AI's Impact on Hardware


Sponsored by

boon


Details

Date

Tue, Oct 7

Time

12:15PM – 1:00PM

Stage

Premier stage

Address

Spring Studios
50 Varick St,
New York, NY 10013

Speakers & Moderators

Co-Founder, Alt Future

Speaker

Diversity Media Strategy & Investment, General Motors

Speaker

Mike Tresvant

TBD

Speaker

Nothing found.

Coming soon.

This Blackweek discussion is proudly sponsored by Shipt. We’re grateful for their generous support and commitment to right-sizing industries to help create more opportunity for equity and ownership.


You Ain't Ready for AI, You Just Think You Are


Sponsored by

boon


Details

Date

Tue, Oct 7

Time

12:00PM – 12:45PM

Stage

Premier stage

Address

Spring Studios
50 Varick St,
New York, NY 10013

Speakers & Moderators

Co-Founder, Alpha

Speaker

Chief Marketing Officer at HarbourView Equity Partners

Speaker

Diversity Media Strategy & Investment, General Motors

Speaker

Mike Tresvant

TBD

Speaker

Nothing found.

AI may dominate boardroom conversations, but most Fortune 500 brands are far from prepared. Former Meta executive and Alpha co-founder Alvin Bowles exposes the gaps—fractured data, missing talent, and ethical blind spots—that stand between hype and real impact. With sharp insights, he challenges leaders to move beyond buzzwords and build the vision and infrastructure needed to truly compete in the age of intelligent technology.

This Blackweek discussion is proudly sponsored by AWS. We’re grateful for their generous support and commitment to right-sizing industries to help create more opportunity for equity and ownership.


The Rise of Black Wanderlust — Is Travel the New Social Currency?


Sponsored by

boon


Details

Date

Tue, Oct 7

Time

10:00AM -10:45AM

Stage

Salon stage

Address

Spring Studios
50 Varick St,
New York, NY 10013

Speakers & Moderators

Global Brand Strategist, Cultural Innovator, Founder, AI to the World

Speaker

Head of Commercial Marketing, Delta Air Lines

Speaker

CEO & Founder, Hero Collective

Moderator

Nothing found.

Travel has become a new form of social currency—shaping identity, community, and economic power. In this conversation, Head of Commercial Marketing at Delta Air Lines, Shannon Womack and Travel Influencer Tanyka Renee explore how Black travelers are fueling the experience economy, driving over $145 billion in annual U.S. travel spend and taking more than 184 million trips a year. From cultural representation to premium experiences, they’ll discuss how diverse consumers are redefining the future of travel and how the industry can authentically meet their needs.

This Blackweek discussion is proudly sponsored by Delta Air Lines. We’re grateful for their generous support and commitment to right-sizing industries to help create more opportunity for equity and ownership.


All Prompts Matter


Sponsored by

boon


Details

Date

Wed, Oct 8

Time

10:15AM -11:00AM

Stage

Salon stage

Address

Spring Studios
50 Varick St,
New York, NY 10013

Speakers & Moderators

Chief Executive Officer, The Martin Agency

Speaker

Diversity Media Strategy & Investment, General Motors

Speaker

Mike Tresvant

TBD

Speaker

Nothing found.

Coming soon.

This Blackweek discussion is proudly sponsored by Shipt. We’re grateful for their generous support and commitment to right-sizing industries to help create more opportunity for equity and ownership.


Muted on Arrival


Sponsored by

boon


Details

Date

Wed, Oct 8

Time

10:00AM- 10:45AM

Stage

Salon stage

Address

Spring Studios
50 Varick St,
New York, NY 10013

Speakers & Moderators

Co-Founder & CEO, SPILL

Speaker

Senior Director of Digital Content & Strategy, Color of Change

Speaker

Journalist & Creative Producer

Speaker

Founder, The Ajayi Effect

Moderator

Nothing found.

This session confronts one of the most insidious dynamics affecting Black visibility in the digital age: algorithmic suppression. It’s not just about “shadowbans” or engagement drop-offs. It’s about what happens when Black professionals, creators, and thought leaders are rendered invisible by systems that reward neutrality, whiteness, and sanitized messaging over truth, urgency, and cultural clarity.

We’ll move beyond diagnosing the problem to offering a tangible Toolkit for Digital Liberation — equipping Black creators with actionable strategies for reciprocity, community-building, and equity.

Panelist Perspectives

  • Alphonzo Terrell: A platform builder’s lens on reclaiming infrastructure, disrupting extractive models, and “building your own” as a form of resistance and visioning.
  • Charles Amuzie: A digital advocacy perspective on public policy, civic engagement, and scalable community solutions to counter systemic erasure.
  • Chereese Sheen: Grounded insights on lived suppression, the economics of platform exit, and community-centered innovation — adding narrative texture to the Toolkit for Digital Liberation.

The Big Idea
This session moves beyond grievance and into design. Suppression isn’t just a tech glitch — it’s a power issue with measurable costs: lost partnerships, erased labor, cultural distortion, and economic harm. Together we’ll dissect the issue and co-create a roadmap for moving from muted to mobilized.

This Blackweek discussion is proudly sponsored by Razorfish. We’re grateful for their generous support and commitment to right-sizing industries to help create more opportunity for equity and ownership.


What if Lions Were Black?


Sponsored by

boon


Details

Date

Wed, Oct 8

Time

1:00PM – 1:45PM

Stage

Premier stage

Address

Spring Studios
50 Varick St,
New York, NY 10013

Speakers & Moderators

CEO, Cannes Lion

Speaker

CAO, HAVAS LYNX

Moderator

Diversity Media Strategy & Investment, General Motors

Speaker

Mike Tresvant

TBD

Speaker

Nothing found.

Creative excellence has the power to shape culture—but who gets recognized, and who gets left out? In this candid conversation, Cannes Lions CEO Simon Cook and Havas’ André Gray unpack the urgent need for greater representation of diverse creatives in the awards circuit. Together, they’ll explore how the industry can reimagine recognition, expand access, and ensure that the brilliance of Black and underrepresented talent is celebrated on the world’s biggest creative stage.

This Blackweek discussion is proudly sponsored by Shipt. We’re grateful for their generous support and commitment to right-sizing industries to help create more opportunity for equity and ownership.


Empire Strikes Back — How Will Media Agencies Survive in the Age of AI?


Sponsored by

boon


Details

Date

Wed, Oct 8

Time

11:15AM – 12:00PM

Stage

Premier stage

Address

Spring Studios
50 Varick St,
New York, NY 10013

Speakers & Moderators

CEO, WPP Media, Canada

Speaker

Diversity Media Strategy & Investment, General Motors

Speaker

Mike Tresvant

TBD

Speaker

Nothing found.

Coming soon.

This Blackweek discussion is proudly sponsored by Shipt. We’re grateful for their generous support and commitment to right-sizing industries to help create more opportunity for equity and ownership.


The Power of Proximity: Driving Impact Through Culture


Sponsored by

boon


Details

Date

Tue, Oct 7

Time

1:00PM – 1:45PM

Stage

Premier stage

Address

Spring Studios
50 Varick St,
New York, NY 10013

Speakers & Moderators

President & CEO, The League

Speaker

Author, Activist, Former Chief Diversity Officer, Minnesota Timberwolves

Moderator

Diversity Media Strategy & Investment, General Motors

Speaker

Mike Tresvant

TBD

Speaker

Nothing found.

From the start, business in America has been about more than profit. Companies have long played a role in shaping civic life. Corporate responsibility isn’t just philanthropy or ESG reports. It’s about how decisions made in boardrooms, supply chains, and storefronts ripple out into communities. In today’s marketplace, brands are no longer judged by the products they sell alone, but by the cultural and social impact they create.

This conversation, led by Tracy Sturdivant, CEO and President of The League, and Tru Pettigrew, Founder and Chief Bridge Builder of Tru Access, will explore how companies can authentically connect with communities and drive meaningful change. Grounded in the Four Degrees of Cultural Proximity framework, the discussion will highlight the four dimensions of culture—social, cultural, community, and economic—to unpack how brands can move beyond surface-level engagement to real impact through cultivating genuine relevance with their consumers and communities. Attendees will walk away with a deeper understanding of how proximity to culture and intentional impact strategies can fuel brand growth, build equity, and strengthen long-term relationships with consumers.

This Blackweek discussion is proudly sponsored by The League. We’re grateful for their generous support and commitment to right-sizing industries to help create more opportunity for equity and ownership.


Moving Beyond CPMs: Building Media Brands in the Age of AI


Sponsored by

boon


Details

Date

Wed, Oct 8

Time

11:00AM – 11:45AM

Stage

Premier stage

Address

Spring Studios
50 Varick St,
New York, NY 10013

Speakers & Moderators

VP, Global Marketing & Media Innovation, P&G

Speaker

CEO, North America, Footballco

Speaker

Executive Vice President, Complex NTWRK

Speaker

Chief Development & Strategy Officer, VOX Media

Moderator

VP, Global Marketing & Media Innovation, P&G

Moderator

Chief Development & Strategy Officer, VOX Media

Speaker

Nothing found.

As artificial intelligence reshapes the media landscape, traditional publishers face both disruption and opportunity. In this panel, industry leaders discuss how AI will transform audience engagement, content creation, and monetization—pushing brands to move beyond CPMs and toward deeper, more sustainable models. Shyra Smart, Jason Wagenheim, and Mike Tresvant share insights on what it will take for media companies to not only survive, but thrive, in an AI-driven future.

This Blackweek discussion is proudly sponsored by Complex. We’re grateful for their generous support and commitment to right-sizing industries to help create more opportunity for equity and ownership.


Taking the Plunge – Putting Your Brand in Influencers' Hands


Sponsored by

boon


Details

Date

Wed, Oct 8

Time

1:00PM – 1:45PM

Stage

Impact stage

Address

Spring Studios
50 Varick St,
New York, NY 10013

Speakers & Moderators

Chief Marketing Officer, Primo Brands

Speaker

Founder, Kitchen Table

Moderator

Entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of aWLCo

Speaker

Nothing found.

Before Ashton Hall began dunking his face in Saratoga Water, the brand—like many in the crowded beverage market—was an afterthought. Today, it’s a case study in how unconventional influencer partnerships can breathe new life into legacy products. In this talk, Primo Brands CMO Kherri Holland Tillman explores how Saratoga has benefited from putting its brand in the hands of creators, what risks and rewards come with leaning on influencer-driven storytelling, and whether this alternative approach could redefine the future of brand building.

This Blackweek discussion is proudly sponsored by Doordash. We’re grateful for their generous support and commitment to right-sizing industries to help create more opportunity for equity and ownership.