Invest Fest 2026 wrapped up its sixth annual conference at the Georgia World Congress Center, drawing a record-breaking crowd of more than 31,000 attendees, according to a post-event press release shared with BLACK ENTERPRISE. The numbers are impressive after public discourse around support from the city of Atlanta.
The three-day summit, which was founded by Earn Your Leisure Co-Founders Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings and Matt “The Mortgage Guy” Garland, transformed into a global convergence point for generational wealth, venture capital, artificial intelligence, and urban policy.
Invest Fest demonstrates how economic empowerment and Black entrepreneurship intersect with contemporary entertainment. Programming encompassed stock portfolios, real estate acquisition, estate planning, crypto assets, and AI deployment.
Serena Williams And Key Cultural Figures Transform Invest Fest 2026
Tennis titan and venture capitalist Serena Williams made history as the event’s first female headliner, shifting the convention’s scope toward institutional venture capital and generational wealth. Williams spoke on the sacrifice required for elite performance and emphasized that peak success demands singular focus, sparking extensive discourse across digital platforms.
Financial support was directly allocated to early-stage founders during the Invest Fest Pitch Competition, where industry figures including Dr. Paul Judge, Master P, La La
Anthony, and Angela Simmons evaluated startups. Groundwork Health and Path Intelligence each secured $125,000, distributing $250,000 in direct seed capital to foster scalable financial education and tech enterprise. AI entrepreneur Alicia Lyttle showcased autonomous digital agents on stage, training attendees to utilize machine learning to scale financial education and business infrastructure.The summit also recontextualized media success into long-term equity. Hip-hop icon T.I. detailed how his early corporate ownership decisions secured generational wealth for his family, while Porsha Williams shared how her venture, Go Naked Hair, establishes long-term autonomy beyond reality television.
Former Atlanta Mayor and Georgia gubernatorial
candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms addressed civic equity, while TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett, BET President Louis Carr, and Morgan & Morgan Founder John Morgan provided executive insights on institutional leadership.Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens And Earn Your Leisure Had An On-Stage Reconciliation
Prior to the event, a public debate emerged after Bilal and Millings questioned the degree of municipal backing provided by Atlanta during an appearance on The Breakfast Club. Mayor Andre Dickens addressed the critique publicly, sparking discussions regarding city engagement with minority-led enterprises.
The dispute reached a constructive resolution on Aug. 8 when Mayor Dickens joined the Earn Your Leisure founders on the main stage
. Emphasizing the guiding ethos to “Build Bridges, Not Walls,” Dickens and the founders outlined strategic alignment for Invest Fest 2027, reframing public debate into a model for partnerships that advance financial education and economic development for Atlanta residents.RELATED CONTENT: Serena Williams Is Looking To Fund The Next Trillion-Dollar Company