ADWEEK 13
®
| APRIL 6, 2020Imani Ellis
founder
The Creative
Collective NYC,
CultureCon
COMMUNICATIONS
DIRECTOR, BRAVO,
E!, OXYGEN
G
athering people together Bible-study style
is in the blood for Ellis. The daughter
of two pastors, she has always known
that fellowship and connection can happen
when you invite folks into your home for
conversation and food.
Though the Good Book was not involved,
Ellis opened her one-bedroom Harlem
apartment to 20 friends in 2016—she made
tacos—and inadvertently started a movement.
That event caught on quickly, soon formalizing
into The Creative Collective NYC, a community
of multicultural professionals who aspired to be
in the creative world or already had a foothold
there. Many were pursuing their art while
holding down day jobs.“People were looking for a place where they
didn’t have to come with everything figured
out,” Ellis says. “They could show up at any
stage of their lives.”
While focusing on creativity and career, the
group expanded its mission almost immediately
“to cater to the whole self,” she says.
TheCCnyc, as it’s known, now hosts as
many as four events a month with north of 250
people at each. Tickets often sell out within
minutes. Topics range from financial planning
and personal branding to mindfulness.
Its annual conference, the daylong
CultureCon, debuted in 2017 with 150
attendees. Explosive growth followed, with
2,500 participants last fall and a week’s
worth of activities as a runway. Speakers have
included John Legend, Spike Lee, Regina King
and Lena Waithe.
Ellis aims to add a job fair to future
CultureCon schedules “so people can get face
time with recruiters and we can bridge the gap
in opportunities,” she says, describing herself
as “a poster child” for TheCCnyc because she
juggles a traditional 9-to-5 with her leadership
of the group (she has an ongoing assist from
those first 20 friends).
A publicist at Bravo, E! and Oxygen for eight
years, where she handles “shows that celebrate
diversity” like Watch What Happens Live
With Andy Cohen and The Real Housewives of
Atlanta, Ellis prides herself on the “brave space”
t h at ’s fo s t er e d by T he C C ny c ’s pr o g r a mmi n g.
“It’s a space where everyone has a voice and can
unapologetically speak up.” —T. L. S t a n l e yD.P. Jolly
photographer
Jolly has learned “patience,
proactivity and intentionality”
from working with Ellis as a
photographer and photo team
leader on TheCCnyc’s events.
“When conceptualizing a new
project, I ask myself, ‘How can
I be ahead of the curve?’” With
Ellis pulling him into the inner
workings of those gatherings,
“my knowledge of the media
industry has definitely
expanded as a result,” Jolly
says. “I’m able to see the many
moving pieces in delivering a
product to a client.”With The Creative
Collective NYC, Ellis
has created a space
‘where everyone
has a voice.’
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