SOCAP and Conscious Company Media, with support from W.K.Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) are excited to announce the launch of SPECTRUM, a two-day event at The Gathering Spot in Atlanta, GA on June 12 and 13, 2019.
SPECTRUM will be a multicultural gathering of changemakers who are creating an inclusive impact economy. Over two days of deep discussions, fireside chats, networking sessions, and receptions we’ll have real conversations and work together to create a plan of action to support, invest in, and empower business leaders and entrepreneurs of color.
SPECTRUM will prioritize conversations around the central themes of access, inclusion, and impact for leaders of color:
- Access: increasing access to capital, knowledge, tools, and information for historically marginalized people
- Inclusion: building an economy in which all of us have equal opportunity to thrive and achieve prosperity
- Impact: solutions that deliver positive social change
Why Atlanta
Atlanta was chosen as the ideal location for SPECTRUM because of its rich history and culture of birthing and supporting social justice movements, booming business sector and entrepreneurial scene, and dynamic cross-sector set of players from finance to academia to tech to entertainment. We’re thrilled to have a partner in The Gathering Spot, an innovative “hub of diversity” at the intersection of business, culture, and community, founded in Atlanta in 2016.
Event Organizers
For over a decade, SOCAP has gathered dynamic voices from all backgrounds and sectors to address the unique obstacles that we all face when markets fail. SOCAP is a community of investors, entrepreneurs, and social impact leaders addressing the world’s toughest challenges through market-based solutions. For the last two years, with support from WKKF, SOCAP has curated a content series focused on the role of business and investment in advancing racial equity at our flagship event in San Francisco. SPECTRUM is an extension and expansion of this work.
“This event isn’t a nod to diversity — it’s elevating a real opportunity that impact investing and conscious business practitioners would be foolish to overlook,” says Lindsay Smalling, CEO of SOCAP. “The best performing and highest impact enterprises are informed by lived experience, and anyone interested in creating real impact in communities should be actively directing financial and social capital to entrepreneurs of color.”
SOCAP and Conscious Company Media are partnering to offer this event to accelerate conversations and build bridges between investors and business leaders committed to driving positive change, and leaders within communities that have historically lacked access to financial capital and other resources to take innovative solutions to scale.
Conscious Company Media is a community dedicated to doing business better. The organization believes that companies and business leaders have a crucial role to play in creating an environmentally sustainable, socially just, and spiritually meaningful human presence on this planet. Through a print magazine, events, digital content, and membership community, Conscious Company Media enables business leaders to redefine success in business and have a positive impact on the world.
“While the conscious business movement on the whole has been very well intentioned, there are still too often situations where leaders of color are not represented or do not even have access to certain rooms, conversations, or opportunities. It’s unacceptable, and it’s incumbent upon all of us to ensure everyone’s voice is heard if we’re going to create a truly impactful movement” said Meghan French Dunbar Co-Founder & CEO of Conscious Company Media. “We’re thrilled to be hosting the SPECTRUM event with our partners at SOCAP and the Kellogg Foundation to begin having these critical conversations around creating an impact economy that works for everyone, not just those who have historically been in power.”
With SPECTRUM we want to explore what will it take to create better systems for identifying, fostering, and supporting entrepreneurs and business leaders of color.
More to Come
We’re currently engaged in the process of curating SPECTRUM sessions and inviting speakers. We’ll be releasing more details soon.
Learn more about the event and register at the early bird rate here.
The SPECTRUM Production Team
VaShone Huff, SPECTRUM Engagement and Partnerships Consultant
Keisha Senter, SPECTRUM Content and Strategy Consultant
Cari Hanson, SOCAP Senior Content Manager
