Beyond the Trees Social Club

The Lineage

In the 1950s and '60s, 7th Street was the Harlem of the West. The Barn was its living room.

Ms. Ruthie Mae Glenn ran it. You walked in as a stranger and left as family. That was the rule of the house.

Urban Renewal took away the businesses of 7th Street. What it didn't take was the recipe. Ms. Ruthie Mae Glenn's granddaughter, Michauxnée Kennan, has been continuing her family's tradition of soul food and placemaking in the Dimond District at Willows & Pine Restaurant since 2023. And now that the restaurant's building is for sale — with nearly 4,000 square feet of beautiful vacant space in the back — Willows & Pine has the chance to further the story: to develop a social club and cultural hub rooted in Oakland.

— Michauxnée Kennan, Founder
Granddaughter of Ms. Ruthie Mae Glenn

Michauxnée Kennan, Founder of Beyond the Trees Social Club

Chef Michauxnée Kennan

Beyond the Trees — bar and lounge interior

The Space

A discreet sanctuary — just beyond Willows & Pine.

3,880 square feet behind the restaurant, at 3525 Fruitvale Avenue. A private social club and cultural venue, in the lounge tradition of the great 7th Street rooms.

i.A third place for the Black professional community of Oakland and the Bay Area — for networking, for celebration, for rest.
ii.A permanent stage for Black art, music, and discourse, immune to the displacement that ended The Barn.
iii.A bar-and-lounge format, not restaurant seatings — arrive and depart as you please. Food available. Hosted at the door.
iv.The "members-only" intimacy that defined the golden-era clubs of 7th Street — restored, and owned.

The Founders

Fifty-five seats at the founding table.

Forty Cornerstone Lifetime Members. Fifteen Corporate Founding Sponsors. Once these tiers are filled, they close — permanently. Everyone else joins after the doors open.

Priority · 40 slots total

Cornerstone Lifetime

"Your name is on this building."

$10,000 One-time

Lifetime membership. No annual dues. Ever.

Name engraved on the Founders Wall
Four guest passes annually
Two Quarterly Cornerstone Dinners per year, with Michauxnée
30-day priority reservation window on the venue
48-hour priority booking on all ticketed events
15% discount at Willows & Pine
Voting rights on club programming and cultural direction
"Founder" designation on membership credential

100% refundable. All founding contributions held in attorney IOLTA trust until close.

Speak with Michauxnée

Corporate Founding Sponsor

"Mornings in the room. Your name on the Wall."

$25,000 year one

Then $12,500/year — rate locked permanently.
15 founding slots. Post-opening rate: $20,000/year, no lock.

Dedicated morning access (8am–1pm, Monday–Friday) — private use of the club for client meetings, team breakfasts, and gatherings; Willows & Pine catering on request
2 named full-access club memberships for designated team members
2 annual private events for your team (up to 49 guests)
Co-branding on founding materials, club website, and social — begins immediately upon signing
Founding Sponsor recognition — organization name on the Corporate Wall, permanent
Access to the member professional directory
Formal acknowledgment at all major cultural events

100% refundable. All founding contributions held in attorney IOLTA trust until close.

Start a conversation

How Your Contribution is Protected

Your money does not go to us. It goes to trust.

"Every founding contribution is held in a California attorney IOLTA trust account — legally separate from Beyond the Trees, from Willows & Pine, and from Michauxnée herself. If the building acquisition does not close, every dollar is returned, in full, to the contributor."

Held by an attorney, not by us.

Funds sit in an Interest on Lawyers' Trust Account (IOLTA) — a regulated, auditable account required of every licensed California attorney by the State Bar. Neither Michauxnée, Beyond the Trees, nor the restaurant has access to the funds.

ii.

100% refundable, in writing.

Each contributor signs an escrow agreement at the time of commitment. If the acquisition does not close for any reason within the agreed window, the attorney returns the full contribution to each member. No conditions, no partial retention.

iii.

Separate from the property escrow.

The building is already in a purchase transaction with its own escrow. The attorney trust is a second, independent account. The seller has no rights to, or visibility into, member contributions.

iv.

Transparent and receipted.

Each contribution receives a formal receipt from the attorney's office. Contributors may request running statements. At close, funds transfer directly from trust into the purchase transaction.

Beyond the Trees Social Club is a California Nonprofit Mutual Benefit Corporation. Membership is not equity and is not tax-deductible as a charitable contribution. Members receive access, recognition, and privileges as described. All founding contributions are escrow-held until acquisition close or refund.

The 90-Day Window

A short runway, by design.

Phase one

April 14 — May 14

Founding circle

Cornerstone and Corporate commitments opened to Michauxnée's personal and professional network. Escrow established. Attorney engaged.

Phase two

May 15 — June 13

Public launch

Legacy Community Supporter tier opens to the broader Oakland community. Press coverage and programming preview begin.

Phase three

June 14 — July 13

Contract & close

Purchase contract executed. SBA loan underwriting begins. Founding funds transfer from trust into the acquisition when we close — 60 to 90 days from contract signing. The building becomes ours.

Questions We've Been Asked

The things worth knowing.

No. Beyond the Trees is a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation — a private social club, not a 501(c)(3) public charity. Contributions are membership commitments, not charitable donations. The protection on your contribution is the attorney trust, not a tax deduction.

Every dollar is returned, in full, from the attorney IOLTA trust — as governed by the escrow agreement each contributor signs at commitment. No conditions, no partial retention. The trust is legally separate from Beyond the Trees and from the restaurant.

Founding members will be welcomed into the space as soon as the acquisition closes — currently targeted for October 2026. A founding celebration event will mark the opening.

Yes. Once 40 Cornerstone Lifetime slots are filled, the tier closes permanently. No additional Cornerstone memberships will be offered — not at $10,000, not at any price. After that, annual memberships (Preferred at $2,400/yr and Social at $1,500/yr) open to the public in later phases.

Founding Sponsors get private morning use of the club (8am–1pm, Monday–Friday) for client meetings, team breakfasts, and gatherings; two named full-access club memberships; two annual private events for the organization's team (up to 49 guests); and co-branded visibility on founding materials, club website, and social — beginning the moment the agreement is signed. Founding Sponsors are also recognized permanently on the Corporate Wall and at all major cultural events. Pricing is $25,000 in year one and $12,500/year ongoing — rate-locked permanently for founding sponsors. The post-opening rate is $20,000/year with no lock. Typically accessed through corporate social responsibility, community investment, or cultural sponsorship budgets at healthcare systems, financial institutions, law firms, and Bay Area companies. Fifteen founding slots — once filled, the founding rate is closed permanently.

The standard structure is a single payment to the attorney trust at commitment. In select cases, installment plans are accommodated — speak with Michauxnée.

The nonprofit entity is filed with the California Secretary of State. Agreed contract terms are in place with the seller of the building. An SBA Letter of Intent is in hand for the mortgage portion of the acquisition. Member contributions are held in attorney IOLTA trust — not in any account controlled by Beyond the Trees. Full documentation is available to prospective members on request.

Become a Founder

Speak with Michauxnée.

Express your interest below. No payment is collected on this site — Michauxnée will be in touch personally with materials and, if you'd like, an invitation to dinner.

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Your message is in Michauxnée's hands. She will be in touch within forty-eight hours — personally.

No payment was collected. All founding contributions are held in attorney trust, only after you have spoken with someone from our fundraising team and signed an escrow agreement.

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michauxnee@willowsandpine-restaurant.com