OVERVIEW
Theme
Renaissance: Where Innovation Meets Imagination
As we continue to move forward to rebuild the global economy and the world gradually comes to embrace new realities, what is the future of business for Black and LatinX leaders? The conference program will consider the possibilities for rebirth amongst immense disruption and transformation in business, exploring paths to creativity, innovation, and advancement across a variety of industries.
Topics
Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital
Black and LatinX founders that have broken barriers across various industries will be highlighted alongside Black and LatinX venture capitalists. Founders will talk about their journey as entrepreneurs, challenges they faced when building their companies (including raising capital), and the future for their companies. Venture capitalists will talk about how the VC industry is helping the next generation of Black and LatinX entrepreneurs, why founders from these groups have been underrepresented in VC, how the industry has changed/is trying to change, and how future business leaders can help.
Emerging Industries
This panel aims to increase awareness of emerging industries (including cannabis, artificial intelligence (AI), internet-of-things (iOT), autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, CleanTech, InsurTech, AgriTech, cryptocurrency, Web3, cannabis, renewable & alternative energy, etc.) as well as highlight success stories. Black and LatinX leaders working in these spaces will discuss their experiences in these industries, emerging trends, challenges, and future industry outlook.
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)
CDFIs serve as financial first responders by bringing affordable capital to the underbanked, who are often overlooked by traditional lenders. Yet, more investments are needed to enable CDFIs to scale and deploy this impact capital to the underbanked. This panel will explore the unique challenges that Black and Brown-led CDFIs face with respect to access to sufficient lending capital and visibility. They will also explore the ways that they have had to become more innovative and imaginative in these pursuits.
Entertainment
The rapid expansion of digital transformation has brought many changes to the entertainment industry, from the type of content that is created to how and by whom it is created and consumed. This panel will provide an opportunity for the audience to hear from Black and LatinX leaders across various industries (including film & television, gaming, sports, music, and media) about emerging innovations and disruptions in entertainment.
