About
Rochelle Levy
Culture strategist. Creative director. Facilitator. Harlem born, Boston based, oldest of five, which means I have been running rooms since before I had language for it.
A letter
I am not going to open this with a story about how I always knew. I did not always know. What I knew was that I kept getting hired to fix the thing nobody wanted to name.
Twenty plus years later I have sat at tables inside hospitals, universities, nonprofits, arts institutions, and small businesses trying to survive a Tuesday. Different buildings, same pattern. The strategy deck says one thing. The culture says another. The culture wins. It always wins. And most consultants will take your money to help you avoid noticing that.
The Culture Alchemist is my answer to that. It is my name, my practice, my voice, and my intellectual property in one place. Alchemy is not magic. Alchemy is process. It is what happens when you apply heat and pressure to raw material in the right order and something more valuable comes out the other side. That is the work. There is no shortcut and I am not selling one.
What sits under this brand is deliberate. The Alchemist's Table is where founders and leaders come to get unstuck by someone who will tell them the truth. The Culture Collective is where Black, Brown, and Indigenous people build wealth and tend to their bodies and minds without having to explain themselves first. The Black Porch and Nope. are where I talk, publicly and unfiltered, about inheritance and terror and everything in between.
A practice that only works when I am exhausted is not a practice. It is a hostage situation. So I built systems instead.
In your corner,
Rochelle Levy
Founder and Principal, The Culture Alchemist · Founder and CEO, Black Girl Assembly · Founder and Executive Director, The Assembly Institute
Recognition
Awards and honors.
Receipts, not vibes — including the ones other people handed me.
- 2022
Community Service Award, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Awarded for The B.L.A.C. Project (Black Literacy and Arts Collaborative), a community-led initiative that answered local needs with free programming, critical resources, and events.
- 2024
One of Boston's EXTRAordinary Women
Named by Mayor Michelle Wu and selected by public vote, honoring women shaping the city of Boston.
- 2026
Citation, Massachusetts House of Representatives
Presented by State Representative Chynah Tyler for Black Girl Assembly, recognizing "the extraordinary work highlighting the culture and communities of Boston and for uplifting the Juneteenth holiday."
- 2026
Top 200 Visionaries
Recognized among female entrepreneurs building businesses that prioritize people over profit.
FAQ
What people ask.
Membership, collaboration, and how to show up — answered plainly.
How do I join The Culture Collective?
The Culture Collective is a membership community for Black, Brown, and Indigenous people building wealth while tending to mind and body. You can join directly through our Circle community.
Join the Collective →How do The Culture Alchemist, Alchemy for Change, and Black Girl Assembly work together?
They are separate brands with separate audiences, but they share values and often share infrastructure. See the homepage for the full ecosystem diagram and how the funding flows.
See how it connects →Does Alchemy for Change fund Black Girl Assembly directly?
No. Alchemy for Change reinvests into The Assembly Institute, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit leg of Black Girl Assembly. See the homepage for the full funding flow.
See how the funding flows →How can I work with you?
Start with the contact form. Tell me what is stuck, not just what you want to build. I take a limited number of advisory engagements each year and reserve six retainer seats for ongoing work.
Get in touch →How can I get involved with Black Girl Assembly?
Visit blackgirlassembly.org to apply to LeadHers in Bloom, invest in a cohort, join the Sister Circle, or partner with us. Girls ages 12 to 17 start with the 8-week cohort; women 18 and up step into On Purpose, Say Less, and the lifetime community.
blackgirlassembly.org → (opens in a new tab)Do you speak, facilitate, or consult for organizations?
Yes. Keynotes, facilitation, and culture diagnostics are handled through Alchemy for Change, the social impact corporation. Use the contact form and note that your inquiry is for institutional work.
alchemyforchange.com → (opens in a new tab)Softness with structure. Bold care with receipts.
A world where Black, Brown, and Indigenous people are not asked to shrink, over explain, or bleed in order to build wealth, hold power, and stay well. That is the whole vision. Everything else is logistics.