- Programming
- …
- Programming
- Programming
- …
- Programming
SCHEDULE
Satuday, September 12
PLC Detroit | Icon Building | 200 Walker Street, Detroit
Sign up for breakout sessions & activities by downloading the Black Footwear Forum app or visiting our Attendee Hub.
8:00 AM – Check-in & Breakfast
8:00 AM – The Transformational Power Trek by Reebok
Join A Herd of Bison and Reebok for a 1-Mile Riverfront Power Walk where participants can network casually while breaking down corporate barriers and understand the theme of transformation by connecting the A Herd of Bison x Reebok capsule's story to a real-world wellness experience and demonstrating how purpose-driven brands can use outdoor activities to build community impact.
- Speakers: Kareem Day | Carmen Hardaway | April Walker
Morning Sessions - Auditorium
9:00 AM – Welcome
- Speaker: Jacques Slade
9:15 AM – Community Is Not a Consumer Strategy by VF
Moderated by Shawn Williams (Vans), this session challenges conventional thinking about how brands engage with culture and community. Shawn joins Darren McKoy (Timberland) and Ricardo LaJoie (Vans) to explore what separates true community from audience-building, how brands earn trust and relevance, and why the future belongs to organizations that strengthen communities rather than simply market to them.
- Speakers: Shawn Williams | Darren McKoy | Ricardo LaJoie
9:45 AM – Running the CommUNITY by Brooks Running
What does a truly successful partnership look like? It starts with trust, shared purpose, and a commitment to helping both partners win. Join Brooks athlete Erika Kemp, fastest American-born Black woman in marathon history, in conversation with Sid Baptista, founder of performance running apparel brand PYNRS, as they discuss the story behind a partnership that goes far beyond product collaborations and event activations. Together, Brooks and PYNRS, have expanded community-driven running experiences, elevated new voices in the sport, and demonstrated what's possible when brands create space for authenticity and growth.
- Speakers: Erika Kemp | Sid Baptista
10:30 AM – More Than a Collaboration: Built on Legacy. Powered by CommUNITY by Jordan Brand
A conversation exploring how the Jordan Brand and its trusted retail partners work together to showcase the authenticity of the brand through legacy, design, product, storytelling, and activations. Through the lens of community, the discussion will examine how meaningful collaboration helps Jordan Brand remain close to consumers, strengthen its connection to culture, preserve its legacy, and design for the future.
- Speakers: Dr. D'Wayne Edwards | Domonique Debnam | James Whitner
11:15 AM – Networking Break
- Sneaker Law with Kenneth Anand
- Barber Shop by The Social Club
11:30 AM – Breakout Sessions
LOOK AGAIN: The Future of Idlewild Future commUNITY by MERRELL
Location: Back Lawn
A forward looking conversation exploring what’s next for Idlewild and how community, creativity, and collaborations with brands like Merrell can help honor its legacy while creating new possibilities for its future.
- Speakers: Blair Evans | Holly Young | Tiesheko Houston | Hamza Crichlow
CommUNITY: Different Paths, One Purpose by StockX
Location: Atrium
This panel brings together three people who have each built or impacted a community in a completely different way: Tefari Taylor through social media and direct, personal inspiration to men; Erica Jackson through hospitality and her own creative agency; and Odessa Jenkins through building an entire professional sports league from the ground up. We want listeners to walk away with multiple different entry points to relate to - wherever someone in the room is starting from, there's a version of this conversation that speaks to them.
- Speakers: Teferi Taylor | Odessa Jenkins | Erica Jackson | Valerie Rodriguez | Jenee Osterheldt
Foot Locker THREADED: Taking Your Brand to the Next Level
Location: Foot Locker Studio
Join Foot Locker for an interactive conversation about what makes an emerging brand stand out. Hear directly from Foot Locker leaders across buying, marketing and community, alongside founders sharing firsthand lessons from their own journeys. Learn how Foot Locker’s THREADED program helps put those insights into action and supports emerging brands as they grow and scale. Bring your questions, gain firsthand insight and learn how to apply.
- Speakers: Conor Richardson | Donald Dudley | Alan Baxter | Jordan Dixon | Deverin McNeill | Stephon Sparrow
The Future of CommUNITY Building: Building Community as Infrastructure
Location: Room 1604
What if we stopped thinking about community as an audience to engage and started seeing community building as infrastructure for expanding what’s possible? This conversation explores how community builders create belonging, expand access, transfer knowledge and wisdom, and open pathways to opportunity. Attendees will explore their own capacity to build community and how individual strengths, relationships, and resources can become collective impact.
- Speakers: Cheresse Thornhill-Goldson | Portia Blunt | Christopher Dixon | Westley Amica III
The Block CommUNITY by SNIPES
Location: Room 1602
SNIPES has always been in the neighborhood, not near it. Our stores sit on the blocks where sneaker and streetwear culture actually lives, and that changes how we do business. In this session, our buyers and community team talk openly about how community and commerce work together in retail, and how the next wave of buyers, designers and retailers can build a career inside the culture they come from.
- Speakers: Jordan Eden | Erika Grimes | Frederick Scott | Taylor Rodriguez | Sean Williams
Nike S.O.S.
Location: Wilson Smith STU/DEO
Shop Talk: Sole Connections by Nike Inc.
Take a break and connect with fellow attendees across the industry.
Location: Shop Talk Lounge
12:30 PM – Lunch Break
Sole Boxes by Foot Locker
Food Trucks
2:00 PM – Breakout Sessions
CommUNITY Building: Build Circles That Build You Back
Location: Atrium
We talk about belonging like it happens by accident. It doesn't. True community, the kind that opens doors, tells hard truths, and builds legacies, is designed. It is intentional. And for Black professionals navigating industries where the data still tells a hard story, it is not optional. Drawing on the NLC C.O.R.E. Circle framework, Cultivate, Own, Reach, Evolve, this session gives professionals at every level a shared language and a personal roadmap for building the kind of community that sustains careers, advances culture, and creates lasting industry change.
- Speaker: Nicole Lauria
W Detroit – A Look Back at the 3-Time WNBA Champions and Their Impact on the Community, and a Look Forward at the W Today and What Detroit’s Franchise Will Add to the League
Location: Room 1600
This conversation will look back at Detroit’s rich history in the WNBA, including the legacy and impact of the city’s three-time championship team, while exploring the continued growth of women’s basketball and the WNBA today. The discussion will also look ahead to the return of the WNBA to Detroit and what the new franchise can bring to the league, the city, and the broader basketball community.
- Speakers: Stefen Welch | Alicia Jefferys | Chris Economeas
Sneaker commUNITY Therapy
Location: Room 1602
Sneaker Therapy founder Keith Mascoll will lead a conversation around how to discover and define what you want sneaker culture to mean to you and how you can leverage your currency to leave an impact.
- Speakers: Jae Tips | Michael Fletcher | Keith Mascoll
JBRC Voices Presents: How We Build Community Through Energy Marketing
Location: Room 1604
In an increasingly fragmented digital landscape where algorithms curate isolated experiences, true brand energy is no longer just about generating hype: it’s about building connection. Join leaders from top-tier retail and footwear brands as they unpack how energy marketing has evolved from short-term buzz to long-term community ecosystem building.
- Speakers: April Rivera | Mel Peralta
LOOK AGAIN: The Future of Idlewild Future commUNITY by MERRELL
Location: PLC Pepsi Lounge
A forward looking conversation exploring what’s next for Idlewild and how community, creativity, and collaborations with brands like Merrell can help honor its legacy while creating new possibilities for its future.
- Speakers: Blair Evans | Holly Young | Tiesheko Houston | Hamza Crichlow
Shop Talk: Sole Connections by Nike Inc.
Take a break and connect with fellow attendees across the industry.
Location: Shop Talk Lounge
Afternoon Session - Auditorium
3:15 PM – Blacklight Awards
3:30 PM – Detroit Streetwear commUNITY
Conversation with Maurice Malone, who we know is a Detroit native and one of the pioneers in streetwear and urban fashion who doesn't get talked about nearly enough. We'll walk the audience through "then and now," his roots with the Hip Hop Shop, the legendary battle promoter parties he threw (yes, the same scene from 8 Mile), and also how his disruption in fashion still echoes through the category today.
- Speakers: April Walker | Maurice Malone
4:00 PM – Beyond the Product: Building CommUNITY Through Leadership by Nike Inc.
Leadership is often measured by titles, results and influence. But the most impactful leaders build something larger than themselves. Drawing from their experiences across design, product creation and business leadership, the panel will examine how authentic leadership creates lasting impact and why community remains one of the most important currencies in the footwear industry.
- Speakers: Domonique Debnam | Charles Williams | Dr. D’Wayne Edwards
4:45 PM – Free Game
James Whitner joins Bimma Williams as he shares the intentional impact The Whitaker Group inspires, celebrates and creates commUNITY with his businesses.
- Speakers: James Whitner | Bimma Williams | Tremaine Emory
5:30 PM – The Perilous Fight
- Speakers: Colin Kaepernick | Jemele Hill
Evening Events
6:30 PM – Closing Networking Mixer
Location: Atrium
SUPPORTED BY
THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS
BLACK FOOTWEAR FORUM 2026