ELIJAH.IS/
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Welcome to my corner of the internet. I’m Elijah McKinnon—a BlaQ, non-binary builder and strategic weaver from the San Francisco Bay Area, currently based between Chicago, Johannesburg, and beyond. I move through the world with an executive diva sensibility, grounded in clarity, conviction, and care.
When I’m not dreaming, I’m building—creating, sustaining, and amplifying pathways that move ideas into action. My approach to leadership is rooted in a liberatory lens that prioritizes care, accountability, and the belief that we already hold the tools needed to dismantle systems that perpetuate harm and imagine what comes next.
Curiosity is my compass. It keeps me asking better questions, embracing complexity, and leaning into generative conflict as a pathway toward something more honest and equitable. I’m deeply rooted across communities, committed to resource sharing, meaningful relationships, restorative practices, and designing futures that feel both expansive and possible.
I mostly wear black and white. I drink too much coffee. I travel often. I eat a lot of garlic. And I’m consistently in conversation with media, queer thought, and Black feminist frameworks.
If you’re interested in envisioning something meaningful—or simply want to understand how I move through the world—I invite you to read the full bio below and see if our values align.
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Elijah McKinnon (they/them) is an award-winning strategist, entrepreneur, and visionary from the future, currently residing on planet Earth. They are a thought leader, ecosystem builder, and strategic weaver whose work sits at the intersection of media, culture, and community. Elijah is known for designing and resourcing networks that mobilize intersectional communities, creating pathways for artists, cultural workers, and their audiences to access, shape, and redistribute power.
Over the course of their career, Elijah has unlocked more than $20 million in resources to support artist-led projects, community-driven initiatives, and alternative media systems. Their work centers on building narrative infrastructure by developing platforms, partnerships, and distribution models that challenge traditional gatekeeping and expand how stories are created, experienced, and sustained.
Alongside leading mission-driven organizations, Elijah maintains an independent strategy and creative practice through People Who Care, partnering with nonprofits, philanthropies, brands, institutions, and founders to design cultural strategy, build partnerships, facilitate collaborative processes, and imagine new models for social impact. Their practice blends strategic advising, facilitation, public speaking, and creative direction to help organizations move from vision to action.
Elijah is the Co-Founder and CEO of Open Television (OTV), an Emmy-nominated, award-winning nonprofit streaming platform and incubator that supports intersectional storytellers through production, exhibition, and distribution. Since its founding, OTV has supported thousands of artists globally, distributed over 500 original titles, and built a growing global audience through its streaming platform and partnerships across the cultural sector.
Beyond OTV, Elijah serves as Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Twenty43 Ventures, where they help shape new pathways for investment, partnership, and cultural strategy across the storytelling landscape. Through this work, Elijah continues to connect artists, institutions, funders, and collaborators in ways that prioritize care, access, and long-term sustainability.
Their work and leadership have been recognized by leading foundations and philanthropic institutions, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative, Salzburg Global and the Elevate Prize Foundation; educational institutions such as Harvard University and Northwestern University; and film and cultural organizations including the Sundance Institute and The Gotham. Their work has also been featured in leading trade and media publications such as Forbes, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety.
A sought-after speaker and cultural strategist, Elijah frequently engages in conversations around narrative power, alternative systems, and the future of ethical business practices. They also speak on care and mindfulness in the workplace as critical interventions to extractive and hyper-capitalist frameworks, advocating for models that center sustainability, well-being, and collective responsibility. Their approach emphasizes relational impact, collective imagination, and the belief that storytelling can serve as a tool for both cultural transformation and systemic change.
Beyond their professional work, Elijah calls many places home, moving between Chicago and Johannesburg. They are a certified 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) and remain deeply committed to practices of storytelling, travel, and mindfulness as extensions of both their personal and professional life.
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