BLCK Street Conference, an annual event known for empowering aspiring and current entrepreneurs, will return to Richmond on August 4-5, 2024 with the goal of inspiring participants to learn, grow and operate their business alongside other Black business owners. The conference is hosted by the JWC Foundation (Jackson Ward Collective) as part of its mission to leverage collective networks, resources, and information to build sustainable Black-owned businesses. Registration is now open for this highly-anticipated event, which promises valuable conversations and workshops alongside real world tools and resources that can be put into action after the conference.
This year’s event represents an extension of the conference, which now consists of two days of learning and collaboration opportunities, along with expanded offerings and hands-on workshops. Over 40 speakers, panel experiences, breakout sessions and workshops have been curated around three learning tracks, LEARN, GROW and OWN, to inspire attendees to choose a path most suitable to their business goals. The two-day conference will also feature a keynote by Yadira Harrison and Shannon Jones, founders of Verb, a nationally sought-out brand experience agency that has a unique business model of accepting new clients by referrals only.
Conference organizers selected the theme of “Back to the Lab” to highlight the importance of foundational elements of owning a business this year. “If the past BLCK Street Conferences inspired our attendees, we wanted to bring the focus to infrastructure, operations and the foundational aspects of running a business this year, putting hands to plow, by getting back in the lab,” says Rasheeda Creighton, Executive Director of the JWC Foundation.
Believing in the value of social capital, organizers created intentional spaces for the conference attendees to connect with other business owners and subject matter experts. There will be opportunities to meet one-on-one with subject matter experts in legal, accounting and marketing/branding. “B2B Connect,”as an example, will offer moderated informal discussions and industry breakout sessions to encourage participants to make real connections with peers within their respective industries.
Organizers say that they have seen the reach of the BLCK Street Conference grow beyond Richmond each year. “We were encouraged to have attendees from New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia and even Texas in the last two years. The JWC Foundation was founded in the spirit of Maggie L. Walker and the BLCK Street Conference is an extension of that vision of the kind of Black entrepreneurship we want to support throughout the Richmond region and beyond,” says Board Chair, Elizabeth Johnson, of Enterprise Community Partners.
The schedule for BLCK Street Conference is available on the conference website here.