Executive Chairman of the Sundial Group of Companies, Richelieu Dennis, to be honored with ADCOLOR | ADWEEK Beacon Award
ADCOLOR 2025 to take place November 11-14 in Orlando, Florida
NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — ADCOLOR, the premier organization dedicated to building community in the creative industries, today announced Richelieu Dennis, Executive Chairman of the Sundial Group of Companies, as its 2025 ADCOLOR | ADWEEK Beacon Honoree. The award honors an exceptional individual who leverages their platform to amplify community, foster representation, and inspire meaningful change. Through groundbreaking work, they illuminate pathways for others, embodying the spirit of “rising up while reaching back.”
A renowned entrepreneur best known as the founder of Sundial Brands, the parent company of brands such as SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage, Dennis sold his highly successful company to Unilever, making it one of the largest natural beauty and personal care deals in the U.S. and also the largest consumer products transaction by a majority Black-owned company. He used the historic acquisition as an opportunity to launch the New Voices Fund (NVF) which invests in and empowers emerging entrepreneurs, especially women of color. Since inception, NVF has deployed over $200 million across more than 25 portfolio companies in personal care, food and beverage, restaurants and adjacent consumer sectors. NVF has realized two large, publicly announced exits, Mielle Organics and The Honey Pot Company, and continues to invest in and support other leading brands.
“Richelieu has shown us what it means to turn success into significance,” said Tiffany R. Warren, Founder & President of ADCOLOR. “He uses his own achievements to reinvest in others, and that’s the true essence of ADCOLOR’s ‘Rise Up, Reach Back’ mission. Through his inclusive businesses and strategic investments, he consistently displays a commitment to economic empowerment, building opportunities today while simultaneously championing the next generation of founders.”
“The Beacon Award recognizes those who rise up and reach back—and Richelieu Dennis has made that his life’s mission,” said Ryan Joe, Editor-in-Chief of ADWEEK. “His leadership continues to light the path for founders, creators, and changemakers everywhere. We’re honored to celebrate him alongside ADCOLOR.”
Dennis currently serves as Chair of Sundial Media & Technology Group (SMTG), where he oversees brands including ESSENCE, Afropunk, BeautyCon, and, as of 2024, Refinery29. With over 30 years of business leadership, he champions a community-commerce-culture business model that creates economic pathways for underserved communities and transforms access to capital, mentorship, and opportunities for under-serviced founders. Fiercely focused on the future, SMTG is leveraging data, technology, and AI to meet the needs of consumers at every life stage, building immersive, tech-enabled experiences that deepen connection, drive impact, and reimagine how culture, creativity, and community come together on a global scale.
“To be honored with the ADCOLOR | ADWEEK Beacon Award is deeply humbling. This recognition reflects not only my own work, but the collective impact of communities that have always moved culture forward,” said Dennis. “My journey has been about turning survival into significance, proving that when you invest in overlooked entrepreneurs and build institutions anchored in culture, commerce, and community, you unlock transformative change. Through the Sundial ecosystem, we’ve worked to create platforms that transfer ownership, resources, and power back to the communities that shape culture, while building human connection at scale. This award belongs to every underestimated founder and changemaker who refuses to stop rising.”
Since 2007, the ADCOLOR Awards have honored individuals and companies that go above and beyond to make a difference in the creative and tech industries. The awards include several non-competitive categories, whose honorees are chosen by ADCOLOR’s highly esteemed Board of Directors and respective partners.
All honorees will be celebrated at the organization’s in-person Awards Show, taking place on Friday, November 14, 2025 at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida. The show will serve as the culmination of ADCOLOR 2025, which also includes the organization’s annual conference. For more information on this year’s honorees, please visit the ADCOLOR site.
Those interested in attending ADCOLOR 2025 can purchase tickets on the event’s registration site. For partnership opportunities, please reach out to [email protected]. For additional updates and information, please follow ADCOLOR on Instagram and LinkedIn.
About ADCOLOR
Founded in 2005, ADCOLOR® is a not-for-profit 501(c) (6) organization whose mission is to build a community of professionals in the creative industries who see, support, and celebrate each other while remaining authentically themselves. Our process is twofold. First, we help individuals and organizations from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences RISE UP by honoring their accomplishments and amplifying their ideas; then we guide these leaders and mentors-to-be to REACH BACK and find others who deserve attention and promotion. To learn more about our programs and partners, visit www.adcolor.org
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