Emil Wilbekin Keynote Speaker

Journalist, Pop Culture Expert, Content Curator, LGBT Activist and Founder of Native Son
Former Editor-at-Large at Essence
Former Editor-in-Chief of Vibe Magazine

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Emil Wilbekin's Biography

Emil Wilbekin is a multimedia maverick who contributes to The New York Times T Magazine, Vogue, The Cut, Architectural Digest, and Town & Country. He is the Co-Producer and Writer on the documentary The Remix: Hip Hip X Fashion (Netflix).

He is also the Founder of Native Son, a platform created to inspire and empower Black gay and queer men with the purpose of amplifying the voice and visibility of this community.

Wilbekin also does public speaking centering conversations about culture, diversity, equity, inclusion, identity, fashion and LGBTQ+ issues.

Wilbekin has appeared on-air discussing pop culture, fashion/style, entertainment and
current affairs on The Today Show, NBC Channel 4 News New York, E! VH-1, MTV,
BET, CNN, The Insider, Arise 360, Revolt, Fox Soul, and PBS.

Wilbekin has an expertise in editorial creation, content curation and multimedia storytelling (print, digital, social, video and live events) having served as Chief Content Officer at Afropunk, Editor-at-Large at Essence, Managing Editor of Essence.com,
Editor-in-Chief of Giant and Giantmag.com, Style Guru at Complex Media, VP of Brand Development at Marc Eckō Enterprises, Editorial Director/Vice President of Vibe Ventures and Editor-in-Chief of Vibe Magazine. Under Wilbekin’s leadership, Vibe won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002.

He holds a B.S. in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University, and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University. He resides in New York City.