Grand Sire Archon-Elect Loren Douglass was the keynote speaker during our afternoon luncheon. Archon Douglass discussed economic empowerment in terms of the Boulé members supporting and investing in one another, which would then support the growth and prosperity of African American businesses. However, the nexus of the conversation was on the strategies and challenges of transitioning the Boulé into the 21st century.

Friday afternoon’s sessions began with “The Dynamics of Private Capital Markets” with Archons Kenneth Saffold (Kappa) of 0615 Capital, Ira Moreland, ICV Partners, and Lloyd Trotter (Epsilon Lambda) of GenNE360. Keeping with the theme of capital access, the next session, “Access to Markets: Leveraging the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council’s Trillion Dollar Spend Challenge,” provided perspective on leveraging Corporate America’s supplier diversity needs and focus. Archon Harvey Butler (Zeta Delta) was the moderator, a BEES Content Committee co-chair, and Global Head of Supplier Diversity at Barclay’s Bank. In addition, Archon Butler facilitated a discussion with panelists Carlton O’Neal, LightspeedEDU and Chair of the NMSDC Minority Business Input Committee, Peter Hurst, CEO, New England Minority Supplier Development Council, and Tyronne Stoudemire, SVP Global DEI for Hyatt Hotels, which was also one of the Summit’s corporate sponsors.

While the young adults had been attending sessions throughout the day, two “Success Planning” sessions were held explicitly on Friday afternoon for the 25 Young Adults in attendance at the Summit. JP Morgan Chase panelists hosted both of the sessions. Caron Washington, Vice President of JPMorgan Chase, led the “Leaping Forward in Career and Life for Young Professionals.” The session “Fundamentals of Financial Planning” was led by Jay Baldwin of Chase Wealth Management. The young adults finished the evening with a networking dinner.

The last panel of a jam-packed Friday was the “Black Women & Wealth” session hosted by Bank of America Private Bank. Archousa Sharon Sanders (Chi) introduced the topic and panelists. Tiffany Eubanks-Sanders and Lauren Ladd, both of the Bank of America Private Bank group, led a discussion around vital financial investments that Black women should consider as part of their financial portfolio, benefiting both Archons and Archousai attending the session.

Sunday’s brunch brought the inaugural Boulé Economic Empowerment Summit to an end. Archons and Archousai shared their favorite moments from the 3-day event and promised to stay in touch for future business endeavors.

A special thank you to the BEES Planning Committee – co-chaired by Keith Belton and Van Strickland (Epsilon Kappa), and additional Archons and Archousai who served on the BEES Planning Committee. The Council of Regional Sire Archons sincerely thanks the outstanding speakers, moderators, and presenters. The event would not have been able to have been executed without our sponsors. 

To recapitulate, the Archons and Archousai arrived in Nashville for a Summit the Ages and can state they participated in the first Boulé Economic Summit. The bar for future Boulé Economic Empowerment programming – whether at Grand or Regional Boulés, virtual, or Summit has been set high.

Students lending a hand to preserve rare African art

Restorations by young conservators at Fisk

The Commercial Appeal 24 May 2023 Craig Shoup for The Memphis Commercial Appeal USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE

When Fisk student Esther Toluwalase Ogundele embarked on the daily process of restoring “Inno,” an oil painting created by Mohammad Omer Khalil in 1966, she quickly realized the challenge of handling fragile artwork. After all, simply transporting the canvas from a storage room to a nearby table marked a tedious, trying undertaking — par for the course in the journey to conserve art created decades before she was born. She had to be careful not to leave marks, creases or stains as she identified cracks, removed bumps and restored colors.

Along the way, Ogundele, a computer science major from Nigeria, added reds, blues and greens to areas that lacked color and definition. A touch of linseed oil helped close cracks near the middle and around the edges. The painting started to pop. “From this,” Ogundele said, “I learned that one conservation attempt can go a long way to improve the quality of an old painting.” And now, her conservation efforts, and the labor of fellow Fisk students, are allowing another generation of art enthusiasts to enjoy acclaimed artwork. For those that are interested, it’s also creating job opportunities that most of the participating students didn’t know existed.

Eleven art pieces restored by students during a five-year period are now making their way around the U.S. in a traveling art exhibit. “African Modernism in America” is currently at the Kemper Museum in St. Louis. “Everybody played a different part,” said Jamaal Sheats, the director and curator of galleries at Fisk, a historically Black college internationally recognized for its massive art collection. “From scanning images and texts in special collections in the library to proofing images.”

“It’s important for us to play our part and facilitate greater access, but also contesting or redefining the barriers, or at least the ideas of what we want people (to) consider to be art. And I think many of our visitors will come in looking, expecting to see traditional African objects and were surprised they come out with a different perspective.”