By Keisha Senter
SPECTRUM will convene over 200 multicultural changemakers, business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors who are working to create an inclusive impact economy where everyone can thrive. For two days, the SPECTRUM community will have real conversations about concrete ways to work together to increase access, embrace inclusion, and drive impact in communities within Atlanta and across the country.
Here are 10 reasons why you cannot miss this event.
1. Real Talk: Participate in authentic conversations about access, inclusion, and impact
Let’s finally talk about what’s needed to create new systems that support and empower entrepreneurs of color. How do we really close the racial wealth gap in order to build a truly equitable economy? At SPECTRUM, we will name the things that must change and work together to create an action plan.
SPECTRUM’s anchor conversations will focus on increasing access to capital, tools, and insight for people who have been historically marginalized, building an inclusive economy in which all of us have equal opportunity to thrive and achieve prosperity, and surfacing solutions that deliver positive social impact.
2. The Community: Meet and hear from Game Changing Founders and Movement Leaders
The SPECTRUM community will feature leaders from Atlanta and across the country who are on the frontlines of demanding access and inclusion for leaders of color, while building impact across the United States.
The list of speakers includes:
- Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Francine Chew, VP, Impact & Responsible Investments Group at Prudential Financial
- Jasmine Crowe, Founder of Goodr
- Edward Dugger III, President of Reinventure Capital
- Ebony White, Senior Program Manager of the Racial Wealth Divide Initiative at Prosperity Now
- Rohit Malhotra, Founder and Executive Director of Atlanta’s Center for Civic Innovation
- Lisa Yancey, Cofounder of the We’s Match
- And many more…
We will also be joined by Frederick Hutson and Jessica Stago who were each recently named on Conscious Company Magazine’s 2019 list of 20 Game-Changing Founders of Color. Hutson is the Co-founder & CEO of Pigeonly and Stago is Co-founder of Change Labs and Change Labs Project Director for Grand Canyon Trust.
We have 35+ national, regional and local Network Partners, Ambassadors and Advisory Council partners and collaborators who ensure the message of the event and event goals are reaching our target audience of leaders and founders of color.
These and other influential entrepreneurs who have raised millions of dollars in investment capital, will share their inspiring journey stories, advice, and lessons learned on what it will take to empower, train and invest in the next wave of social impact innovators.
3. The Opportunity: Be inspired and challenged
Leading entrepreneur Joey Womack, who is on the SPECTRUM Advisory Council, shared what he is most excited to add to the conversation,
“I am excited about bringing a challenge to the people. When I am training entrepreneurs I say that innovation comes in times of discomfort…I’m looking forward to making people a little uncomfortable. Not necessarily by the content of the conversation per se, but by saying–hey we have the ability to do much more in the city. Not only for people within the metro Atlanta area, but globally. We can make that impact. I want to ask people, are you going to step up to the plate and explore the limits of your potential? Or are you going to sit back and remain comfortable by doing what you are currently doing?”
Read the full interview for more: Atlanta’s Equity Champion and Leading Social Entrepreneur Joey Womack is Issuing You a Challenge: Increase Access, Inclusion, and Impact
4. The Hosts: SPECTRUM is a co-production of SOCAP and Conscious Company Media
SPECTRUM will be the first event co-produced by internationally respected conveners SOCAP and Conscious Company Media. SOCAP brings together the largest impact investing community in the world at its annual flagship conference in San Francisco and at SOCAP 365 events throughout the year. Conscious Company Media produces premier impact events Conscious Company Leaders Forum and the World-Changing Women’s Summit in addition to Conscious Company Magazine. SOCAP and Conscious Company are both part of Intentional Media, a family of media and event brands catalyzing the transition to an economy that ensures social, environmental and economic systems thrive together.
5. The Spot: The Gathering Spot
The Gathering Spot has a growing and well-earned reputation as a place where important conversations happen and valuable connections are made. Co-founders and innovators, Ryan Wilson and TK Petersen describe their space in Atlanta as a “hub of diversity and cultural epicenter for one-of-a-kind experiences, impactful gatherings, collaborative learning and transformative relationships.”
6. The Region: Atlanta and beyond
Atlanta has long been called “the city too busy to hate.” More recently its been called “the nation’s black tech capital” and the “new Silicon Valley” for Black Founders. At SPECTRUM, we’ll talk with some of the brightest stars working in the Atlanta ecosystem, as well as leaders from Dallas to Birmingham to New Orleans to Las Vegas to share how their work is impacting communities around the country. We’ll look at the innovation happening in cities across America, and consider what it means for the community, the region, the nation, and the world.
7. Our Partners: Produced in partnership with the William K. Kellogg Foundation, Prudential and others
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has placed racial equity as one of the central pillars of their work. With a focus on narrative change, racial healing, and relationship building, Kellogg Foundation has long been on the forefront of racial equity, allocating $100 million of its endowment to mission-driven investments over the last decade.
Cynthia Muller, Director of Mission Investment at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation said of SPECTRUM, “This new convening is a thoughtful and exciting continuation of the conversations that emerged during the Racial Equity track that the Kellogg Foundation supported at SOCAP17 and SOCAP18. Impact investors, social entrepreneurs, and business leaders will be essential partners to create pathways for equitable opportunity and harness the power of the capital markets to improve the lives of children, their families and their communities.”
SPECTRUM is also supported by leading companies such as Prudential Financial, LOCUS, Civic Dinners and KTC Atlanta who demonstrate a commitment to racial equity and inclusion.
8. Our Guide: Authentic conversations led by an experienced facilitator
Nadia Brigham, President of Brigham Consulting, will facilitate the conversations at SPECTRUM. Nadia brings over 20 years of experience in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion particularly focused on racial equity and community engagement. She will use her skills as a facilitator and coalition builder to ensure that everyone walks away from SPECTRUM with valuable insights and personal commitments to take meaningful action.
9. Cut through the noise: Real answers to tough questions
Impact investing, social entrepreneurship, the conscious business movement, these terms get used a lot, but what do they really mean? What do they look like in practice? At SPECTRUM, experts who are part of these movements will cover the basics, offer concrete examples, and arm you with resources to keep learning. This is an opportunity to get your questions answered and walk away with a new set of practices you can use to create change right away.
10. Take Action: Help create an action plan for change
SPECTRUM has an ambitious goal to create change, and that means using this event to identify next steps and build an action plan to increase access, embrace inclusion, and deliver impact.
Our goal is to get more resources and capital in the hands of entrepreneurs, leaders, and communities of color.
You’ll walk away with actionable insights, connections, and concrete ways to start activating change individually and organizationally.
SPECTRUM will be returning to Atlanta in 2020! Join the conversation about Access, Inclusion, and Impact at the SPECTRUM June 9 – 11, 2020. Register here to join us!
Keisha Senter is a writer and producer whose passion to empower and engage has led her to develop creative content at the highest levels of entertainment, philanthropy and government. She is the Founder and Chief Impact Officer at The Solution Senter.
