ESSENCE Magazine has truly outdone itself! I was so excited to be a part of the The ESSENCE + New Voices Entrepreneur Summit & Target Holiday Market this past weekend. The 3-day event lasted from December 13-15, 2019 and was full of surprises for every age group! This was my first time at the West End Production Park, but I must say that I was impressed with the level of professionalism while dealing with the staff there.
Wait, who is New Voices?
The New Voices Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating meaningful change for individuals and communities by providing entrepreneurial people of color, especially women of color, with capital needed to establish and grow their businesses via the New Voices Fund. New Voices hosted their seventh nationwide Pitch Competition here in Atlanta. The Foundation granted $100,000 in award money to Black women entrepreneurs, and I was there to witness the level of excitement in the building!!
So what was the big deal?
For one, the summit was free to the general public. It included a plethora of networking opportunities for business owners, artists and anyone making moves. They had a star-studded line up, including Queen Latifah, Master P, Toya Wright, Traci Steele, and many others. The event kicked off with warm welcome from Atlanta’s mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms. DJ Traci Steele kept things hoppin’ in between in-depth workshops and interviews throughout the day. As I mentioned earlier, a few business owners had an opportunity to pitch their businesses to a panel for a chance to win big money! New Voices awarded quite a few lucky winners with THOUSANDS of dollars. I was so excited to see the entire process! There were probably 100 Black-owned vendors, and I will be including interviews of a few of them I really liked, including this amazing little 12-year old chef!! There were health & wellness, beauty, apparel and food vendors neatly organized. Target pulled out all the stops, offering free bags and activations to highlight their stake in supporting Black businesses in the community. There was even a place for kids to play, a nice touch that I am sure many moms were thankful for. The most amazing display by Target was a huge selfie station, complete with perfect lighting and gold streams, perfect for Boomerangs and IG Stories. They encourages everyone to hashtag #newvoicessummit and #essencetargetholidaymarket.
This was the start of something AMAZING!
As you can see, Black folks can always turn anything into a party and I was right there to accompany the shenanigans! I also have footage and photos below and I’ll be releasing interviews of Black vendors out there making it happen.
While this was the very first event, ESSENCE, New Voices and Target plans to take this show on the road. I believe they’ll be in Vegas next! I think I’ll be at that one too.
I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for reading!
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