Joshua Mundy and Quawn Clark founded Pivot Technology School, a fast-growing Tennessee-based EdTech startup and Isaac Y. Addae, an assistant professor at Tennessee State University, joined the duo as chief strategy officer shortly after. The tech training school is a “Black-owned, fully remote technology education hub that supports minorities interested in technology careers.” Its mission is to “empower minority students with in-demand technical skills, in an industry that historically lacks racial diversity, and build a 100 million dollar business.” The company trains “minorities to get into tech roles and are working with corporate
After less than two years as Netflix’s chief marketing officer, Bozoma Saint John is leaving the streaming giant. Variety was the first outlet to break the exclusive story and according to their report, Saint John’s departure from the company was “mutual and amicable.” The company, which also confirmed the moves on Thursday, did not elaborate on why Bozoma is departing. But in a statement, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said he “loved working with Boz and have been inspired by her creativity and energy” and that she’s “attracted world-class marketers to the company
The accuracy of facial recognition has improved drastically since ‘deep learning’ techniques were introduced into the field about a decade ago but there’s still a long way to go. A few years ago – the world’s largest scientific computing society, the Association for Computing Machinery in New York City, urged a suspension of private and government use of facial-recognition technology, because of “clear bias based on ethnic, racial, gender, and other human characteristics”, which it said injured the rights of individuals in specific demographic groups. So this is clearly a big issue
Emtech, a Black female owned central bank digital infrastructure provider, targets emerging markets where payments infrastructure need aligning with digital innovations — to improve efficiency, introduce new products and services that are likely to promote financial inclusion, and in ensuring the secure movement of money.
Born in Los Angeles, Nwandu grew up in a foster home after her mother was killed by her father in a tragic episode of domestic violence. Fast forward to 2014, which by all accounts, looked like it was the year that Angelica Nwandu’s adult life was in a downward spiral. She failed her LSAT and GMAT exams because she couldn’t afford test-prep classes while all her friends were graduating. But her life turned around years after and now she owns one of the largest media brands on social media –
Zuora, Inc, the leading cloud-based subscription management platform provider, announced that Valerie Jackson will join as the company’s first Chief Diversity Officer, in November 9, 2020 and since then she’s been making waves. Jackson has been leading Zuora’s diversity and inclusion strategy and initiatives across its global workforce. As the newest member of the executive team, she reports directly to co-founder and CEO Tien Tzuo. She made the move to technology as she has always viewed it as an industry of innovation, core to building the future and changing the
Northern Commerce, a web development and digital marketing firm that was founded in 2015 and has about 190 staff, is giving $150,000 to the Lead to Change Foundation, a Toronto-based agency that supports black youth in arts and culture. The money is a one-year commitment and will be used to offer youth workshops in garment and print design, podcasts and broadcasting, photography and video, and audio recording and engineering. Northern staff will also work with youth in developing digital marketing skills. The firm has presented Lead to Change with an
Just 1% of venture capital raised goes to Black entrepreneurs. Fifth Star wants to change that. It’s writing checks at the earliest stages of a startup’s life — the “friends and family” round — providing investments between $25,000 and $50,000 for each startup. It has so far raised just under $1 million, with plans ultimately to deploy $5 million to Chicago’s Black founders. Launched in February 2021, Fifth Star Funds has created a unique venture capital fund specifically dedicated to backing Black founders in Chicago. Fifth Star Funds aims to foster a more
Jade Kearney, who experienced postpartum depression herself, developed an app to help solve this particular problem. Although the journey as a Black female founder hasn’t been easy – she’s keeping hope. Kearney’s mental wellness journey began soon after giving birth to her daughter as she experienced postpartum depression and anxiety, and had difficulty finding a community and culturally competent resources to turn to. The birth of her daughter made her realize the neglect Black mothers face when it comes to their mental well-being. But the mother had to teach herself
Just one percent of VC-funded founders in the US are Black and the rates of investment in European Black-owned businesses are even lower. Just three percent of Londoners working in the tech sector are Black and only 8.5% of senior leaders in the UK tech sector are from Black, Asian, or minority ethnic backgrounds. If we were to break these numbers down further – the numbers would be very low for Black women. But this isn’t because they aren’t creating amazing things. Take Sheilisa McNeal Burgess for example – a
