Event planning requires a big capacity lift in time, energy and mental capacity--things that many smaller organizations just don't have bandwidth for. So, in 2013, Homegrown Events was started with a goal of providing quality event production and planning services to small to medium nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area. 

Today, Homegrown Events has worked with over 35 organizations on their fundraising events, special anniversary events, conferences, and even cycling events.

Our Team

​Jessica de Jesus, Founder
When Jessica started Homegrown Events in 2013, she had more than 16 years of fundraising and event planning experience, ranging from small intimate house parties to large galas, cycling events, and multi-day conferences. 

When she is not planning events, she can be found on one of the hiking trails, tennis courts, or dog parks in the East Bay with her partner, daughter, and pup.

Nubia Pina, Events Assistant
Nubia joined the Homegrown Events team in March 2018. Her eagerness to learn combined with passion for event planning brings a fresh approach to the team. This Bay Area native can be found planning her friends and family’s events, on the trails mountain biking, and earning her place as her niece’s favorite aunt.

Alexa Coughlin, Event Day Support
Alexa was born and raised in sunny Southern California and in 2010, moved to San Francisco to attend San Francisco State University. Alexa’s creativity began to grow during her childhood, spent as a ballerina. Her love for design and beauty stemmed from her year living in Paris, France and her wanderlust since then has only grown. After receiving her degree in Business Marketing she knew that her energetic and organized personality could be utilized perfectly for the hustle involved with event planning. In her downtime, you can find her on a hike with her pups, enjoying a cup of coffee at her favorite coffee shop, or planning for her next adventure!

Anisha Desai, Event Day Support
Anisha is a core trainer with AORTA, the Anti-Oppression, Resource and Training Alliance, a worker-owned cooperative devoted to strengthening movements for social justice and a solidarity economy. She served as the Director of the New Leaders Initiative, and produced the annual Brower Youth Awards for Environmental Leadership event for seven years, and has worked in the non-profit and educational sector for over two decades. She’s also a Life-Cycle Celebrant and is the Founder of Radical Ceremony, where she writes and creates ceremonies for all kinds of rites of passage. Anisha enjoys performing with her soul-line dancing team and is an occasional writer of stories on family, culture, and nostalgia.

Khamall Jahi, Event Day Support
Khamall Jahi is a community organizer and event producer from Columbus, Ohio. He has been doing event production for 8 years and joined the Homegrown Events team in 2015. Khamall is an agent of change who uses creativity to bring people together around art and activism in their community. ​

Photography credits: Orange Photography (header); Scott Kline (Jessica's headshot); Bex Kwan (Anisha's headshot)