GodKulture Conference 2019 “Deeper” was Deep!

Essy Rodriguez

Maria Esmeralda Rodriguez is the Membership Director at GodKulture, (GK). She likes to be called Essy, a nickname given by her dear friends. Essy specializes in Faith-Based- Community Development Programs, and Initiatives. She has a heart for the underserved. While being a full-time student at DePaul University, Essy found a not-for-profit organization called Thrivent Financial where she found a faith-based platform that gave her the opportunity to nurture her purpose and do community outreach. It was through her work at Thrivent Financial that she found GodKulture. At GodKulture, Essy is actualizing her purpose. At GodKulture she wears more than one work-related hats allowing her to exercise Leadership Coaching which she is passionate about. She always looks forward to being continuously challenged to grow professionally, in her personal love, and her personal faith walk. One of her favorite times at work is when she gets to meet one-on-one with members, and volunteers, and nurture long term relationships.

December 18, 2019

The 2019 GodKulture Conference was beyond epic! From noon sessions and labs to the explosive evening worship experience, the event was one of a kind. The opening plenary session kicked off with worship and a welcome keynote from Rotimi Kehinde. Afterward, the break-out sessions began.

Attendees learned about songwriting tips and techniques, as guest speakers on the song writing panel, Lucia Bracho, Dori Del Rio and Josh Schiffman shared their personal stories and journeys in writing and performing their songs.

A second session focused on “Launch Strategies” with CEOs and founders Marilyn Rhames (Founder of Teaches Who Pray), Cristian Niciu (CEO of Skyline Technologies) and Ebeni Bermudez (Founder of Stitches by Faith).

It was a session of digging deep into different ways to launch a profitable business and growing thriving non-profits. Attendees learned first hand about the struggles of the featured guests on the panel, their systems, and unique paths in launching their organizations.

For the first time, GodKulture had an Artist Discovery Audition with mentor judges, Olumide Kehinde, Lois Shonukan and Rodney RJ Young Jr., who gave important feedback on songwriting technics, stage presence, and song performance. Two artists were selected to receive free produced tracks and sessions with top Chicago producers Olumide Kehinde of UnBoxed Sounds and Rodney RJ Young Jr. of Rodney Young Music.

After the lunch break, Rotimi Kehinde, founder of GodKulture, led a special lab on the topic, “Expanding your leadership capacity,” which helped attendees re-discover how to reach and raise their peak capacity. He introduced an amazing system for making this happen.

The evening worship experience was unforgettable. There was an opening video and a phenomenal opening dance with spoken word. GodKulture Music Collective then had their first worship session with new originals “God is on the move,” and “Halleluyah” written by Rotimi Kehinde.

Aramide Kehinde, Music Director for the GK Music Collective, also debuted her new song, “There for me” with the band. With amazing presentations from Lucia Bracho, Efe Lucky & Unrestricted plus a life-changing rare lights-out worship experience with Erick David Townsend, Deeper was a conference event like none other.

With amazing presentations from Lucia Bracho, Efe Lucky & Unrestricted plus a life-changing rare lights-out worship experience with Erick David Townsend, Deeper was a conference event like none other.