can't wait to see you at ESRI User conference

Mapping
Black
California

Since 2015, MBC has turned public data into public accountability: mapping racism declarations across 35 California regional commissions, cataloging 650+ Black-Led Organizations statewide, and powering reporting from Black Enterprise to Esri's ArcNews.

We're the statewide hub for the largest public-facing collection of BIPOC datasets, building interactive story platforms that turn daily lived disparities into actionable data for journalists, funders, and civic leaders. This past year, we expanded nationwide, and we're now working toward a national rebrand as a living, interactive atlas of BIPOC data and stories.

MBC Flagship

Our self determined data and storytelling initiatives - MBC Flagships are the passionate core of our work.

Black Led Organizations Directory

Dashboards, Datasets, Featured, Flagship, Philanthropy, Statewide

A statewide directory of California's Black-Led Organizations, built to connect community members, funders, and civic leaders with the organizations doing the work on the ground.

Combating Racism as a Public Health Crisis

Community, Featured, Flagship, Journalism, Public Health, Statewide, Web Spreads

This platform centralizes California's racism-as-public-health-crisis declarations using screen capture technology, stabilizing an accountability tool for activists, policy-makers and communities.

The Blackest City

Community, Featured, Flagship, Installations, Journalism, Local, StoryMaps, Storytelling

Moreno Valley is a vital yet overlooked chapter in the story of Black migration to the Inland Empire, and through oral histories from past and present residents, The Blackest City maps lives built through family, faith, work, and community, affirming a shared vision for a thriving, inclusive future.

View All Projects

MBC Consulting

Our client and partner-commissioned engagements — MBC Consulting is the real world, practical extension of our work.

BEI Data Report

Community, Consulting, Featured, Regional, Web Spreads

A report combining data visualization and narrative storytelling to humanize the Black Equity Fund's impact in the Inland Empire; showing where the Black community is excelling and where need still exists.

Community Foundations & Local Media Partnerships

Community, Consulting, Dashboards, Journalism, Philanthropy, Statewide

Users can explore community foundation's territory, funding history, and type of support, whether a discretionary grant, DAF grant, or field-of-interest fund, giving a clearer picture of how philanthropic dollars are sustaining local media across the state.

How Do I…

Community, Consulting, Public Health, Statewide, Web Spreads

Designed by MBC for the California Black Health Network in partnership with CHCF, the Health 4 Life: Healthy Black People campaign equips Black Californians with "How Do I..." resources to navigate the healthcare system, advocate for themselves and their loved ones, and take action against discrimination.

IE Vital Conditions – Philanthropic Flows

Consulting, Dashboards, Featured, Philanthropy, Regional

Philanthropic Flows in the Inland Empire maps the region's nonprofit funding networks. Built for nonprofit leaders, advocates, and researchers, the dashboard reveals who's funding whom giving the region's philanthropic landscape a clearer, more navigable shape.

Los Angeles Ethnic Media Ecosystem

Consulting, Dashboards, Datasets, Journalism, Local

Designed and developed to visualize Los Angeles County's news ecosystem, we identified gaps in information reach across the region's socioeconomically and racially diverse communities.

MBC Census Lab

Civic Engagement, Community, Consulting, Dashboards, Datasets, Statewide, Web Spreads

MBC's inaugural project: as the official California liaison between the Census Bureau and Black communities statewide, MBC led a collaborative effort with Black media outlets to drive reporting, outreach, and community engagement in support of a complete count for the 2020 Census.

Racism as a Public Health Crisis

Consulting, Dashboards, Public Health, Statewide

The Racism as a Public Health Crisis Dashboard tracked county and city declarations across California municipalities, serving as the precursor to the Combating Racism as a Public Health Crisis platform before being discontinued.

Riverside County Vaccine Impacts

Consulting, Dashboards, Journalism, Local, Public Health

An easy-to-use dashboard built for media outlets during COVID-19, identifying vaccination rates in densely populated Black and Latino areas of Riverside County to help target under-reached communities with critical vaccination information.

SoCalGas

Community, Consulting, Dashboards, Datasets, Regional

Our foundational project: MBC developed a map visualizing Southern California Gas Company's giving patterns to Black-Led Organizations within their operating territory from 2019 to 2020, and paired that data with an in-house regional needs index to help SoCalGas make more impactful philanthropic decisions.

The Black Equity Fund

Consulting, Philanthropy, Presentations, Statewide, StoryMaps, Storytelling

This map and StoryMap combines data visualization and narrative storytelling to humanize the impact of the Black Equity Fund in the Inland Empire, showing where the region's Black community is excelling and where systemic need still exists.

Valley Voices Rising

Civic Engagement, Community, Consulting, Dashboards, Journalism, Philanthropy, Regional

Prepared for the James B. McClatchy Foundation, Valley Voices Rising maps the Central Valley's media landscape alongside county-level civic engagement and community vitality data, helping funders and stakeholders identify where regional journalism investment can strengthen community voice and representation.

View All Projects

Explore MBC's full collection of maps, dashboards, and stories — data-driven work centering communities of color across California and beyond.

MBC Newsroom

Our original reporting done in partnership with newsrooms — MBC Newsroom is the journalistic front line of our work.

California’s Changing Political Landscape

Civic Engagement, Journalism, Newsroom, Quick Maps, Statewide

Over the past decade, California has seen a growing Democratic trend in presidential elections, driven by an increasingly diverse population, including Black, Latino, and other voters of color, mobilizing around issues that matter most to their communities.

COVID and Black California

Community, Dashboards, Journalism, Newsroom, Public Health, Statewide

This dashboard tracked the impact of COVID-19 on Black communities across the state — the only Black-focused tracking tool centralizing live data on infections, hospitalizations, deaths, and vaccinations.

How Do California Cities Spend Money on Policing?

Newsroom, Policing, Regional, StoryMaps

This study analyzes the variability of police spending across 476 California cities from 2014 to 2019, visualizing the share of municipal budgets allocated to police departments and county sheriff contracts, and examining how spending levels relate to population changes over that five-year period.

Inland Empire: How Much Do Inland Empire Cities Spend on Policing?

Journalism, Newsroom, Policing, Quick Maps, Regional

Police budgets have grown steadily even as crime has declined, often crowding out investment in education, housing, and mental health. Raising the question of how communities can pursue safety without relying on a system marked by violence and discrimination.

Mapping Hate in California

Community, Dashboards, Datasets, Journalism, Newsroom, Statewide

This dashboard visualizes California's annual hate crime data from the Attorney General's office, tracking prosecutions and convictions statewide — including cases like the racist graffiti incident at Hamilton Elementary School in Anza, Riverside County.

San Bernardino City Food Access

Community, Journalism, Local, Newsroom, Quick Maps, Storytelling

This map reveals how access to grocery, convenience, and liquor stores is unequally stratified by income throughout San Bernardino City, shaped by broader factors like poverty, racist infrastructure, unaffordable housing, and limited transportation access.

Segregation by the Sea

Community, Journalism, Local, Newsroom, StoryMaps

Despite civil rights laws, informal discrimination and economic barriers restricted Black beachgoers' access, as seen in cases like the Pacific Beach Club and Bruce's Beach. Recent efforts, however, have led to the return of Bruce's Beach to its rightful owners.

View All Projects

Explore MBC's full collection of maps, dashboards, and stories — data-driven work centering communities of color across California and beyond.

Black-Led Organization Directory

California’s only statewide comprehensive list of Black-Led Organizations (BLO). Navigate our searchable database by county or main category to find BLO addresses, contact info, websites, and mission statements.

LEARN MORE

In The News

A First for Black Media: Black Voice News Leverages Web 3 and Blockchain Technology to Combat Racism in California

As Society Confronts Racism, Decentralized Web Holds Officials Accountable

Better Data and Visualization Foster Deeper Understanding of Black California

Black Voice News Awarded $100,000 Facebook Grant

Black Voice News Publisher Paulette Brown-Hinds Awarded Stanford Fellowship

Our Team

Founded, led, and operated by Black women. We are a team of storytellers with diverse backgrounds ranging from literary theory to theatre identifying inventive avenues for data visualization in journalism, strategic media consulting, and beyond.