WayMaker Summit seeks to empower Black men
WayMaker Summit Founder, Louis Carr is the founder of the WayMaker Summit, which will take place Sept. 15-16, at Willis Tower. Photo provided by WayMaker.
“Every successful person, if you think back, there are people in your life that did something for you and asked for nothing in return, that you still may be confused about, like why did they do that,” said Carr, who is President of Media Sales for BET Networks.
Carr created WayMaker, an umbrella brand, which includes masterclasses, conferences, podcasts, online training and books, as well as a quarterly publication, WayMaker Journal. In 2016, he launched the WayMaker Men’s Summit. Carr calls the summit his personal way of paying it forward and paying it back to people who were waymakers to him.
The 7th WayMaker Summit will take place Sept. 15th and 16th, at the Convene Center in Willis Tower, located at 233 S. Wacker Drive.
“What I am trying to do is educate, inspire and motivate men to be their best self. Not just for themselves, but also for their families and their communities,” Carr said. Carr believes families and communities need Black men to be at their best, now more than ever before.
While this is the seventh time the event will take place, it is the fifth time it will take place in-person. For two years, during COVID-19, the event was virtual. It returned in-person last year.
The theme of this year’s event is Living Beyond Your Comfort Zone. Attendees can expect speakers who will share their journey and why it was necessary for them to become uncomfortable in order to grow.
“We at WayMaker believe that in order to have impact, influence and be able to really shape and influence others and the community, you’ve got to grow,” Carr said.
The WayMaker summit will include free haircuts, headshots, manicures, massages. The aim is that the Black men who attend the event will be motivated to have a bigger vision for their families and themselves.
Carr believes a summit that focuses on Black men is important because there hasn’t been a lot of emphasis on events that nurture, support and empower Black men. He believes Black men are still at the core of families and communities. They need to be educated, inspired and grow in order to help their families.
It was important to Carr that successful people recognize their success is because of a waymaker. Those waymakers changed the direction of people’s lives, just by pouring into them. He also wanted people to recognize they need a waymaker. Once they have one, they should be one to someone else.
Speakers for the event include Dwyane Wade, Jay Ellis, Nick Cannon, David Mann, Ross Mac, Xavier Miller, Coltrane Curtis, Troy Vincent, Joseph Hines, Jacob Latimore and Curtiss Cook. Mayor Brandon Johnson will open the summit on Friday, September 15th.
“We’re trying to give men all of the tools they need to have and lead a successful life,” Carr said.
For more information about WayMaker visit, www.waymaker.com. To purchase tickets to the WayMaker Summit, visit www.waymakersummit.com.
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