CultureCon Founder Imani Ellis on the New York Conference, a 'Celebration of Joy and Freedom'
Kyle Johnson
Imani Ellis has created a safe space for young professionals and creatives to learn and grow in their industries.
After working her way up from the NBC page program to vice president of communications at the media company, Ellis organically dreamed up the idea for CultureCon — a conference for changemakers of color to connect in their own careers — in her Harlem apartment.
"I think for me, I was looking for community," Ellis tells PEOPLE. "I had a job that I loved, but I was searching for where I could kind of talk about all the other parts of my life, so I invited 10 friends and I cooked for them."
As the daughter of preachers, she loved attending bible studies throughout her life and being a part of comforting, safe spaces. And through her career working in publicity, she had a natural passion for communicating with others. She replicated these experiences in her N.Y.C. home — with a catch for her friends before they could come over for the get-together.
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"The only rule for this invitation was that they had to bring someone that they could vouch for," she says. "It was meant to be a one-time thing, but at the end, everyone was like, 'Great, when's the next one?' "
This experience provided the framework for Ellis to not only create CultureCon, but to also found the Creative Collective NYC, a community of professionals dedicated to creating brave spaces for Black and Brown creatives.
Ellis and TheCCnyc have hosted CultureCon since 2017 with the main mission to help people network as naturally as possible.
"We really do invite young professionals and creatives to come and be curious to meet other people [and] to learn about other industries," she says. "It's fueled from being authentic; when you're being authentic, it takes the pressure off networking because you're not thinking about what I can get from this person. It's more so, if I just show up as myself and they're showing up as themselves, what magic can we create together."
CultureCon New York is the final stop of the summit's three-city tour, the first two being in Atlanta and Los Angeles earlier this year. The New York City conference will include CultureCon Week from Oct. 2 to 7 with exclusive events and appearances from Dwyane Wade, Jidenna, Marcus Samuelsson, Smino, Nana Kwabena and Dawn Davis.
Getty (2) Taraji P. Henson and Lena Waithe
CultureCon Week will lead into CultureCon New York on Oct. 8, welcoming the likes of Taraji P. Henson, Lena Waithe and Angie Martinez to the Duggal Greenhouse in Brooklyn for a day filled with conversations, events and activations from sponsors. Attendees at this final day of the cultural powerhouse event will be able to take part in a range of experiences, such as shopping at a small business market — powered by Cash App and Square — and attending skill-building workshops.
The event will center on the Culture Stage, where sponsors such as HBO Max, Netflix, Google and Prime Video will power conversations where "you can get inspirational gems and conversations that drive the culture," says Ellis. Here, you can hear from other celebrities attending the event, like Tracee Ellis Ross, Meagan Good, Elaine Welteroth, Kendrick Sampson, Kenya Barris, Terrence J, Lexi Underwood, Phoebe Robinson, Kalen Allen and Winston Duke, and expand your community along the way with other creatives.
"If you've never been, it feels like you've been before because it's such a celebration of joy and freedom and you're not restricted to your title," says Ellis. "That's what makes us very different from other conferences, because we really are very invested in the totality of who you are."
