2025 Broccoli City Breakthrough Women in Music & Media Dinner

Where Black women lead, culture follows. Over the weekend, the second annual Broccoli City Breakthrough Women in Music & Media (BWIMM) dinner took place in Washington, D.C., honoring the visionary women elevating culture and bringing the community with them.

The intimate Oct. 3 gathering welcomed a veritable who’s who of powerhouse women in music and media who are transforming their respective arenas with both impact and heart.

“The women we honor are not only trailblazers in their respective fields, they are architects of influence—rewriting what leadership, innovation, and creativity look like,” event director Gabrielle Hobbs, who orchestrated the incredible evening, told HelloBeautiful. “Whether behind the scenes or center stage, their work is transforming the industry from the inside out. They are challenging systems, building new ones, and in doing so, making space for others to rise.”

Dressed in dazzling ensembles to match the evening’s pink porcelain and gold theme, the dinner brought together media executives, founders, marketing creatives, journalists, designers, and authors. Though they work across different realms, these women are united as trendsetters, innovators, and community builders.

From Carmen Carroll, founder of Good Works creative agency; to Erin Blaine, who’s changing the sports entertainment game as Senior Fan Experience Manager for the Washington Mystics; to music industry powerhouse Margeaux Watson, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Epic Records/Sony Music Entertainment—these power players are leading with impact across music, media and the culture at large.

This one means a lot🤍🥹.

Being named a Breakthrough Woman in Music and Media is more than an honor. It’s a reminder that the work is working. The late nights, the big ideas, the risks, and the belief that storytelling can shape how we see ourselves, it all matters.

Thank you @broccolicity and @ionedigital for seeing women like me. For recognizing the builders, the dreamers, and the ones behind the scenes who make things happen.

Grateful to do this work and even more grateful for who I get to do it with @goodworkscreative.

— Carmen Carroll

Celebrating Impact

Guests mingled over lush floral tablescapes, sharing bites and beverages as the room settled for the main event: the BWIMM Honoree Impact Awards. It was a moment to celebrate the visionary women transforming music and media, distinguishing themselves by moving with purpose, innovation, and fearless creativity.

“Breakthrough Women in Music and Media are not just a part of the conversation, they are the conversation,” said Hobbs. “This event was born out of a deep recognition: Black women have always been at the forefront of culture creating, influencing, and shifting narratives, often without the recognition they deserve. This evening was curated to celebrate their brilliance—not as a trend, but as a truth that has always existed.”

Though women hold only 13.2% of leadership roles in major music companies and 24% of senior editor roles in global media, the 2025 honorees are boldly pushing boundaries and setting the standard for the next generation.

Drafting their own blueprints for success, these women span the diverse media landscape—from print to broadcast, digital platforms, and live experiences. Each honoree curates spaces, both literal and figurative, to uplift community and culture, their work tied by a single thread: bringing people together.

Honored is an understatement ❤️ To know me is to know I am the biggest advocate for Black women in music, media, and culture, making sure our voices, our brilliance, and our impact are never overlooked. To be seen and celebrated at this year’s Breakthrough Women in Music & Media Dinner by my @broccolicity family that I’ve been with for 10+ years feels full-circle.

To be recognized by and alongside peers that I admire is a sweet little reminder that I’m right where I belong. Here’s to pushing culture forward, honoring our impact, and creating space for the next generation of trailblazers 🥦

— Tiffanie Wagner

The vibrant evening paid tribute to their impact, giving them the spotlight while fostering connection as they move forward in their journeys. Their words underscored the power of sisterhood and community.

“I’ve learned that the only way through hard times is together: by leaning on and lifting one another,” said honoree Cliché Wynter-Mayo, Director of Sponsor & Affiliate Content at iOne Digital, who has led several impactful campaigns including the four-time Telly Award-winning Black Joy Blazers: Nikki Giovanni.

“There is not only community, but salvation in sisterhood,” Wynter-Mayo continued in her remarks at the Impact Awards. “We are the superheroes we’ve been waiting for to save us. And I’m standing here tonight because of the superheroes in my own life who paved the way for me. From my mother to every woman who ever hired me. Because fun fact: I’ve only ever been hired by women.”

The honorees and guests were the moment. See their stunning looks below.