Vuka Launches Charitable Foundation, Announces Strategic Partnerships, and a New Website
Vuka, a leader in inspirational spaces for events, work, community and growth, officially launches Vuka Foundation, a new strategic partnership with Conscious Capitalism, and a comprehensive website.
(AUSTIN, TEXAS – Jan. 9, 2020; source: Juice Consulting) – Since its inception, Vuka has been a leader in shared workspaces and offices, dynamic event venues, as well as programs and resources for business owners, entrepreneurs, changemakers and creatives. In an effort to streamline Vuka’s products and programs it has forged new partnerships, launched a new website and created a new charitable fund to support its impact work. For more information, see vuka.co.
“Our focus since inception has been to listen to and serve our community at the capacity we could,” said Brian Schoenbaum, Vuka Founder. “We have always done our best to respond to the needs of the community and launching the Vuka Foundation allows us to create a greater impact by subsidizing our products to increase access to all members of the community.”
For seven years Vuka has partnered with community organizations like Well Aware, Habitat for Humanity, Nature Conservancy and others to support the delivery of their missions. Vuka believes in the power of impact across sectors, and that is why it has created the Vuka Foundation as a 501(c)3. Vuka Foundation exists to equip nonprofits and social enterprises with the critical need for physical and business infrastructure. The Vuka Foundation is primarily focused on the gap in distribution of resources to women, people of color and small nonprofits, also known as the opportunity gap. To address this gap, Vuka Foundation provides subsidized event, meeting and work spaces, a collaborative community of changemakers, and programming to accelerate and sustain impact. All nonprofits and social enterprises that the Vuka Foundation serve are Austin-based, with their primary constituents located in both Central Texas and international communities.
“I have seen the company evolve in extraordinary ways during my tenure at Vuka,” said Ashley Phillips, Managing Director. “From building a successful social impact accelerator through Impact Hub Austin to delivering meaningful programs and events through partnerships with community leaders like Leadership Austin and Creative Mornings; fostering connection has always been at the heart of what we do. And we’re excited about this evolution because it allows us to serve more people through our products and spaces.”
Vuka Foundation will support the company’s strategic partnerships with national and global impact companies to further its mission. Among these partnerships are Impact Hub Global Network, and in 2020 Conscious Capitalism, LLC, a philosophy that believes in the innate potential of business to make a positive impact on the world. That philosophy has expanded to 28 chapters around the country. Each Conscious Capitalism chapter exists to connect, inspire, and activate those in a specific geographic region. As home to the Austin Chapter, Vuka will provide thought-leadership, programs and events focused on conscious business, culture, and leadership.
Vuka has evolved into an ecosystem for changemakers, creatives, and the community-at-large to support positive impact. Vuka partners with the Impact Hub Global Network to deliver Impact Hub Austin to the local community. The Impact Hub Global Network has over 100 hubs across the globe. Together, Vuka and Impact Hub Austin create, cultivate and provide dynamically-designed spaces, events and programs for the community at large. Vuka’s partnership with Impact Hub supports its core focus on delivering events and programs that foster connection and drive impact.
“Reflecting on the growth of Vuka has been humbling,” said Schoenbaum. I’m very grateful for the leaders who have helped to steward the strong global and local partnerships we’ve formed to deliver our mission and grow our impact. It’s a generative time at Vuka.”
Along with the updated website and new partnership, Vuka will be sunsetting its homegrown brand Gather Venues. The sunset is an effort to streamline Vuka’s core focus of fostering collaboration and driving impact with its event and workspaces. Vuka will still deliver high-quality public and private events.
ABOUT VUKA:
Vuka began as a small yet mighty idea in a warehouse off of South First Street in Austin, Texas. With a belief that everyone deserves the space and resources to wake up to their fullest potential, Vuka’s Founder Brian Schoenbaum and the Vuka team began designing community hubs that inspire and spark change.
That mighty idea has expanded to two locations in Central Austin that creates, cultivates, and provides dynamically-designed spaces for the community at large. The dynamic spaces offered are used for public and private events, shared workspace, and offices, as well as programs, focused on community and global issues congruent with today’s evolving landscape.
