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
Non-profit organisation, National Business League (NBL), is ramping up their efforts to empower Black entrepreneurs by unveiling new plans to digitize 1 million Black-owned businesses by 2028. The National Business League, founded by Booker. T Washington in 1900, is one of the largest non-profit organizations in the US that directly empowers the Black community. After over ten decades, the organization is still committed to championing invest and advancement of Black-owned businesses for centuries. Their motto which is: ‘The revolution won’t be televised; it shall be digitized’ is a symbol of
A prominently Black farming town in the US has been left with no access to clean water due to racist policies, forcing the residents to turn to technology to develop water on their own. According to a report by KQED, Allensworth, a town in California, has been denied access to clean water after the pumps on a few of the city’s water wells failed. Even though the system is quite old and more prone to breaking, not much has been done to help the community in this area. Founded in 1908, Allensworth
Technology giant, Cisco, has made a $5 million commitment to the Black Economic Alliance (BEA) to support the next generation of Black entrepreneurs at HBCUs in the Atlanta area. Approximately $3 million will go towards expanding the Center for Black Entrepreneurship‘s (CBE) programming at Spelman and Morehouse Colleges, as well as developing graduate programming at Clark Atlanta University. An additional $1 million will provide high-quality products and services to the three institutions, which will “will help close the racial technology gap.” A further $1 million will be donated to the
Forehead thermometers are widely used in hospitals and care settings around the world. However, the findings from a recent study suggest that these commonly used thermometers are less accurate in detecting fevers in Black patients than white. Researchers found that 23% of fevers in Black patients went undetected when temporal (forehead) thermometers were used compared to when oral (in mouth) thermometers. As temperature readings are used to determine levels of care, inaccurate readings may lead to missed fevers, delayed diagnoses, and increased mortality in Black patients, contributing to further distrust
Are companies sticking to their BLM promises? In the wake of George Floyd’s death, many organizations made public pledges to support the anti-racism movement and end systemic racism by committing to workplace diversity. However, how much progress has been made as we look back? Tech giants Google and IBM have decided to reverse the criteria that ensured a diverse range of students would be nominated for their doctoral fellowship programs. Initially, if a school nominated more than two students for Google’s fellowship, the third and fourth students should come from
Omidyar Network has announced the launch of The Tech We Want program which aims to help build community, infrastructure, and a solid support system for technologists, thought leaders, and investors in the tech space. The four-year, $8 million program primarily focuses on connecting and empowering new leaders and technologies that focus on inclusivity, sustainability, and responsible innovation. “If we want to develop a responsible tech future, we have to intentionally change who and what we produce. We need to support diverse organizations and inclusive communities working to redefine what technology
Black-owned asset management firm, Black Pearl Global Investments, is set to make history by becoming the first-ever Black-owned contact lens manufacturer in the world. Black Pearl Global Investments, co-founded in 2019 by CEO Dr. Shante Williams, Dr. Carl Smart, Marlon Joris, and Daniel Smart, is an asset management firm that invests in companies innovating the health space. The platform’s primary focus is helping upcoming businesses operating in North America, Africa, and the Caribbean. The lens maker, Hydrogel Vision Corp (HVC), based in Florida, was acquired by Clerio Vision in 2019. The company is primarily known
