We Are Reopening With A New Name: Future Front Texas
On August 21 and 22, we will be coming back with our first-ever flagship market and festival, using a new name.
say hello to future front texas.
We recognize this is big news. You know us as Boss Babes, bbatx or even just “the babes.”
When we started using “Boss Babes ATX” in 2014, being a “boss babe” meant unapologetically stepping into your power. And while it still holds that definition for us today, the term now has a nuanced identity of its own.
We will always have a deep appreciation for what “boss babe” means to us—and for all of the people like us who claim it to reclaim themselves.
We are at a point where it’s time to reintroduce ourselves. And after this past year, we couldn't come back any other way. Allow us to explain our new name, Future Front Texas, in four parts.
꩜ Part One: We grew a lot.
We just turned six years old (yay), so let’s take it back to where we started. For those who have been there since day one (hello ride-or-dies), you know our journey began with a meet-up series in 2015, without so much as a plan or a dime in our bank account.
We started as a blog and a hashtag, originating from a study our founder Jane Hervey started at UT Austin during the fall of 2014. She was frustrated by the lack of space for women in creative industries to connect, share resources and support one another. And she found out in the study that everyone else was, too. So, she decided to invite all of the women she interviewed together at a meet-up called #bossbabesatx.
That little event obviously turned into something bigger than expected. In the last six years, our team has grown to a staff of four and a volunteer leadership group of 15.
We’ve hosted more than 100,000 people at our meet-ups, markets, festivals, workshops and conferences—with many of you coming from all over Texas.
We’ve used those events to amplify and connect thousands of women and non-binary creatives, professionals, founders and community leaders.
We’ve also used those programs to distribute more than $100,000 in grants, commissions and grassroots funds.
Our work started within a wave of larger, cultural social justice movements, too. We’ve been honored to collaborate with a super lineup of other orgs, nonprofits and organizers to advocate for gender equity, racial equity and autonomy in the city and state we call home.
꩜ Part Two: We went through two years of research to get here.
Our new name is the culmination of survival and re-growth.
When we first began considering a name change in 2019, we were all a bit burnt out, trying to make sense of our relationships and responsibility to the org’s accelerated visibility and development.
Most of us joined between 2015 and 2017. At that time, we were new, new, new—how we defined ourselves and our programs were constantly changing.
Everything we tried was always a learning curve, and with the exception of a few paid contractors, we were also all volunteers. We were struggling to measure up our own individual experiences and lack of resources (like money, space, time, expertise and labor) against public perceptions and expectations of the org.
Despite that, we were still enamored with the work itself. (The people you meet through bbatx are literally the best.) We loved what we were learning and the communities we were belonging to. We just didn’t know how to reconcile that joy and impact with the narratives we were bumping into online and in our heads.
So, we decided to do what we’ve always done when a problem’s on the table. Gather, connect, share and try to listen.
From March 2019 to March 2021, we surveyed 1,000+ people in our programs and conducted five community focus groups. We also faced harsh financial realities throughout the pandemic that called for a slew of emergency (and delightfully existential) meetings on a regular basis.
From those discussions and data sets, we solidified that our vision, our values and our mission are still the same. We are clear as ever.
We learned that many of us were initially drawn to Boss Babes ATX, because we were searching for the spaces we needed in the world—spaces that amplify a spectrum of identities, spaces where we could see ourselves reflected.
We were looking for mentors, collaborators, resources and opportunities that were designed to meet our needs.
We wanted to hear each other’s stories. We wanted to find time to be creative. We wanted to make new friends.
We wanted to surround ourselves with people who want to see more women and femmes, nonbinary folks, LGBTQ+ folks, people of color, Black folks, Indigenous folks, folks of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities and communities at the front.
Perhaps that’s how you found us, too. Thankfully, none of that is changing.
꩜ Part Three: We picked a name we can call our own, Future Front Texas.
We step into our power when we imagine the future for ourselves and our communities.
When we get curious about how things might change, we embrace a realm of possibility. We take decisions into our own hands, lay claim to our beliefs and nurture what we want to see in the world.
That’s how big, beautiful movements start.
That’s how small businesses go from backyards to big markets to brick-and-mortars.
That’s how tiny, creative ideas turn into collectives.
That’s how new skills turn into lifetime vocations.
That’s how a neighborhood block party turns into a community tradition.
That’s how experimentation and failure turn into experience and expertise.
That’s how this organization started, too.
We envision a Texas that wants to see new voices at the front. we’re here for a world that values curiosity, creative leadership, community-building and homegrown ideas.
In this state, we are learning in public what intersectionality, inclusivity, feminism, community, anti-racism and our values mean in practice. We are also still navigating ideologies, practices, cultures and spaces that don’t align with our values.
We want to shout loudly for the spaces that do.
We need spaces that support a future in Texas where a spectrum of creatives, artists, small business owners, professionals and community leaders are celebrated. We need spaces that want to see us thrive and help us grow.
And we still need each other’s stories, support and attention. Our collective experiences during the pandemic (and every other disaster of 2020 and 2021) has made this abundantly evident.
So, while our name is different, our work remains the same.
✰ We will continue to offer workshops, conferences and meet-ups where you can nurture your own creativity, community-building and professional resilience.
✰ We will continue to platform—as well as connect you to—creatives and small businesses at our markets, festivals and meet-ups.
✰ We will continue to tell your stories—the kind that encourage us to be brave, step into our power and love the parts of us that are still learning.
✰ We will continue to make educational spaces and funds for bold entrepreneurs, grassroots orgs, creative projects and ideas.
✰ We will continue to imagine what putting ourselves and our communities at the front looks like.
✰ We will continue to hold it down for Texas from our tiny headquarters in Austin. We hope you will, too.
꩜ Part Four: We are ready to reopen and hang out with y’all now.
Yep. we are officially reopening. (!!!) On August 21 and 22, You are invited to join us at our new flagship market and festival, THE FRONT.
The Front Market and Festival has emerged from two of our most popular programs before COVID-19, BABES FEST and craftHER Market. These spaces were designed around sustaining communities that care about gender equity and supporting homegrown businesses, creatives and organizations. Active from 2016 to 2020, BABES FEST and craftHER Market saw more than 30,000 guests and supported more than 2000 creatives and business owners.
Now, after a year of shutdowns, pivots and existential realness, The Front Market and Festival will carry that work into the future.
Open-air, outdoors and free to all, we’ll be taking over the Fair Market warehouse for a weekend of pop-up shops and performances, centering emerging creatives, artists, designers and small businesses homegrown in Texas. As always, the weekend will be all about nurturing your creative community and, of course, supporting a spectrum of women, non-binary and queer creators. :)
Vendor applications, RSVP details, membership info, as well as a million other ways to get involved are listed now at futurefronttexas.org.
The founding board and staff of Future Front Texas (2021). Photo by Jinni J
And last but not least, thank you. Your donations and attention throughout 2020 helped us get to this very moment.
For the first time, we had the capacity to restructure our board and staff in pursuit of more reasonable, healthier roles, as well as more inclusive decision-making styles.
We now offer our team fully covered healthcare and equitable salaries. We were able to dedicate our time to this deep visioning work for four whole months—which is a divine privilege.
The road to recovery from COVID-19’s shutdown will be long for us and for many in our community, but we are on the right track with your support. <3
Thank you for taking care of yourself while we’ve been digital.
Your commitment to showing up—in our Zoom rooms, for this community and for your values—enabled many others in Texas to survive this past year. Between now and our reopening, celebrating that will be most important. Stay tuned for summer celebration announcements very soon.
In the meantime, for questions, concerns and notes of encouragement, please email hello@futurefronttexas.org.
You can always learn more about the org, attending this summer’s festival and how to get involved at futurefronttexas.org.
You can donate to our work or become a member at futurefronttexas.org, too.
See you in the wild,
The founding team behind Future Front Texas (in alphabetical order)
Alex Perez-Puelles, Board Culture Officer (2019 to 2021), Committee Member (2017 to 2019)
Cynthia Muñoz, Board Treasurer (2020 to 2021), Committee Member (2018 to 2019)
Hali Martin, Board Secretary (2021), Committee Member (2020)
Jane Hervey, Executive Director (2020 to 2021), Board President (2017 to 2019),
Jasmine Brooks, Rebrand Director (2019 to 2021), Board Secretary (2017 to 2020)
Jonnyka Bormann, Board Vice President of Development (2021)
Jp Rivera-Felizardo, Production Coordinator (2019 to 2021)
Kaia Adams, Development Coordinator (2019 to 2021), Committee Member (2018)
Sydney Greene, Board Culture Officer (2020 to 2021), Committee Member (2019)
Xochi Solis, Board President (2020 to 2021), Board Vice President (2019), Committee Member (2017 to 2018)
We send our thanks to the community members, former staff members and advisors who also participated in focus groups and provided commentary from 2019 to 2021: A’nysha Aileen, Aisha Lewis, Amanda K Vaughn, Cheyenne Doerr, Coelina Edwards, Conner Smith, Deeksha Srinath, Divina Ceniceros-Dominguez, Eunice Bao, Ilyse Kennedy, Jen Rachid, Jen Rodriguez, Jimena Gamboa, Kristina Gonzales, Liz Whitington, Margeaux Labat, Maya Coplin, Mireydi, Natalie Davis, Rachael Garbowski, Sabrina Sha, Sarah Colby, Stephanie Page and Vittoria Criss.
We are forever grateful to one of our 2019 resident artists, designer and animator Alie Jackson, for Future Front Texas’ look and feel.
This project would not have been possible without our Board President Xochi Solis, who stepped into her role to actualize our collective vision, as well as our founding Executive Director Jane Hervey and our former Board Secretary Jasmine Brooks, who nurtured this rebranding process from start to finish.
And last but not least, shouts to you, our sponsors, donors, members, attendees, supporters, community partners, family, collaborators, Internet friends, BFFs, relatives, lovers, pets, children and nemeses. As the wise and inimitable adrienne maree brown once said, what we pay attention to grows.
PS: Changing our name is a risk. But it’s part of embracing change and owning who we are. You have permission to do that, too.
ABOUT US:
Future Front Texas is a 501c3 nonprofit, homegrown in Austin, Texas. We started as a grassroots meet-up series called Boss Babes ATX (bbatx) in 2015. We are run by a four-person staff and a network of amazing volunteers, each committed to cultivating the spaces we want to see in the world.
Alongside our members, collaborators and partners, we nurture creativity, community-building and professional resilience in Texas. We make spaces where women and queer creatives, founders and leaders can grow together.
Currently, we produce The Front Market and Festival, a year-round learning club, as well as multiple community funds and initiatives.
You’re invited to join us, of course. You can learn more about how it all works, our team and what we do here: futurefronttexas.org