Today we’d like to introduce you to Fallon Davis.
Hi Fallon, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Fallon Davis, my pronouns are they/them. Newark, New Jersey is where I currently call home and share a beautiful life with my fiancé, Lauren LeBeaux. I am a Black, Queer, Non-binary, Vegan. A Revolutionary Healer, Visionary, Creative Scientist, and Radical Educator. I am inspired by the beauty of nature, empowered by divine alignment, and focused on healing and amplifying Black voices! Everything I produce, write, create, or advocate for is centered around elevating the Black healing experience.
I love the color orange, talking to trees, bees and animals, spending time with young people and elders, and creating anything that can spark life into me. From a young age, I have been devoted to enhancing and uplifting the lives of Black individuals like me. As an only child, I spent a lot of time alone and self-reflecting; I always said and knew in my spirit that I would change the world! A natural leader, I was class president in 8th and 9th grade, always sought to fight injustice, and consistently spoke out about things that mattered. My name literally means in charge, Leader, descendent from a ruler. I am spiritual and understand how celestial that is to have this name and be this vessel.
At age 18, while at fashion school in New York City, I launched my first business: The F-L-Y (Forget Living Yesterday) Society Entertainment. The F-L-Y Society Entertainment was a lifestyle brand focused on impactful brand development & event and fashion show production. But it was born out of rejection. During an internship at a major fashion label, I was told I didn’t fit into the company’s “culture” due to what I know was my Skill at a young age, and Black, Queer identity. I was devastated. Through that internship, I realized there was not enough Black, Queer representation in the mainstream fashion industry, and it was a very unhealthy space for me.
This rejection, although painful, propelled me to become an entrepreneur. Through The F-L-Y Society Ent, I developed the first masculine-of-center fashion show movement called the What is Butch Movement, which turned into a traveling arts and education production that toured America and birthed Queer Fashion Week. I packed up after graduation leaving home with nothing and went off into my nomad journey. Showcasing 500+ Queer designers, Spotlighting 1000+ Queer Models, producing shows in 15 states, and being the first movement of its kind was groundbreaking.
These shows created safe, welcoming, inclusive spaces for LGBTQIA+ young adults like me to express themselves and have a family to call their own. This movement forever changed mine and so many lives. Unfortunately, it ended in another disappointment, and I learned then I would need to do better with my boundaries and who I trusted in business. Emotionally drained, fleeing a tough abusive relationship, feeling sick and unhealthy, carrying unhealed childhood trauma I felt alone and disconnected. During these travels from 2012-2016, I noticed major gaps in educational equity and barriers to access in our target community. I saw the need for more healing and wanted to take my journey into a new direction, so I packed up everything and set out to start over. In 2017 I started my master’s program and moved to a temporary but life changing stay in Atlanta GA for a couple years before returning to my home state, NJ!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Life is an ebb and flow of successes and challenges. Growing up, I was a latch-key kid raised “middle-class” by a single mother, in a primarily white neighborhood with white-led schools and mostly white educators and did my best to navigate that space with my group of friends who were not living on the same side of town as me. It was isolating.
It was interesting growing up in a small middle-class town where everyone lived in a “home” while my Black friends and family struggled and got targeted by the cops. We also shared a high school with students who were bused in from wealthier suburbs around us. The homelessness is silent. The poverty is silent. The racism is silent. It gave me a sense of want and need to protect and advocate for myself and others. I was able to win some awards, become the first girl (at that time) to play on the boys’ basketball team in 4th grade, became the first black president in my middle school, and continued to become part of the National Honor Society 20th percentile in my class and held other class leadership roles.
I also was stripped of some of those titles and discriminated against. I endured quite a bit of loss throughout my life and experienced folks dealing with physical and mental health ailments which led me to want to heal, tap into my creativity, and break generational traumas. On the journey to finding myself, it was tough to navigate my identity, deal with not being fully accepted by my family, and feel unheard and seen. I was rejected from things I loved and told I couldn’t do the work I was doing, as if being creative was not a valid pathway.
I lacked mentorship and real role models. I was emotionally, physically, and sexually abused through different phases of my life feeling completely unprotected, and learning to just deal with and tolerate pain as something that was supposed to have happened. I had seen so much of it around me it became normalized. To this day, it’s not always easy knowing who I am, speaking out the truth, and doing this community work but it’s so necessary. Healing has become my radical self-love and healing my childhood traumas has been my shield. I know that my story and my journey are meant to inspire others.
Great so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
After graduating with my Masters in 2017, I immersed myself in creating and implementing programming for youth and adults of all abilities in underserved communities, mentoring students toward their greatest potential and training educators and leaders on diversity and inclusion. At the same time, I researched, developed, and wrote a teaching framework, S.T.E.A.M. for Educational Justice, that seeks to radically change education for Black and Brown students.
From that framework, in March 2020 STEAM URBAN was born. STEAM URBAN is a STEAM-disciplined, trauma conscious educational non-profit with three organizational pillars: Environmental Justice, Social Justice, and Educational Equity. STEAM URBAN produces approximately 50 programs per month in Newark and Greater Essex County area: including in-school electives, STEAM Fairs, residencies, out-of-school time, intergenerational community-based programs, and Professional Development for Educators. As the Founder and President, I oversee daily operations, train, and develop the Radical Educator staff, am actively hands-on as an educator and community liaison between the organizations, schools, students, and families, and work on the frontlines advocating for Environmental, Social, and Educational Justice.
STEAM URBAN’s programming is free, consistent, accessible, available year-round, and taught by dedicated Radical Educators who are experts in their fields or aspire to be. Its programming educates students of all ages on the endless possibilities they have for their futures, gives them a voice and platform to be valued and protected, and provides a creative and innovative approach to community learning.
In alignment with the first pillar in its mission, Environmental Justice, in March of 2023, I launched STEAM URBAN Farms & Gardens, an initiative to heal the community consistently and intentionally through food, outdoor wellness, and artful healing. I acquired our first Adopt-a-Lot property from the city of Newark, an urban garden I named A Healing Sanctuary, located at 179 Broadway in the Central/North Ward. The garden has already become home to volunteer community members of all ages with a special dedication to college students and those who want to engage with all aspects of Earth-working.
I have a long-term vision to impact society, implement policies, and change the systemic disparities Queer and BIPOC communities face. My work is both important and inspiring to others because I have always taken a non-traditional path and yet continue to make noticeable strides to eradicate huge societal issues while remaining positive and undaunted in my approach.
In recognition of my work, I received the prestigious Dr. Arnold Brown Racial Justice Award for my commitment and work toward the elimination of racism from the YWCA of North Jersey in 2023. I received the Outstanding Leadership Award in recognition of my contributions to the field of education and learning from Education 2.0 Conference in 2023. My episode of NJPBS’s docuseries, 21, featuring me and the work as a change-maker was nominated for a 2023 Webby Award in the category of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I am honored to connect with new people doing magical work across the world. I am open to bookings, speaking engagements, partnerships, and connecting with like-minded individuals. Feel free to connect if my story resonates, or you want to learn more.
Check out a podcast I was on: https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/water-activities/daily-rally-podcast-fallon-davis/
Check out my PBS Episode: https://www.pbs.org/video/essex-county-vecr6t/
Check out a QFW Reel: https://vimeo.com/199764076?ref=em-share
Contact Info:
- Website: www.steamurban.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/
steamurban/ - Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/
radicaleducator/ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
STEAMURBAN - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
Fallon.N.Davis/ - Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/
fallondavis/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/STEAMURBAN
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/
STEAMURBAN/videos
