TIME100 Next 2022: Meet The Black People In Tech Who Made The List
From pioneers and leaders to artists and icons, TIME has officially released its TIME100 Next list, highlighting emerging leaders worldwide who are actively shaping the future and redefining the next generation of leadership.
The annual list, which recognizes 100 rising stars from a range of different sectors around the world, has featured some of the most influential people of the century. Although each person listed is entirely different from the others, they all share the extraordinary lengths they go to to help shape our world and change the future.
This year’s list features musicians, medical professionals, government officials, high-profile whistle-blowers, and movement leaders alongside top CEOs.
So, without further ado – let’s meet three Black people from the world of tech selected for this year’s list.
Daniel Motaung
Daniel Motaung is a Facebook moderator in Kenya who explosively launched a legal case against the tech giant and its outsourcing company Sama. Motaung connected with hundreds of his co-workers to demand better pay and working conditions from Facebook after many workers opened up about the PTSD-inducing content they had been exposed to, which ended up damaging their mental health.
After being fired by the corporation, he decided to blow the whistle about the horrific circumstances content-moderators face within the workplace. Through Motaung, eyes have been opened to the harsh and sometimes damaging cost people must face when moderating social media content.
Ifeoma Ozoma
Ifeoma Ozoma is the founder and principal of Earthseed and an American public policy specialist. After spending years working at Google, Facebook, and Pinterest, where she felt underpaid and under-appreciated, Ozoma decided to embark on a new journey, ending the abuse of non-disclosure agreements.
After breaking her non-disclosure agreement with the company, Ozoma used her platform to highlight “the racism, gaslighting, and disrespect” she was forced to endure.
Since then, Ozoma has used her platform as a whistle-blower to campaign for the right to disclose harassment and discrimination within powerful tech companies. Ozoma managed to transform the move into the Californian ‘Silenced No More Act’, which she championed to help support as many workers as possible.
Donnel Baird
Donnel Baird is the founder of solution-based platform, BlocPower, a Brooklyn-based climate tech company. BlocPower’s primary mission is to address climate change. The early stage startup installs solar and energy-efficient help to support churches, synagogues, and non-profit organizations.
Baird has extensive knowledge of what it means to be energy impoverished from his personal experience growing up in a household where his parents used stove burners and oven heat to keep the house warm. BlockPower has now partnered with Ithaca, N.Y, to decarbonize 1,600 buildings.
