors through entrepreneurship and living wage employment.
Goods that Matter creates everyday design goods, with extraordinary impact.
Premier Flowers offers floral delivery in the Memphis and the surrounding areas. We also send out throughout the United States to those near or far.
Speakeasy Candle Co. is a small batch chandlery located just 15 mins away from the Las Vegas strip that crafts hand-poured scented candles that are inspired by the delectable aromas of craft cocktails.
Wicks NOLA Candle Company is a luxury line of candles and home fragrances products inspired by ALL things New Orleans! Enjoy blissfully fragrant candles like delicious French Quarter Beignet or be transported through historic neighborhoods with scents like Bywater and Garden District.
Wrap Culture‘s goal is to bring more of the African American presence to packaging for all types of celebratory occasions! We will feature the beauty of our culture in every aspect of gifting.
Health & Beauty
The Black Belt Soap Company sells gourmet treats for the body! We create our own highly concentrated formulas, which do not contain fillers or preservatives.
Cura Bello Skincare offers effective natural skin care for sensitive skin, including 5 different types of body moisturizers to relieve extremely dry, irritated, flaky, and itchy skin.
At Nailah’s Shea, our philosophy is to promote the benefits of using body care products that are organic, free from parabens, synthetic fragrances, alcohol, and harsh chemicals.
O’dette creates quality body care products that are an accessible luxury for you to try, love and use over and over again. Our body butters are made with top quality ingredients that nourish the skin beyond the surface.
Jam Box Fitness Lounge is a boutique group fitness studio. We provide on-demand and livestreamed standard dance fitness classes and unique classes such as Pound, Hip-Hop Step, Booty Fit, Heels and Afro Beats to name a few.
Welcome to the Mothers Finest Family Farm. In addition to our CSA Box subscription members, we grow ingredients to make our products: Honey Shea Butter, Infused Honey, Medicine Tonics.
Bookstores
Baldwin & Co. is a black-owned independent bookstore and coffee shop located in New Orleans, LA. Baldwin & Co. also stocks numerous regional titles as well as cards, journals, and gifts.
Based in Missouri, EyeSeeMe is the only children’s bookstore devoted exclusively to promoting positive African American Images and African American History while advocating for Academic Excellence.
Harriett’s Bookshop, named for historical heroine Harriett Tubman, celebrates women authors, women artists, and women activists.
Miranda Loves Books, online bookstore, reflects our passion not only for books, but for our community. The Bronx neighborhood has only one bookstore within its borders to serve more than 1.5 million people.
Shopping Guides
The ICA Marketplace features great local product and service providers from our accelerator, investment portfolio, and network. By shopping with us, you’re helping the Bay Area small business ecosystem thrive.
The REDF Social Enterprise Gift Guide features products from mission-driven businesses around the country. Each item is handcrafted by a talented individual reentering the workforce after overcoming challenges like homelessness or incarceration.
Working Solutions CDFI makes affordable capital and free business consulting available to diverse entrepreneurs in Northern California. Search our client directory!
Pop-Up Makeke is an online marketplace that centralizes hundreds of Hawaiʻi’s small businesses and showcases their talent and unique products for the world to enjoy.
The Village Retail is a retail experience rooted in storytelling, upward mobility and a destination for Black-owned brands seeking a home for their product and shoppers seeking to take incredible products home
