Portia Kee

| Social Engineer |
Portia Kee
Events Manager,
Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture

Charlotte, North Carolina
Age: 34

At the busy $18 million Gantt Center at the Levine Center for the Arts in Charlotte, N.C., special events are common, with additional facility rentals for fundraisers, business meetings and small receptions. Spearheading it all is Portia Kee, the events manager at the 46,500-sq.-ft. facility and a member of ISES. Kee got her start producing fashion shows in Miami, then segued into owning Kee Connections, a personal concierge service where she hosted and entertained clients visiting the South Beach area. She moved into a position as social events manager for the annual American Black Film Festival (she’ll tell you she’s a movie junkie), and was then recruited to work at the Gantt where she helps coordinate all events. Wanting to attract more of the under-40 crowd to the center, Kee recently created “Social Supremacy,” a weekly happy hour for Charlotte socialites held on the facility’s indoor/outdoor rooftop terrace. She has a variety of responsibilities at the center, but Kee says the most challenging aspect of her job is “staying away from all the good food and sweets that surround me during events.” —E. Caslavka