--- title: Emily Anadu Is on a Mission to Elevate Black Joy description: The Brooklyn-based CEO and founder of The Lay Out attributes her desire for community to her upbringing as an immigrant. canonical: https://time.com/collections/closers-2025/7210597/emily-anadu-the-lay-out-black-joy/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-02-06T12:01:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:24:44.169Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Emily Anadu Is on a Mission to Elevate Black Joy og:description: The Brooklyn-based CEO and founder of The Lay Out attributes her desire for community to her upbringing as an immigrant. og:url: https://time.com/collections/closers-2025/7210597/emily-anadu-the-lay-out-black-joy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94fb8fe8f31626d3/6998b30247fe519942559804/time-2025-closers-emily-anadu-crop.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1200 og:image:alt: Emily Anadu Is on a Mission to Elevate Black Joy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Emily Anadu Is on a Mission to Elevate Black Joy twitter:description: The Brooklyn-based CEO and founder of The Lay Out attributes her desire for community to her upbringing as an immigrant. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94fb8fe8f31626d3/6998b30247fe519942559804/time-2025-closers-emily-anadu-crop.jpg?branch=production --- Feb 06, 2025 # Emily Anadu Is on a Mission to Elevate Black Joy > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Ally is a digital financial services company offering online-only banking, including checking and savings accounts, through Ally.com and its mobile apps. Launched in 2009 as an original disruptor in financial services, Ally was built to challenge outdated banking norms with a simpler, more convenient way to bank. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: The Closers: Emily Anadu [Watch (HLS stream): The Closers: Emily Anadu](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GFc2J0WT.m3u8) (3:44)  _Published 2025-01-28. Emily Anadu arose one Saturday morning in 2020 and grabbed a dustpan and broom, ready to take on what she assumed would be a daunting task after racial-justice protests swept through New York City the night prior—cleaning her block. “This was a night where someone threw a Molotov cocktail into a police van that exploded,” says Anadu, the Brooklyn-based CEO and founder of The Lay Out, a community platform that centers Black joy. But despite all the pain and chaos just hours earlier, she says, “it was like nothing happened.” Everyone seemed to have moved on._ by [Solcyré Burga](https://time.com/author/solcyre-burga/) ## Solcyré Burga Reporter  Emily Anadu Emily Anadu Aundre Larrow Emily Anadu arose one Saturday morning in 2020 and grabbed a dustpan and broom, ready to take on what she assumed would be a daunting task after racial-justice protests swept through New York City the night prior—cleaning her block. “This was a night where someone threw a Molotov cocktail into a police van that exploded,” says Anadu, the Brooklyn-based CEO and founder of The Lay Out, a community platform that centers Black joy. But despite all the pain and chaos just hours earlier, she says, “it was like nothing happened.” Everyone seemed to have moved on. Anadu felt out of place in the changing landscape of Fort Greene, once an enclave of the Black community. In 2022, the Black population of Fort Greene [stood at 16%](https://furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/fort-greene-brooklyn-heights#:~:text=Demographics,-Indicator&text=In%202022%2C%20there%20were%20an,and%2055.5%25%20identified%20as%20White.), down from 42% some 20 years earlier. The median gross rent increased by 108% over about the same time period, up to $2,850 from $1,370, pushing out locals and their businesses, including [South African restaurant Madiba](https://patch.com/new-york/fortgreene/madiba-restaurant-closes-after-nearly-20-years-fort-greene), which had been a neighborhood staple for nearly two decades. “This neighborhood just felt really hard to be in,” says Anadu, now 46\. “I didn't know what I wanted. I just knew that I needed to see and be around people that were experiencing the turmoil of the country in the same way.” Anadu—whose own understanding of race came from her mother, who grew up as a Black woman in the Jim Crow South—sprung to action. She reached out to four friends, and by the next weekend they had drawn more than 500 people to a neighborhood park for what became The Lay Out’s inaugural gathering. The event was so well received that the organization held a Juneteenth celebration 12 days later, again with a goal of reclaiming space. The group has brought together people from New York City and beyond ever since through events such as Nourish Me, Nourish My Community, where individuals make meals for both themselves and the community with a Black chef. Anadu also launched BuyBLK, ByBLK, an initiative that creates in-person marketplaces for small, Black-owned businesses. Anadu, who moved from Nigeria to Texas at the age of 11, attributes her desire for community to her upbringing as an immigrant. That experience, she says, made her want to ensure that people “feel at home and comfortable and feel like they have a sense of belonging in places.” And she feels strongly that those who show up at the Lay Out should be able to be themselves and not have to “water down the Black experience.” Given the many moments shared over the years, from wedding proposals to impromptu hair braiding and styling to loud singing renditions of Keyshia Cole’s hit song “Love,” she’s clearly meeting a need. Still, despite the goal of elevating Black joy, Anadu insists that all are welcome in the space. “Everyone can come to the cookout,” she says. “But what we're not going to do is put raisins in the potato salad.” ## Transcript The layout is a Brooklyn based community platform that exists to center black Joy through what I refer to as the Joy ecosystem, which is the intersection of black expression, cooperative economics, and social impact. It really did start out, as you know, gatherings in Fort Greene Park. So it started with 500 people, then 1200 people. And now Juneteenth events get close to 10,000 attendees. The layout means a lot of things to a lot of different people, just depending on how you experience it. But for me, the statement really is just about creating space and opportunity for the black community to thrive. Dearly beloveds. I welcome you to something good. I welcome you home. Seeing that tape after months of isolation was just too much. And so the idea of the layout. Funny enough, the layout is named after the concept of the let out, which as a young person, after the club, you would just go hang out at, you know, parking lots and take up space. And so this idea of the layout was just about how do we come together? How can we just not feel alone at this time? I understood that obviously it was a horrible thing to witness for anyone, but for me, I just wanted to be with other black people and honestly not talk about it or talk about it or do whatever. But I just wanted the togetherness. The Juneteenth celebration for the layout truly is like what I always say is the layout Super Bowl every year one just because it's like very large and it's the event that we're known for, but also because that joy ecosystem of black expression, social impact and cooperative economics truly comes to life. We always start out the events with like some sort of meditation or yoga. That's the early part. And then it's funny because the layout, a lot of it is that there's not a lot that's programmed because it is just the idea of just creating a space that is welcoming. We have cooperative economics with 50 black owned businesses that end up selling everything from goods they've made to food. And also, just the idea of black expression comes together from everything from double dutching to the dancing to the music. I just would hope that people would understand that, you know, if I use the analogy of family, there's a comfort that you feel with people that you don't have to overexplain things to, that you don't have to feel like you're being the representative of like, an entire race of people. I would just hope that people would understand that it's not about separating. It's not about segregating ourselves, but it's about just wanting to have spaces where we can just breathe. And if that, you know, maybe looks. A little bit like you're taking yourself away from the world for a bit. 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