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To celebrate Computer Science Education week, Girls Who Code have launched a new video game, Girls Who Code Girls, tailored to turning users into creators by helping them code their characters. According to recent stats, 77% of video game developers are men meaning most female and non-binary characters are designed by men, which is why women are misrepresented. Black Girls Who Code hopes to change that with their new gaming experience.  Girls Who Code, founded by Reshma Saujani, is a non-profit organization committed to disrupting the imbalance in gaming by challenging the misogynistic culture that

Jermaine (Jupiter) Murray, also known as ”The Job Father,” is paving the way for Black people in tech by using his LinkedIn page to help professionals secure jobs and recruiters diversify their hiring practices. According to recent reports, Black representation in tech is barely improving, with Black professionals only making up approximately 13% of the industry. Additionally, only 7% of Black people can break into high-tech, proving that the tech industry has an issue embracing and retaining Black talent. The recent layoffs have also shown how precarious Black people’s jobs

Tech platform Mission 41K has partnered with former NFL player Emil Ekiyor to bridge the racial gap within tech.  What Is Launch Mission 41K?  Mission 41K is a movement designed to address the difficulty the tech industry faces today with finding and retaining tech talent. By prioritizing a skills-based hiring process, more people will be able to break into the sector through inclusive pathways.  The organization aims to provide a variety of entry points into the industry so people with ongoing apprenticeships and internships can still excel in a competitive

Mentor Connect is a mentorship program that eliminates the loneliness of being an entrepreneur.  The mentorship program, sponsored by Ben Franklin Technology Partners and Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT), currently has over 200 mentees and 130 mentors in its network.  The network aims to provide a positive community for entrepreneurs to grow and connect with like-minded people. Not only does it give them space to share their concerns and issues, but it also helps provide them with a reliable network they can lean on in their time of need.  “We always say

Black-owned startup CourtRoom5 is a platform dedicated to providing everyone with access to the courts and justice available to all. Founded in 2017 by Sonja Ebron and Debra Slone, CourtRoom5 works to help civilians navigate the judicial system and offers affordable legal advice to people from marginalized communities who can’t afford legal aid. Navigating the judicial system Sonja Ebron PhD is an electrical engineer and entrepreneur with a background in AI. She co-founded CourtRoom5 with her wife Debra Slone PhD, a former library school professor and qualitative data analysis expert. Motivated by their own

Annie Jean-Baptiste, head of product inclusion and equity at Google, is on a mission to make product inclusion and equity a critical part of tech. Who is Annie Jean-Baptiste?  After 10 years at Google, Jean-Baptiste now leads the diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) team, pushing the tech giant to take marginalized users into account when building its products.  According to Jean-Baptiste, the idea to focus on product inclusion came about after she noticed that many things like culture and representation were internally important but were forgotten about when designing new

How often do the words Disney World and Black tech appear in the same sentence? In celebration of its fourth annual conference, Blacks In Technology, LLC and the Blacks In Technology Foundation are inviting the Black tech community to Disney World. BITCon2022 (not to be confused with bitcoin) will see Black tech enthusiasts channel their inner kid while taking home useful gems and new connections. A Tech Conference for the Culture  Industry giants like Google, Disney, and Spotify are sponsoring the three-day conference which will take place from October 26-28th. The convention

Vice President Harris has announced several new initiatives to expand opportunities for underserved and disadvantaged entrepreneurs, including people of color. The announcement came as Harris joined Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at the 2022 Freedman’s Bank Forum. What was announced? VP Harris’ latest efforts include:  Government contractsA memorandum to government agencies setting individualized goals for an unprecedented 12% of 2023 federal procurement dollars to be directed towards Small, Disadvantaged Businesses. New lendersA proposed expansion of the Small Business Administration lender base by lifting the moratorium on new Small Business Lending Companies (SBLCs),

The Lip Bar Inc., the holding company for the beauty brands The Lip Bar and Thread Beauty, has closed a new funding round. The $6.7 million round, led by Pendulum, will focus on expanding The Lip Bar and Thread Beauty’s distribution as well as incubating a third beauty brand. Endeavor and The Fearless Fund also contributed to the fund. Melissa Butler, the business’ founder and Chief Executive Officer, said the round came after years of consistent growth unencumbered by the pandemic. “Our lip sales were crazy during the pandemic—we sold

Twitter has appointed Bukky Ojeifo as its new global head of culture and community following the departure of God-is Rivera, who previously held the position. In her new role, the Nigerian-American marketing expert will continue to carry the company’s mission of serving diverse voices who contribute to the public conversation on the platform. Before her new role, Ojeifo was the firm’s senior manager, global culture, and community. Her main role at the time? She guided how Twitter amplifies and engages with the underrepresented communities that use the service. Speaking to

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