In March 2018, we gathered at MATE the label's Arts District Headquarters in Downtown Los Angeles to talk about Human Rights, Journalism, and Geopolitics and enjoy delicious and innovative dishes by the award-winning woman-owned LA restaurant Sqirl.
We partnered with Sqirl, an award-winning LA restaurant that is market-driven and whose menu re-imagines classics and creates innovative dishes you’ve never heard of before. Sqirl is know for its homemade jams. Sqirl founder and Chef Jessica Koslow is a finalist nominee for 2018 James Beard Awards Best Chef: West! We enjoyed mini scones with Sqirl preserves, an assortment of loaf cakes (gluten free and vegan), DIY Sorrel Pesto Rice (gluten free), and Tortilla Española with spring vegetable mix (gluten free).
We gathered at MATE the label's Arts District Headquarters in Downtown LA. MATE the label is a Los Angeles based clothing brand, founded by Kayti O'Connell Carr in 2013. The label is a collection of elevated essentials and vintage inspired graphics that embody the California-cool lifestyle. Sustainable and ethical practices are paramount to the brand's ethos. MATE has chosen to partner with factories within a five mile radius from their Arts District Headquarters in DTLA. Each piece is thoughtfully designed, carefully sourced, and proudly produced in small batches season after season.
We talked about human rights, journalism, and geopolitics. Our speakers, Nour and Gissou, are dedicated to gathering facts and giving voice to others, often vulnerable communities under threat or at war. At breakfast, we discussed their experiences with refugees around the world and storytelling in their respective fields.
Nour Malas is a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. She recently moved to LA as a national correspondent covering the West Coast, with a focus on economic issues. Before that, she worked for The Wall Street Journal as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East for nine years. Nour has covered the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the rise of and battle against Islamic State, and the region’s refugee crisis, as well as business, culture, and society in the broader Arab world.
Gissou Nia is a human rights lawyer and Iran expert. She currently leads an initiative in partnership with Purpose and UNICEF Global to boost public engagement around the global refugee crisis. Previously, she acted as the Deputy Director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran and served as the Executive Director of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. Prior to the Center, Gissou worked on war crimes and crimes against humanity trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court.
FUTURE OF WOMEN is a unifying platform that creates original multimedia content and programming by, for, and about women around the world to openly look at the pursuit of being a modern woman. In 2018, we began collaborating with award-winning female chefs worldwide, from Los Angeles to Mexico City to Tel Aviv to Tokyo, to host a monthly women's breakfast series featuring game-changing women such as Olympic athletes, Emmy-winning producers, top Billboard musicians, and New York Times journalists on topics including architecture, sports, art, music, journalism, and human rights.
Special thanks to Shreebs Coffee for providing delicious coffee from their Echo Park woman-owned coffee company, Victoire Loup for her foodie expertise, Kayti O'Connell Carr for hosting us at MATE the label, Maxine and Mishel for helping all the pieces come together behind the scenes, and to Jamie Lebowitz for these beautiful photographs.
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