Zakiya Johnson is the founder of EventZ and has been creatively bringing folks together for over 15 years.
She is a triple threat in the areas of food & wine, creativity, and execution. She holds of wealth of knowledge in all things event related and aligns herself with only the best and reputable vendors.
Though a native of South Carolina, she credits her ability to think outside the box from her Korean / African American heritage and her international military upbringing. These factors continue to influence and inspire her work today.
"The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas."
- Dr. Linus Pauling
And that is where Zakiya excels. Her experience is hands on and her portfolio of work is diverse. Her background includes working for the biggest restaurateur in Philadelphia, Stephen Starr, and world renown chefs like Iron Chef Morimoto, Iron Chef Jose Garcia, Top Chef contestant Mike Isabella and the globally acclaimed Godfather of Nuevo Latino Cuisine, Douglas Rodriguez. She has also coordinated many upscale parties at some of Philadelphia's hottest nightclubs.
Making her way to the Bay Area in 2004, Zakiya started her career as an Executive Assistant supporting C-Level
Executives. There she quickly became involved with coordinating corporate events. She gained valuable experience planning and executing both small and large scale events worldwide eventually becoming a professional event planner. She has expertise in events ranging from company annual meeting, expos, retreats, conferences, customer parties, holiday parties, team building activities, and so much more.
She then found herself coordinating events for non-profit organizations and planning weddings in her spare time and there, EventZ was born! Then in 2021, EventZ expanded it's service to cover the Chicagoland area! We are so excited to be in this new market and look forward to our continued success creating and executing impactful events for all!
Zakiya has a B.A. from Temple University with a focus in Communications, Public Relations.
Miriam Pinsky is the Day of Coordinator at EventZ and has been working in the hospitality industry for over 10 years. Her experience includes special event management - both large and small, bartending, restaurant management, serving and working with various catering companies throughout the Bay Area.
As a Bay Area native from Berkeley, Miriam is very familiar with the lay of the land. Being an event coordinator was a natural progression from her previous experience. She has established great working relationships with many local vendors and continues to research new vendors as this industry is forever evolving!
Miriam’s passion for event planning is apparent in her strong work ethic. She truly enjoys being part of these special events, and the new faces she gets to network with. She treats every event as if it were her own, often going above and beyond the call of duty. It's
her goal to alleviate the stress of day of event management for our clients so they can focus their energy elsewhere.
In her free time, she loves to play her guitar and sing. As a musician, she also has many connections with other Bay Area artists. Miriam has been part of the EventZ team since 2018 and looks forward to working with you on your future event!
Lily Duong is a refined and strategic coordinator with professional experience spanning over 10 years, organizing corporate and private events in variety of capacities from small parties to large events totaling up to 1,500 people. She prides herself on being a cultured SF Bay Area native and a global citizen, spending her holidays perusing the local markets in different parts of Europe and Asia at least once a year. As a cosmopolitan, Lily is also empathetic to the various types of client personalities, which makes it easy for her to capture and understand the shared vision to execute any event with precision. While being an Executive Assistant she supported leaders in different industries ranging from advertising/media, non-profits/academia and high-tech companies to small start-ups, Lily’s eclectic exposure arms her with different ideas and creativity to help clients leverage their vision and budget. A stickler for the details and getting things done efficiently, she works hard to negotiate for the best experience. She has planned everything from team off-sites to weddings and company conferences. Lily graduated from Saint Mary’s College of California with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Leadership and Organizational Studies. She has a few personal side projects, which includes a personal styling company, as well as a mentorship program teaching basic chess strategy coupled with Zen principles.