Damilola Awofisayo is in a league of her own. The young hacker, who was born in America but spent part of her childhood in Nigeria, has learned to use technology to solve societal problems. Awofisayo fell in love with computer science at high school and was keen to help run hackathons. However, after several unsuccessful attempts to take part in hackathons, she decided to take things into her own hands. Now a Duke University freshman, Awofisayo is the founder of TecHacks. The all-female and non-binary student virtual hackathon aims to
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
Design engineer Lisa-Dionne Morris is the UK’s 41st Black woman professor, an achievement she describes as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” After working in the industry for over a decade, Morris was able to kickstart her professorship after joining the 100 Black Women Professors NOW initiative, which aims to help Black academic women navigate and manage their careers. Morris’ promotion to Professor of Public & Industry Understanding of Capability Driven Design within the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Leeds marks the first professorship of the program. The program, which
Black-owned education-focused foundation, HEPH, has been awarded a $1.2 million grant to support its commitment to learners. The grant, which has been provided by the How We Learn Fund, was awarded to founders Steve and Sheila Conner to help advance the development of STEM-related studies for Black and brown children starting with the Chicagoland area. What is the HEPH Foundation? Founded by Steve and Sheila Conner, the HEPH Foundation is named after Hephaestus, the Greek god that made tools for the gods. The educational foundation’s mission is to transform disengaged
Following the box-office success of Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Disney is donating $1 million to nonprofits providing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and arts education for young people from historically underrepresented communities. The organizations benefiting from this funding include Girls Who Code, Ghetto Film School, The Hidden Genius Project, and DonorsChoose in the US. Through this initiative, Disney hopes Black youth will feel more empowered and inspired to pursue careers in the science and technology sectors. “From its historic casting to advanced technology to culturally relevant storytelling, Black
Morehouse College has become the first college to offer classes in the metaverse. By donning a headset, students at the Atlanta-based liberal arts HBCU can immerse themselves in past, present, and future worlds. Dr Muhsinah Morris PhD spearheaded Morehouse College’s metaversity campus in partnership with VictoryXR, with funding from Meta, Southern Company, Unity, T-Mobile For Business, National Science Foundation (NSF), and Qualcomm. Immersive learning Morris taught an advanced inorganic chemistry lab virtually to a dozen students as part of a pilot last spring. She believes the metaverse’s experiential and active learning environment will
It’s the classic Catch-22, you need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience. And let’s be honest, the current volatile climate of layoffs, hiring freezes and restructures, hasn’t made it easy to get either of the two. But tech internships remain a great way to gain experience, build networks, and get your foot through the door. Most tech internships are open to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as those taking online courses or attending boot camps. On the POCIT jobs board, we have
The Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUCC) has launched the Institute for Dual Degree Engineering Advancement (IDEA), a national hub for Dual Degree Engineering Programs across the US. As one of the world’s oldest and largest consortiums of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), the organization has a strong commitment to bettering the education system for Black students. The racial gap in Black engineering Reports have revealed that Black and Latinx workers are vastly underrepresented in the science, technology, and engineering (STEM) industries. Despite organizations taking steps to close the racial
Southwest Airlines has announced a partnership with Paul Quinn College to become a member of the school’s celebrated Urban Work College Program. Paul Quinn College is the first minority-serving work college in America. The College proudly educates students of all races and socio-economic classes. Besides investing in the future of their students, the establishment is on a mission to provide quality, faith-based education to students to promote academic, social, and Christian development. The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in many employees canceling their internships or making them virtual, reducing access to employment
Florida International University (FIU) has launched a new initiative to give students the necessary skills and credentials to excel in high-demand tech careers. The gap between the Latinx community and the tech industry The university has more than 32,000 students who identify as Hispanic or Latinx enrolled in their courses. However, despite the Hispanic community making up one-fifth of the U.S. workforce, only a tiny percentage of them find their way into the tech workforce. According to reports, the absence of Latinx people within the tech industry stems back to the
