From Strategy to Story: The 2025 TAP Forward Agency Accelerator Cohort Marks Our Larger Commitment to Storytellers & Amplifiers
Today, we’re pumped to announce the 2025 TAP Forward Agency Accelerator cohort. 16 early-stage, but high-potential marketing, media, and creative firms selected for their craft, their cultural fluency, and their commitment to driving real outcomes for clients and community. This year’s class spans everything from growth marketing and brandtech to experiential, PR, and product design studios — a powerful mix of builders, storytellers, and amplifiers ready to scale.
What We’re Seeing in This Year’s Cohort
Who They Are: A strong showing of Marketing Strategy Agencies (6) leads the pack, followed by Event Marketing (4), Advertising (3) and Experiential (3), with depth in the form of Customer Insights, Branding, PR, Tech Marketing, and more.
Where They Play: The most common lanes include Advertising, Digital Marketing, and Branding, with specialty experience across creator economy, e-commerce, entertainment, SaaS, social impact, and more.
Who They Serve: The class skews decidedly providing services to SMBs.
How They Charge: Most operate on Retainers and Project-based models, with meaningful usage of Commission-based; a few are experimenting with Equity-based, Hourly, and Subscription approaches.
Meet the 2025 TAP Forward Cohort
Need Marketing Help? Reach out these dope people either on LinkedIn or their website.
New: Our 2025 TAP Forward Program Leads
We also welcomed four seasoned operators to anchor this year’s accelerator. Each brings deep program management, event production, and communications chops — plus hands-on fluency with tools like Airtable, Notion, and Zapier (among others) — so founders get structure and momentum, not just advice.
- Allison Todd: Executive coach/consultant and ecosystem builder; expertise in strategic partnerships, major gifts & fundraising, marketing operations, and leadership.
- Eugenia Johnson: PR strategist and program manager with experience across consumer brands, lifestyle, public health, and entertainment;Â
- MJ Allen: Business development and partnerships lead working with early-stage startups; founder/operator ethos and active writer (see “All the Business Stuff” on Substack).
- Naomi Arroyo: Strategic operations and workforce development leader with experience running hybrid and virtual programs and convenings.
These leads will run programming tracks, roundtables, office hours, warm-intro pathways, and tell their stories – keeping founders accountable and resourced week-to-week.
Introducing the Society of the Good Partners Directory
We’re also launching the Society of the Good Partners Directory – our trusted, curated list of vetted professional service providers. Building off of The A Pledge’s Black Business Directory, we’re starting with marketing agencies (including alumni and friends of Goodie Nation). Over time on a rolling basis, we’ll add accounting firms, law practices, and other vendors aligned with our values and known for quality, cultural competence, and real outcomes
Designed as your go-to resource for high-quality, values-aligned services, the directory helps founders and operators find the right partner — quickly — to scale effectively and sustainably. Check out the first set of companies below:
For Storytellers & Amplifiers: A New Collective & Community Series
If you identify as a Storyteller or Amplifier — the marketers, advertisers, speakers, creators, and natural narrators of culture — you’re home. Building on our ongoing identity work (you’ve seen us celebrate Storytellers, Amplifiers, Connectors, Queens of Innovation, and Good Brothas), we’ve launched:
- Monthly, Virtual Roundtables: an interactive series to trade notes on industry news, trends, creator-economy shifts, and new opportunities.
- Community Dinner Series: intimate, small-group dinners (6–10 people) starting September 2025 in Atlanta, where we break bread, swap playbooks, and spark collaborations.
If you’re a brand leader, agency pro, or speaker who wants to plug into a values-aligned peer group, this is for you.
Merch Drop: the “Softwear” Collection with Founder Co.
To help everyone rep their role and rep the culture, we teamed up with Birmingham-based Founder Moda on the new Goodie Nation × Founder Moda “Softwear” Collection — a limited run of crewnecks for Storytellers, Amplifiers, Connectors, Queens of Innovation, and Good Brothas. Explore the drop and pick your identity piece here.
How to Tap In
- Agencies: Interested in TAP Forward? Want to offer warm intros, office hours, or to join a roundtable? Reach out — we host info sessions regularly.
- Storytellers & Amplifiers: Join the collective, grab a seat at the next virtual roundtable, and watch for the September dinner RSVP.
- Service Providers: If you’re values-aligned and deliver outstanding work, learn how to be added by filling out the form here.
This is innovation done right.