A Divercity614 initiative
The Next
Destination.
A year-round springboard for creatives and entrepreneurs, built to help turn public visibility into lasting business and professional opportunity.
Why it exists
A showcase opens a door.
The path beyond it is often unclear.
Divercity614 has spent nine years producing Passport 2 Fashion and, since 2024, Passport 2 Flavor. Both create meaningful public exposure. What has been less clear is the path that follows it.
The Next Destination is designed to close that gap, creating opportunities for participants to continue learning, building relationships, reaching customers, and strengthening their ventures after an event has ended.
Representation has never been a theme for us. It is infrastructure. This ninth year feels like a natural point of transformation. The next step is not simply to produce a larger show, but to build what comes after it.
Aditi Bhatiya
Founder and Executive Director, Divercity614
What it offers
Support that starts at launch, and grows.
Programming will be shaped by participant needs, available funding, and partnerships across Central Ohio's creative, culinary, fashion, and small business ecosystems.
From launch
Committed
- Educational workshops and practical business tools
- Professional content and storytelling support
- Customer discovery opportunities
- Mentorship from experienced professionals
- Trusted referrals into the right local resources
As funding and partnerships grow
What support unlocks
- Pop-up and retail opportunities
- Participant stipends
- Microgrants
- Deeper cohort support
How it works
A trusted front door.
Central Ohio is rich with business advisors, legal clinics, lenders, maker spaces and retail partners. Divercity614 uses its established network to help participants find the ones most relevant to their goals, and to make the introduction warm.
That means connecting people to experienced professionals, community organizations, business development resources, and potential collaborators, then following up to see what changed.
Who it is for
Everyone is welcome. Some doors are harder to reach.
We reach first toward New American entrepreneurs and communities that have historically had the least access to industry networks, funding, and professional visibility. Participation is open to creatives and entrepreneurs at every stage.
Divercity614 programming is funded in part by a Project Support: Events grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, marking the second consecutive year of GCAC support, and by the Franklin County Board of Commissioners Office of Economic Engagement & Community Development.
Visibility is the beginning.
This is what comes next.
Creatives, entrepreneurs, mentors, educators, funders and community partners are all welcome.
The Next Destination is an initiative of Divercity614, a Columbus-based 501(c)(3)
nonprofit.
Contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.