Plenary room with rows of chairs facing a small stage, abstract wall art, and Findlay Market visible through windows

OUR STORY

Community. Cooperation. Growth.

The principles behind everything we build here.

A Business Community, Built on What We Share

KIWAVI started with a simple bet: people connect faster around what they love than around what they do for a living. A shared interest, music, cooking, reading, a craft, a hobby, cuts through the small talk and gets straight to something real. That's a better foundation for a business community than a shared job title.

So that's what we built. A space and a set of programs organized around the things people actually care about. The result is a community that's easier to enter and easier to stay in. Lower barriers to connection. More reasons to participate.

That principle carries extra weight for people who've historically had to work harder to find rooms where they belong. We call it the diversity theory of everyone. Build for shared interest first, and the room gets more diverse, more resilient, and more interesting, almost by default.

What We Believe

Community

Built around shared interests. Work-related and otherwise. The people you meet here are the people who show up to the same things you do.

Cooperation

This space and its programming are run by partners. Individuals and business communities who organize around something and build it together. That's how value gets created here.

Growth

Growth for the people in the room, through mentoring, professional development, and real programming. Growth for KIWAVI too, as a presence that means something in the OTR business community.

Where the Ideas Take Shape

The space itself is already open, hosting meetings, offsites, and events every week. The programming below is what's coming next.

Launching soon

KIWAVI OHANA

OHANA connects people outside the usual context: movie nights, trivia, karaoke, art and music sessions. What participants walk away with are connections, not contacts. Companies that sponsor OHANA memberships give their people a reason to feel connected to something bigger than their desk.

KIWAVI EXCHANGE

EXCHANGE gives entrepreneurs, the Builders, real storefront space and an on-site apprenticeship model, so they can earn and accumulate simultaneously. Companies that support EXCHANGE are investing directly in a more diverse local economy.

KIWAVI GROW

GROW is our professional development platform. The signature offering is a three-day immersive seminar, backed by ongoing workshops and one-on-one mentorship, built for anyone ready to figure out what they're actually capable of. Companies that sponsor GROW get a more engaged, more capable, more diverse workforce.

Part of Over-the-Rhine

Growth, for us, means becoming a real presence in this neighborhood's business community. A building people rent by the day doesn't do that. A space woven into the neighborhood does.

That shows up in specific ways. We partner with Findlay Kitchen for catering instead of bringing in an outside vendor. We built a space around the art, music, food, and hospitality that make OTR what it is. "Modern" means cutting-edge tools paired with the human elements that make a space worth showing up to.

A Message from Jared Simmons, Founder of KIWAVI

I noticed something simple: the best professional relationships I ever built started because someone found out I played music, or cooked, or read the same books they did. Not in a meeting.

KIWAVI is built around that observation. Community first, around whatever people actually share. Cooperation next: this is a space we build with the people and businesses who show up, not one I run for them. Growth last, because none of it matters unless the people in the room, and KIWAVI itself, are better for having been part of it.

KIWAVI is already open for meetings, offsites, and events. OHANA, GROW, and EXCHANGE are on their way. If you want to help build what's next, as a member, a partner, or just someone curious, I'd like to hear from you.

Join Us on Our Journey

Host an event. Become a member. Or just come see the space. This is still being built, and that's the point.