Marcus Allen

Co-Founder of Broccoli City and Think Broccoli, LLC

Marcus Allen is the Co-Founder of Broccoli City and Think Broccoli, LLC, and is widely known as a serial entrepreneur, brand architect and community mobilizer. Born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, Allen obtained his B.S. in Supply Chain Logistics from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. It wasn’t long after that Allen, alongside his best-friend, founded Broccoli City, a multi-layered social enterprise which aims to build thriving urban communities that sustain future generations by mobilizing and educating urban millennials through social impact campaigns and major events. 

Allen’s expertise in business and strategy, together with his desire to positively impact minority lifestyles and circumstances, has birthed several major contributions to the urban community, including a joint venture with Live Nation Urban which help create BroccoliCon, BC 5K Run + Fitness Festival, Smile Project Carnival and Concert, Food and Grooves Experience, Park Up DC, and most notably Broccoli City Festival. The annual festival, which launched in 2013, has gathered over 200,000 people in the spirit of Earth Day, making it one of the largest events for young, Black millennials in the country. Allen and his partner have since gone on to launch Broccoli Bar, a collaborative activation space with &Pizza, Blackleaf Organic Vodka, the first French-imported USDA certified organic vodka, and Think Broccoli, LLC, a creative, experiential marketing agency focused on development and implementation of strategies for brand visibility and efficacy. 

Allen’s contributions to the culture garnered him recognition by Stanford University as one of the top social innovators in the world during his participation in their Executive Program for Social Entrepreneurship. The United Negro College Fund honored Allen in the launch of their Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Allen has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Billboard, Black Enterprise, Essence, Revolt, and Boardroom.