ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pioneering restaurateur Pinky Cole of Slutty Vegan, musical mogul Jermaine Dupri, The Pinky Cole Foundation and Impossible Foods are joining together to kickstart a unique voter registration drive.
Beginning on September 22, all Americans are welcome to attend a series of six online events, culminating with a celebration of participation and action in this historic election on November 3rd. The series is called “Votenik Zoom to the Polls,” a twist on the annual celebrated spring break festival in Atlanta known as Freaknik.
Click here to keep up to date with additional events coming throughout September and October.
Register, Eat, Vote
Pinky Cole is the trendsetting entrepreneur behind Slutty Vegan, an Atlanta-area restaurant and food truck phenomenon. Slutty Vegan’s flagship restaurant -- which typically has a line around the block and is hailed as “the place to be seen waiting” -- serves thousands of Impossible Burgers weekly, including Sloppy Toppy, Ménage à Trois and The One Night Stand.
“I’m passionate about voting rights, social justice and delicious food -- and this is an incredible opportunity to combine all three things,” said Cole, a former television producer who helped foment the burgeoning Black vegan movement. “In every election cycle there’s a lot of attention on who voted and why, but a more critical question is, ‘Who is not voting — and what impact does that have?’ VoteNik is designed to encourage voter turnout and propel larger digital conversation about the voting process.”
Slutty Vegan and Impossible Foods teamed up earlier this year to serve Impossible Burgers to front-line first responders and essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Impossible Foods is committed to regular product donations and actively works for social justice in America, including partnerships and events with Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp, Black Lives Matter and others.
In addition to the Votenik Zoom to the Polls virtual events, Impossible Foods will be sponsoring additional physical events related to voter registration. Stay tuned to Impossible Foods’ social media channels for details.
Tune in weekly for meaty conversation
Each Votenik Zoom to the Polls online event will feature a noteworthy host from a community group, or civic and social organization such as the National Pan-Hellenic Council. The first four events include:
Sept. 22: Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon, a transformational leader and speaker and founder of the Village Market ATL, bringing national exposure to black-owned businesses. Dr. Hallmon also developed an economical vehicle that empowers the Black community through cooperative economics.
Sept. 29: Eunique Jones Gibson, founder of Because of Them We Can®, a multimedia platform that reaches millions of people monthly with content that amplifies positive Black news. Her mission to celebrate culture and community extends beyond the Internet.
Oct. 6: Mayor Randall L. Woodfin, Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama. A native of Birmingham and graduate of Cumberland School of Law, Mayor Woodfin is an attorney and former president of the Birmingham Board of Education. Throughout his career, he has worked in various positions for the City of Birmingham, which is why he’s committed to bringing a new vision, a new dedication and a new energy to a city where he wants residents to have every opportunity to grow to their fullest potential.
Oct. 13: Chaka Zulu, Co-CEO of Disturbing Tha Peace Records and Ebony Son Entertainment Inc., and founder of the lifestyle brand Culture Republic, which launched and navigated the brands of international superstars such as T.I., Ludacris, 2 Chainz, Travis Scott, Iggy Azalea, Outkast, Cee-Lo Green, 8 Ball & MJG, B.O.B., Dj Drama, and Big K.R.I.T..
A surprise celebrity guest will drop into each of the Zoom to the Polls calls to add some sizzle.
The term “VoteNik” is a wordplay on Freaknik -- the annual spring break festival in Atlanta that was primarily attended by students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Freaknik began in 1983 as a small picnic near the Atlanta University Center, it has grown to symbolize the coming together in celebration of Black culture and music.
“The most important part of every election is for people to participate and cast their vote,” said Jermaine Dupri. “We created Votenik to help educate people on the ways they can register, participate in this historic election, have fun and eat healthy all while doing it!”
About Impossible Foods:
Based in California’s Silicon Valley, Impossible Foods makes delicious, nutritious meat and dairy products from plants — with a much smaller environmental footprint than meat from animals. The privately held food tech startup was founded in 2011 by Patrick O. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry at Stanford University and a former Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Investors include Coatue, Bill Gates, Google Ventures, Horizons Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Mirae Asset Global Investments, Open Philanthropy Project, Sailing Capital, Temasek, UBS, and Viking Global Investors.
Impossible Foods was Inc. Magazine’s company of the year and one of Time Magazine’s 50 Genius companies. The flagship product, Impossible™ Burger, was named top plant-based burger by the New York Times and received the Food and Beverage (FABI) Award from the National Restaurant Association.
About Slutty Vegan:
Slutty Vegan was founded in the summer of 2018 by Pinky Cole. Having established roots in Atlanta, they have made it their mission to provide quality vegan meals to communities that would have otherwise never had these options. Igniting a national vegan revolution that's loved by everyone including the world’s most famous celebrities and sport stars such as Snoop Dogg, Usher, Taraji P. Henson, Tiffany Haddish, Will Smith, Colin Kaepernick, Tyler Perry, Martin Lawrence and Missy Elliott, Slutty Vegan is truly changing the way people think about vegan food. Through their passion, quality, and taste, Slutty Vegan has emerged as the nation’s most recognized and loved 100% plant-based burger destination. With hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers, Slutty Vegan has vegan and non-vegan fans lining up for hours to take a bite.
About Jermaine Dupri:
Jermaine Dupri has established a prolific career as a hip-hop artist, producer, songwriter, author, DJ and CEO of So So Def, which he founded in 1993. He has collaborated over the years with artists such as Usher, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, Nelly, Ludacris, Nas, Kanye West, Notorious B.I.G., Lil’ Kim, TLC, Bono, Run DMC, Bow Wow, Diddy, Cam’ron, Mase, Monica, MC Lyte and Snoop Dogg to name a few.
With over 400 million records sold to date, Dupri, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame is one of most successful producers in the music industry. His career milestones include the release of several platinum recordings as CEO of So So Def, winning a Grammy for Best R&B Song, and being honored with an ASCAP Golden Note Award, given to composers and songwriters who have achieved extraordinary milestones. He is one of only a few producers in music history to garner four positions in the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart at one time and have the Song of the Decade as one of his credits. He is also the first recipient of the Billboard Otis Redding Excellence Award for his achievements both in and outside the studio.
About The Pinky Cole Foundation:
Founded in 2019, the Pinky Cole Foundation has an overarching mission to lead entrepreneurship and financial literacy-focused education initiatives. Named after Pinky Cole, the creator and founder of Slutty Vegan ATL, the Foundation reflects her vision to foster collaboration within the entrepreneurship community.
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