Bio
Morgan DeBaun is a serial entrepreneur and corporate advisor. As the Founder & CEO of Blavity Inc., the leading digital media company for Black culture and millennials, Morgan has grown the company into a market leader for Black media, reaching over 100 million readers per month through a growing brand portfolio which includes: Blavity News, 21Ninety, AfroTech, Travel Noire, Shadow & Act, and Lunchtable. Under DeBaun’s leadership, Blavity has launched several leading consumer summits, including Summit 21 for Black women creators, and AfroTech, the largest tech conference for Black innovators and founders. DeBaun acts as an advisor to influential global brands and companies including Disney, American Airlines, CES, Pantora Bridal and Rosen Skincare. She is also an angel investor in Golde, a consumer brand present in over 200 stores, and Public, which has a $1B+ valuation.
DeBaun is a recipient of ADCOLOR’s Innovative Award, has been recognized by Forbes in the 30 Under 30 and America’s Top 50 Women in Tech lists, and was named as one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans by The Root.
Born and raised in St. Louis, she graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and minors in Entrepreneurship and Education.
Morgan founded Blavity Inc. in her apartment in San Francisco in 2014 while working full time at her Silicon Valley tech job. She worked nights, weekends and used her savings to bootstrap the business before raising her first round of funding led by New Media Ventures. She then moved to LA, hired her first employees full time and created the first official Blavity office.
The word 'Blavity' is a fusion of the words 'Black' and 'Gravity'. It was born at Morgan's alma mater WashU in St. Louis. Her co-founders Jonathan, Jeff and Aaron joined the business full time in 2015-2016 and worked closely to grow the company, acquire new brands and scale revenue.
Within the first 3 years of business, Blavity Inc. built Summit 21, AfroTech, acquired Shadow and Act and Travel Noire to quickly build a portfolio of brands serving the Black Millennial demographic.
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HER BRANDS
Morgan is the founder of M. Roze Essentials, a natural skincare line & WorkSmart, her signature business advising program.
CURRENTLY SERVING
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