Jessica Koslow

Steve Croteau is not from around here. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and landed in Downtown LA, home of the Fashion District, via San Diego. His journey to fashion entrepreneur is as winding and adventurous as the landscape he’s been riding for decades as a BMX biker.

The founder of the streetwear brand PeepGame LTD started BMX riding as a kid. At a local skate park, he saw and got to meet world-class rider Dave Mirra.

“I was like, this is so cool that this guy is on TV and he’s actually hanging out with the kids,” Croteau said. “It made me fall in love with BMX immediately. It was completely different from regular sports. You wouldn’t be able to hang out with a New York Mets pitcher.” . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

Ruth Kennison is a chocolate educator. Some people pick history or science. Kennison has made the choice to educate the world about chocolate: how it is made, where it comes from and who picks the beans. 

“My mission is to connect people to the flavor and the story of chocolate,” states her website, The Chocolate Project.

In her late 30s, Kennison, who was pregnant, started baking — a lot. She loved sugar and sweets and followed her nose to the French Pastry School and the Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Chicago, where she received her certification as a pastry chef. She joined her friend, Clemence de Lutz, and began teaching baking classes at Surfas in Culver City, when Lutz shared with Kennison that she planned to open a cooking school. Lutz suggested that her friend become an expert in one thing. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

Friends of Ballona Wetlands has a lot to be proud of. It brought the El Segundo Blue Butterfly back to Ballona, which, according to director Scott Culbertson, everyone thought was gone forever. It hosts more than 5,000 students every year on field trips to the wetlands and including pre-and post-lessons in classrooms that number totals 12,000 student interactions each year. About 74% of the schools it serves are Title I, and it provides about 60 bus scholarships annually to schools.

Forty-seven years ago, a small group of concerned citizens started Friends of Ballona Wetlands to save the wetlands from being developed by businessman Howard Hughes’ heirs. The state of California purchased the land 25 years later, and the nonprofit has an access permit to run education, science and restoration programs. . . .

Read the entire article at Playa Vista Magazine.

Asia Yu grew up in Denver in the 1970s. Her mom was from Iowa and her father from China. She credits her pull to community work to the diverse neighborhood of Park Hill where she lived and the spirit of community organizing that surrounded her.

“I was impacted by the leadership in our city, by the powerful people of color, including the Chicano movement that came out of Denver,” Yu, also known as Asia One, said.

While she was attending community college and taking fine arts classes, she decided to open up a hip-hop shop in an undeveloped part of town near the railroad tracks. . . .

Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.

Create Protest has mailed out over 80,000 artist-designed postcards to voters across the country, who have then handwritten notes on and sent them out to more voters across the country. It is what Create Protest does: It is a community marketplace of message makers — individuals with something to say and a will to act. The artists live around the U.S., many are based in LA, and the items include hoodies, hats and mugs. Certain items are of the moment and others are more evergreen.

Juliette Bellocq, who runs Handbuilt Studio, designed the “Truth Matters” merchandise. Deaf and unable to speak as a child, art became Stephen Glassman’s primary means of communication. He created the “We” items, referencing the first word in the U.S. Constitution. Man One’s designs read “Vote.” His work has been exhibited at MOCA LA, The Getty and LACMA and in 2002, he founded Crewest Gallery in LA to legitimize graffiti. . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.