The Emerging Leaders Celebration

"The wings of transformation are born of patience & struggle." - Anonymous

In 2019, Black Girl Ventures received a grant to expand BGV's efforts in providing Black/Brown woman-identifying founders access to community, capital, and capacity building. As a result, founders from Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Austin, Los Angeles, and NYC were recruited as Emerging Leaders, formally known as Change Agent Fellows, to help spread the BGV mission and deliver programming within their local communities.

The Emerging Leaders Celebration, marks the culmination of their time together as a cohort. We celebrate their service and commitment not only to BGV, but to their fellow founders and respective communities.

Keynote Speaker: Jurnee Smollett

Jurnee Smollett is an award-winning actress and activist of rare talent and conviction. Most recently, she

starred in J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele and Misha Green’s critically acclaimed drama for HBO, “Lovecraft

Country” which premiered in August 2020. Smollett’s performance was lauded by industry insiders and

critics alike. Since the show’s release, Smollett has earned a Critics Choice Super Award for “Best Actress

in a Horror Series” and was nominated for an Emmy Award, Critics Choice Award and NAACP Image

Award for “Best Lead Actress in a Drama.”