Business Leaders of Colors

Join us this Thursday at a new location for an extra-special and last in-person meeting before summer.

We are gathering at K-HOUSE Karaoke & Arts Hub this Thursday, June 18 from 4:30 to 6:30 PM for our last in-person BLOC Connections before summer.

K-HOUSE is creative, local, social, a little loud in the best way, and built around the kind of energy BLOC believes in: people coming together, making room for each other, celebrating talent, and building community through connections.

Located upstairs in the former Watershed space, K-HOUSE carries the spirit of its original bar and lounge into a new chapter. Karaoke happens 7 nights a week, but the space is also a café, lounge, arts hub, performance space, and home for open mics, live music, workshops, private events, and all kinds of creative gatherings.

Come meet business owners, creatives, entrepreneurs, professionals, and community members, say hello before summer pulls everyone in different directions.

Thursday, June 18
4:30 to 6:30 PM
K-HOUSE Karaoke & Arts Hub
121 West Martin Luther King Jr St, Ithaca, New York, 14850

Last in-person gathering before summer.

REGISTER https://www.businessleadersofcolors.com/event-calendar #!event/2026/6/18/bloc-connections-june-18

Juneteenth marks the moment when enslaved people in Texas finally received word of emancipation, years after freedom had already been declared. Today, it carries a larger meaning: freedom, delayed justice, Black resilience, and liberation.

On Sunday, June 14, Community Arts Partnership’s Spring Writes Literary Festival presents Juneteenth: The Black Fantastic, a Zoom reading of speculative poetry by African American poets exploring Juneteenth through imagination, history, and the future of freedom.

Featured poets include Linda Addison, Owolabe Aboyade, Sol’Sax, upfromsumdirt, and Akua Lezli Hope, Grandmaster of Fantastic Poetry.

Registration is required to receive the Zoom link.

Visit SpringWrites.org, go to Events, then select Zoom.

Help support scholarships for local students this Saturday.

The Ithaca Eagles Club is hosting a Chicken BBQ fundraiser with proceeds benefiting a scholarship fund through the Dorianthia Chapter #19 Prince Hall Eastern Star.

Chicken BBQ
Saturday, June 6, 2026
12:00 noon
Ithaca Eagles Club
$14

Raffle baskets and a 50/50 raffle will also be part of the event.

For more info: 607-272-2670

Come support our fellow BLOC members tomorrow!

We are excited to kick off the Ice Cream Social season with our friends at join us the first Thursday of June for live music, burlesque and Ice Cream plus an open mic to kick off the show!!!

LIVE, TODAY, JUNE 1 - Free. Register now.

THANKS FOR THE NO with Debra Charris, aka performer Dee Lightfull

6 PM to 7 PM
CAP ArtSpace
110 N. Tioga Street, on the Commons
Tompkins Center for History and Culture, in the Ithaca College Gallery

“Thanks for the No” is a workshop about the least glamorous but most universal part of being an artist or performer: hearing “no” and living to tell the tale.

Auditions. Applications. Casting calls. Portfolio submissions. Emails that start with “Unfortunately...”

Rejection is basically a side hustle in arts and entertainment. This session blends humor, honest conversation, and practical resilience tools to help artists and performers process disappointment, quiet the comparison spiral, and protect their creative spark.

You’ll swap stories, pick up strategies that actually work in a high-exposure industry, and leave with a healthier relationship to the word “no.”

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeN8f3vj8uCM6jCGfowhzVlEq9pUlrAywk04GcZ5RsrO7N-5w/viewform

Remember we have BLOC Connections today at the TreeHouse Studio & Lounge.

For the last hour of today's event, we're dancing!

Adolfo Castillo is joining us to teach Cuban hip hop house and we're really excited to have him.

Come through. Connect, catch up, and meet the members shaping what BLOC looks like next. Whether you've been with us since the Northstar days or this is your first Connections, you belong here.

Thursday, May 21 · 4:30–6:30 PM
TreeHouse Studio & Lounge, 119 S Cayuga St, 3rd Floor, Ithaca, NY
Members and non-members welcome, bring a friend or colleague.
Heads up: TreeHouse is on the 3rd floor and accessed by stairs. Reach out if you have questions about getting in.
Register in advance. Link in comments / bio.

Families in Binghamton - Earn up to $300 while you learn together.

The Koffman Southern Tier Incubator at Binghamton University is running a free 2-day program for Binghamton families to learn how to start a business together.

This Memorial Day Weekend.
May 23–24, 2026. 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM both days. 120 Hawley St, Binghamton.

Over the weekend, families work through entrepreneurial mindset, credit and money management, choosing a business idea, family roles, marketing, and a final pitch. Lunch is provided both days. There are breakout activities for children. Every family member receives a graduation certificate. Families that complete the program receive up to $300 ($100 per member, max $300 per family).

Open to Binghamton residents. No prior business experience required. 10 family spots.

Run by the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator, in partnership with NENY and SUNY Broome. Instruction by an Entrepreneur Assistance Center (EAC) instructor.

Register: https://airtable.com/appz5kwFemx1jjL81/pagRH7MXG4gtPhwy4/form

BLOC Connections is happening this Thursday, May 21

Our next BLOC Connections is at Salsa Ithaca, a 25-year staple of Ithaca's Latin cultural scene.

Come connect, catch up, and meet the members shaping what BLOC looks like next. Whether you've been with us since the Northstar days or this is your first Connections, you belong here.

Thursday, May 21 · 4:30–6:30 PM
TreeHouse Studio & Lounge, 119 S Cayuga St, 3rd Floor, Ithaca, NY

Members and non-members welcome, bring a friend or colleague.
Heads up: TreeHouse is on the 3rd floor and accessed by stairs. Reach out if you have questions about getting in.

Register in advance. https://www.businessleadersofcolors.com/event-calendar #!event/2026/5/21/bloc-connections-may-21

Salsa Ithaca

We could not be prouder. 💛

Congratulations to Jeremiah Craig , founder of Jeremiah Craig Media on receiving the Noel Desch Key Person of the Year Award.

Jeremiah, this honor reflects exactly who you are: a creator, a connector, and a leader whose work makes our whole community look and sound better. The lens you bring to Tompkins County stories, including the very videos that have honored other awardees on that stage, has shaped how this region sees itself. Now it's your turn to be in front of the camera, and there's no one more deserving.

From all of us at Business Leaders of Colors: we are so proud of you. Thank you for showing what's possible when our community shows up, lifts up, and leads.

And what a moment for BLOC, two years in a row, a BLOC member has received this honor, following our founder Gladys Brangman last year. The legacy continues.

If you're building, working, or investing in New York's legal cannabis industry, this is for you.

420 G2G BLOC Party
A celebration of cannabis culture and the businesses making it happen legally in New York State.

📅 Tonight — Monday, April 20
⏰ 4:20pm – 7:30pm
📍 Backyard at Northstar House · 202 E Falls St, Ithaca, NY

💵 $4.20 entry until 4:21pm · $10 after

The night includes:
• Cash bar + apps by Northstar House
• Smokin Mic Variety Show at 5:30pm, featuring Burlesque Buffet, produced by LoKey Studios & Don Manuel Presents
• Moettik Stash Box Raffle all evening

Sponsored by Business Leaders of Colors, G2G – Green to Green Professionals, LoKey Studios.

👉 RSVP by 4:20pm today https://partiful.com/e/Fh4qp1EOMEirf85Voi3q?accept-cohost=b2349fb2-8ae1-4b8e-bf65-348015480e4f&rsvp=true

See you in the backyard.

21+ only · Valid ID required · Consumption in backyard only · No THC sales on site