Kevon King is a 26-year old food service entrepreneur and community programmer from and residing in Washington DC. In 2018, he co founded The Village DC: Cafe and Lab, a communal cafe and event space located in the Union Market neighborhood DC with the mission of activating enriching spaces to create positive impacts for local entrepreneurs, creatives, and food makers. While taking some time to study business at Virginia State University, Kevon found a passion for youth programming while in a work study program at The First Baptist Church of Petersburg, where Kevon mentored several teens in after school sessions on homework and professional skills. From there, he came back home to DC to launch his own projects of this nature, gaining valuable experience as a Regional Manager at top fast casual companies in Sweetgreen and Chipotle along the way. Kevon uses his role as the Business and Community Director of The Village DC to create a growth based business model and flourishing cafe environment while activating the events space to launch seasonal community drives, youth focused lifestyle development programming, and small business marketplaces. When he’s not busy growing the Village, Kevon loves playing team sports, lifting weights, listening to podcasts, and spending valuable time with his family and friends. Kevon looks to influence the way we look at community and business by creating an environment for youth to learn real life skills, entrepreneurs to thrive in an enriching place, and for opportunities to be born from creators needing space to flourish.

Ryan Williams is a native Washingtonian; he was born and raised in the south east community of fairlawn. Ryan is a proud product of the District of Columbia Public School system; graduating from Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in 2013. His passion for food and cooking began at the ripe age of 5, but it wasn't until he joined Brainfood where the real culinary foundation was laid. Brainfood was a local culinary program that taught life skills through food and cooking to high schoolers across Washington DC. Ryan’s experience at Brainfood and his joy of cooking led him to Hyde Park, NY to attend The Culinary Institute of America(CIA.) Following his time at The CIA, Ryan worked at local DC restaurants like Bibiana and Big Bear Cafe where he earned his stripes as a bonafide cook. Preceding opening The Village, Ryan worked in a division of Brainfood called Brainfood Homegrown. Brainfood Homegrown was a local food venture where young entrepreneurs built a snack business from the ground up. Team members leveraged their unique talents, and creativity to produce one-of-a-kind snacks. In 2018, Ryan joined forces with Mahammad Mangum and Kevon King to open The Village Cafe in The Union Market District, located in the ward 5 area of Washington DC. These days Ryan is focused on highlighting local food entrepreneurs and providing patrons with a menu loaded with tasty food and drinks.

Mahammad Mangum is a 26-year-old self-taught multi-disciplinary artist and curator from the nation's capital. He is also The Co-founder and creative director of The Village DC. A cafe and communal space EST.2018, located in The Union Market District in Washington, DC. While attending college in Monterey, California Mahammad, gained a passion for film, education, and social justice and created an educational platform called Tekaland. A website to premiere independent documentaries and editorials for the youth. His goal is to create more engaging content and use it as an educational tool for young people. While developing his skills as the creative director of The Village DC, he dove more into the arts as he began curating exhibitions and events at The Village DC, creating a cultural hub and staple for emerging artists and creatives in the DC area. He brings a strong desire to influence Culture & Humanity and uses his unique and innovative styles and experiences in art & multi-media. Mahammad merges Business, Community, and Creativity to help The Village DC, and his many projects reach and impact a broad range of audiences around the world.