In an era when media ownership is no longer just about who tells the story—but who profits from the platform—BOMESI is once again stepping boldly into the spotlight.

The Black Owned Media Equity and Sustainability Institute, better known as BOMESI, has announced the official hosts and confirmed sponsors for its 2026 BOMESI Summit, a three-day gathering of media, entertainment, brand, advertising, and ownership leaders scheduled for Wednesday, June 3 through Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan. The summit will be hosted by NAACP Image Award–winning entertainer Dustin Ross and Amber Lee Forrester, founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of Quartz Wellness Collective.

For Houston Style Magazine readers, the message is clear: the future of media is not waiting politely in the lobby. It is walking through the front door, microphone in hand, business plan in pocket, and community impact on the agenda.

This year’s theme, “Mobilizing Culture: The $5.3 Trillion Opportunity for Media & Brands,” places real economic weight behind a conversation many diverse publishers have been having for decades. According to BOMESI’s summit site, multicultural consumers represent a $5.3 trillion market opportunity, while less than 2% of advertising spend currently reaches diverse-owned media. That gap is not just a missed business opportunity—it is a cultural correction waiting to happen.

Ross, known as a host, writer, comedian, and producer, brings both charisma and credibility to the summit stage. Forrester, a Detroit native, adds an empowerment-centered lens rooted in wellness, entrepreneurship, and the business of storytelling. Together, the two hosts will help guide a national conversation around innovation, representation, ownership, and monetization in the modern media economy.

BOMESI also announced a growing roster of sponsors and partners, including Ben & Jerry’s, Nielsen, Press Forward, My Code, and OTTera Media Group, reflecting a wider coalition of organizations investing in the sustainability of diverse-owned media platforms.

The summit’s programming is expected to include keynote addresses, panel discussions, workshops, networking opportunities, and strategy sessions focused on content creation, business development, advertising equity, audience growth, and the future of media entrepreneurship. Additional OTTera Media Group speakers include Ashley Ancrum, Director of Business Development for AdNet+; James DuBose, President; and Stephen L. Hodge, Chairman and CEO.

Founded to create stronger pathways for independent, community-based, and diverse-owned media, BOMESI has built its work around three pillars: ecosystem, education, and economic empowerment. That mission speaks directly to legacy publishers, digital creators, community journalists, filmmakers, podcasters, advertising leaders, and entrepreneurs who understand that cultural influence must be matched with sustainable revenue.

And Detroit is a fitting host city. With its rich history of Black creativity, music, labor, entrepreneurship, and cultural resilience, the Motor City offers more than a backdrop—it offers a living case study in reinvention. BOMESI’s 2026 agenda includes sessions on data, deal flow, growth markets, infrastructure, investment, innovation, audience development, retail media, and connected TV.

  

For Houston’s media, business, civic, and creative communities, this summit carries a familiar truth: diverse media is not a side conversation. It is infrastructure. It is audience intelligence. It is cultural trust. It is the bridge between brands and communities that have too often been studied, targeted, and courted—but not equitably invested in.

As BOMESI co-founder and CEO DéVon Christopher Johnson stated, the summit is designed to celebrate “innovation and excellence” while building a more representative future for media.

Registration is now open for the 2026 BOMESI Summit at bomesisummit.org. For publishers, creators, marketers, and community leaders ready to turn cultural credibility into capital, Detroit may be the room where the next big deal—and the next big shift—begins.