No Immigrants No Spice – Vibha Gupta

#008 – No immigrants No Spice “NINS”.  Today’s interview is with Vibha Gupta, Founder / Executive Director of Oakland Non Profit No Immigrants No Spice.  Vibha is an Emergency Room physician by day (and night).  As a 2nd generation daughter of immigrants, she started NINS….

 “as a way to positively channel frustration and create something that combines my passion for food, culture and people. My hope is that this can be something that is fun, transcendent, educational and above all helpful.”

Her mission is to shed light on the positive contributions immigrants have in our community.  She donates 100% of the proceeds from the sale of NINS swag to support immigrant programs and initiatives.

Links

No Immigrants No Spice – website

Miss Ollie’s

Third Culture Bakery

Wooden Table Bakery

National Immigrant Justice

No Immigrant No Spice – Instagram

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Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode

[0:55] Evolved from me selling t-shirts…
[1:20] The nonprofit started in 2016.
[1:40] The tipping point for me was…
[2:15] Pre-pandemic were doing live events.
[3:20] Inspiration for name.
[4:20] What is the story under your favorite take-out place.
[4:56] Flipping the narrative on immigration.
[6:55] Just beneath the surface there is so much profound trauma.
[9:10] Before COVID, we had live events
[12:05] #SpicyPride
[13:28] National Immigrants Justice Center
[14:10] NINS has become a community hub
[16:38] Why Oakland?
[18:57] When the pandemic hit, I was planning 3 events.

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