OUR MISSION
ASCENDtials is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 2014 by Director/Founder Mika Marzette that seeks to uplift BIPOC communities in Southern California through workshops, programs, and events that ignite real change in spaces that are not inclusive towards BIPOC people.
Our Vision for Change
We build community through farmers’ markets, climate clean-ups, and star viewing parties, we grow healthy foods together in our community garden, we move our bodies with intention at weekly yoga sessions, we support young kids in our after-school care program, and so much more. Small steps make a big impact.
Truth and Transformation
African philosophies and principles are at our core. We often turn to the wisdom of our ancestors from Kemet (the indigenous name given to the land of Egypt) to guide us. They founded a system—the seven principles of Maat—that not only imitates nature but provides a deeper understanding of our Oneness, true nature, and unity with all things in existence. It is through their teachings that we will find truth and transformation.
Systems for All
We believe that all people deserve systems that support a complete human experience. From our founding, we have worked hard to recognize and fight against the systems of inequality holding us back. But we don’t do it alone. Your support and participation in our programs is what keeps us going. For that, we say a big THANK YOU.
Our Founder
Mika has spent over 25 years in the U.S. and abroad working in education, finance, community capacity building, and self-development. She taught business courses as a professor at Sorbonne University in Paris and the Higher College of Technology in Muscat, Oman. She also headed an immersive program for a cohort of MBA students at UC San Diego.
For 12 years overseas in Japan, France, Oman, Brazil, Thailand, Togo, and Korea, she partnered with the United Nations and UNESCO to teach about structural and policy changes that would benefit those affected disproportionately by structural racism. Mika lives with purpose, always using her platform to uplift and support BIPOC communities.
Now back home in San Diego, she works as the director of ASCENDtials.
