What We Love Buford Highway does

We Love Buford Highway, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2015 and based in Chamblee, Georgia (metro Atlanta), dedicated to preserving the multicultural identity of Atlanta's Buford Highway corridor spanning Brookhaven, Chamblee, and Doraville. The organization operates a portfolio of community programs serving immigrant families, low-income youth, and immigrant-owned small businesses. Core programs include the Buford Highway Orchestra Project (BHOP), a free string instrument instruction program for 3rd-8th graders from Title I schools launched in 2021; Feeding Families of Buford Highway and the Little Bodega, which provide culturally-centric food boxes to immigrant families excluded from mainstream relief; the Buford Highway Business Circle supporting nearly 1,000 immigrant-owned businesses; the Oral History Project archiving immigrant experiences from 1950-present in partnership with Georgia State University; the Plot My Buford Highway Story interactive map; and the Voices of a Highway podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The organization also produces signature events including the annual FEAST fundraiser, Buford Highway Restaurant Month, and the Brookhaven International Festival 5K.

The underlying technology is primarily a digital storytelling and content distribution stack: a Squarespace-hosted website (welovebuhi.org), a podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, a Plot My Story-based interactive story map, and a permanent oral history archive at Georgia State University Library Special Collections. There is no proprietary software product, API, or paid service; all offerings are free to community members.

Revenue is generated entirely through philanthropic channels: individual tax-deductible donations (via Donorbox), corporate sponsorships at Pillar/Weaver/Connector tiers (sponsors include Atlanta Braves Foundation, Chick-fil-A Foundation, CareSource, AARP, Georgia Power Foundation), foundation grants (Arthur M. Blank Foundation, LCF Georgia, JPMorgan, Georgia Humanities, NEH), government grants from the Cities of Doraville, Chamblee, and Brookhaven, and event-based fundraising through FEAST. The organization employs 1-10 staff and relies heavily on volunteers across translation, communications, outreach, and event planning functions. Leadership is anchored by Executive Director Lily Pabian (since September 2019) and a program team including Director of BHOP Juana Alzaga, Program & Communications Manager Delia Mendez-Valdez, and Communications Assistant Gabriela Juarez Claro.

Name

We Love Buford Highway

Legal name

We Love Buford Highway, Inc.

Website

https://welovebuhi.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

We Love Buford Highway is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in metro Atlanta that preserves the multicultural identity of the Buford Highway corridor through programs serving immigrant families, low-income youth, and immigrant-owned small businesses in Brookhaven, Chamblee, and Doraville.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Development and Multicultural Preservation Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Child and Youth Services (624110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Centers & Neighborhood Support Services (BPAGAEAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cultural, Multilingual & Immigrant Family Engagement Programs (EDACALAL), Community Development & Neighborhood Revitalization (CDBG, Place-Based Initiatives) (BPAIANAE)

Keywords

• Community development
• Multicultural preservation
• Youth music education
• Food insecurity relief
• Immigrant business support

Headquarters

HQ city

Chamblee

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible charitable donations from individuals supporting the nonprofit's mission. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations can be made through the website and are processed via platforms like Donorbox.
2. FEAST Annual Signature Event: Annual signature fundraising event featuring multicultural food, cultural performances, and community celebration. Tickets sold for attendance, with corporate sponsorship opportunities. Proceeds support all organization programs.
3. Corporate Sponsorships: Corporate sponsors at multiple levels (Pillar, Weaver, Connector) provide financial support. Includes Atlanta Braves Foundation, Chick-fil-A Foundation, CareSource, AARP, Georgia Power Foundation, and others. Sponsors receive recognition at events and across organizational materials.
4. Foundation Grants: Grants from foundations including Arthur M. Blank Foundation, LCF Georgia, JPMorgan, Listen 4 Good (with Arthur M. Blank Foundation support), Georgia Humanities, NEH, and various community foundations.
5. Government Partnerships: Funding and support from local municipalities including Doraville, Chamblee, and Brookhaven for specific community programs and initiatives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

We Love Buford Highway operates free community programs that preserve the multicultural identity of Atlanta's Buford Highway corridor. Its portfolio includes the BHOP Youth Orchestra (string music education for Title I students), Feeding Families/Little Bodega (culturally-centric food distribution), Buford Highway Business Circle (support for immigrant-owned small businesses), the Oral History Project (archived at Georgia State University), an interactive Story Map, the Voices of a Highway podcast, Community Arts and Culture initiatives, and the annual FEAST signature fundraiser.

Product overview

We Love Buford Highway is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operating as a single unified entity focused on preserving the multicultural identity of Atlanta's Buford Highway corridor. Rather than a software platform, it offers a portfolio of community programs including the BHOP Youth Orchestra for music education, Feeding Families/Little Bodega for food security, Buford Highway Business Circle for small business support, the Oral History Project for archival research, Plot My Buford Highway Story for interactive storytelling, Voices of a Highway Podcast for multimedia content, Community Arts and Culture initiatives including murals and installations, and the annual FEAST signature event. These programs collectively serve the mission of community well-being, youth empowerment, small business support, arts and culture, and storytelling.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BHOP (Buford Highway Orchestra Project): A free after-school and weekend enrichment program providing high-quality string instrument instruction to children in 3rd-8th grade from Title I schools.
• In Whose Hearts Is A Highway
• Voices of a Highway Podcast
• Buford Highway Business Circle
• Feeding Families of Buford Highway
• Little Bodega
• BuHi Walk
• BuHi Lights
• PLOT My Buford Highway Story
• FEAST

Products and services

• BHOP Youth Orchestra Program (Buford Highway Orchestra Project) A free after-school and weekend enrichment program providing high-quality string instrument instruction (violin, viola, cello) to children in 3rd-8th grade primarily from Title I schools in DeKalb County Region I, with in-language instruction in Spanish and English via WhatsApp, phone, and written materials.
• Feeding Families and the Little Bodega A food insecurity initiative providing culturally-centric food boxes to immigrant families along the Buford Highway corridor through home delivery and mobile distribution events at community locations, reaching 200-300 families per mobile event and 40-50 families monthly at the Little Bodega.
• Buford Highway Business Circle A small business support initiative that maintains a directory of immigrant-owned businesses (expanded to nearly 1,000 businesses in 2024), conducts needs assessments, and provides resources to support local immigrant business owners along the Buford Highway corridor.
• Oral History Project - In Whose Hearts Is A Highway A multi-year qualitative research initiative partnering with Georgia State University Library Special Collections to collect and archive in-depth oral history interviews from immigrants, refugees, and their descendants who arrived in the Buford Highway corridor from 1950 to present.
• Plot My Buford Highway Story (Story Map) A place-based humanities project featuring an interactive Story Map platform that allows community members to share and map their immigrant stories, raising awareness about multicultural communities along the Buford Highway corridor.
• Voices of a Highway Podcast A monthly podcast featuring in-depth interviews conducted in English, Spanish, and Chinese that explores tensions, ambitions, and current issues affecting Buford Highway communities, distributed on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
• Community Arts and Culture A public arts initiative including the BuHi Walk in partnership with Living Walls (2017), the BuHi Lights installation project at Pinetree Plaza, and the Little Amal Walk, celebrating multiculturalism through murals, installations, and cultural performances.
• FEAST Annual Signature Fundraiser An annual ticketed signature fundraising event celebrating the multicultural culinary and cultural traditions of Buford Highway communities, featuring local restaurateurs, live performances, and cultural storytelling.

Quantifiable outcome

• Fed 52,000 people (17,000 families) during April-July 2020 COVID-19 response
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, key and minor.

• Listen 4 GoodcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partnership with Listen 4 Good (made possible by Arthur M. Blank Foundation) to develop feedback loops and survey two different programs (2022 and 2023). Built better listening systems to collect community feedback and understand accessibility in surveying and data analysis.
• Emory University Community Building Social Change Fellowship ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Ongoing partnership with Emory University's CBSC Fellowship Program to support immigrant-owned small businesses along Buford Highway. Students provide consulting support and technical assistance to local businesses as part of their fellowship requirements.
• Emory University Goizueta Business School Consult Your Community ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Partnership with Emory's business school CYC program providing student consulting support to immigrant businesses. Goizueta MBA and undergraduate students assist with business development, marketing, and operational challenges.
• Georgia State University Library Special Collections & Archives - Social Change CollectioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Multi-year partnership for oral history documentation project. GSU provides archival storage and access for oral history interviews collected from Buford Highway community members from 1950-present. Interviews are permanently archived at the Library of Georgia State University.
• Living Walls AtlantakeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 20172017 partnership to launch The BuHi Walk - a street art initiative bringing 10 artists of color from Atlanta, Philadelphia, and New York to create murals and public art installations along Buford Highway. Artists were embedded with community organizations for several weeks before production.
• Asian American Journalists Association - AtlantaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership for oral history project collaboration and media support.
• DeKalb County Public LibraryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner for oral history collection and archival support.
• Cities of Doraville, Chamblee, and BrookhavencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partnerships for Buford Highway Cultural Corridor designation, business support programs, and community development initiatives. Cities collaborate on events, resources, and planning.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Centro de los Derechos del Migrante: A migrant worker advocacy organization supporting low-wage immigrant workers along the East Coast and Mexico-to-U.S. corridor. Comparable as a mission-driven nonprofit focused on marginalized immigrant populations, though specializing in labor rather than cultural preservation.
• Welcoming America: A nonprofit focused on making communities more inclusive and welcoming toward immigrants, operating nationally with a network of local Welcoming programs. Directly comparable as a mission-aligned immigrant integration and community-preservation organization, though operating at a broader geographic scale.
• New American Economy (now part of Immigration Hub): A national research and advocacy organization focused on immigrant economic and community integration, including small-business support and data-driven research on immigrant contributions. Comparable through its immigrant small-business support orientation and community advocacy approach.
• Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI): A Santa Clara County-based nonprofit serving Asian Americans and other immigrant communities through health, youth, and senior programs. Comparable as a culturally-rooted, community-led nonprofit serving immigrant populations with multi-program portfolios including youth education and direct services.

Emerging players

• Boat People SOS: A Vietnamese American community organization providing refugee resettlement, cultural preservation, and direct services to immigrant communities. Comparable as a culturally-rooted nonprofit preserving immigrant identity and providing community-based services, though focused on a different ethnic community.

Broad incumbents

• International Rescue Committee (IRC): A major international humanitarian organization providing resettlement and integration services to refugees and immigrants across the U.S. Comparable as a larger established organization in the immigrant services space, though operating at far greater scale and breadth.
• UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza): The largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., operating an affiliate network providing education, housing, and economic empowerment to Latino communities. Comparable as a broader incumbent in Latino immigrant community services, though at national scale.

Regional players

• Center for Pan Asian Community Services (CPACS): An Atlanta-based nonprofit serving Asian American and immigrant communities through workforce development, small-business support, youth programs, and cultural services. Directly comparable as a regional peer in the same metro area serving a similar multicultural immigrant base with a multi-program service portfolio.
• Catholic Charities Atlanta: A regional nonprofit arm of Catholic Charities serving metro Atlanta's immigrant and low-income populations with food assistance, refugee resettlement, and family services. Comparable as a regional peer operating in the same geography with overlapping immigrant-services programs.
• East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC): A Northern California-based community development corporation serving Asian and Pacific Islander immigrant communities through housing, small-business support, and community programs. Comparable as a nonprofit integrating small-business support with immigrant community development and cultural preservation, though based on the West Coast.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/welovebuhi
• YouTubeyoutube.com/results?search_query=we+love+buford+highway
• Facebookfacebook.com/welovebuhi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/welovebuhi
• Instagraminstagram.com/welovebuhi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about We Love Buford Highway