Gia Love’s 5th Annual Celebration of Black Transwomen Cookout

Art Direction • Campaign Identity • Merchandise Design • Fundraising Strategy

Founded in 2020 by model, activist, and community organizer Gia Love, the Celebration of Black Trans Women Cookout & Fundraiser was created to challenge the dominant narratives surrounding Black trans lives. At a time when public discourse overwhelmingly centered violence and loss, the event emerged as a deliberate act of joy, positioning Black trans women not through tragedy, but through celebration, abundance, love, and community.

What began as a grassroots gathering to provide food, entertainment, mutual aid, and resources quickly evolved into an annual community institution. Today, the Celebration continues to unite hundreds of Black trans women and their allies while raising critical funds for year-round mutual aid initiatives through the Black Trans Love Fund, supporting Black trans people whose work nurtures care, creativity, leadership, and collective liberation.

I led the creative development of the annual merchandise collections, designing apparel and campaign assets that became the organization's primary fundraising vehicle. Across the 2023 and 2025 campaigns, more than 200 shirts were sold on the day of the event for two consecutive years, generating over $40,000 in collective fundraising while making it possible to gift over 250 complimentary shirts directly to Black trans community members. This approach ensured that merchandise served both as a sustainable source of funding and as an accessible symbol of belonging within the community.

The Celebration's fundraising efforts directly contribute to the Black Trans Love Fund, an initiative that provides year-round financial support to Black trans women engaged in community care, artistic practice, mutual aid, education, and organizing. Profits generated through merchandise sales and sponsorship partnerships help expand these efforts beyond the annual cookout, ensuring that the campaign's impact extends throughout the year.

The project was made possible through collaboration with an incredible network of community organizations and partners, including G.L.I.T.S, Telfar, Black Trans Liberation Kitchen, The Okra Project, Gender Liberation Movement, and numerous grassroots organizations dedicated to advancing Black trans liberation and collective care.

Through strategic art direction and community-centered design, the visual campaign became more than an identity system, it became an active fundraising tool that transformed visibility into tangible resources, helping sustain mutual aid while celebrating the brilliance, resilience, and joy of Black trans communities.

As Art Director and Lead Visual Designer, I developed the campaign's visual identity and creative direction across fundraising materials, digital assets, event branding, merchandise, and promotional campaigns. My objective was to create a visual language that embodied the spirit of Black trans joy while building a recognizable identity that could grow alongside the organization year after year.

The campaign centered around a bold, celebratory design system that transformed fundraising into a visible expression of solidarity. Rather than functioning solely as event merchandise, the apparel became an extension of the movement itself: creating opportunities for supporters to visibly participate in the campaign while directly contributing to community care.

Working alongside organizers and community leadership, I developed a cohesive visual system that extended across social media campaigns, fundraising initiatives, printed materials, environmental graphics, event signage, and merchandise. The identity established consistency across every audience touchpoint while remaining adaptable enough to support the organization's continued growth and evolving programming.

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