Director of the Business of Creative Enterprises program Wes Jackson will leave Emerson in July to serve as president of the non-profit arts organization BRIC Arts & Media in Brooklyn, NY, according to a community-wide email sent Thursday afternoon. 

Jackson joined the Emerson faculty as the director of BCE and senior executive-in-residence in January 2018. He helped create a Global Bachelor’s program in business of creative enterprises based at Franklin University Switzerland, providing graduates with a degree from Franklin and Emerson.

He led the development of a Masters in the Business of Creative Enterprises, which will launch in September. Jackson conceptualized an annual student-led business of creative enterprises conference in Boston and Los Angeles.

Jackson began his career producing concerts for Nas, The Roots, The Dave Matthews Band, The Fugees, and A Tribe Called Quest. He then started his own promotions company, Seven Heads Entertainment, and helped launch the careers of Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), Talib Kweli, El-P (Run The Jewels), Common, and others.

Jackson also founded the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival in 2005, which hosted Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Kendrick Lamar, among others. He later created The Bodega Agency, which produces the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival and serves as a multifaceted media company.

In the email correspondence, Interim Provost Jan Roberts-Breslin described Jackson as “a valued member of our campus community.”

“While we are sad to see him go, we realize that this is a great opportunity for him and allows him to be closer to family,” Roberts-Breslin said. “We look forward to maintaining ties and to future collaborations.”