We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Uptima Impact Fellowship. Impact Fellows receive a full scholarship to our year-long small business program as well as support and resources aimed at developing small businesses that create solutions to advance the movement to an economically, environmentally, and socially just society. Please help us give a warm welcome to Jamica El, Marissa Molinar, and Tossie Long.
Jamica El is Creative Director and CEO of Muvaboard, a creative technology and digital marketing consultancy based in Oakland, CA.
Marissa Molinar is a contemporary dancer and founder/curator of Midday Movement Series, a grassroots initiative cultivating Boston’s future dance leaders.
Tossie Long is a San Francisco native with the incarnations of Mississippi. She is an international performer artist, facilitator and director.
Creative Director and CEO of Muvaboard
Jamica El
Jamica El is Creative Director and CEO of Muvaboard, a creative technology and digital marketing consultancy based in Oakland, CA. She specializes in designing content, strategy, and tools that help women-owned businesses, brands, and creatives grow their audience and revenue. She spent the better half of a decade specializing in hardware prototypes for Software Engineering (SWE) at Apple in Cupertino, CA. As a fellow for Buzzfeed’s Open Lab for Journalism, Technology, and the Arts, she developed soft circuitry prototypes that lie at the intersection of fashion, technology, and activism.
Jamica has worked with startups, artists, educators, non-profits, and larger companies to remix everyday ideas. She also identifies as an artist and has been deejaying for over ten years, and more recently crafting digital collages, pattern illustrations, and bending neon when time and space provides. Jamica is a proud autodidact who has no formal training in engineering or art.
Muvaboard is a creative tech and digital marketing consultancy designing content, strategy and tools that support creatives and inspire play. We strategize, produce, and distribute content to help women-owned businesses, brands, and creatives connect with and grow their audience and revenue.
Our goal is to help women become more visible and audible in their industries, and digital marketing is a vital part of that success. Our work is centered in black feminism, urban culture, and technology. We want to see the work and messages of women creators more amplified today than any previous point in history.
I decided to apply to the Impact Fellowship because I am ready to grow a resilient business. I believe my experience in the fellowship will provide tools and resources to scale, lead and grow a team as well as create and foster a healthy company culture.
I am most excited about the community I will become a part of at Uptima. I participated in the Freelancer course earlier this year and connected with a group of amazing people. Entrepreneurship can feel confusing and isolating at times so it’s very validating to be on the journey with others who are simultaneously taking the risk, being vulnerable, and following their hearts.
I grew up in the DC area where “th” sounds are pronounced with a “v” sound which is why I named my company Muvaboard instead of “motherboard”. Also, I’m a former engineer. I spent a long time working in hardware. My company is a nod to all the parts of my life that made me who I am today.
I really like candy from my grandparents’ generation like cinnamon drops, heath bars, and caramel hard candies. I love making repeating patterns, clay jewelry, digital collages, neon signs, and dj mixes. I try to do any of those things in my spare time.
I’m the mom of a little human and can vouch for pretty much everything that’s been said about motherhood – it’s all true.
Contemporary dancer and founder/curator of Midday Movement Series
Photo credits: Mickey West; Olivia Blaisdell (courtesy of Ruckus Dance)
Marissa Molinar is a contemporary dancer and founder/curator of Midday Movement Series, a grassroots initiative cultivating Boston’s future dance leaders. A late-comer to contemporary dance with a background in environmental science, Marissa’s administrative work focuses on strengthening sustainability for individual artists to create meaningful impact in the arts sector. She is passionate about centering people and perspectives of color at all levels of the arts ecosystem. Marissa has worked as an employee of Boston Dance Alliance and ArtsBoston, and as a freelance consultant with the Next Steps for Boston Dance program at The Boston Foundation, among others. She is also an active professional dancer, performing with companies in Boston and New York.
Marissa holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from Brown University with a focus in Urban Conservation and Environmental Justice. She holds a certificate in Contemporary Dance from the Professional Training Program at Gibney Dance, NYC.
Midday Movement Series is a grassroots initiative whose aim is to build a sustainable future for dance in Boston by cultivating our city’s new generation of contemporary dance leaders. MMS seeks to address the needs of dance professionals in creative ways that promote financial accessibility, cultural equity and relevance, and togetherness through shared action and activity. Our programs honor and instill the power of each artist to enact meaningful artistic, social, and cultural change, and aim to reinforce the power of community by fostering interconnectedness and galvanizing genuine relationships.
I applied to the Impact Fellowship because it seemed like a perfect combination of rigorous training in the business skills I need coupled with hands-on guidance and mentorship. Through the Fellowship, I can connect not only to an incredible learning experience that honors my identity as a person of color, but to a bicoastal community of inspiring entrepreneurs of color!
I am excited for the opportunity to see my business –and myself– through new eyes. Through one-on-one mentorship and peer support, the Impact Fellowship will open my eyes to new possibilities for my business while gaining the know-how and confidence to grow outside the box. I’m excited for the whole journey!
I was homeschooled growing up, which was such a blessing. It’s incredibly motivating as a young child to learn what you are interested in and to have the space to pursue it. Plus, learning how I learn has been one of the most helpful and empowering tools in my belt, hands down.
Also, I’m terrible at naming things – pets, plants, programs, anything – and if left to my own devices my business would have been named something clunky or cheesy. Fortunately a close friend of mine came up with the name “Midday Movement Series.” Thank goodness for smart friends to hold you down!
International performing artist
Tossie Long
Tossie Long is a San Francisco native with the incarnations of Mississippi. She is an international performer artist, facilitator and director. Nicknamed “Bone Rattler,” Tossie works at the intersections of music, culture and sociopolitical issues spanning from rock and roll vocals to afro futurist productions.
As a multi-hyphenate and Grammy Nominated artist, Tossie is practitioner of ceremonial music from around the world with a focus on diasporic cosmology, Tossie has voyaged to Haiti, Cuba and Benin tracing the migration of Vodou. In addition to her vocal artistry, Tossie is also the cofounder, producer and director of Bakanal de Afrique, a biannual afro-urban arts and culture festival that culminates into a full-length theatre production.
Tossie does not perform simply for the sake of performing, but rather, to challenge herself and to experiment with how far she can push her perceived limits.
Tossie Long’s performances and workshops have graced many premier avenues including Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Stern Grove camp, Stern Grove Festival, Oakland Symphony, The Stone NYC, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Harlem Museum, Power of Hope, Oakland Museum of California, UC Berkeley, UCSF, UC Merced, We Sing Conference, State of the Movement, Zoo Labs and Stanford D School to name a few.
An immersive design studio that creates experiences for individuals and brands looking to activate the heart of the matter.
My best innovative expression happens when I’m in a space where I feel safe to play, get messy along side being intellectually stimulated and then left alone to allow my brilliance to erupt. I experienced that while in the freelancer course. So, when I saw the impact fellowship, I hopped at the opportunity to dive in deeper.
Growing and developing my business amongst a community of fiery impact leaders and creators.
I am a connoisseur of Brussel Sprouts, love heavy weightlifting, chasing music through travel, old family photos all wrapped up with snuggles from my Frenchie Charlie.
Worker Cooperative Fellowship 
