About Miss Mona

How Miss Mona Makes Ice Cream Began

I’ve spent the last 18+ years working in the nonprofit and social impact space with a focus on helping brands profit with purpose. I am a firm believer that the path to creating global impact lies in merging social purpose with business benefit.

But I know you’re really here for the ice cream… so you might be wondering, how and why I started to make ice cream? In 2017, I was given a KitchenAid ice cream maker after a lifetime obsession with ice cream. And just like that, I was hooked.

Fast forward to March 2020. Here’s where things start to get interesting. With NYC in lockdown and a little extra time, ice cream production increased. Soon, there was more ice cream in my freezer than I could consume, so I started to safely drop off pints on the stoops and in the lobbies of friends, family, and neighbors. Zero contact. Super safe. No traffic. I was elated to be giving away ice cream and spreading a bit of joy during such difficult times. Within just a few days, strangers began reaching out and over the following months, I dropped off hundreds of free pints, zipping around NYC, Westchester, and Long Island. While most people were deprived of human connection, I was somehow meeting more people than ever- and all during a global pandemic.

Random ice cream deliveries soon turned to highly orchestrated swaps with other makers. We were finding creative ways to collaborate and cross-promote, organically building a community of support.

Ice Cream For Change

Suddenly, the nation erupted. Protests demanding racial justice took to the streets of my city and cities across the world. I questioned if I should keep giving away ice cream. It felt frivolous. Then, a glimmer of an idea by Dr. Maya Warren, a real-life ice cream scientist, grew into an international movement. We partnered and called it Ice Cream For Change, a platform of ice cream lovers and makers advocating for social change and civic action using ice cream as a force for good. Over the course of the next three weeks, 130 ice cream shops and makers across the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico signed up. Naturally, our campaign launched on National Ice Cream Day (July 19, 2020) and together we raised over $70,000 for organizations fighting for racial justice through ice cream sales and raffles.

I’ve seen first-hand what can be achieved when we come together, support each other, and look beyond ourselves. That’s why I decided to expand Miss Mona Makes Ice Cream, taking it from one-off friendly ice cream drops to a regular monthly experience (no matter the season or weather) featuring community members and raising funds for organizations doing the hard work.