Culture Creators Celebrates A Decade Of Legacy With 9th Annual Awards Brunch

Culture Creators will return to Los Angeles this Saturday for its ninth annual Awards Brunch, a milestone celebration of cultural influence, storytelling, and legacy. The event, presented by Moët Hennessy and powered by Lexus, will be held at the Fairmont Century Plaza and follows this year’s theme: The Stories We Tell.

Founded by Joi Brown, Culture Creators is both a strategic consultancy and a storytelling platform committed to honoring the past, shaping the present, and building the future of culture. The annual brunch, affectionately known as Culture’s Biggest Brunch, honors Black and Brown leaders across media, music, business, and entertainment who are shifting culture with authenticity and intention.

“This means everything,” Joi said of the ten-year milestone. “Ten years ago, this was just a dream, to give flowers to our culture’s architects while they could still smell them.”

This year’s honorees include Larry Wilmore (ICON Award), Keke Palmer (INNOVATOR Award), Kandi Burruss (TRAILBLAZER Award), Joy-Ann Reid (MEDIA Award), Tasha Smith (TV/FILM Award), Tina Davis (MUSIC Award), and Kimberly A. Blackwell (BUSINESS Award). Award-winning journalist Gia Peppers will host the program, which will feature a performance by Warner Records artist Alex Isley and music by DJ Aktive.

Joi said the honorees were chosen for their lasting impact, not their trending status.

“We look for impact over popularity,” she said. “They are the ones who create space, break ground, and bring others with them.”

The brunch’s 2025 theme highlights the power of narrative as a tool of resistance, preservation, and transformation, Joi said.

“Storytelling is how we pass down truth, resilience, joy, and pain,” she said. “It’s how we speak truth to power and challenge invisibility.”

While the awards brunch is a highlight event, it also fuels deeper work through the Culture Creators Foundation, the organization’s nonprofit arm. The Foundation offers mentorship, scholarships, and career access to emerging talent.

“We are not just clapping for achievement,” Joi said. “We are showing what is possible.”

For Joi, bridging generations is central to Culture Creators’ mission.

“The elders inspire the youth. The youth push the elders to evolve,” she said. “We create a space where both are valued and needed.”

Behind the scenes, the event is a labor of love for Joi and her small team.

“People see the glamor,” she said. “They do not see the grit. This is not just an event. This is a calling.”

That sense of purpose extends to the Foundation’s growing international efforts. Joi shared plans to expand programming to Africa and the U.K., with the goal of fostering a global creative ecosystem.

“Culture is not confined by geography,” she said. “We want to equip the next generation not just to lead locally but to lead globally.”

As guests prepare to attend Saturday’s brunch, Joi hopes they walk away not just inspired, but activated.

“I want them to think about legacy not as something we pass down someday, but as something we live out loud every day,” she said. “Culture only moves when we move it. We are the storytellers. We are the blueprint. We are the culture.”