REBRAND CITIES IS A National civic design and brand project.
Rebrand Cities is a multi-disciplinary collaboration with the residents, community stakeholders, and local government to impact cities—starting with Detroit, Miami, Newark and Philadelphia to name a few. We started an epic journey in 2017 to put 10,000 small businesses online. The project endeavors to highlight the gems in the neighborhoods with a die-hard, but local following. Or a business that has been growing and evolving, but hasn’t quite stepped up to own their territory in the digital marketplace.
WordPress.com has launched a new partnership with Rebrand Cities to get small businesses online.
There are 28 Million small businesses that drive the American economy, 46% of these entities operate without a website. The absence of a web presence has led to trillions of dollars of unrealized business in neighborhoods all across America.
This initiative will provide online tools, workshops, and training to drive resources to businesses that lack access, while highlighting some amazing stories of people that may have otherwise been overlooked.
Founder of Rebrand Cities
Hajj Flemings
In 2011, Hajj Flemings was one of eight entrepreneurs selected for the CNN’s Black in America 4: The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley documentary with Soledad O’Brien.
During the filming of that documentary, he came to understand the real meaning of the term ‘meritocracy’ and recognized that lack of access in the technology space was creating a permanent underclass in communities of color. That experience literally changed the course of his life.
Hajj is founder of Brand Camp University, an educational platform that is preparing people for the future of work, and Rebrand Detroit, a civic design and brand project a multi-disciplinary collaboration with the residents, community stakeholders, and local government to change cities—starting with Detroit.
He has worked with clients including Walt Disney, Pitney Bowes, Pfizer, the Detroit Lions, and the U.S. Department of Defense, been an invited speaker at Iowa State University, University of Michigan—Ross School of Business, Davidson College, University of Detroit, and others, and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Mashable and CNN Tech Money on the subjects of startups, digital technology and branding.
