Brandon McEachern, founder and chief executive officer of the famed Broccoli City Festival and Think Broccoli LLC, a social enterprise organization that focuses on building thriving urban communities that sustain future generations, will address the fall 2022 graduates of North Carolina Central University’s (NCCU) undergraduate, graduate and professional programs at the 140th Commencement Exercises on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022.
The baccalaureate ceremony will begin at 9 a.m. followed by the graduate and professional ceremony at 2 p.m., both in McDougald-McLendon Arena located at 700 E. Lawson St., Durham, N.C.
McEachern, a 2005 graduate of NCCU’s mass communication and theatre programs, launched the Broccoli City Festival in 2013 and it has grown significantly each year. In addition to the annual festival that takes place in Washington, D.C., McEachern and his team have promoted the importance of community service through their mobile volunteer rewards app ‘Chip’N.’ To date, more than 60,000 public service hours have been fulfilled through the platform.
In 2019, through its partnership with Live Nation, the Broccoli City Festival began expanding its production of additional events, including Think Broccoli LIVE, Roots Picnic, Jazz in the Garden, BET Experience and more.
McEachern has also overseen the development of projects, which seek to create socially impactful solutions to alleviate the problem of food deserts in urban communities, and provide access to fresh local produce to build health equity in urban sections of Washington, D.C.
While many of his major projects are facilitated in the Washington, D.C., area, McEachern, a North Carolina native and resident of Los Angeles, has also created a major impact on the West Coast. Most recently, he worked with Aja Brown, former mayor of Compton, Calif., to help create the first Healthy Compton Initiative.
Both ceremonies will stream live on the university’s website, Facebook page and YouTube channel.
For more information on NCCU’s 140th Commencement Exercises, please visit: nccu.edu/140commencement.
