If there’s one thing Portland is good at, it’s developing opportunities to help folks find community. Take Open Slopes PDX, a group that makes skiing and snowboarding more accessible to BIPOC and queer riders, or Women Supporting Women, a monthly meet-up for female business founders. Now we can add Black Girls Brunch Club to the list.

Friends and founders Alicia Pinckney and Alexis McKinney wanted to develop a safe space where Black women could meet. “There’s not many places where Black women can show up 100 percent ourselves,” McKinney says. “We always have to have some kind of mask on or have a guard up.” 

Black Girls Brunch Club launched a year and a half ago with monthly Sunday gatherings, held at sports bar Jackie’s, for women across Portland. And after numerous successful events, each attracting around 300 people, they’re looking to find new ways to bring ladies together—in smaller spaces. 

“It’s often hard for introverted people to meet people,” Pinckney says. “We’ve been talking about having more intimate events to help people get to know each other a little more.” In early October, Black Girls Brunch Club introduced its first happy hour, which took place at Two Wrongs in the Pearl District, bringing attendance to just under 100 women.

Though transplants—like Pinckney, a Philadelphia native, and McKinney, who moved here from Los Angeles—have found this group to be a refuge, it’s also a place for hometown Portlanders to network and connect. The founders are also proud to note their events draw a wide age range of women. “If you’re 55, pull up,” McKinney says. “If you’re a mom, pull up. You don’t have to be a 30-something professional to come to our events.”

Black Girls Brunch Club’s December event, a private screening of Beyoncé’s Renaissance film, sold out in less than 24 hours. But don’t worry—Pickney and McKinney promise there’s plenty more to come.