About us
Connection is the antidote
We Met Community is a nonprofit fighting loneliness, building community, and fostering connection and belonging.
We help adults 21+ find love and friendship through joyful experiences rooted in the arts, community service, civic engagement and local pride.
Our two chapters — We Met in Miami and We Met in Broward — have hosted more than 6,000 people at 100+ events since 2024.
Meet our founder
Jessica Bakeman
Jessica Bakeman knew she wasn't alone in feeling lonely.
Social media, dating apps, pandemic-fueled isolation and the rise of remote work had all played a role in the decline of meaningful connection.
After years as a journalist reporting on the ways isolation, division and disconnection affect our communities, she decided she wanted to do more than tell those stories. She wanted to help solve the problem — for herself and her community.
In February 2024, Jessica launched We Met in Miami to make a bold and hopeful statement: Loneliness doesn't have to be a fact of modern life, and the solution is as simple as bringing people together with intention.
Later, she expanded the grassroots community organization into We Met Community Connection, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with We Met in Miami as its first chapter.
In response to demand, she launched the nonprofit's second chapter, We Met in Broward, in 2026.
Before founding We Met, Jessica spent nearly two decades as a decorated reporter and editor.
She is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and National Edward R. Murrow Award winner. She has been named both Editor of the Year and Journalist of the Year by the Society of Professonal Journalists' Florida chapter.
Outside of We Met, Jessica continues to invest in the community she loves.
She is a Miami Fellow, serves on the executive board of Miami Sound Space, sings with the Miami Sound Choir, and is an enthusiastic salsa dancer.
She is originally from Rochester, N.Y.
