3,500 Attend CultureCon New York, A Homecoming for Creatives of Color

Thousands descended upon the Duggal Greenhouse in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday for CultureCon 2022, a star-studded conference designed to help creatives of color advance their careers and finances. Tracee Ellis Ross, Taraji P. Henson, and Meagan Good headlined this year’s summit, sharing insights on their career journeys during main-stage panel discussions. Other speakers included Tabitha Brown, Angie Martinez, Lena Waithe, Kenya Barris, Sam Jay, and Elaine Welteroth.

“To me, it’s about celebrating us, it’s about celebrating the culture, it’s about being present,” said Good on the red carpet when asked why attending CultureCon was important to her. “It’s about showing who we are and being our unique selves in a way that no one can be,” she continued. “I’m just excited to be here.”

Powered by The Creative Collective NYC

(The CCNYC), CultureCon also offered workshops on how to legally protect your IP, break into the tech industry as a creative, and build generational wealth. Meanwhile, sponsors like HBO Max, LinkedIn, Nike Yardrunners, Netflix, Foot Locker, The Onyx Collection, and Audible presented interactive installations in an adjacent building called “Activation Alley.” This marked CultureCon’s final stop on a three-city tour, which launched earlier this year and included stops in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Leading up to the daylong summit, The CCNYC presented CultureCon Week from Oct. 2–7, which included 12 bespoke events featuring special appearances from Dwyane Wade, Jidenna, and Marcus Samuelsson.

NBCUniversal communications executive Imani Ellis founded CultureCon and The CCNYC to provide multicultural creatives with brave spaces to build community and their craft. The idea was birthed in 2016 while she held a series of meet-ups with 10 friends in her then-one-bedroom apartment in Harlem. The first CultureCon was held in 2017 in New York City’s Meatpacking District and featured a keynote fireside chat with Spike Lee. Since then, The CCNYC says CultureCon has ballooned into “the fastest growing conference” for Black and brown creators.