"The pastry chef Paola Velez, co-owner of Providencia in Washington, D.C., co-founded Bakers Against Racism, a decentralized bake sale that has mobilized bakers around the world and raised money to support social causes. The documentarian Nicolas Heller, better known as @newyorknico, has used Instagram to spotlight small businesses around New York City, building up his own city-spanning crew in the process. They're both connectors - even if they weren't always"
"Paola Velez: Community is the only thing that you have when you're growing up in the Bronx. You become connected with other families that immigrated here to the United States. You have to, you know, go to the neighbor's house because your mom has to work late, or your friends come to your house because your mom isn't working a shift that day. If you didn't have sugar, you could ask for some."
Paola Velez co-founded Bakers Against Racism, a decentralized bake sale mobilizing bakers worldwide and raising funds for social causes. Nicolas Heller, known as @newyorknico, uses Instagram to spotlight New York small businesses and build a city-spanning community. Both grew up in New York neighborhoods that shaped their sense of interdependence — Velez in the Bronx and Heller near Union Square — and both deliberately cultivate connections through food, storytelling, and media. Their work emphasizes community support, mutual aid, and visibility for local entrepreneurs. Both share interests in film projects and have experienced transportation misadventures while visiting Los Angeles.
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