Dell XPS, the laptop brand from Dell Technologies, has teamed up with actress and activist Yara Shahidi to “inspire Gen-Z to use technology to drive their passions.” The 21-year-old will be working alongside Dell XPS to highlight how the brand’s laptops are a “force” for storytellers, visionaries, and creatives like herself to bring their imagination to life. The collaboration coincides with Dell XPS’ new campaign, “Expand Your YOUniverse.” Dell XPS and Shahidi will work closely to continue engaging young, diverse creatives to deliver on the ethos of tech as the great equalizer, reported PR
Google has announced the launch of a $50 million “Africa Investment Fund,” which will be invested in African startups. The tech giant made its plans known at a virtual event, where CEO Sundar Pichai announced its intentions to commit $1 billion over the next five years in tech-led initiatives on the continent. Chosen companies will also be provided access to Google’s employees, network, and technologies to help them build products. In three years, the accelerator program has supported more than 80 startups in seed to Series A stages, providing equity-free mentorship and
A study assessing the working conditions of Black workers during the pandemic has found that they preferred remote working compared to the office as they felt more valued and supported. Although working from home has its challenges from endless Zoom calls and juggling child care duties – for many Black workers in white-dominated jobs, getting out of the office has resulted in a vast improvement in their employee experience. According to a survey by the Future Forum, a research consortium created by software maker Slack Technologies. The survey of more than
The venture capitalist and American tech entrepreneur has spoken out on her journey into the industry and how she – and fellow founder Joey Womack – hope to level the playing field. Ms. Solomon, who acts as a managing partner of the investment firm ‘Collab Capital’, a fund that aims to close the funding gap for Black entrepreneurs, said: “The bruises were motivation, I didn’t want other people to have the same knocks that I had in my journey. “So, it was pretty clear to me what I needed to
A jury has ordered Tesla to pay nearly $137 million in damages to a former Black employee after it was found to have ignored his racist abuse claims while working at its California factory. Owen Diaz, first hired through a recruitment agency, worked as a freight elevator operator between June 2015 and July 2016 at the manufacturer’s Fremont plant in the San Francisco Bay area. And according to documents, during his tenure, he suffered racist slurs, including the “n-word” and a hostile work environment. “Tesla’s progressive image was a facade
A fintech startup helping the Black community get financial freedom has reportedly reached its latest milestone of paying over $20 million in consumer debt. Qoins is currently attacking the $1.3 trillion worth of student loan debt and $951 Billion of credit card debt in the US. Users download the app from the iOS App Store or Google Play. You add your name, phone number, and email, then the accounts that you want Qoins to take change from and add to. The app monitors your checking, or “funding” account, for regular charges and rounds
Engineers have paved the way toward advances in all sciences. For example, it’s nearly impossible to imagine how we would have survived the Covid-19 lockdown without online delivery, Zoom, and of course, software’s influence on testing and vaccine distribution. But there is no doubt that the industry still has a long way to go for inclusivity both in the UK and the US. Black History Month is an annual celebration of the men, women, and essential events in the history of Black people. It takes place throughout October in the UK but in February
Social media services Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram are back up and running after an outage that lasted almost six hours and impacted millions across the globe. The services were down from about 4 pm GMT until around 10 pm on Monday. Users flocked to Twitter to share their frustrations, jokes, and assumptions about why the social media giant had shut down. But in a statement, Facebook said that the site’s faulty configuration change affected the company’s internal tools and systems which complicated attempts to resolve the problem. Downdetector, which tracks outages, said
Netflix and Howard University have established a $5.4 million scholarship, called the Chadwick A. Boseman Memorial Scholarship, in honor of the esteemed actor. The scholarship will cover four years of tuition at Howard’s College of Fine Arts for one student every year. Students who receive the scholarship will have demonstrated a drive for excellence, leadership, respect, empathy, passion, and exceptional skills in the arts, “reminiscent of Boseman,” according to a statement on the university’s website. “It is with immense pleasure and deep gratitude that we announce the creation of an
Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton has reportedly set up a new company, dubbed Hire Runner, that focuses on fractional and temp-to-hire operations and HR talent for inclusive startups. Here we break down what we know so far In a tweet made by the start-up’s Twitter page, they said: “To match customers w/the best operations talent there is, we select only ~10% of Runner applicants. Once you’re a Runner (entry-level, exec assistant, COO, HR lead, etc.), you’ll work w/growing, inclusive startups while curating your career with flexible scheduling & pay.” What
