Our mission
With a website that finally feels like theirs, and a team in Berkeley that's there when they need us.
Our team
"I'm glad you're here."
I spent a decade in global health and education and a decade at McKinsey, and I kept coming back to the same question: who's building real support for diverse women and queer leaders? That question led to co-founding Our Space Berkeley, and eventually to Lanlan. I coach leaders at lanimarsden.com.
"I make sense of the mess."
I spent four years at McKinsey leading people and organizational transformations across various industries. Before that I worked in higher education fundraising and with nonprofits in Latin America and Africa. I am passionate about working with people to bring structure and organization to businesses.
"I turn 'this is cool' into 'everyone needs to know about this.'"
I'm a recent Howard University graduate with a passion for advocacy, storytelling, and content that makes people stop, look, and lean in. I love finding creative ways to turn good ideas into big conversations and even bigger reach. I help Lanlan go from something people discover to something they rely on. LinkedIn →
"I'm the one who makes things work."
I spent 15 years at early-stage startups (Pulse, Medium, Range, Productable) building engineering teams and the culture around them. More recently I co-founded Noodle Labs to bring embedded leadership support to startups, and I write about engineering leadership at jeanhsu.com.
"I care deeply about the world and the people in it."
For the past decade I've run LittleFeminist.com, a social enterprise that publishes and promotes diverse children's books. I'm the co-founder of Our Space Berkeley and also work as a fractional Chief Marketing Officer for mission-driven businesses. Lanlan is that: a tool with a mission, for people doing real work in the world.
"I'll help you build the vision!"
I'm a website builder with a love for human-computer interaction, ready to help you build your dream website. From nonprofits and Stanford students to private clients in arts and entertainment, I've helped all sorts of creators design and launch websites from the ground up. LinkedIn →
"I keep track of the money."
I fell into bookkeeping while looking for a career with more flexibility after becoming a mom. I enjoy helping mission-driven companies focus on doing what they love, by taking care of their finances. Besides Lanlan, I keep the books for Our Space Berkeley, where I'm a founding member, and Classic Math School.
"I built the prototype because I wanted Lani to have it."
I'm a developer with a background in civic tech and participatory design. It turned out other people wanted Lanlan too, so I stay involved as a technical advisor and occasional bug-fixer. I'm also Lani's spouse, which makes team meetings interesting.
Our values
The people we serve come first. Most of them are women, BIPOC, and/or queer.
Prices we honor, claims we can back up, and straight answers about AI.
When we're not sure, we ask our clients, then do what they said.
Queer- and BIPOC-led and diverse by design. We lean toward the voices we most need to hear.
Our story
Lani has always loved empowering people. They spent a decade in social impact, then another in the private sector, where they began coaching women and queer leaders of color. Lani started their own coaching practice, but working alone from their laundry room got lonely. So Lani and their friend Britt founded Our Space, a community-first coworking space for women, nonbinary folks, and femmes in Berkeley.
Our Space needed a website. Lani asked their spouse Will to build one, and Will built a tool so Lani could build it themselves. Other people wanted it too. That tool became Lanlan.
Lanlan is what Lani's mom has always called them. Our Space owns a piece of Lanlan, so the community that started it shares in whatever it becomes.
What we think about AI
The empire of AI is out here taking a lot. This is us using AI, and giving a little of it back. AI was built on the work of many artists, designers, and historically marginalized folks, and it has returned very little to them. We are not pretending to stand outside AI; we use the same tools everyone does. What's different is who we serve, and who's doing the serving.
AI learned from designers who were never asked or paid. We give back to the ones training the next generation.
Lanlan sites run on Cloudflare's network, powered by 100% renewable energy. The AI works once; the site runs on almost nothing.
We are happy to tell you what AI models your site build has used. If we know of another tool that would serve you better, we'll say so.
To East Bay organizations that train and employ artists and designers of color. We'll name our first partners here soon.