Materials Nexus founder Jonathan Bean has joined the small number of Black people in the UK who have been able to raise over £1 million for their startups. Reducing the cost of going green Green technologies, like wind turbines and electric vehicles, hold great promise for a cleaner future. We need to enhance their material components to make them even more effective. However, this often involves heavy mining for rare-earth metals and precious metals. Jonathan Bean, a UK-based theoretical physicist from the University of Cambridge, founded Materials Nexus in 2020
ThriveDX, a global leader in cybersecurity education, and BlackGirlsHack, an international cybersecurity training nonprofit increasing diverse representation in cybersecurity, have launched the BlackGirlsHack Scholars Program. The Scholars Program will enable a cohort of 25 individuals associated with BlackGirlsHack to receive the support and benefits needed to complete the program successfully and secure new cybersecurity employment. Helping Black Women and Girls Thrive In Cyber The BlackGirlsHack Foundation was founded by Tennisha Martin, a Black woman from Washington, D.C., who has worked in the IT and Cyber Space for over 15 years. The nonprofit
Buffalo Massacre Families Sue Meta, Reddit, Discord, Alphabet, And Others For Role In Radicalization
The devastating 2022 Buffalo mass shooting has sparked a legal battle to hold social media companies responsible for their platforms’ role in radicalization. Two lawsuits, launched by the victims’ loved ones, are seeking accountability from tech giants such as Facebook, Reddit, and Alphabet, alleging that the algorithms and content on these platforms contributed to the racist attack that resulted in the deaths of ten Black people. How social media shaped the attack Payton Gendron, an 18-year-old white male, was fueled by white supremacist ideology as he carried out a murderous
Following reported disputes and a lawsuit, Greenwood and The Gathering Spot have announced that they are resolving their outstanding issues as they continue to uplift Black and minority communities. What happened? Last May, The Gathering Spot, a private membership network focused on the Black community, was acquired by Greenwood, a digital banking platform. However, earlier this month, there were reported disputes between the two companies, including reports of a lawsuit filed by The Gathering Spot co-founders Ryan Wilson and T’Keel (TK) Petersen against Greenwood co-founder and CEO Ryan Glover and board
Blair Matthews, a Howard alumnus from Zanzibar, and Giuliana Zaccardelli founded a digital health startup with a mission to provide fertility services to families. Zuri Fertility Zuri Fertility was launched in honor of Infertility Awareness Month as a personal digital fertility clinic in June, Zuri meaning good and beautiful in Swahili. They provide personalized fertility care with an online questionnaire to meet each individual need, a home testing tracker for both partners involved, a message center, and a larger community for the couple to get support from others. It also
Fintech Stratyfy has announced a partnership with Beneficial State Foundation to decrease racial disparities in lending. The Partnership Stratyfy offers accurate, dynamic, and equitable credit underwriting decisions with machine learning solutions, working with institutions to implement AI. Their mission is to accelerate financial inclusion for people and mitigate risk for financial institutions. They address operations such as automated credit risk assessment, fraud detection, bias mitigation, and other tasks without new risks. The Beneficial State Foundation is a team of equity champions who aim to advance financial justice and impactful systematic
Maria Watkins, a 64-year-old HBCU graduate, and former social worker, founded RightThereCorportation and has launched the first ever Black-owned app, RTC ProTech, with a 24/7 call center to minimize police brutality and hate crimes. RTC Protech App RightThere Corporation advocates that both innocent citizens and police officers return home safely. While they support Law Enforcement in their duties to serve and protect communities, they are firmly against police misconduct and the lack of transparency between the Police Departments and the community, along with the lack of de-escalation training. “All individuals
Isaac Hayes III has launched Fanbase, a social media platform designed to enable Black creators to cultivate their audiences and monetize their contributions effectively. An often-observed reality in the social media world is the lack of acknowledgment and monetary reward for Black creators, even when they are the originators of significant trends. A notable instance is when the viral TikTok renegade dance was mistakenly attributed to TikToker Charli D’Amelio, overlooking the actual creator, Jalaiah Harmon. Unfortunately, this extends beyond viral dances. From fashion trends and online ideas to music, the
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent halt to Affirmative Action in college admissions, 13 Republican attorney generals have turned their sights towards corporate diversity programs, with tech giant Microsoft amongst their targets. The Lead-Up Tech industry titans such as Apple, Microsoft, and Uber are facing potential legal ramifications as Republican state prosecutors target their workforce diversity programs. This comes in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, a tragic event that catalyzed these companies to publicly commit to enhancing diversity within their ranks. Their ambitious commitments include plans to
A trio of Black fraternity members have teamed up to create Greektory, an app to help members of Greek organizations connect, interact, and collaborate. Building relationships through Greektory Greektory founders Ronard Green, Matthew Plunkett, and Bruson Ovil, all members of prominent Black fraternities, wanted to bridge communication gaps within and between chapters. Their digital app is aimed at networking, event planning, and community engagement. For example, the networking feature enables users to filter members based on information gathered during onboarding, such as industry, location, and year they joined the organization.
