Theme: “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for!”

  • 8:30am- 5:00pm

Registration - Soundscape Provided by DJ Onyx

  • 8:30am - 9:15am

Upon registration community members will have the opportunity to contribute personal photos
in the Community Roots Gallery.

Breakfast + Networking

  • 8:30am - 9:15am

Menu Curated by Jerkies Caribbean Restaurant and Black Girls Eat

African Drummers invite community members into the Sanctuary

  • 9:15am - 9:20am

Asase Yaa Entertainment Group

Welcome to the YD Community

  • 9:20am - 9:30am

Malik Yoba Founder/CEO Yoba Development + Dena Yoba President Yoba Development Foundation + Navy Yard Rep Joyce Duverce

“The first real estate we own is in our minds.” – Malik Yoba

Tilling the Soil

  • 9:30am - 10:05am

Activating a Growth Mindset – with Malik Yoba and Di Santana -a cofacilitated guided AM meditation with music + sound baths (15 mins)

Life GPS – with Karla Hill Human Resources expert and life coach offers her 10-step process for navigating “the self” on the road to success. A 20-minute personal assessment activity to help community members examine, reexamine and identify their
personal values versus their personality traits and to help achieve clarity on goals for school, professional career and community service choices. (20 mins)

“You ain’t been nobody until you’ve been yourself” – Anonymous Homeless Man

Planting Seeds

  • 10:10am - 10:50am

Screening Short Film: Dear America: A Letter From Black Women:
Illuminates the untold story of Black Women in America and their pivotal role in shaping the nation’s political history and the contemporary fight to protect the democracy they’ve long upheld. From housing rights to healthcare, scholars to activists, this film amplifies the diverse voices of Black women as they mobilize to
defend their rights and the future of American democracy in the face of rising threats. Followed by Q&A with Vanessa Freeman News Anchor WPIX and filmmakers – Shennell Barnes, Julia Carias Linares, Meiling Macias-Toro + Call to Action!!

Your Network is Your Net Worth

  • 10:50am - 11:05am

Networking + Community Move. Community members are encouraged to move to a different “neighborhood” from where they originally settled at top of day. Meet new neighbors and network.

Growing Strong Roots

  • 11:10am - 11:50am

Emotional Wellness for Entrepreneurs with Dr. Shakenna Williams – Executive Director of the Frank & Eileen Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College leads a panel of Babson alums, Dr. Sadie Burton-Goss, and Dr. Barbara J. Brown in a transparent conversation on the mental and emotional toll of entrepreneurship. Featuring Felecia Hatcher, CEO of Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition Opportunity Inc. (25 mins)

Imposter Syndrome and The Lies We Tell Ourselves
Navigating new environments personally and professionally can be intimidating when you face self-doubt or lack experience, especially for young professionals starting out. Meet Nekesha Sawh, Senior Portfolio Manager at Hines and Judith Folashade Ojo CEO of HR Media &Co as they share strategies and insights on successful integration in corporate America and beyond. (15 mins)

From the Ground Up: Building & Owning in Our Communities

  • 11:55am - 12:15pm

Fireside Chat with Tawan Davis + Malik Yoba

Tawan Davis is a Founding Partner and CEO of the Steinbridge Group. He is also recognized as one of America’s emerging business, economic, and social leaders. In this role, Mr. Davis leads the company by combining his deep training and experience in finance and economics with a prolific social activism. He began his career as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs and was later a real estate private equity investor with Prudential Financial, leading and managing investments both in Europe and the United States. Davis later served as Vice President and Head of Public-Private Partnerships in the administration of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and as CIO of a $5 billion national real estate development firm.

Love and Basketball: Black Women and the NBA

  • 12:20pm - 12:50pm

Panel – Meet Executive Director of the Foundation at the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), – Erika Swilley, EVP/ Player Operations (NBPA) Morgan Cato, as they share how their Black Girl Magic, love for the game of basketball and investing in community impact, has led to executive level success, a family business and driven millions of dollars in revenue.

LUNCH

  • 1:00pm - 1:45pm

Harvesting

  • 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Workshop – How to Obtain $100k in funding for Start Ups – with The Haitian CEO Herman Dolce – Credit expert and founder of Bella Sloan Enterprises, an online financial literacy platform educating thousands and transforming the financial fortunes of our community. (25 mins)

Workshop – How to Buy Real Estate with No Personal Money Down –with Will Roundtree founder of Full Time CEO and REI90 program has turned thousands of curious Americans across the country into educated investors and successful property owners. Don’t let your physical distance be your hinderance. (25 mins)

Workshop – Home Buying 101 and The Secrets Lenders Never Tell You-with Krysta Pate founder and CEO of The Ownership Initiative a mission-based advisory firm working to improve Detroiters’ access to homeownership and teaching these methods to municipalities Nationwide. (25 mins)

Understanding Your “Worth”

  • 3:20 pm - 3:50pm

Fireside Chat with Malik Yoba + Andre M. Perry, senior fellow and director of the Center for Community Uplift at the Brookings Institute and professor of practice of economics at Washington University in St. Louis. A nationally known and respected commentator on race, structural inequality, and education, Perry is the author of the forthcoming book “Black Power Scorecard: Measuring the Racial Gap and What We Can Do to Close It” and will share excerpts, along with Kelle Rozelle marketing executive and founder of The Black Dollar Index, created to steer consumers towards businesses that support Black America and hold corporations accountable for racial justice.

Your Network is Your Net Worth

  • 3:50pm - 4:05pm

Networking + Community Move. Community members are encouraged to move to a different “neighborhood” from where they originally settled at top of day. Meet new neighbors and network.

How to be Supplier in Demand

  • 4:10pm - 4:40pm

Building Wealth in Supplier Diversity – Panel meet – Nick Williams NOW Interactives, Michael Garner, NYC Chief Business Diversity Officer. Supplier diversity is a business strategy that prioritizes sourcing products and services from a wide range of suppliers, including those owned by individuals from diverse backgrounds and groups who have been historically underrepresented in the business world.

We Need to Make More Stuff

  • 4:45pm - 5:15pm

Opportunities in Local Manufacturing at Brooklyn Navy Yard- Francilia Wilkins Rahim is the CEO and Founder of R.F. Wilkins Consultants, Inc. (RFW) and AYO Labs. RFW, established in 2011, is a top management consulting firm specializing in project management, compliance, and technology systems integration. AYO Labs, founded in 2023, is the largest African American woman owned health and beauty contract manufacturer in the U.S., supporting diverse business growth.

Closing Remarks

  • 5:15pm - 5:20pm

Speaker TBD

**** Programming Schedule Subject to Change