Charles Ogletree Public Forum Series Panel
The Family Meeting: Building Wealth with Intention Across Generations
Wednesday, August 12th, 2026
2:30pm - 4:15pm
Union Chapel, Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts
A historic shift in wealth is underway. Over the next two decades, more than $80 trillion in assets is expected to move between generations. But alongside this opportunity is a growing reality: many Black Gen X and millennial professionals are simultaneously caregiving aging parents and children, often under the same roof. And younger millennials and Gen Z are moving back home and having trouble launching their own careers and families to responsibly shoulder financial responsibility. For Black families, the stakes of this moment could not be higher. These are conversations that our families are having behind closed doors, and we’re building community by bringing them out into the open.
But the headlines miss a generation of Black professionals that isn't waiting to inherit the blueprint. They're writing it by making deliberate choices about what legacy actually means to them.
This panel lives at that intersection. We'll interrogate the real cost of being the family's backbone — the medical decisions, the caregiver burnout, the silent pressure of being the one who must "have it together" — while centering the forward motion: how shifting values around homeownership, investing, entrepreneurship, and wealth-building are letting a new generation rewrite what intergenerational wealth looks like in Black America.
Through a dynamic discussion that bridges financial stewardship, health and wellbeing, and community leadership, this panel will offer practical insights and forward-looking perspectives for families committed to creating lasting generational impact, leaving behind a family and financial legacy.
Moderator
Symone Sanders Townsend
Political strategist and commentator; Host, MSNBC's "The Weekend"
She/Her
Symone Sanders Townsend is a trailblazing political strategist, commentator, and author who has broken barriers from the campaign trail to the White House. At 25, she became the youngest presidential press secretary in history, later serving as Senior Advisor and Chief Spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris. A dynamic voice in media, she hosted SYMONE on MSNBC and now co-hosts The Weeknight, offering sharp political insight and analysis. A proud North Omaha native, educator, and advocate, Symone continues to inspire the next generation of leaders through her work in politics, media, and mentorship.
@SymoneDSanders
Panelists
Simone Ashley Tyler
SVP, Blavity & AfroTech
Simone Ashley Tyler is Senior Vice President at Blavity, Inc., a media executive, whose work sits at the intersection of culture, technology, and well-being. At Blavity, she leads platform and strategic initiatives at the intersection of technology, culture, and impact, including AfroTech, Talent Infusion and most recently, the launch of HealthStack. With over a decade of experience in media and tech, she is a recognized voice in advancing equity for diverse technologists and professionals.
A seasoned business builder and operator, Simone has led large-scale event production, end-to-end go-to-market strategies, and multi-channel growth efforts across media, live experiences, and membership-driven platforms. Her work blends operational rigor with cultural fluency, turning vision into scalable, revenue-generating ecosystems.
Beyond her executive leadership, Simone is an entrepreneur who has a passion for health, wellness, and longevity for modern, high-performing communities. A Howard University alumna and Los Angeles native, she is known for building with intention and creating systems where people, platforms, and ideas can truly thrive.
Brea Baker
Activist and Writer
Brea Baker is a writer and activist whose book, ROOTED: The American Legacy of Land Theft & The Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership, details her family’s experiences across the South and makes another case for reparations to include land distribution. ROOTED has been celebrated in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Apple Books, the New York Times, iHeart Radio’s The Breakfast Club, Harper’s BAZAAR, Ms. Magazine, and was honored as a BCALA 2024 Nonfiction Honor award winner.
With a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University, Brea also regularly contributes reported op-eds and personal essays to ELLE and Refinery 29 Unbothered with other bylines in Harper’s BAZAAR, The Nation, Oprah Daily, THEM, Coveteur, The Progressive, Mission Magazine, Nonprofit Quarterly, and Inside Philanthropy. Brea is a collective member of BLIS (Black Liberation, Indigenous Sovereignty) as well as the Highland Project, and is on the board of YWCA USA, The Gathering for Justice, and Black Farmers’ Market NC. She is currently working on her next book — a biography of Jazz Age artist and nightclub owner, Bricktop, coming out in the summer of 2027.
Wilbur T. Peer Sr.
Executive Director, KKAC Organization
Wilbur T. Peer Sr. is the chief operating officer of The KKAC Organization (KKAC), the senior partner of Management Solutions, Inc. (MSI), has ownership in a row crop farming operation, and has over 40 years of experience in managing projects with universities and federal and state agencies. The KKAC Organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit providing education and technical assistance to limited-resource farmers, ranchers, landowners, and youth. In its few years of operation, KKAC has developed a lasting footprint in 11 states, primarily in the Southeastern and Midwest regions of the Unite States, through its outreach efforts, establishing partnerships with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy.
Since 2001, Management Solutions, Inc. (MSI) has provided various consulting services to a wide array of government entities and private sector clients. Previous clients include Arlington National Cemetery, Remediation Resources, Arkansas Human Development Corporation (AHDC), Little Rock Port Authority, MCL Jasco, Beacon Corporation, Maximus, the Marine base in Albany, Georgia, and the Arkansas Land and Farm Development Corporation (ALFDC), to name a few. Before serving as the senior partner of MSI, Peer worked for eight years as a senior executive service employee in the federal government. While in the federal government, he was a member of the Gore-Mbeki Bi-National Commission, which helped Nelson Mandela’s New Government of Unity. He also successfully operated a CBO, was a dean of continuing education and community service at a community college, and had part ownership in a manufacturing enterprise.
Sponsors and Partners
Presenting Sponsor
Community Partner
