From street vendor to software engineer, Devin Jackson, founder of We Build Black, is on a mission to achieve socio-economic change by offering the community tech education and professional development. We Build Black, founded in 2017 by Devin Jackson, is a non-profit organization that has evolved from a one-person-only team to a volunteer-run group that aims to support thousands of members looking to advance their careers. Unlike traditional software engineers, Jackson never went to high school or college; he instead set up his own business selling graffiti t-shirts and comedy tickets on
National Security Agency (NSA) veteran Natalie Evans Harris has been announced as the Executive Director of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ new Black Wealth Data Center (BWDC). The BWDC, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, works to increase generational wealth and address the systemic underinvestment within Black communities. As the Executive Director of the BWDC, Harris will lead a team tasked with harnessing data to support the creation of programs, policies, and strategies to measurably increase Black wealth. A wealth of experience Harris brings nearly 20 years of experience advancing the public sector’s strategic use of
Since its launch in 2021, Stackwell Capital has worked hard to eliminate the racial wealth gap, and the launch of its new Robo-investing app is a testament to this. The app which has launched yesterday and is currently available for download in the App Store. The program, intentionally designed for the Black community, has given users endless opportunities to enhance their knowledge of the financial market. New data has revealed that white households hold eight times more wealth than Black households. Additionally, only 34% of Black households invest in the stock compared to white
Justine Skye is expanding her business endeavors, and we are very much here for it. The musician, known for sporting some of the sleekest tresses in the business, has partnered with Black-owned artificial intelligence wig brand Parfait. Parfait, founded by Isoken Igbinedio, is an AI and facial recognition-powered beauty technology that has created a community where beauty and tech co-exist. According to its founders, Parfait was founded to solve two problems: AI biases in tech and the fragmented wig buying process for millions of Black and brown women. “It was
Brazil-based startup, Gen-t, is an organization at the forefront of medical evolution. The startup, founded by Lygia da Veiga Pereira in 2021, is a company built on advancing science and medical technology. Gen-t’s mission is to diversify global genomic data to help fasten medical breakthroughs and make novel discoveries based on different phenotypes. Despite being new, the organization has managed to raise $2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Eduardo Mufarej. “The field keeps saying that we need diversity, but most of the diversity in the world is in countries with
San Francisco-based communications company, Twilio, has announced that they will be cutting 11% workforce to help restructure the company after a period of rapid expansion. In a memo to employees, Twilio CEO, Jeff Lawson, clarified that all staff cuts will be made through an “Anti-Racist” and “Anti-Oppression” lens which took many by surprise. Despite right-wing publications such as Daily Caller, describing the move as “race-based,” Lawson’s actions come at a very critical time for POC workers who more times than not, are forced to suffer the brunt of staff layoffs and redundancies.
As Africa’s tech ecosystem grows, the demand for talent is soaring. For young Africans, digital skills have become ever-more important and attractive. In 2021, according to the Africa Developer Ecosystem Report (pdf), Africa’s developer community grew by 3.8%, bringing the total number of developers on the continent to 716,000. The average local developer in Africa is seven years younger than their global counterpart and has up to three years of experience. The pandemic drove increased adoption of remote work around the world, leading to international companies recruiting African developers at
Equitable inclusion platform 1000 Black Voices has partnered with The British Consulate to launch their accelerator program dedicated to helping support the ambitions of Black tech founders. The partnership will be focused on breaking down the obstacles faced by Black tech founders, particularly when scaling and growing their business. The program kicks off on September 21 and will run until the end of this year. “Ultimately, a lack of venture funding has resulted in a challenging environment for marginalized founders to tackle and get their business off the ground,” said 1000 Black
Racial justice group, Color of Change, has unveiled its first-ever “Black Tech Agenda” roadmap to help implement policy changes to address “systemic discrimination.” According to a press release, the program is designed to undo the bias and discrimination created by most prominent tech companies and their products. The Black tech plan aims to set an affirmative vision on creating tech policies that center around racial justice, ensuring racial bias is rooted in the digital lives of Black people and everyone on the net. Color of Change, launched in 2005 by James Rucker and Van Jones,
Thanks to a grant from Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand, Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) will provide high schoolers with access to life-changing personal finance education. The grant was made through Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand’s Black Community Commitment (BCC), an initiative committed to supporting businesses that commit to building racial equality, and social justice and providing students with greater access to education. The high school program will be modeled after NGPF’s highly successful Finance Equity and Empowerment (FEE) grant program, which NGPF first launched in 2020 to increase financial
