Aida Rodriguez is an Afro-Latina, taking the world of entertainment by storm with her wit, strong performances and charismatic personality. Making history as the first Latina to appear in two comedy specials airing in one month on both HBO and Showtime, Rodriguez was handpicked by director Taylor Hackford for his film The Comedian starring Robert De Niro. In 2017, Coca Cola Global Women’s LINC Conference sponsored Rodriguez’s speech that modeled a TED Talk. Rodriguez has also appeared on Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show, five-time host of the PBS Imagen Awards, NBC Last Comic Standing’s finals, TRUtv’s Laff Tracks, Nickelodeon Mom’s Night Out and Parental Discretion.

Aida’s half-hour special was feature as part of Tiffany Haddish's breakout series They Ready which was executive produced by Haddish, Wanda Sykes and Paige Hurwitz for Netflix. She is currently in development on her half-hour scripted series with Warner Media, for which she will write, executive produce and star in. Haddish, Chris Case and Nastaran Dibai are also on board to executive produce. Rodriguez is also developing an animated series with ITV Studios and Nick Weidenfeld. She will produce her first one-hour special (also with Warner Media) for HBO Max.

Aida Rodriguez wears many hats as comedian, actress, writer and mother. Sharing her point of view of the world, she writes comedy that is poignant and incisive. Her audiences often laugh hard, think hard and feel hard as her comedy is cathartic and confrontational. Known as Funny Aida, Rodriguez aims to challenge the norms of today and the discomfort or taboo-quality around controversial topics like race, gender, sexuality and family dynamics through her comedy. From the moment she takes the stage, the audience is engaged whether in laughter or in thought. Rodriguez’s comedy is not only medicine for the soul but it may one day just change the world.

“The Look” is an integrated platform that seeks to both educate and inform the public about unconscious bias, with the goal to reach a broad audience about the bias that black men face.

‘The Look’ was launched as a narrative film from the SATURDAY MORNING creative collective in partnership with Procter & Gamble to highlight bias as experienced by many black men in America. The Look has an ambitious goal of helping educate the public about what unconscious bias is, what it looks like and to provide tools to change behavior.

Your Mastercard can now proudly display your chosen name.

For Black History Month, we leveraged data to celebrate the undeniable influence of Black history makers on American culture. Our data scientists combed through 15+ years of google.com search data to identify Black individuals who were the Most Searched in their respective categories: from Queen Bey to Malcolm X.

We told the Most Searched story with a 90-second Grammys spot, an immersive website, out-of-home billboards in iconic Black neighborhoods, and press ads in Black-owned publications. Lastly, we showed our commitment to future history-makers, providing a $3M grant and 30s of Grammy airtime to NAACP’s ACT-SO, an achievement program for students.

It's a bird, it's a plane. No, it's the next generation of young leaders. The future is now looking bright and full of activism, thanks to Nike and PAPER's 'All for 1' campaign which highlights those who are breaking ground in their communities.

In anticipation of its AF1 Triple Black release, Nike and PAPER shined a light on the strength and resilience of young, diverse champions. This past holiday season, we showcased dynamic movers and shakers through a docu-style campaign with 'All for 1' - an ethos of hard work, grind and a mentality of unbreakable hustle.

New York Times journalism has the power to transform the way we see the world around us. The 1619 Project, published to honor the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery, examines its legacy on our country and how it shaped nearly everything from music to traffic to capitalism—even our democracy itself. To underscore this, our film features actress Janelle Monáe reciting words from the 1619 Project in the exact location where the first enslaved Africans came to this nation—before we were yet a nation—confronting our assumptions about slavery's legacy in America.

Justin is a 23-year-old who got his start playing football and blending counter-service smoothies. Now, he’s a living testament that empathy and compassion can take you any/everywhere. Justin leads new business at ThreeSixtyEight, an agency in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he’s built partnerships with brands such as Rakuten and helped double revenue during his tenure.

Justin strives to be uncommon in creating a new mold for what an African American male or any BIPOC can achieve. He’s creating a new example of what can be accomplished when you prioritize people over prizes, awareness over accolades, and love over hate.

Nayantara Dutta is a writer, strategist and third culture kid. Growing up in six countries, she works to create visibility and community for internationals and the South Asian diaspora. She is the founder of the online community Unapologetically Muslim and the event series Defining Desi. She also writes about culture and identity for Fast Company, Quartz, The Guardian and BBC Culture. One of her favorite moments was being called onstage to interview M. Night Shyamalan at ADCOLOR 2019!

Abu Ngauja is a talent experience strategist, representation + belonging advisor, and sometimes, when-inspired, a poet currently based in Richmond, Virginia. His genesis didn’t start there—he began in integrated marketing, leading creative teams and partnering with clients to make work for global brands like McDonald’s, Audi of America, 23andMe, Playstation, and Reebok. A driving belief that everyone in the world “deserves to be seen as they want to be seen” led him to stops in nearly every US time zone and then on a quick soul trek through Mexico and Sierra Leone, before a push into becoming the first ever manager of talent engagement and inclusion at The Martin Agency, a creative collective. Here he speaks power into the purpose of Martin’s talent through his philosophy of visibility, centering the experiences (primarily of those historically misrepresented) by way of language, community programming, wellbeing initiatives, and contribution-centered tools.

Abu recognizes he is still nowhere near where the universe wants him, and welcomes the journey.

KR is a visionary leader, trailblazing a path forward for inclusive design and marketing for the last two decades. Diagnosed with severe hearing loss at the age of three, she’s made it her life’s work to be a strong advocate for disabled people. As the Head of Brand Accessibility at Google, Brand Studio she is driving innovation of representation for disabled audience’s; a segment that historically has been overlooked. As a disability rights leader, she successfully lobbied with Senator Elizabeth Warren’s team on new legislation, the OTC Hearing Aid Act of 2017, which became law in August 2017.

Supriya is passionate about working at the convergence of culture, tech and content. She has helped clients like the US Army, Dropbox, and Apple develop and scale content strategies. In past lives, Supriya worked as a journalist whose stories appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, CNN, Teen Vogue, Redbook, VICE, TIME, and Playboy. Supriya developed her logophilic tendencies while serving 6 years in the US Army building IT infrastructures across South Korea, Iraq and the United States. Throughout her communications career she has been a champion for inclusivity at both the team level and through client work.

Chantel George is an experienced Enterprise Account Executive in AdTech, MarTech & SaaS. With her attention to detail, thoroughness and client-first mentality, she has exceeded quotas, trained and managed Account Executives, as well as on-boarded larger scale clients for her previous companies.

With an education in Film and Television combined with Communication and Legal studies, she uses all her skills to ignite her entrepreneurial spirit and salesmanship. Chantel has also founded Sistas In Sales, the first community for women of color in sales across the United States and beyond.

Her work experience spans from Public Relations for BonFun, an international cognac company to a 4-year tenure at Yelp as a Senior Account Executive for their National Business, Dataminr enabling Public Relations, Corporate Communications professionals with the same technology that over 400 newsrooms use to extract impactful events from social media. Currently at LinkedIn bringing all her past experiences to a specialized team that works with technology marketers to help them use LinkedIn's data to create business impact.

From teen mom to CEO by the age of 20, Tamika Newhouse became a huge staple in the rise of black fiction and contributed to the demand of “urban fiction” in the 2010s. Independently for over a decade she discovered and published black writers, publishing over two hundred books, and created a platform for thousands of writers' stories to be read. She successfully wrote and published over 17 romance novels, launched the careers of hundreds of writers, and developed a powerful organization in the publishing industry, AAMBC Inc, that has honored literary legends such as Nikki Giovanni and Terri Woods.

Kudzi Chikumbu is TikTok's Director of Creator Community and responsible for building the creator community through marketing, partnerships and education all while advocating for diversity, inclusion & representation online. Kudzi pioneered initiatives to foster diversity such as hosting the #MakeBlackHistory Creator Summit and launching the LGBTQ+ TikTok Trailblazer List. As a speaker, Kudzi focuses on motivating diverse young professionals. Kudzi was born in Zimbabwe, grew up in South Africa and holds an MBA from Stanford. Kudzi was named one of the 2019 Next Gen Executives by The Hollywood Reporter.

Named one of Business Insider’s Rising Stars of Madison Avenue and selected by Adweek as a Young Influential (2020 edition), Steph Loffredo is a social media strategist with 7+ years of experience. As a side hustle, she invented Hooha: an award-winning smart tampon machine that dispenses free tampons. Since its launch in March of 2019, Hooha has been nominated for a Webby, covered in publications like the Wall Street Journal and Bustle, and received an honorable mention in Fast Company's 2020 World Changing Ideas awards. Want to learn more? Visit: hooha.is/here

As a top Black executive within IPG, Darla has spent the last seven years with McCann Worldgroup, running brands like Microsoft, HomeGoods, and Lockheed Martin, including Clios, One Club and Effie’s creative wins. Before joining McCann, she spent nine years at Saatchi & Saatchi in NY, Singapore and India. As the first African American to work in their APAC offices, she spent two years leading the P&G head & shoulders brand, where the business reached its' $1billion mark for APAC.

Darla is also an Executive Coach and she serves as Executive Sponsor to McCann Connect; an employee resource group focused on diversity.

Judy is a well-respected thought leader in human resources management whose career includes stints as Global Chief Talent Officer at Wunderman Thompson; Chief Talent officer at IPG Mediabrands, NA; and Digitas.

In January 2019, Judy was asked to take on a newly created role heading up Culture. In this role, Judy will provide the vision and strategy for building culture in an organization of 149,000 people.

She has contributed to several articles and books on human resources management, including The Coaching Connection: A Manager’s Guide to Developing Individual Potential in the Context of the Organization.

Chanel Cathey launched CJC Insights, LLC a strategic communications and public relations agency headquartered in New York City. Chanel creates space for people and stories and is passionate about partnering with female founders and minority-owned businesses. She spent over a decade working in media relations and communications for iconic global brands like Viacom, ABC News, and Unilever. Chanel is on the Advisory Board for the Wall Street Journal's Women in the Workplace Series, helping to curate national events and conversations around the future of women and work.

As a first-generation American, Andrea has dedicated over 10 years to the development of diversity and inclusion in the tech industry. As a Diversity Program Manager at Facebook, she designs and delivers scalable strategies and sets the vision for programs that serve underrepresented communities. Her initiatives have impacted 13 countries, 42 cities, raised over $500,000 of funding for nonprofits, and have connected over a thousand people. She previously served as the VP of External Partnerships for Facebook’s Latin@ employee resource group, founded the Technology Hispanic and Latino Network at Goldman Sachs, and has mentored young professionals of color since 2009.

Mackenzie drives product and marketing inclusion for Google’s consumer apps team, including some of Google’s most strategic and loved products like Search, Maps, & Photos. She’s a relentless advocate of the user, ensuring that Google’s products work for underserved communities and that people see positive portrayals of themselves in the stories Google tells.

Previously, Mackenzie worked for the News Lab, Google’s effort to support sustainable, quality journalism. She serves as the President and founder of UNC's LGBTQ+ Alumni Network and started Accelerate.lgbt with the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce to help thousands of businesses and nonprofits grow online.

Ty is Global Lead, The B2B Institute @LinkedIn, former President of LinkedIn's Black Inclusion Group; Co-Founder of TransformHER. Passionate about connecting people with information needed to make intelligent decisions, Ty scales educational content to make marketing more effective. Ty teaches marketing, diversity & inclusion and is the author of "Marketers of Tomorrow: A Step by Step Toolkit for Inbound Marketing."

Marketers benefit from Ty’s experience at Google, consulting at IBM as a social business manager; leading her own consulting practice. Ty serves on the Digital Marketing Institute's Global Advisory Council & the Diversity & Inclusion Council for Adweek.

In the New Black Renaissance, you’ve got to be woke to win. And that’s how the winning partnership between AT&T and the 360 Agency, catapulted “Dream in Black,” a fully-integrated lifestyle platform for consumers to celebrate themselves, each other and the culture.

They made an unprecedented move to deliver cultural authenticity and evolve into an authentic, culture-forward brand where people felt their dreams were expressed and valued. The 3-words propelled AT&T to evolve “Dream in Black” into a trademarked platform for company-wide adoption, across the enterprise, making it the first time AT&T adopted a marketing microbrand tied to a culture.

HBO’s award-winning series, Watchmen, was set in the background of 1921 in Tulsa with the untold history of the massacre woven into the story’s fabric. Given the state of politics and race relations in our country, it was essential to highlight and elevate the story of Black Wall Street, without irresponsibly rehashing trauma, but sharing the historical significance of Greenwood. The Atlantic, our partner, created a well researched, comic-style illustrated article depicting the violence of 1921 in Tulsa, aptly titled, "The Massacre of Black Wall Street.” Our partnership became the best performing branded content piece in The Atlantic’s history.

Creative Theory Agency and Google have a deep partnership centered on celebrating communities of color on a big scale. Our work together has challenged stereotypes, created economic opportunity for marginalized communities, and placed overlooked voices at the forefront of inclusivity and diversity. The partnership, sparked from a common desire to do more - now, and create movements of change that build a more equitable world for all. Together, we think big, and act even bigger, leading the charge for change.

We rise up. We reach back.

Artist, organizer, educator, and popular public speaker, Patrisse Cullors is a Los Angeles native and Co-Founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, Founder of grassroots Los Angeles based organization Dignity and Power Now. Cullors’ work for Black Lives Matter recently received recognition in TIME Magazine’s 2020 ‘100 Women of the Year’ project. Cullors is a New York Times bestselling author of When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir (2018). She is also the Faculty Director at Arizona’s Prescott College of a new Social and Environmental Arts Practice MFA program that she has developed. In 2019, Patrisse joined Freeform’s Good Trouble Season two as a staff writer and actor. She has continued writing for its third season. For the last 20 years, Cullors has been on the frontlines of criminal justice reform and led Reform LA Jails’ “Yes on R” campaign, a ballot initiative that passed by a 71% landslide victory in March 2020.

Alicia Garza is an organizer and political strategist. She is the principal at the Black Futures Lab and the Black to the Future Action Fund, co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter and the Black Lives Matter Global Network, director of strategy and partnerships at the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and host of the Lady Don’t Take No podcast.

Opal Tometi is one of the most influential human rights leaders of our time. As one of the three women co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, digital platform, and chapter-based network, her name is etched in American history. Hailed as a feminist freedom fighter, Opal is respected for her track record of uniting communities, and is known for her thought leadership on race, immigration, and gender.

In early 2019 she completed nearly a decade of service as the Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), the first immigrant rights organization for people of African descent in the United States. Opal is also a trusted advisor to many formations, including Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity and the Andrew Goodman Foundation. She has received numerous recognitions including an honorary PhD, and was named among the 50 Most Influential People by Forbes, Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan magazines. Opal was also honored by the City University of New York (CUNY) with a scholarship in her name to support immigrant students pursuing law degrees.

Her most recent recognition includes winning the 2019 Coretta Scott King Center Award and Douglass 200 Award, and being featured in a video installation at the Smithsonian’s National Museum for African History and Culture for her contributions in thought-leadership for the betterment of the diaspora. As the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Opal has set her movement sights on an even bigger struggle: uplifting the global Black community. In 2020 she founded Diaspora Rising, a digital digest focused on pertinent issues of blackness around the world. When she’s not traveling the world or strategizing for social justice you can catch her dancing, riding a bike or adding to her Black art collection. And while she’s accomplished a lot to date, the truth is, Opal has only just begun.

Website: www.opaltometi.org
Instagram: @opalayo
Twitter: @opalayo
Facebook: @OpalTometi

Janet Mock is a writer, director and executive producer for the FX series POSE and the Netflix limited series HOLLYWOOD. She’s written two bestselling memoirs, Redefining Realness (2014) and Surpassing Certainty (2017) about her journey as a trans woman. In 2019, Mock signed a historic multi-million dollar deal with Netflix, making her the first trans person to secure an overall deal with a major studio. That same year, she received Harvard University’s Artist of the Year Award and was named on of The Hollywood Reporter’s "Women in Entertainment Power 100" and included on Vanity Fair’s “New Establishment” list. She has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times and Marie Claire, was featured in Jay-Z’s music video for “Family Feud," and appeared in Alex Garland’s FX on Hulu limited series, DEVS. She splits her time between Los Angeles and New York City and is currently developing a slate of television and feature projects.

Soon Mee Kim is executive vice president and Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leader for Porter Novelli, part of Omnicom Group. She is an industry pacesetter driving impact across Porter Novelli, marketing communications, and the broader business community.

Soon Mee is a dreamer and a doer, passionate about the power of the workplace to drive societal good. She serves on the Executive Leadership team and develops policies and programs that foster receptive mindsets, challenge norms, and create cultures where all are valued. She created an organization-wide network of diversity champions to deliver local programming. As a client counselor, she works with senior executives on brand, corporate, purpose communications; and crisis and reputation management. She is a high-empathy talent builder and culture creator.

She is a PRWEEK Hall of Femme 2020 honoree. PROVOKE named her a Top 25 Innovator for the Americas in 2019. And ColorComm honored her with a 2019 Circle Award. Soon Mee spearheaded the best agency diversity initiatives for 2018 and 2019 awarded by PRWEEK and PR Council, and was named Agency Diversity Champion of the Year. She initiated an industry-wide diversity pledge in 2018 and today chairs the PR Council’s diversity community.

To support multicultural industry professionals, she formed an online mentorship program called Mentor Mondays. She serves on the board of ColorComm, the premier networking organization for women of color in communications; and the advisory council for the Diversity Action Alliance, a coalition of communications leaders working to accelerate diversity, equity and inclusion. To advance students of color in their vocations, she sits on the boards of The LAGRANT Foundation, the premier scholarship and professional development organization for the advertising marketing and public relations; and the Forum for Theological Education, which supports young adults and students exploring their purpose and pastoral ministry. In her local community, she serves on the editorial advisory board of Atlanta Magazine, the advisory board of the Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network, the board of the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, and is an active volunteer with Leadership Atlanta, the city’s preeminent leadership development organization.

Tiffany Smith-Anoa’i oversees entertainment diversity and inclusion initiatives and develops new programs that recruit, nurture and hire inclusive talent to work in front of and behind the camera. In addition, she serves as the entertainment liaison to multi-cultural coalitions and provides outreach to agencies, guilds and other industry organizations.

She had been Senior Vice President of Entertainment Diversity & Communications since 2015. Since being appointed Vice President, Entertainment Diversity & Communications, CBS Entertainment, in 2009, Smith-Anoa’i created and launched “CBS On Tour,” a community outreach program in which executives visit schools to educate and encourage students interested in entertainment careers; expanded the writer selection process for “The CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase”; implemented an annual symposium with casting directors to strategize on best practices to diversify the casting process; partnered with GLAAD to host learning workshops; and joined forces with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media to encourage roles for women in front of and behind the camera.

In February 2018, Smith-Anoa’i co-founded and helped launch CBS EYE Speak, a program designed to promote female empowerment and help forge a path of growth and opportunity for women, both inside and outside of the Company. Since its inception, the group has held several events, including screenings, panels and fireside chats with some of the strongest female voices in front of and behind the camera.

Smith-Anoa’i’s community service and charity work includes the Human Rights Campaign, #SeeHer, ADCOLOR, Easterseals Disability Challenge, Young Storytellers, The Unusual Suspects and Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated. She serves as a board member for ColorComm, Big Sunday, The Muslim Public Affairs Council and on the business advisory board for the National Hispanic Media Coalition. She is also a Board of Trustee member for The Archer School for Girls.

Smith-Anoa’i maintains a close relationship with her alma mater, Howard University, where she graduated with honors from the School of Communications. In 2013, Howard University presented her with the “Global Visionary Award” for Outstanding Leadership in Diversity and Communications.

Alvin Bowles, Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions & Partnerships manages Facebook’s strategic business partners leveraging technology and tools to maximize success metrics across Facebook’s platform. As a part of the Global Leadership team, he is responsible for the worldwide network of global partners and developers leveraging scalable solutions for advertisers. Based in New York, reporting to the Chief Revenue Officer, he manages revenue impact and strategic insights for Facebook. Prior to Facebook, Bowles held numerous positions in media (Viacom, Time Warner & Sony) and was CEO of Grab Media which was acquired by Rhythm One, a publicly traded firm.

Valeisha Butterfield Jones is a global business leader and diversity and inclusion expert with over 20 years of experience. Butterfield Jones currently serves as the first Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at the Recording Academy where she focuses her efforts on building and implementing world-class programs and industry standards focused on inclusion, belonging and representation for underrepresented communities and creators. She enforces inclusion practices in all areas of the Recording Academy such as internal and external programs, organizational and staff culture, membership, GRAMMY Awards and related initiatives.

Butterfield Jones formerly served as the Global Head of Inclusion for Google, Inc., National Youth Vote Director for the Obama for America campaign, Deputy Director of Public Affairs for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Obama Administration, Executive Director at Rush Communications and as the National Director of Diversity and Inclusion for the Alzheimer's Association.

Valeisha is the CEO and co-founder of the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN) which was established in 2007 and aims to maintain and promote a positive image of women in the entertainment industry. She also serves on the National Board of Directors of ColorComm, Hip Hop Sisters Network and iVote for America. Butterfield Jones is a passionate mentor to young women who work in many different fields and takes pride in giving inspiring counsel that’s opening doors for young women all over the county.

Please find more on Valeisha here: https://valeisha.org/ and follow Valeisha on Twitter/Instagram at @valeisha.

ColorComm, Inc., the nation’s leading women’s platform addressing diversity and inclusion across the communications, marketing, media, advertising, and digital industries. ColorComm, Inc. houses ColorComm Media Group, ColorComm Network (nearly 3,000 financial members across 9 US cities and 1 country), ColorComm Executive Conference (C2Miami), ColorComm Next Generation Summit (C2 NEXTGEN), ColorCommCON, and Men of Color in Communications (MCC).

ColorComm has transformed the way women of color in media, communications, marketing, and digital, navigate their industry. ColorComm has provided more than 40,000 professionals with the tools and resources to advance, has led ColorComm members towards securing hundreds of jobs, and has worked with clients with revenue over $300M to execute on their D&I strategy to ensure and reinforce a safe place to work filled with growth and opportunities.

Damon Jones leads efforts to help ensure P&G is and is recognized as a force for good and a force for growth. He leads an equality-focused citizenship agenda and consumer-centric communications ecosystem that span more than 180 countries.

P&G and Jones have been well recognized within the CPG industry and beyond for their leadership in creative, advocacy-based campaigns that inspire dialogue and enable collective action in advancing equality for women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community and other under-represented groups.

Further, the 500-person strong global communication discipline led by Jones advances P&G’s growth strategy while building and protecting the image and reputation of the world’s largest consumer goods company and its portfolio of nearly 100 industry-leading brands. The discipline includes influencer marketing, brand and corporate communications, digital and social media, stakeholder engagement, issues advocacy and crisis management.

A trusted advisor to the C-suite, Jones has a proven track record of leveraging reputation and relationships to drive brand and business success. During his 20+ year career with P&G, Jones has had responsibility for a diverse set of geographic, organizational and product portfolios – with assignments in Boston, Geneva, London and Singapore – leading local, regional and global businesses.

Following his passion for community engagement, Jones took a leave of absence to serve as the Communications Director for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. He remains active as a Board member and strategic advisor to numerous educational, cultural and advocacy organizations.

Don Lemon anchors CNN Tonight with Don Lemon airing weeknights at 10pm. He also serves as a correspondent across CNN/U.S. programming. Based out of the network's New York bureau, Lemon joined CNN in September 2006.

Lemon has served as moderator for CNN’s political town halls, co-moderated first 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate, co-hosted Color of Covid Special that addressed the pandemic’s effect on communities of color.

Lemon has reported and anchored on-the-scene for CNN from many breaking news stories, including the Orlando shooting at Pulse Nightclub (2016), Charleston church shooting (2015), death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO (2014), the George Zimmerman trial (2013), the Boston marathon bombing (2013), the Philadelphia building collapse (2013),the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (2012), the Colorado Theater Shooting (2012), the death of Whitney Houston, the Inaugural of the 44th President in Washington, D.C., the death of Michael Jackson (2009), Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana (2008) and the Minneapolis bridge collapse (2007).

Lemon serves as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College, teaching and participating in curriculum designed around new media. He earned a degree in broadcast journalism from Brooklyn College and also attended Louisiana State University.

Renetta McCann has been recognized as an innovator and influential executive in the advertising, marketing and media industries, with a global reputation for building brands, and the organizations and leadership to sustain them.

As Chief Inclusion Experience Officer for Publicis Groupe, she works to drive inclusion at all levels of the organization, with an emphasis on ensuring that the company’s clients are benefiting from the many strategic advantages that diverse teams deliver.

Renetta began her career at Leo Burnett, and, after a long tenure, she became the CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group Worldwide. Under her leadership, client billings exceeded $26 billion and the global workforce rose to over 6,000 people. More recently, she served as the Chief Talent Officer for Leo Burnett USA and Publicis Communications North America.

Renetta is an active volunteer and contributor to various industry and civic organizations, including the Executive Committee of the Chicago Community Trust, the Marketing Committee of the Robert and Ann Lurie Children’s Hospital and the board of Northwestern University Alumni Association.

She has appeared on the pages of Advertising Age, Business Week and Chicago Magazine. In 2002, she was named "Corporate Executive of the Year" by Black Enterprise magazine and was selected Ad Woman of the Year by the Chicago Advertising Federation. Essence named her one of "50 Women Who are Changing the World” and she received a Matrix Award in 2006 from New York Women in Communications. In 2014 the American Advertising Federation honored her with a Diversity Achievement Award and she received The Pantheon Award from the 4A’s MAIP program. In 2018, she was featured on Adweek’s list of “11 Inspiring Women Who Have Broken Down Advertising’s Most Persistent Barriers.” In 2020, ADCOLOR will honor her with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Renetta holds an M.S. in Learning and Organizational Change from Northwestern University. Currently, she is an adjunct lecturer in the MSLOC program, teaching courses on organizational design and diversity, equity, inclusion and justice in organizations. Renetta also served as a Corporate Director of Tribune Publishing (Tronc).

She lives in Chicago with her husband Kevin and children, Ella and Alexander.

Warrington Hudlin is an organizer, disruptor, and content creator.

He is the producer of the landmark African American films, HOUSE PARTY, BOOMERANG, and BEBE KIDS, as well as the television specials, COSMIC SLOP and UNSTOPPABLE. His early films, BLACK AT YALE and STREET CORNER STORIES, have been restored and archived at Yale University. Hudlin's most recent productions in are in Virtual Reality (VR): KUNG FU #ME TOO and CINEFEMME CYPHER.

As the founding president of BFF (aka the Black Filmmaker Foundation), Hudlin has been a pioneering organizer of the black film movement for four decades. Hudlin organized NYC's first ever annual black film festival (1979) and the first ever National Conference of Black Filmmakers (1980). Hudlin was the co-founder and curator of the Acapulco Film Festival (1997 to 2001). For over 20 years Hudlin has organized and hosted the annual BFF Summit.

Hudlin is the Vice Chairman of the board of trustees of the Museum of the Moving Image. He is a Disruptor Foundation Fellow and recipient of the Inaugural Diversity Award from the NYC Mayor's office. He is a founding board member of the Independent Feature Project (IFP) and a founding the advisory board member of the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) and the Tribeca Film Festival All Access Program (TAA).

Warrington Hudlin grew up in the notorious city of East St. Louis and attended an experimental high school affiliated with the legendary artist/scholar, Katherine Dunham (who nominated him for a scholarship that paid his tuition to Yale). Hudlin graduated from Yale with special honors and was later mentored by two more legends, Melvin Van Peebles and Harry Belafonte.

Warrington Hudlin's accomplishments are built on the foundation laid by his ancestors, beginning with his great-great-grandfather, Peter Hudlin, who escaped from a slave plantation in Virginia, married an indigenous woman from the Cherokee Nation, and became an agent in the US anti-slavery movement known as the Underground Rail Road. Their son and his great grandfather, Richard Hudlin, became a writer, newspaper publisher, and shortly before his death in 1918, started a motion picture production company.

Ivellisse is a curious & conscious communicator with a passion for harnessing human creativity to spark social change. She brings a decade of enthusiasm and experience in using marketing as a force for good—for brands of all sizes from inside major creative agencies like Ogilvy, Cone Communications and IDEO and nonprofits like Year Up. Her purpose-driven portfolio includes managing an award-winning childhood cancer cause marketing campaign for Northwestern Mutual, building a girls empowerment scholarship program for Keds and designing and executing a multi-day corporate responsibility summit for EY’s global leadership team in London.

In 2018, she took the entrepreneurial leap and launched her own branding & design agency for social change called bombilla. Bombilla (lightbulb in Spanish) is fueled by a national network of diverse creatives who conspire with systems-changing organizations to make the world brighter. They’re in the business of moving hearts and minds through mission-driven design. Clients include Paid Leave for the United States (PL+US) and United for Reproductive & Gender Equity (URGE), among other nonprofits and Black & Brown and women-owned social enterprises.

Ivellisse considers Connecticut, California and Massachusetts home. She currently resides in Oakland, where she also teaches and mentors for Uptima Bootcamp, a member-owned business accelerator for diverse entrepreneurs. She is a LEVEL C Certified Brand Specialist, a StartingBloc Fellow, a ProInspire Fellow and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. She holds a B.S. in Mass Communications from Boston University.

Soham was born in Calcutta, raised in Bombay, India. Growing up, he was a professional Voice Over artist, lending his voice for Indian versions of series and films such as Harry Potter, Stuart Little, Sixth Sense, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Boy Meets World, Night-Rider, Star Wars, Pokémon, and some questionable Japanese Anime.

He is an alumnus of Miami Ad School, where he was declared as the most awarded advertising student in the world and global Top Dog with over 120 national and international student awards to his name.

Soham has worked in India, Miami, NYC and currently is a Global Creative/Associate Creative Director at WhatsApp - Creative X at Facebook. He has also worked with Donate Life America, where his organ donation campaign Your Name Saves was commended by the Obama administration and for Human Rights Foundation as a Creative Director for the project Flash Drives for Freedom, which aims to end Kim Jong Un's regime by smuggling flash-drives inside North Korea, filled with relevant content.

Soham has won plenty of awards at The One Show, ADC, Clios, Cannes Lions, Cannes Lions Health, D&AD, D&AD Impact, ADC Young Guns, ANDY, LIA, Facebook Global Awards, Epica, etc. His work has been featured in top publications across the world and was even a part of Tate Curated Exhibition at London Design Museum.

Soham has served as a juror at The One Show, ADC, The Clio Awards, One Club Young Ones, 3% Next Creative Leaders, Cannes Young Lions, AdStars (South Korea), The Webbys, Creativity Awards and New York Festivals. He is also a professor at Miami Ad School San Francisco & NYC and was a guest faculty/speaker at Miami Ad School (Mumbai, Miami, Dominican Republic), Portfolio Center, Atlanta, Chicago Portfolio School, where he mentor students to become future award-winning creatives.

Soham has been named as one of the 30 under 30 most creative people in advertising by Business Insider. Twice!

Bryan Stromer is passionate about telling the stories of brands that make our world a better place. He found his way into marketing after studying Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, he realized the vital role that advertising and marketing play in shaping culture and society. He is currently a Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft, where he focuses on re-imagining the value proposition for Microsoft’s global e-commerce business. In this role, he works to elevate Microsoft’s customer experience and drive initiatives that ensure our virtual store is the best place to experience Microsoft.

Born with Cerebral Palsy, Bryan is a passionate advocate for the disability community and is the founder and co-lead of Microsoft’s Disability in Marketing group. This group works to ensure and drive authentic representation of individuals with disabilities in Microsoft’s advertising and marketing.

Bryan’s writing and thought leadership has been published by the Washington Post, NY Times, and NPR. He has been featured on the Today Show, Forbes, NY1 and the NY Daily News.

He currently serves on ADCOLOR’s advisory board, The Seattle Transit Advisory Board, and currently helps community organizations with design challenges as a participant in AIGA Seattle's Changemaker Series.

Bryan has been recognized as a 2019 ADCOLOR FUTURE, a 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 List-maker for his work in advertising and marketing, and the Disability:IN 2019 NextGen Alum of the Year.

Deborah Renteria is a marketing professional and culture enthusiast on the Multicultural Marketing team at HBO. She makes her way from LA after spending some time as a Creative Strategist at Facebook, where she worked with entertainment giants to innovate ways to better connect with audiences on the platforms. In her time at HBO she's focused on creating experiences to organically engage diverse audiences and elevate top priority programming. Deborah has cultivated a strong passion for diverse stories and empowering storytellers of color. She hopes to help open doors for more representation through her work. Believing in the power of visibility, most recently she has co-created a platform for Latinx creatives to connect via La Nueva Link. A proud alumna of the University of California at Berkeley, where she earned her degree in Consumer Culture and Media as the first in her family to attend college, she’s here to break down barriers and move la cultura forward. An Adcolor Futures Class of 2017 alum, she's honored to be recognized as this year's Ms. Adcolor.

Bing Chen is an entrepreneur, creator, and equalization builder. He is Chairman of Gold House, the largest collective of Asian cultural leaders; and General Partner of AUM Group, a multicultural film fund. Previously, he was YouTube's Global Head of Creator Development and Management as one of the principal architects of the multi-billion dollar influencer ecosystem that supports 500 million creators. He is a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree; Hollywood Reporter Next Gen Leader and Most Influential Change Agent; ADCOLOR Catalyst Awardee; and Asia Society Young Leader. Bing is a third culture kid across North America and Asia.

Brandon has spent his career proving that advertising means nothing if it can’t make a lasting impact on culture. Like any visionary, he learned the rules before he broke them. Brandon worked on some of the world’s most iconic brands; Absolut Vodka, McDonalds, PlayStation, Heineken, Coke Zero and then helmed as Global Creative Director of Samsung. He then became the Managing CCO and CEO of Kastner North America. While also driving other entrepreneurial triumphs as co-founder and CCO of SNKR INC. and founder and CCO of Fluent – a venture-building innovation studio with the cultural impact of a lifestyle brand.

Candace is a multidisciplinary designer + creative director and educator, committed to building racial equity through design and nourished by a passion for cultural archival + preservation.

After several years working in Chicago’s advertising playground, she’s now based in Beaumont, TX, not too far from her hometown of Port Arthur. Here she’s found a special balance that lends itself to a richer creative life, a positive work environment, and most importantly, more family time.

She’s most inspired when crafting time to explore her heritage, garden, travel, dabble in home design, and cook.

After seventeen years at the American Advertising Federation, Constance Cannon Frazier knew it was time to share her wisdom, judgement, and experiences on a broader level, resulting in her creating Cardinal Change Consulting, where she is the principal. Connie has spearheaded countless programs and initiatives, successfully managed budgets during economic downturn and conceived numerous ideas resulting in increased revenue, while earning the respect of colleagues across the advertising, higher education and public broadcasting industries. She has served on numerous non-profit boards, including ADCOLOR since its inception and was recently appointed to the Quantcast Board of Directors.

Criseli has been in the DE+I space for 7+ years now at Omnicom. Her team is focused on Omnicom-wide change efforts for the advancement and retention of top-performing talent inclusive of women, BIPOC and LGBTQ’s in a collaborative and diverse work culture.

She is also the Director of Programs for ADCOLOR. An organization whose mission is to celebrate and champion diversity in the creative industries. Her role includes overseeing our Community Groups like Latinx For ADCOLOR and the FUTURES Program.

In addition to her career in DE+I, she volunteers at her local church as a Vocalist and a Service Producer.

Danielle E. Wilburn is a Facebook Marketing Program Lead, setting an environment for fearless creativity to thrive. Prior, she worked at advertising agencies and has a proven track record building brands that drive business growth for Fortune 500 companies. Her sphere of influence spans to impact companies’ culture. She sparks honest conversation and creates programming to foster meaningful change around the recruitment, hiring, and retention of POCs. An alum of MAIP and ADCOLOR FUTURES, she is passionate about giving back and was honored to receive the Coalesce Chicago 2015 Champion of Growth award and the ADCOLOR 2019 Unsung Hero award.

Mr. Wright combines a wealth of experience creating strategic partnerships for some of the industry's most well know stars including, Aerosmith, Mariah Carey, Lauryn Hill, Dido, Maxwell, Run DMC, The Fugees, and Erykah Badu. As a sales and business development executive Mr. Wright has worked with Fortune 100 brands such as P&G, Dell, Samsung, Intel, AT&T, Verizon and media companies like MTV, VH1, NBC/Telemundo, Bravo and the BBC. Mr. Wright has over 20 years of professional experience leading sales and business development teams and executing high revenue deals.

Currently, as the Chief Brand Officer at Adweek, Mr. Wright is charged with developing the global strategy for all Adweek awards, events and the relaunch of Brandweek.

Dhane Scotti is the Global consumer marketing lead at Google responsible for developing communications strategy, brand positioning and go to market plans for Pixel and nest.

Prior to his current role, Dhane was EVP, Global Business Lead responsible for McCann Worldgroup’s Coca-Cola Co. and he spent 10 years leading marketing efforts for brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Snickers, M&M’s, Bud Light, Guinness, Red Stripe, and SUBWAY in global, regional and domestic capacities.

Dhane earned his MBA from Florida A&M University in 2005 and mentors students interested in advertising and also consults with women and minority owned businesses in his free time.

Emil Wilbekin is the Founder of Native Son, a platform created to inspire and empower Black Gay Men.

He has appeared On-Air discussing pop culture, fashion/style, entertainment and current affairs on The Today Show, NBC Channel 4 News New York, E! VH-1, MTV, BET, CNN, The Insider, Arise 360, Revolt, and PBS.

Wilbekin has an expertise in editorial creation, content curation and multimedia story telling (print, digital, social, video and live events) having served as Chief Content Officer at Afropunk, Editor-at-Large at Essence, Managing Editor of Essence.com, Editor-in-Chief of Giant and Giantmag.com, Style Guru at Complex Media, VP of Brand Development at Marc Eckō Enterprises, Editorial Director/Vice President of Vibe Ventures and Editor-in-Chief of Vibe Magazine. Under Wilbekin’s leadership, Vibe won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002.

Wilbekin holds a B.S. in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University, and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University. He resides in New York City.

Social Handles: @emilwilbekin on Twitter and IG

A pioneer in digital advertising and fierce fighter for diversity and inclusion, Helen Lin is Chief Digital Officer for Publicis Media, overseeing all digital strategy, partnerships, investment and negotiations. Helen guides her clients through the rapidly evolving digital ecosystem & leads industry initiatives to improve brand safety & standards on today’s largest consumer platforms. Helen has a reputation as a dedicated mentor: she is Executive Sponsor of Publicis Media’s Women’s POW! (Power of Women!) BRG, is ADCOLOR’s 2019 Legend honoree, and an active board member of Partnership With Children, helping NYC’s youth overcome the stresses of growing up in poverty.

Jason serves as Chief Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Officer at BBDO where he leads the agency’s vision of building an intersectional and inclusive creative agency.

In his role, Jason shapes strategic diversity initiatives at the enterprise level that builds community, culture, and accountability. He partners with senior management and team leaders to align the practice with clients’ business objectives while ensuring progress against agency success metrics internally and externally.

He founded TLoM, a social impact agency that explores themes around masculinity and identity. He sits on the board of Made of Millions and earned an MBA from NYU Stern.

Keesha Jean-Baptiste oversees the human system's for the businesses in this group. Before joining Hearst in 2018, she was senior vice president of talent, engagement and inclusion at the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s). At the 4A’s, Jean-Baptiste led the production of thought leadership for the industry and member agencies around recruitment, professional development, leadership and inclusion. Prior to 4A’s, she spent six years at Wieden+Kennedy. During her tenure at Wieden+Kennedy, Jean-Baptiste executed a strategic reimagining of the agency’s human resources department. From 2005 to 2010, she held various senior-level human resources roles at Digitas.

Kevin has authored compelling brand stories for over a decade for brands like Spotify, PNC Bank, McDonald’s, Toyota and Match.com. He also works daily to make the industry more diverse as the Co-Chair of the Alumni Board of Managers for the Marcus Graham Project and Co-Chair of the ADCOLOR Advisory Board. Kevin is also an emerging speaker and thought leader, sharing his insights on The We Are Next podcast and national industry conferences. Kevin is equal parts creative spark and calming presence, helping his mentees, clients and colleagues reach their highest potential.

Kevin Swanepoel is the Chief Executive Officer of The One Club for Creativity, the world's foremost non-profit organization devoted to supporting and celebrating the successes of the global creative community.

Kevin also directs a number of the industry's most respected award shows through The One Club for Creativity, including the One Show, the ADC Annual Awards and Young Guns.

Kevin joined the One Club in 1996. Prior to joining the One Club, Kevin served as Publishing, Entertainment & New Media Manager at Apple, and Founder & Creative Director of Creative & Strategic Advertising, both in his native South Africa.

Malika Saada Saar is YouTube's Global Head on Human Rights and previously Google's Senior Counsel on Civil and Human Rights. Before joining Google, Malika was founder and Executive Director of the Human Rights Project for Girls (Rights4Girls), a human rights organization focused on gender-based violence against young women and girls in the U.S. She also served as Special Counsel on Human Rights at The Raben Group.

Marc Stephenson Strachan, Chair of ADCOLOR Board, has significant Marketing & Advertising Industry credentials. He is currently runs Coach Marc Consulting and recently served as EVP and Chief Client Officer of Publicis-Sapient. Marc held several senior Marketing and Business roles at Diageo, North America, including the company’s external liaison for executive leadership and guidance, to a national diaspora of constituents, that had an interest in the Beverage Alcohol Industry. Marc has also enjoyed working in the film and music industries where he has several recognized credits. An accomplished writer, Marc currently writes a quarterly Opinion Piece in ADWEEK.com.

Mariano Pintor is a branding expert & an immigration reform advocate living and working in New York City. Mariano’s advocacy focuses on upward mobility within underserved communities. In 2019, Mariano was recognized as a Rising Star by ADCOLOR after launching the #WeAreImmigrants campaign after a tragic family emergency. With experience at global creative firms including Droga5 and McCann New York, Mariano has experience leading campaigns with a focus in the financial services industry for clients like JP Morgan Chase & Mastercard.

Melody is a Creative Director and entrepreneur with an expansive career in Advertising and Tech. She served as a creative leader at Facebook, Instagram and at various Advertising Agencies shaping numerous global brands such as BMW, HomeGoods, T.J.Maxx, Six Flags, John Frieda, Lancôme, Citibank, and L'Oréal.

Melody is the co-founder of Curly Girl Collective. As creators of CURLFEST® —the world’s largest natural beauty festival, their mission is to foster a global community that educates, celebrates, and connects women of color with naturally curly hair. Serving as change agents to shift and redefine societies definition of the beauty standard.

Steve Pamon is the President and Chief Operating Officer of global entertainer Beyoncé’s production company, Parkwood Entertainment.

In his time at Parkwood, the team has continued its history of critical and commercial success, as evident in the “Lemonade” visual album, The Formation World Tour, Coachella Festival , “Homecoming” documentary, On the Run II tour, Ivy Park, and the film “Black Is King”, among others. In addition, his team manages the careers of Ingrid and Chloe x Halle.

Pamon holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University and a B.A. in business administration from Morehouse College.

Ted Chung is the Founder/Chairman of Cashmere Agency and a proud recipient of AdColor’s Legend honor. Ted drives Cashmere’s business development and vision of fluidity.

Cashmere Agency is recognized as AdAge’s Multicultural Agency of 2019 and A-List of 2020. Ted leads a diverse Client roster including: Google, Amazon, BMW, Jack in the Box, Disney, Netflix, and Door Dash. Cashmere’s multiple awards span Cannes Lions to Clios.

Ted is an avid traveler and curious collector of art and memorabilia. He is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business and lives in Los Angeles with his wife Shvona and daughter Zahira.

Vincent S. Pierson, CEO & Principal Strategist of VSP Diversity Solutions, is an award-winning Change Agent and diversity, equity and inclusion strategist with more than 10 years of experience. Operating at the intersection of sports, diversity & Inclusion and social justice, Vince is passionate about using the power of sports to move society and open hearts, eyes and minds of both sides of any equation. With a strong belief in sport’s unique ability to transcend difference and unite people, Vince focuses on intentionally harnessing that energy to address certain ills in our culture that need genuine attention and understanding.

R&B places you in a moment. You not only hear it, but you also see it, touch it, and feel it. It may very well be the most vivid vehicle for storytelling outside of the silver screen.

Every time Anthony Hamilton gets behind a microphone, he sings a story—never sparing his passion, pain, loss, love, and everything in between. The GRAMMY® Award-winning multiplatinum singer, songwriter, producer, actor, author, and icon proudly maintains the traditions of timeless R&B through everything he does with his own swagger, spirit, and soul.

This especially holds true on his 2021 tenth full-length album and first release under his own My Music Box label in partnership with BMG.

“R&B is the foundation for so much music, man,” he exclaims. “That underlying storytelling is the gritty fabric of life woven in all of us. It’s always been important to me. My favorite songs paint a picture. They live longer in a deeper place. In my songs, I create these moments. Maybe listeners can recreate their own memories in a way, so they can feel good. R&B does that. It’s still alive; it’s never going anywhere.”

He continually proves that. Throughout an illustrious near three-decade career, he has sold over 50 million albums worldwide to date, he took home a 2009 GRAMMY® Award in the category of “Best Traditional R&B Performance,” and he delivered a momentous concert for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle, living up to the title of “narrator of love” in historic fashion.

He went from singing as a member of the church choir at six-years-old to launching one of the most prolific careers in R&B. For two decades, he released pivotal albums such as the platinum Comin’ Where I’m From [2003], chart-topping Soulife [2005], gold-selling Ain’t Nobody Worryin’ [2005], gold-selling The Point of It All [2008], two-time GRAMMY nominated Back To Love [2011], his first Christmas album Home for the Holidays [2014], and What I’m Feelin’ [2016], which bowed in the Top 15 of the Billboard Top 200. Not to mention, he delivered classic tunes such as “Charlene,” “Best of Me,” and “The Point of it All.”

In addition to anchoring classic albums, he remains the rare talent who can collaborate with everyone from Al Green, Buddy Guy, and Santana to 2Pac, Rick Ross, Gorillaz, DJ Khaled, Chris Brown, and Mark Ronson. His voice can also be heard on “Freedom” from the Academy® Award-nominated blockbuster Django Unchained by Quentin Tarantino in addition to multiple other soundtracks. An accomplished actor, he made his film debut in the critically acclaimed American Gangster and recently starred as Kyle Kirby in the BET+ feature, Carl Weber’s Influence. He was featured as the subject of the NPR documentary series Noteworthy. He also self-published Cornbread, Fish ‘n Collared Greens, which details the stories behind some of his most recognizable tunes and explores another passion: southern food.

However, 2020 marked a major first as he took full ownership of his music, launched My Music Box as its home, and initiated a distribution deal with BMG.

“Well, it was time,” he smiles. “I paid my dues. I’ve been signed to a major label since 1993. There’s no better way to create a legacy than to own your work, take it, invest in it, and grow it. I’m focused on running my business and bringing my music to the right people. We’re all excited to build something together. My Music Box is everything I believe to be special. The best is yet to come though. Believe me, we’re coming with it.”

It starts with the single “Back Together” [feat. Rick James]. Produced by 9th Wonder [Mary J. Blige, JAY- Z, Drake], a simmering beat and strings wrap around Hamilton’s instantly recognizable delivery on the verses. Meanwhile, he duets with none other than the late legend Rick James by way of a sample 9th Wonder dug out of the crates. Complemented by a classic James harmony, he carries the hook—“Why can’t we just get back together?”—to the heavens and back like only he can.

“I grew up listening to ‘Super Freak’ and ‘Fire and Desire’,” he recalls. “I’m a big fan of Rick James. There’s nothing like his voice. It’s just man through and through. 9th Wonder cut up the sample right in front of me. I wrote the song in a way to make it feel like Rick was singing along with me. ‘Back Together’ pays homage to one of the greats. To me, it’s also about love and getting back together with someone you knew was special. In the time of COVID-19, it took on a new meaning too. It means getting back to our lives. Be close to those who are special to you. I want to be close to anybody right now.” While finishing the album, he stepped up as part of the fight against COVID-19 at every chance possible. He joined forces with Global Citizen and the World Health Organization to perform from his house as part of the #TogetherAtHome Livestream Concert Series, generating a staggering 80K live viewers. He grabbed the microphone for “Saving OurSelves: A BET COVID-19 Relief Effort” on BET Networks and the “Under One Roof: Livestream Concert to Benefit North Carolina Artists.”

Through such performances and new music, he reaffirms the power of R&B and its progression.

“The record is a different energy for me,” he admits. “When they listen, I want my fans to feel like they’re at home, but I still want to push them out of their comfort zones and sonically challenge them to grow with me.”

Through the album, the book, performances, and his forthcoming hat line House of Fedora, Anthony Hamilton continues one of the greatest stories in R&B history.

“I am a father who does music,” he leaves off. “That’s it. I’m well-traveled and hungry for growth. I’m a leader. I’m a man of God. I’ll be around for a long time. When you hear me, I hope you go, ‘That’s the Anthony Hamilton I love. He ain’t lost it yet. He probably never will. Damn, that man can sing!”