17-year-old Emmanuela Ilok from Nigeria has been awarded full scholarships to study software engineering at some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, including Stanford, MIT, Yale, UPenn, Princeton, and Columbia. Academic Excellence and International Recognition Ilok’s journey to securing these scholarships began with her performance in the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) in Nigeria, where she was recognized as the top performer by the British Council, according to Punchng. Ilok’s mind led her to develop software that employs Machine Learning algorithms to detect breast cancer in women, achieving
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) within the tech industry over the past five years has seen a decline, a new report from Tech Talent Charter (TTC) highlights. The UK not-for-profit’s 2023 annual benchmarking report points to carelessness, budget cuts, and a shift in priorities as factors threatening to reverse progress. Concerning Changes And Leadership Buy-In The TTC report warns of “concerning changes” across the tech landscape, citing a lack of leadership commitment and a risk of DE&I initiatives becoming performative rather than intentional. It emphasizes the importance of genuine efforts
Wells Fargo & Co. is bracing for a crucial decision on whether a lawsuit concerning its mortgage denials to non-white applicants during the pandemic will attain class-action status, according to Bloomberg. This lawsuit, consolidating several claims, could become a high-profile and costly case for the bank. Key Allegations And The Class Action Motion The plaintiffs allege that Wells Fargo’s credit-scoring algorithm unfairly impacted minority applicants. They argue that all non-white applicants who applied for refinancing, home purchases, or home equity lines of credit from 2018 to 2022 were denied despite
On June 10, 2024, Kai Cenat made Twitch history by breaking the platform’s North American viewership record during a stream featuring Kevin Hart and Druski. The trio’s collaboration brought in 712,600 peak concurrent viewers, surpassing the previous record set by Ninja’s Fortnite stream with Drake in 2018, which had 644,800 concurrent viewers. LeBron James Surprise Appearance The stream gained even more attention when NBA superstar LeBron James made a surprise FaceTime call with Kevin Hart. This unexpected appearance generated viral moments that quickly spread across social media, adding to the
EqualSpace has opened a new co-working space in Newark, NJ to support minority-led businesses. According to Tap Into Newark, the new ES550 Tech & Innovation Campus is a 50,000-square-foot, multi-floor facility situated at 550 Broad St. and promises to be a game-changer for entrepreneurs of color. A Space For Minority-Led Businesses The inception of EqualSpace was driven by Citi Medina‘s vision to create a safe and supportive environment for minority talent, Blavity reported. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Medina relocated to Newark and noticed a significant gap: no co-working spaces catered
internXL has announced a partnership with FYI (Focus Your Ideas), an AI-powered productivity app for creatives co-founded by will.i.am and tech founder Sunil Reddy. The partnership aims to connect college talent, particularly from underrepresented communities, with career opportunities in the AI and prompt engineering industry. internXL and FYI Collaborate An initiative of Robert F. Smith’s Fund II Foundation, internXL is an AI-driven platform that matches top employers with skilled entry-level candidates. The platform’s s AI-generated recommendations consider the educational background, career aspirations, cognitive abilities, learning style, and personality to ensure a fair evaluation.
Social media influencers with darker skin tones and curlier hair textures earn substantially less than their counterparts, according to research from SevenSix Agency, a UK-based talent-management firm. Influencer Pay Gap: The Impact Of Skin Tone And Hair Type The report, published on June 4, surveyed 300 influencers of varying ethnic backgrounds, including Arab, Black, East Asian, Latinx, South Asian, and Southeast Asian, alongside their white counterparts. The findings show that influencers with a “deep dark” skin tone earn 44.63% less than those with a “light skin” tone. This pay gap
Many Black adults believe that key systems in the United States are designed to hinder Black people’s progress, a Pew Research Center survey has found. This sentiment was more common among those who had experienced racial discrimination. Widespread Belief In Systemic Discrimination The survey, conducted in September 2023, found that Black adults believe the prison (74%) and political systems (67%) are designed to hold them back. For example, 3 in 4 of Black adults believed the prison system is intentionally structured to profit from incarcerating Black individuals. Almost 2 in
In an initiative to empower Black creatives, Apple has partnered with the Propel Center to launch an arts and entertainment industry accelerator program. This program provides 50 students from 19 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) opportunities to enhance their creative skills and explore new career pathways. Program Overview: Empowering Future Creatives The accelerator program, which is part of Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (REJI), commenced on June 10 at Tennessee State University and will conclude at Clark Atlanta University. “Creativity is central to everything we do at Apple,
Sara Wahedi is the founder and CEO of Ehtesab, Afghanistan’s first civic-technology startup. Ehtesab’s mobile app is designed to crowdsource and verify emergency event information, sending real-time alerts to users across Afghanistan. Refugee turned tech pioneer After fleeing Afghanistan as a child, Wahedi lived in Germany, the United States, and Canada. Her passion for her homeland drove her back to Afghanistan, where she worked a life-changing in 2018. On May 9, 2018, three explosions rocked Sara Wahedi’s Kabul neighborhood. As residents were left in the dark without any real-time information from
