First annual Empowerment Symposium launches this fall in Iowa City

This fall, the first annual Empowerment Symposium: Inspiring Black and Brown Professionals to Lead will kick off at the Graduate Iowa City, 210 S. Dubuque St. The two-day event, held Sept. 19 and 20, features more than 30 speakers and industry leaders from the Eastern Iowa region and gives BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) professionals the chance to network, learn, and take advantage of business opportunities. Event organizer Tasha Lard, who is the founder and CEO of M.O.G.U.L Consulting, JD Beauty Supply and co-founder and executive director of Black Professionals of Iowa, said the Empowerment Symposium will foster “deeper conversations” on workforce topics facing BIPOC community members.

“We'll be focusing on six tracks,” she said. “We'll be focusing on healthcare. We'll be focusing on marketing, we'll be focusing on workforce, we'll be focusing on economic development, leadership,” and more, including racism in the workplace. “We need to be able to have those discussions in eastern Iowa, because we experienced a lot of those things here in our own backyards,” Ms. Lard said. “One of those topics is experiencing racism in the workforce. And how do we combat that? As employees, how do we go to our employers and say, ‘Hey, this is happening to me'? And also holding those employers accountable, so that they know that these things are happening in their workplace.” These discussions will give employers and corporations who attend the symposium an opportunity to learn how to provide employees with a safe work environment and be aware of situations that can commonly arise for them. “Those topics [are] important to have in eastern Iowa so that people are aware that they have a voice. They're heard, they're seen,” she said.

Closer to home

The Empowerment Symposium is the latest initiative for Ms. Lard, who has been a key driving force behind the South of 6 Iowa City Business District for the past several years. After opening JD Beauty Supply in the Pepperwood Plaza in 2020, she cordoned off a business corner that allowed locally-owned small business owners to affix their cards to a corkboard. This eventually led to the Diversity Market, a successful pop-up event that has emerged as a vibrant platform for BIPOC, women entrepreneurs, and artisans to showcase and sell their products and services. Ms. Lard was also instrumental in implementing a SSMID (self-supporting municipal improvement district) that eventually became known as the South of 6 Iowa City Business District. This has paved the way for ventures such as The South District Market, a year-round indoor venue at Pepperwood Plaza that provides a steady marketplace for local businesses. “We wanted to elevate the business district in our community,” she told the CBJ in 2022. The idea for the Empowerment Symposium took root last year, when Ms. Lard learned about several acquaintances attending a similar event in Des Moines – the annual Athene Black and Brown Summit. “I was like, why is it that we're all driving so far away? We could do something like that here closer to home, closer in our own backyard,” she said. Iowa City would be a 30-minute drive for most attendees in the area, she pointed out, as opposed to the two hour commute to Des Moines. “I feel like we deserve that closer to home. And that is not taking anything away from the great work that they're doing in Des Moines with the Black and Brown Summit,” she said, but felt that surrounding cities and counties would benefit from the locality. “So you're talking about people in Dubuque, people in Waterloo, people in Davenport, Burlington – and so those small cities, giving them all the opportunity to participate and have those same resources close to home.”

Opportunity to certify as Targeted Small Business

Attendees at the conference will have the opportunity to learn about becoming a Certified Targeted Small Business from the Iowa Economic Development Authority and receive assistance in applying. “They'll have people do the paperwork, walk them through the process on site that day,” said Ms. Lard. Additionally, lending platform Kiva Iowa will host an educational table about their loans and how to obtain one. There will be a marketing raffle with a commercial shoot as a prize, and attendees will have the opportunity to participate in different panels and breakout sessions. Iowa City’s Summer of the Arts is also participating with the Empowerment Symposium, Ms. Lard said. “Friday night, the Summer of the Arts Friday music series takes place downtown at the Ped Mall, and the event is happening at The Graduate. And so Friday, people will be able to have a drink and listen to some live music while they're there,” she said. “We're just really, really excited that this is the first inaugural event, and I can't wait to see how it grows,” Ms. Lard said. “And I want everybody to come out and be able to take something away from the Empowerment Symposium. I want people to walk away and say they gained something, whether it be insight, whether it be ‘Hey, I got to be able to be a Targeted Small Business through the State of Iowa.’ I want them to be able to walk away with something.”

Quick Facts:

• What: Empowerment Symposium: Inspiring Black and Brown Professionals to Lead
• Where: The Graduate Iowa City, 210 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City
• When: Sept. 19 and 20
• Price: $120 for adults, $60 for youth
• Who: presented by M.O.G.U.L. Consulting

To learn more and to register, visit https://empowersym.com/.