Our Neighbors

We work hand in hand with the community organizations, small businesses, local governments and people that make a positive impact in the cities Audible calls home. These are some of the leaders with whom we are honored to join together to drive meaningful, equitable, and sustainable change.

Story Highlights

A group of people wearing La Cocina t-shirts post outside La Cocina restaurant.

Meet Josh and Aly Miller, owners of La Cocina restaurant, part of NWK Delivers.

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Students at Loop Lab sit on a stage with the Loop Lab and Audible logos in the background.

Get to know Rhythm & Wraps and La Tienda, two Massachusetts-based small businesses, in a video produced by students at Cambridge’s Loop Lab, with guidance from Audible volunteers.

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Braven works with Newark employers like Audible to mentor college students.

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Three people post for a photo in front of an Audible sign and a LADMA sign.

Meet Alistair Nwachukwu, who received an Audible scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art.

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Artist Ron Norsworthy discusses his work

Ron Norsworthy is a Newark-based production designer, art director, building designer, and artist. Norsworthy is one of 20 artists and artist collectives selected for the Newark Artist Collaboration (NAC). Learn about his career, work, and his colorful installations through NAC.

Ron Norsworthy poses in front of a solid background.

In Their Words

Audible was the first major company that moved its headquarters to Newark when I was Mayor. I hope that you all can understand how radical that was. People had given up on Newark.... When I had become Mayor, the idea that a corporation would move its headquarters there is a testimony to the visionary understanding of conscious capitalism.

Cory Booker

U.S. Senator

The Newark Artist Collaboration is a powerful testament to what public-private partnerships can accomplish. These installations are the latest in a long list of community-focused projects that Audible has done for our city since moving here 15 years ago.

Ras J. Baraka

Mayor of Newark, New Jersey

Audible made it possible to continue to serve residents who suffer from food insecurities. Our senior citizens and disabled residents can receive goods and services because we have the needed transportation to help provide for them.

Amina Bey

Executive Director, Newark Emergency Services for Families

The pandemic put a strain on our community, many of whom were already dealing with food insecurity and job loss. Through Newark Working Kitchens, I’ve been able to keep staff employed and our community fed.

Josh Miller

Co-owner of NWK participating restaurants Robert’s Pizza and La Cocina

Audible is supporting a whole new wave of Indigenous storytelling and literature with its direct access to mentors, their publishers, their agents and to Audible directly, and that's something to be very proud of. This is a huge opportunity for everyone involved.

Richard Van Camp

Best-selling author, mentor for Audible Indigenous Writers’ Circle

We’ve been so excited about the Audible LAMDA partnership. It’s really special because it’s collaborative. It’s this wonderful thing of working with a company who really cared about what our needs are at LAMDA.

Lyndel Harrison

Director of Development, LAMDA

Thanks to [Audible’s] efforts, the district experienced a seamless transition to a remote platform, which allowed for uninterrupted learning for our students.

Roger León

Superintendent, Newark Board of Education

Our students don’t have a lot of confidence-building experiences before they go off to college. The Audible internship provides this experience.

Michael Mann

Head of School, North Star Academy

Meet Our Neighbors

  • Ali and Tina Darweesh pose in front of a restaurant.

    Ali and Tina Darweesh

    Owners of King’s #1 Family Restaurant

    Ali Darweesh opened King’s #1 Family Restaurant in 1990, inspired to provide Halal soul food and “down home Southern cooking” in Newark. His restaurant opened with 20 seats, and since then, has grown to seat over 150 as a Newark staple that feeds everyone from local families to city mayors. The Darweeshes collaborated with Newark Working Kitchens during the holiday season to serve festive meals for community members in need. Tina explains that cooking for the community has kept their staff employed and their doors open, saying that “without you guys, we wouldn’t have been able to survive”.

  • Artists Cazorla and Saleme pose in front of a stained glass window.

    Cazorla and Saleme

    Artists in the Newark Artist Collaboration

    Cazorla and Saleme are a Venezuelan aunt and niece artist team, who began making art together in 2010. Their work often focuses on immigrant issues to shed light on topics surrounding undocumented and working class immigrants. The duo has been awarded commissions from New York to Philadelphia to Berlin, and was selected by the Newark Artist Collaboration to create an inspiring installation at the Newark Public Library, where children play and families and the community come together. The duo notes that “the city opened its arms to two women artists of color. Newark has been a remarkable source of inspiration and progress for us. We became who we are now thanks to the opportunities, support, and community we found in Newark.”

  • Walter Green

    Owner/Operator Uncle Willie’s Wings

    When Walter Green was hospitalized with Covid-19 at the start of the pandemic, he was forced to shutter his brand-new restaurant, Uncle Willie’s. Once he recovered, he hosted a free barbecue for the neighborhood as a way of saying farewell to his business. But joining forces with Newark Working Kitchens allowed him to reopen his doors and make hundreds of meals weekly to feed the Newark community. He’d been making food deliveries in a van with more than 130,000 miles on it when his story caught the attention of the “Today Show,” which bought him a new van to help him continue the amazing work.

  • Rebecca Perry

    Head of Adult Literacy, National Literacy Trust, UK

    As part of her work for the UK’s National Literacy Trust, Rebecca Perry heads up Inside Stories with Audible, an effort to bring audio storytelling to young people in prison. She works with organizations like Audible and National Prison Radio to host podcast-making sessions for young people in settings like Feltham Young Offenders Institution, helping them develop technical skills they can use in future careers, as well as improving their communication, literacy, and confidence. Her strategy includes arranging for young people to interview others who have been in their shoes and turned their lives around, which helps them to envision and plan their own paths forward.

We want the young people we work with to know that their voice matters and people want to hear what they have to say, and this work with Audible makes that a reality.

Rebecca Perry

Head of Adult Literacy, National Literacy Trust, UK

Anthony Frasier

The award-winning CEO and founder of ABF Creative, a Newark Venture Partners start-up, Frasier is using his success to advise other local entrepreneurs while telling stories the world needs to hear.

I think success is not just what I can achieve by myself; it’s what you can do for others around you.

Anthony Frasier

CEO, ABF Creative

Four Audible Cambridge employees stand shoulder-to-shoulder looking straight at the camera smiling.

Building Relationships with Our Community in Cambridge

Our Cambridge team is leveraging their technical strengths to create educational and economic opportunities for their neighbors.

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Won’t You Be Our Neighbor?

If you think Audible can help your organization achieve greater impact through our participation in a community engagement opportunity or through a grant, please apply.

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