B.WELL Foundation

See you soon, friends. 🌿

📆 Friday, July 3rd
⏰ 8:30PM
📍 West Terrace, Iowa State Capitol

Meet the guest artists joining the Symphony for the Des Moines Symphony’s 32nd annual Yankee Doodle Pops, Iowa’s largest single-day concert event! Learn more about the concert at https://bit.ly/2026-yankee-doodle-pops!

Happy birthday, Mr. Billy. Thanks for showing up everyday.
We love you. 🌻🌿



📸 + .briddell

Creative Kicks 👟🎨

After school clubs give students the chance to learn, create, and grow through discovery in ways that feel exciting and fun. Our goal is to connect students with local artists, community leaders, and entrepreneurs who want to mentor the next generation.

This year, our commitment to Des Moines Public Schools has been providing daily K–5 after school programming at Hillis Elementary that supports both district curriculum and students’ academic and social-emotional growth.

Creative Coaches is built around student voice and connection. At the end of every session, we ask students what they want to learn, create, and experience next — and Creative Kicks was one unanimous choice this round. 🫡

Over several weeks, students learned the value of patience, long term planning, and creative problem solving as they moved from sketching ideas, to painting flat canvas, to transforming their designs onto 3D shoes. They explored layering techniques, stencils, brush styles, and different painting approaches while bringing their ideas to life.

It’s beautiful to see your confidence grow as you practice problem solving, express yourselves creatively, and take pride in creating something completely your own, friends. 🌿

🎨
📸 .briddell

Hillis staff — we see how much you show up and care for your students every single day, and we’re so grateful for the way you’ve welcomed and supported us too. We love these babies so much and truly couldn’t do this without you. 🤍

Heartfelt gratitude to Lachele's Fine Foods + Cory for helping provide a meal for every Hillis staff member during Teacher Appreciation Week, and to the students for bringing so much joy to these spaces all year long.

📸 Coach JSC Photography

Our first Farmers' Market back… and we sold out!

Thank you to everyone who came through, showed love, and supported us. it truly means more than we can put into words. ❤️

This weekend was a reminder of why we started Musa’s lemonade: Family, community, and bringing people together.

We’re just getting started again.

More to come soon 🍋🫶🏾

Abena Sankofa, we are so proud to walk alongside you in our community and for your commitment to the Foundation Board of Directors.

Together, we can be the difference. 🌿

Support our friend and colleague in the work she does in Des Moines and beyond:
Abena Sankofa Imhotep - Author | Sankofa Literary & Empowerment Group

Inspiring Women of Iowa Confidence Award Finalist: Abena Sankofa
CEO, Sankofa Literary & Empowerment Group

“Abena Sankofa Imhotep is a dynamic, fearless, community-rooted leader whose impact in Des Moines is profound. A proud graduate of Hoover High School, Abena has become a fierce advocate for youth, women, and marginalized communities across Iowa. Her leadership is defined by authenticity, courage, and relentless commitment to creating spaces where people feel seen, valued, and protected.
As a community advocate, Abena stands at the intersection of race, identity, and empowerment. She uses her voice to challenge harmful systems, uplift young women, and make sure the next generation feels represented in places where she did not always see herself. Her lived experience as a Black woman navigating Iowa’s complex social landscape fuels her advocacy. She shows young people, especially young Black women, that leadership does not require permission, only purpose. Abena has been deeply involved in community organizing, youth mentorship, creative expression, and civic engagement. She supports mental health awareness, social justice movements, and educational equity. Abena models what it means to use one’s voice for good, even when the work is uncomfortable or requires personal sacrifice. Her authenticity is one of her greatest gifts. Abena leads with both vulnerability and strength, openly discussing her own journey through adversity, identity exploration, and self-growth. She embodies confidence not as perfection, but as the courage to evolve publicly and intentionally in a world that often asks Black women to shrink. Most importantly, Abena inspires through connection. She shows up for people, in classrooms, at community events, online, and in everyday moments. She listens deeply. She advocates fiercely. She creates belonging wherever she goes. Her impact on young people is immeasurable; many of them see themselves in her for the very first time. Abena is exactly the kind of leader these awards were designed to honor: a woman who transforms her community by being unapologetically herself, fighting for justice, and uplifting the voices of those who are often unheard. She is not just inspiring; she is essential to the future of advocacy and equity in Iowa.”

Stay tuned for her podcast episode later today with The Noll Wilson Group.

Des Moines is a better place because of you, Abena Sankofa. We’re proud to have you on our team. 🌿

Join us Wednesday at The Varsity.

Abena Sankofa Imhotep is an author, scholar and advocate whose work celebrates Africana, challenges historical narratives, and champions education. Abena stopped by WHO 13 News to share two upcoming events in honor of Black History Month. Click🔗below.

When young creatives are connected with mentors who believe in them, who show up, listen, and invest in who they’re becoming, everything begins to change.

Mentorship starts with connection. Connection builds confidence.

Together, we can be the difference. 🌿

📸 JSC Photography + C.Briddell

You may know him from his time on stage or at his cocktail lounge, but to our friends at Hillis Elementary, he’s Mr. Billy. The coach that shows up every Monday-Friday for Creative Coaches after-school programming, mentoring students and providing a safe space to create and grow.

“He gives me a high five every single day. It’s so nice and cool.”

Congratulations, Mr. Billy! 🌿