Soft drink company, Mountain Dew (MTN Dew), has expanded its commitment to Black entrepreneurship by creating a new Esports tournament that will see students compete for a $500,000 prize. Following MTN Dew’s ‘Real Change Opportunity Fund’ initiative in 2020, the soft drink company has joined forces with HBCU Esports League to reinforce their commitment to supporting the next generation of Black entrepreneurs. The tournament, launched last month, will run until October 28 and will be available for any gamers enrolled at an HBCU to register and join. Black representation in gaming The
Black couple DeMario and Dawn Nicole McIlawin are the creators behind Skilldora. This Black-owned edtech startup is one of the first e-learning platforms to embrace “digitally created humans,” also known as AI instructors. Skilldora has partnered with Israel-based company, D-ID, to accelerate academic learning for the next generation. According to Yahoo Finance, edtech startups have helped boost the educational sector. Online education is now one of the most effective and fastest ways for modern learners to learn seamlessly. Skilldora is on a mission to revolutionize the education system by becoming
IBM has announced the launch of Cybersecurity Leadership Centers across six HBCUs. The move aims to give students and faculty access to IBM training, software, and certifications at no extra cost. Underrepresented students and professors can receive help with coursework, lectures, immersive training experiences, and knowledgeable skills they can always take with them as they grow. According to IBM, the program will be available at 20 HBCUs across 11 states to help co-create Cybersecurity Leadership Centers and create talent opportunities for employers and students combined. “Collaborations between academia and the private
Black coder, Sean Wiggs, has created a platform online for writing code to spam and troll companies that are unjust and discriminatory. Wiggs recently used his coding skills to oppose a Texas law banning women from having an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. After successfully shutting down that website, he has set his eyes on a new target, the Job Creators Network’s anti-student loan forgiveness campaign. Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced a new plan to cancel $10,000 of student loan debt, allowing millions of Americans to apply. However, despite many people
How do we bridge the gap between art and science? STEM From Dance, a New York City-based youth organization, is fusing opposite sides of the spectrum to help tackle the lack of diversity within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce in a way that has never been done before. The organization, founded in 2021 by Yamilée Toussaint Beach, is bringing together art and science – two sectors considered a juxtaposition – and bringing them together to promote the idea that artistic expression and STEM can work together to
Elijah Muhammad Jr has officially made history as the youngest Black college student in Oklahoma after enrolling in three courses at Oklahoma City Community College as a freshman. According to KFOR News, Muhammed Jr. isn’t the only person in his family beating records. His older sister, Shania Muhammad, also made history this year as the youngest to graduate from college with two associate degrees from Langston University and Oklahoma City College. Elijah Muhammad Sr, the siblings’ father, revealed that Muhammed used his sister’s success to help motivate him to excel further in his
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
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
Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is the first HBCU to embark on new research programs in partnership with NASA. WSSU’s Astrobotany Lab has signed a four-year agreement with NASA to research food development with a team of aspiring scientists. The lab which is filled with all the materials needed to grow plants, fruits, and vegetables, uses synthetic dirt to figure out how to grow food in Mars. The program is led by Professor Dr. Rafael Loueiro leads and aims to allow students to see the fascinating world of plants as well as the study
Two years ago, Kautilya Katariya broke records by becoming the world’s youngest qualified computer programmer. Now the eight-year-old has added another accomplishment to his growing list, after achieving the highest grade possible on his national math exam. The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exam is the main qualification taken by 14- to 16-year-olds across the UK. However, after teachers at Wootton Park School in the UK assessed his ability in the subject, Kautilya was allowed to study for and sit the exam almost eight years early. Kautilya achieved a
