PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — ‘Good Company’ is this year’s theme for Black Diamond Weekend.
Black Diamond Weekend is presented by Black Brand, the Hampton Roads Regional Black Chamber of Commerce.
The three-day business conference runs from Thursday through Saturday at the Renaissance Portsmouth-Norfolk Waterfront Hotel.
“We have partnered with Truist Bank and Riverside, just to name a few,” said Jill Anwaar, Black Brand Experience director. “We are emphasizing health as well as wealth. We have the Good Company theme — it’s all about the old adage of, you’re known by the company you keep.”
“It is a time when we get together. We celebrate black businesses, and professionals all coming together. They hear from very well-known speakers with lots of content, and we get to bring it to our community,” Anwaar adds. “We are expecting 300-400 people throughout the weekend.”
‘The Company You Keep with Jenifer Lewis‘ a celebrity businesswoman, actress, and author, will kick off the business conference Thursday morning.
“We brought in Jennifer Lewis, who’s going to kick us off on Thursday with our kickoff plenary session,” Anwaar said. We are also excited to have Dr. Boris Watkins for our closing and we have our master class with John Hope Bryant. We have been stacked with some exciting speakers, lots of fun, lots of other activities, and plans for the weekend,” said Anwaar.
The business conference will offer 50 sessions for entrepreneurs.
“They will have a chance to come in and learn different aspects of their businesses,” Anwaar said. “They’ll learn different things about wealth, how to use AI — that’s a very big topic that we’re offering in some of our plenaries — as well as how to build wealth. For an entrepreneur, aspiring business owner, or just a professional who works within an organization, a corporation, there’s something here at Black Diamond Weekend for them all.”
Black Brand is a membership-based organization.
“We have over 400 members,” Anwaar said. “Black Brand has several programs. It’s geared to where you are in your business journey. We do have our’ Surge program’ for those just starting with an idea, those starting a business in the first couple of years. Then we have our ‘B-Force program,’ which is a little more accelerated and elevated for those business owners who have been in business for three years or more, … and they just need to focus attention on making sure that their businesses are set up correctly and have what they need to succeed and move forward.”
Anyone can buy tickets until Thursday night for Black Diamond weekend.
If you can’t make it every day — there are day passes for sale on BlackDiamondWeekend.com.