Danielle Coke Balfour
Gladly Gather
Nashville, Tennessee
When Danielle “Dani” Coke Balfour opened Gladly Gather in February 2026, she wasn’t simply opening another neighborhood gift shop. She was creating a community-centered space where belonging, justice, and economic opportunity could thrive. Through its Black-owned gift shop and flexible gathering space, Gladly Gather elevates businesses founded by members of historically excluded communities while creating opportunities for people to connect, organize, and care for one another.
About Dani:
Danielle Coke Balfour—known to thousands as Oh Happy Dani—is an artist, activist, speaker, entrepreneur, and educator whose work helps people pursue justice while holding onto hope. Through illustrations, writing, products, workshops, and public speaking, she translates complex issues involving equity, empathy, and social justice into accessible and encouraging messages for everyday advocates.
Dani’s journey into entrepreneurship began after she experienced racism and a lack of meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion support in a previous workplace. She went on to build Oh Happy Dani, a lifestyle and educational platform that creates joyful art for everyday advocates, helping people seek justice and stay hopeful. The platform is supported by a small team of Black women.
After partnering with companies including Target, Old Navy, and Coach, Dani made the difficult decision in 2024 to pull her products from Target when the company announced it was rolling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. That experience strengthened her commitment to creating spaces and economic opportunities that do not depend on shifting corporate priorities.
Dani describes the personal journey that led her to this work:
“I've always been passionate about everyday advocacy and creating spaces that celebrate belonging! In 2019, I began a journey of using my art skills to make complex ideas related to justice and equity more accessible for the everyday person through social media. In 2020, my online presence grew to over 500,000 people across social media, and it allowed me to cultivate experiences and resources for others who share my values. In 2025, my background in Hospitality combined with my heart for community led me to open Gladly Gather: a gift shop and community space that celebrates belonging here in Nashville, TN through events, mutual aid efforts, and highlighting Black-owned small businesses.”
Gladly Gather: Creating Space for Belonging
Gladly Gather is an initiative of Oh Happy Dani and a physical expression of the values that have long shaped Dani’s work. The Nashville gift shop carries products from businesses founded by women and people of color, while its gathering space welcomes organizers, nonprofits, artists, clubs, creators, and small businesses.
For Dani, access to gathering space is itself a justice issue. Across Nashville, many Black-led nonprofits, grassroots organizers, artists, and emerging entrepreneurs struggle to find affordable places for meetings, workshops, markets, and community events. Free public spaces may not provide the privacy or flexibility they need, while commercial venues are often priced beyond their reach.
Gladly Gather is working to fill that gap. The space hosts vendor markets without charging vendor fees, making participation more accessible to emerging entrepreneurs. Every community event also includes a partnership with a local nonprofit or grassroots organization, often through mutual aid efforts and in-kind donation drives. Guests are invited not only to attend an event, but also to support small businesses, meet community needs, and build relationships across differences.
Dani explains the vision behind the space:
“Gladly Gather, my community space and gift shop in Nashville, Tennessee, opened on February 7th, 2026. Against the backdrop of swift DEI backlash and major retailers rolling back their inclusion programs, I wanted to create a space that prioritized the goods and services of historically excluded businesses. I have personally experienced the hefty cost of these DEI rollbacks after I publicly chose to pull my collection of illustrated, justice-focused products from Target shelves days after they announced that they’d be sunsetting those programs.
Gladly Gather-hosted events follow a three-part framework. Firstly, we encourage guests to shop small, whether that’s by purchasing products stocked on our shelves from a variety of women and BIPOC-owned businesses, or by directly supporting vendors that we host in our building with no vendor fee. Secondly, each event has a give-back initiative where we partner with local nonprofit or grassroots organizations and clear their most-needed, in-kind donation lists. Lastly, each event intentionally fosters belonging, and we’ve welcomed guests from various backgrounds as a result. In this season, my goal is to create a more equitable plan for our event room rentals. Currently, we have a consistent hourly rate, but we are reimagining the process to create new tiers to serve various community needs. We have organizers, clubs, small businesses, and more who’d like affordable options for gatherings, and we’d like to fill that gap while also meeting the staffing and operational needs of our building. I believe that becoming an Invested Faith Fellow will help bring this model to life in a time when our Nashville community is in deep need of places that foster safety and belonging.”
Dani hopes Gladly Gather will become a place where people and ideas have room to begin and grow:
“I'm hoping that small businesses, nonprofits, and creators have an opportunity to thrive here in Nashville through the services and experiences we create at Gladly Gather. Many creatives and advocates are looking for an opportunity to start small, be seen, and have a platform to grow. We want to be a place where that can happen.”
Through Gladly Gather, Dani is turning values into infrastructure. At a time when institutional commitments to diversity and inclusion are being withdrawn, she is building an independent space where historically excluded entrepreneurs can grow, community organizations can gather, and people can practice mutual care.
Becoming an Invested Faith Fellow affirms both the spiritual grounding and continued importance of that work.
“It's such an honor to be recognized for the work we're doing and to be seen as faithful agents of change. In a climate where all things DEI are demonized and shuttered, initiatives like Invested Faith remind me that this work is still good, and it still matters.”