WHo ARE WE
Umoja Events is a digital event production company and wrap around event services with a focus on balloon decor. We host a flagship event annually, our Juneteenth NYC Summit that is a staple for Black Parent Entrepreneurs to increase growth through masterminds, book discussions, blogs, presentations and monthly learning labs.
Our Mission is to make your event a whimsical masterpiece.
We have been in business since 2009. We are a family run business and pride ourselves on great customer service and a fun loving spirit. All of the events we do to bring people together hence why we named our business Umoja which is UNITY in Swahili. We are a female owned and operated company.
BALLOON BUSINESS
Umoja Events balloon business is all about whimsical balloon decorations for all types of events and we do events outside of Brooklyn that are just our home base and we are passionate about bringing you that Brooklyn Flare!
EVENT PLANNING
Umoja Events was created with the corporate client in mind. We work with the client to discuss their event goals and desired outcome. We flush out visions and execute the plan! We have been in business since 2009. We are a family run business and pride ourselves on great customer service and a fun loving spirit.
VIRTUAL EVENTS
Umoja Virtual Events is a presentation experience that is more then just a breakout room. We help your virtual events come alive by creating an interactive customized experience that will help you optimize your event.
About the Founder
Athenia Rodney of Umoja Events: Wife. Mother of three. Entrepreneur! Change maker! Education Advocate! Co-Chair of Education Committee with "Moms Who Lead With Love". Juneteenth Family Summit coordinator and President of Success Academy Parent Board Committee for Myrtle Ave and Bed Stuy 2. Member of United for Brownsville’s Family Advisory Board.
The Family Advisory Board is a group of resident leaders who steer the work of United for Brownsville — a collaboration between SCO Family of Services and Community Solutions — to create a more equitable early childhood system in the community. As the pandemic hit, Athenia was instrumental in creating a resource guide, virtual learning sessions for children, support groups for families, and a lot more for the community of Brownsville.
Meet Our Balloon Ambassadors!
Johanna
Johanna Rodriguez is a professionally trained Balloon Artist who has been in the business for over a year. Young entrepreneur, passionate about what she does and dedicated to creating experiences that people will remember. Johanna joined the balloon industry with the purpose to create, connect and inspire. Johanna believes that the best part of doing events is to transform a blank canvas into a piece of art to reflect someone’s memorable event and leave a lasting impression. During her spare time, she enjoys discovering new ideas, learning new things, and putting them into practice.
Serena
Serena DeJesús is someone with great work ethic and a bright future. She is no stranger to the service industries. She is currently a consultant at Umoja Events, a student and future business owner in New York City. Welcome to New York right? She joined Umoja in 2019 to learn how to further add to her skills in the event industry by learning how to design arches, columns, organic creations, and how to successfully craft balloom centerpieces inflated with helium. If you were to ask any of her coworkers what they think about Serena, they would say she is personable, considerate, respectful, a team player, helpful and a fast learner. When she first joined Umoja Events she impressed everyone with how she masterfully crafted with ease two balloom arches (one was organic) for a car dealership. She enjoys spending time with family, traveling, and learning new things to add to her future goals. With a passion for the event industry, she knew she'd fit right in on the team and Umoja would be her new home.
Angus
Angus Fischer works for Umoja Events, owned by Athenia Rodney, his sister. Her team can count on him to complete deliveries/pickup, to troubleshoot tasks, organize the storage area at HQ, and create designs with ease after accessing everything and gathering details. Angus loves to introduce himself as “Angus, just like the burger”. Great way to remember his name right? You will also observe that he is a people person you can learn a lot from whenever he shares his wealth of knowledge about a variety of topics like: working with balloons, history, entrepreneurship, little known facts of parts of New York City, and so on. If one had to pick middle names for Angus it would be “Resourceful Dedicated Visionary” because this is how is for Umoja Events or his business New Young Creation Entertainment or when supporting community projects and meetings. He is also a family man working on creating generational wealth and teaching his children skills like cooking, sewing, and stilt walking. Angus is well-rounded and very skilled. Pick his brain some time, you will not be disappointed.
Petra
Petra Johnson has been a part-time Event Planner and Balloon Designer for Umoja Events since 2015. She is skilled in creating professional balloon designs, organizing, paying attention to details, being supportive, and providing great customer service. One of her top philosophies is: “When others succeed, we all succeed”. She believes we should always teach others what we know so they can benefit from our wealth of experience. Petra received a Certificate of Appreciation on June 17, 2017: “For outstanding dedication and loyalty to Umoja Events, imparting knowledge and guidance to fellow members.” She is preparing to expand her knowledge of ballooning to provide more options for customers. She is also a full-time Project Manager and part-time Proofreader/Researcher currently
pursuing full-time entrepreneurship and financial success. Petra is grateful for all her experiences and looks forward to using what she learned in the next chapters of her life.
We'd love to have talented and creative individuals on board!
Click JOIN NOW if you're interested to become our ambassador.