From Well City to Worldwide: How Hey Auntie! Is Redefining Care for Black Women
Hey Auntie! began with a clear mission: to center the well-being of Black women through care, connection, and community.
Winning the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia’s 2021 Well City Challenge, founder Nicole E. Kenney said, enabled her to “reimagine a model of care grounded in Black women’s 400+ year legacy of cultural connection, storytelling, and healing across generations.”
The Well City Challenge, hosted by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia (ELGP), provided her with space, mentorship, and support.
Nicole E. Kenney is the founder of this culturally competent digital wellness platform, Hey Auntie! Inspired by conversations with her own aunties, Hey Auntie! was born after Kenney spent nearly six years focusing on improving the health and well-being of Black women through her personal, professional, and community work.
Winning the $50,000 Grand Prize during the 2021 Well City Challenge, which focused on mental health and millennial health, was a game-changer for Kenney and Hey Auntie! The challenge, Kenney says, felt like both:
“An invitation and an opportunity to take all of this experience and insight and begin innovating on a larger scale.”
Celebrating its fourth anniversary this year, Hey Auntie! began as a digital space during the pandemic and has since grown to include in-person connections in Philadelphia. The community has expanded into an international network of members across the U.S., UK, countries in Africa, the Caribbean, Ireland, and Portugal.
“It’s still unfolding, and we’re learning as we go,” says Kenney. “It’s powerful to see this next chapter take shape with the same heart, care, and joy that’s been with us from the start.”
Reimagining Care & Community Outreach
Hey Auntie! is doing something unique and necessary: pairing women of all ages with mentors who understand them culturally. What Kenney is most proud of, she says, is the narrative that Hey Auntie! is driving:
“Interdependence, not independence, is the highest form of flourishing.”
Hey Auntie! curates and creates connections, videos, tutorials, resources, and live or virtual experiences to support women personally and professionally. They leverage research, data, cultural sensitivity, and technology to, in Kenney’s words:
“Create a world where everyone has access to culturally competent spaces, resources, and support, enabling [women] to truly thrive.”
Since winning the Challenge, Hey Auntie! has seen institutions and communities across healthcare, academia, business, and faith-based spaces recognize the relevance of the work.
They’ve been featured in outlets like Fortune, Fast Company, Oprah Daily, and TEDx. Recently, Hey Auntie! appeared in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and their members shared how the experience made them feel seen.
Through the University of Pennsylvania’s Social Determinants of Health Accelerator, Hey Auntie! collaborated with medical students to refine both their care and business models.
From Well City to Fair City: What Comes Next
Kenney knows there’s no slowing down. With Hey Auntie! increasingly appearing on the national stage, she has been invited to speak at:
- Stanford’s Conference on Longevity
- The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
- Tulane University
Hey Auntie!’s story illustrates how engagement, creativity, and investment can change lives. It also sets the tone for the 2025 Fair City Challenge (FCC), which focuses on housing equity in Philadelphia.
Based on research from Know Your Price, which found a $57 billion value gap between properties in majority white vs. non-white neighborhoods, nearly 80 applicants submitted proposals to the FCC this April. Four finalists were selected:
- Climate Equity Home Fund – helping low-income homeowners access energy-efficient upgrades
- Raíces Capital Fund – empowering aspiring Latino real estate investors
- WEALTH Collective – dismantling racial appraisal bias in real estate
- North Roots x Bossed Up – transforming a vacant lot into an urban farm and cultural hub in North Philly
Each team has received $10,000 in seed funding and guidance from the Economy League’s network of mentors. On September 11, 2025, one finalist will be awarded the $50,000 grand prize to scale their solution — just as Hey Auntie! did.
“Trust the process,” Kenney advises. “Let your idea grow and evolve as you do… Everything you’ve walked through is shaping something needed.”