On September 12, entrepreneurs, creatives, and business leaders gathered at Howard University for MOBFEST 2026, presented by Mob the Block.
Hosted by the hilarious Dr. Tei Pearson, the day blended business education, networking, live entertainment, food, and community in a way that felt less like a traditional conference and more like a gathering of people genuinely interested in seeing one another grow.
That sense of connection fit an event built around mobilizing community.
The day opened with registration and onboarding for the newly introduced MOB app, followed by the official MOBFEST kickoff and the main-stage conversation, “Passion to Purpose,” featuring Aqil Baker, Darryl Robinson, Stephanie Wigenton, and Markita “Ki” Miller.
From there, attendees moved between breakout sessions, interactive experiences, main-stage conversations, food, entertainment, and opportunities to connect.
Taking the Connection Beyond the Event
One of the biggest components of this year’s MOBFEST was the debut of the MOB app, a platform designed to help attendees keep building relationships long after the event.
Through the platform, users can create profiles, share what they offer in business, identify what they are currently looking for, message one another, and discover connections that may align with their needs.
Rather than letting the familiar “we should connect” conversation end once an event is over, the app gives the MOBFEST community a place to actually continue those conversations.
And that made the technology feel like a natural extension of what was happening throughout the building.
Business Education Across the Board
MOBFEST offered multiple sessions throughout the day, allowing attendees to choose conversations that aligned with where they were in business.
Programming included:
- Influencer Workshop — Tavon Jackson
- Seen & Sought: The Visibility Blueprint for Small Business Owners — Francheska “Fancy” Felder
- Beyond the Business: Building Wealth That Lasts — Dr. Ralph Steele
- Business Workflows: Train Your AI Bot — Etoulia Salas-Burnett
- Commercialization + HU Law Trademark Clinic — Adia Burriss Coleman
- Aligned, Not Automated: AI + Social Media — Brée Nachelle
- The Science of Self Sabotage — NneNna Carr
- Beauty Roundtable — LaKeysha Moore
- Connect 4 Networking — Chanté Douglas
- Writers Block Author Lounge
- Building the Business, Preserving the Legacy — LaTanya White, Ph.D.; Brian Ayers; Nicole Murphy; and Matthew R. Gilbert, Esq.
The topics ranged from visibility, wealth-building, and artificial intelligence to trademarks, self-sabotage, social media, networking, beauty, authorship, and legacy.
I led “Seen & Sought: The Visibility Blueprint for Small Business Owners,” a workshop focused on helping entrepreneurs better understand and strengthen their visibility.
One of the most rewarding parts of the session was the participation in the room. The women were engaged in the conversation, asked questions, and shared their own experiences. More importantly, some of those introductions did not end when the workshop did. I’ve remained connected with several attendees since MOBFEST.
For an event centered around building relationships, that part felt especially fitting.
When the Mob Supports a Business
MOBFEST didn’t just talk about supporting entrepreneurs. The community had an opportunity to put that idea into practice.
One of the businesses attendees “mobbed” during the event was Favorite Sparked, a mobile permanent-jewelry business.
During a quick interview at MOBFEST, owner Nyesha Urbano walked me through the experience. Customers can choose from different chains, charms, and connectors before having their jewelry custom-fitted. They can create pieces as bracelets, necklaces, anklets, hand chains, waist jewelry, and more. Once the piece is fitted, it can be welded closed—or a clasp can be added for customers who want something removable.
But Favorite Spark is also rooted in something deeply personal for Urbano. Before her father passed away, the two shared a permanent-jewelry experience together. The memory stayed with her and later became part of the inspiration behind the business, giving Urbano an opportunity to build something around an experience that already held special meaning.
The setup added another interactive element to the day, but more importantly, it demonstrated what “mob the block” can look like in practice: intentionally directing collective support toward a business.
Business, But Make It a Family Function
What stood out about MOBFEST, however, was that business was only part of the experience.
Food trucks lined the outside, music and dancing wove through the day, and musical performances added another layer of energy.
Even with a large crowd, the event maintained a feeling of familiarity. People seemed to know one another—or were only a connection or two removed from someone they knew.
Conversations flowed easily, introductions happened organically, and at times, the atmosphere felt more like a family function than a business conference.
And perhaps that was the point.
MOBFEST showed that networking doesn’t always mean exchanging cards, delivering an elevator pitch, and moving on to the next person.
It can look like learning together, eating together, dancing together, supporting someone’s business, and then having the infrastructure to stay connected afterward.
Building on the Mob the Block Mission
MOBFEST is the latest extension of the work being built by Mob the Block co-founders and sisters LaRhonda Stevenson and Melissa Lewis, whose story and vision were previously featured in SwagHer Magazine’s Black Women of the Future issue.
In that feature, the sisters discussed the inspiration behind their work and their commitment to creating opportunities for community, collaboration, and economic support.
At MOBFEST, attendees could see that vision in action.
There were classrooms filled with entrepreneurs learning. People were connecting in hallways, over food, and during interactive sessions. The crowd intentionally supported a small business. And a new digital platform was introduced to give those relationships somewhere to continue after everyone left Howard University.
From the workshops and main-stage conversations to the MOB app, small-business support, food, music, and spontaneous connections happening throughout the day, MOBFEST was ultimately about more than gathering people in one place.
It was about giving them reasons—and now tools—to remain connected once they left.
And maybe the real impact of MOBFEST will be measured by what happens after the mob goes home.
More Footage from the Event:
