Teju is a Jamaican-American multihyphenate from Oakland. She is currently exploring how our identity and values can be the catalyst to design spaces (and things) that are beautiful, functional and environmentally intentional. A nomad at heart— her work unearths the environmental, cultural, economic, and urban connections that shape our material realities.
Teju is creator / host of the Black Material Geographies podcast and was a 2022 honoree for the Conscious Fashion Campaign. She helped to develop the Fibers Fund in 2022 and served as Co-Managing Director in 2023. Teju has worked with an array of institutions, including as a member of the United Nations Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network, and as a cultural ambassador to the United States Embassy of Botswana. She has spoken at Cooper Hewitt, and at several academic institutions including Princeton University, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the University of Iceland, Reykjavik..
Teju’s focus includes regenerative fiber and fashion systems, climate justice and adaptation, mapping Black relationships to our environment, supporting farmers of the global majority, and culturally responsive economic alternatives. She supports people who are mapping / making alternative futures
She likes water, music & dancing, soccer and reading books. Teju is based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn, New York) and goes wherever else she is called.
Teju’s Assistant
Ruba Abounasr (ربى ابو نصر) is a 25-year-old Lebanese-American engineer raised in Houston, Texas. Although young in her career, she has been a part of many projects she is proud of. To name a couple, Ruba has led a group of engineers to design a device that can allow women in refugee camps to fabricate their own feminine hygiene products and she has directed a stage production for women to speak out on important issues related to their college experience. She is continuing to fuse her technical knowledge with her passion for creativity to create impactful change. As Teju’s assistant, Ruba is here to respond to any inquiries and answer any questions related to working with Teju.