Klaman & Co. was born from a lifelong experience of navigating cultures, communities, and perspectives.

 

Born in Montreal and raised in Côte d’Ivoire, Johanne Gnagne grew up with an understanding that identity is rarely defined by one place. Her experiences across Canada, Africa, and the United States shaped the way she sees culture—not as a boundary between people, but as a bridge.

 

Over the course of her career, Johanne built her work around bringing people, systems, and organizations together. Through international healthcare and education initiatives, she managed complex programs, partnerships, and resources across communities and institutions.

Those experiences taught her something that would later become central to Klaman: meaningful progress rarely happens in isolation. It happens when people connect, understand one another, and find ways to work together.

 

At the same time, Johanne began to see an opportunity in the way African and diaspora cultures were being represented and experienced.

 

Culture was being celebrated through food, music, fashion, festivals, and heritage—and those expressions matter. But she saw the potential for culture to do more: to bring people into deeper conversation, amplify perspectives, build understanding, strengthen belonging, and create pathways to opportunity.

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She began asking a different question:

What if culture could be more than something we celebrate?

What if it could be something we use?

Something we use to build relationships.

To create understanding.

To strengthen belonging.

To develop leaders.

To create partnerships.

To open pathways to opportunity.

That question became the foundation for Klaman & Co.

 

Today, Klaman brings people, communities, organizations, and perspectives together through programs, experiences, and partnerships. We amplify African and diaspora perspectives while creating spaces where cultural exchange can lead to greater understanding, stronger relationships, leadership, collaboration, and economic opportunity.

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