Who We Are

Teju Adisa-Farrar

Teju is the founder and ecosystems director of bftn. She is a multihypenate environmentalist, as well as creator / host of the Black Material Geographies podcast . Teju’s work centers on ecological resilience and cultural equity. Teju supports the creation of regenerative fiber systems and climate resilient strategies for Black folks, Indigenous communities and people of the global majority. Teju uses a global lens focusing on local strategies that are informed by history, art, urbanism and activism.

She is interested in mapping and documenting Black futures. Teju’s supports people, organizations, and collectives who are making sustainable futures through textiles, alternative economies, regenerative agriculture and community-centred organizing. She spends her time intentionally designing spaces, giving talks on alternatives at community-scale, and co-creating with members of bftn.

Mahdiyyah Muhammad

Mahdiyyah is the Membership & Community Engagement Manager for bftn. She is a Fabric Alchemist, Zero Waste Designer, Circular Fashion Strategist and Educator who approaches the design process with a perspective akin to nature’s complex ecosystems and practice of resilience. She does this through her brand MAHDIYYAH.

Her process of Fabric Alchemy involves the use of techniques like upcycling and mechanical recycling of discarded, naturally-occurring textiles into mono-material, biodegradable clothing. Mahdiyyah also works with companies and in academic settings to design strategies that identify new ways to incorporate a climate focus across operations, to lead companies in successfully adopting material innovations through textile waste reduction. She also serves on the board of bftn.

Kesiena Onosigho

Kesiena is the Educational Architect for bftn. She is an artist, natural dyer and educator rooted in NYC. Using her artistic practice as a foundation, Kesiena created KEPT studio: a disruptive creative studio, which takes an intentional and inventive approach to fiber and design. KEPT studio approaches textile-making in a holistic and sustainable way by re-imagining the lifecycles of NYC’s notoriously wasteful fashion + floral event industries through innovative and regenerative processes. KEPT studio specializes in concept & ideation, sustainability consulting, natural dyeing, botanical pigments + ink making, and textile design development. Kesiena works across art, design and the slow floristry industries.

With over 15 years of experience in the fashion industry, she regularly calls upon her deep insight into fashion's archaic systems and supply chains, which fueled her passion for participating in more regenerative textile systems and championing a wider range of creative & sustainable projects.

Our Board Members

  • Grace Harris

    Grace is a natural dye specialist at bftn, and a practicioner of Transmutation. Transmutation is a small experimental practice for exploration in the natural dye and regenerative fibers ecosystem. After landing at a permaculture eco-village, Grace began a healing process guided by the spirit of the earth and grace of human relationships that continues now. During that time she worked (among many other things) as a landscaper, nature-based mentor, event host/coordinator, and grew her first dye flowers with fellow earth angel Khadijah. Eventually becoming a farm-to-table youth program coordinator. Years of observation and conversation with land-tenders, creators, and collaborators in Oakland and extended community has led to this vision of Transmutation that integrates the desire of earth-based creation with business. Grace is currently on maternity leave.

  • Deandra Eubanks

    Deandra Eubanks has been the Co-Founder, Chief Marketing Officer, and Director of Farm Programs at Seed2Shirt since 2019. Seed2Shirt is the first black-woman-owned vertically integrated apparel manufacturing company in the U.S. Their products are ethically and sustainably manufactured using cotton from African and African-American cotton farmers domestically and on the continent of Africa.

    From an artist and storyteller to his role with Seed2Shirt, he has spent his professional career intentionally aligning his work to being an advocate for equity, justness, and environmental. He leads Seed2Shirt global Farmer's Enrichment programs spanning four African countries and 350,000 small-hold farmers. He strategically leads the development and planning of Seed2Shirts’ USA Farmer Program, and its land-based Pilot Farm initiatives for their vertical production hub in North Carolina.

  • Yolanda Burrell

    Yolanda Burrell is a mother / wife, entrepreneur, urban farmer, and beekeeper. She is the founder of Pollinate Farm, located on the ancestral land of the Ohlone people in Oakland, CA. She cultivates seasonal fruits, vegetables, cut flowers, and plants for natural dyes.

    She is a UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener, a WaterSense-labeled irrigation professional, a member of the Alameda County Beekeepers Association, Women of Food and Agriculture, and also serves on the advisory council of the Berkeley Food Institute.

    Yolanda finds joy in crafting unique spaces from recycled and salvaged materials. Her Oakland home is a testament to this passion – a permaculture food forest lab where she and her family raise chickens and bees and actively reconnect with traditional Black foodways.

  • Pandora Thomas

    Pandora Thomas is a passionate global citizen who works as a caregiver, teacher, farmer, designer and speaker.  Her work emphasizes the benefits of applying ecological principles to social design and reconnecting humans to our non-human kin.

    Her lifelong commitment to honoring ancestral legacies of earth stewardship and centering the contributions of people of African Ancestry in reclaiming our shared earth care journeys is culminating in her most recent gift to the planet, founding EARTHseed Permaculture Center and Farm, the first Afro Indigenous  permaculture farm in Sonoma County. EARTHseed elevates the earth stewarding contributions and legacy of peoples of African ancestry throughout the Diaspora.

    Thomas’ other achievements include being featured in the films The Future of Energy and Inhabit, presenting at Tedx Denver and SF, and being awarded internships and fellowships to the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, Green For All, the Bronx Zoo and the Applied Research Center.