Global Tech Advocates (GTA) Black Women in Tech has partnered with UN Women to release the world’s first interactive historical map illustrating Black women’s untold stories and impact worldwide. GTA Black Women GTA Black Women in Tech is a not-for-profit global organization based in London, UK. They are dedicated to building bridges of opportunities in tech by enabling Black women to excel and companies to have access to Black women of talent. They recently released The Voices in the Shadow, Volume 3 – a book showcasing the journeys of more
Black Girls Code (BGC) has announced international storyteller Cristina Jones as their new CEO. Black Girls Code BGC is a nonprofit organization that focuses on engaging African American girls and other youth of color with computer programming education to nurture their careers in tech. The organization offers computer programming, coding, website, robot, and mobile application building, intending to place one million girls in tech by 2040. Founded in 2011, the organization ignites interest, activates potential, and nurtures careers in tech for girls and women of color ages 7 to 25.
Some of the most high-profile AI chatbots generate responses that perpetuate false or debunked medical information about Black people, a new study has found. While large language models (LLMs) are being integrated into healthcare systems, these models may advance harmful, inaccurate race-based medicine. Perpetuating debunked race myths A study by some Stanford School of Medicine doctors assessed whether four AI chatbots responded with race-based medicine or misconceptions around race. They looked at OpenAI’s ChatGPT, OpenAI’s GPT-4, Google’s Bard, and Anthropic’s Claude. All four models used debunked race-based information when asked
Pearson is hiring on pocitjobs.com Tanya Ivey joined Pearson fresh out of college 24 years ago, and she could never have foreseen the twists and turns her career would take. Over the years, she’s witnessed the tech industry transform, pivot, and evolve, while she learned to do the same. Now a senior systems analyst, Ivey is an integral part of Pearson’s Digital and Technology group for global science. She spoke with POCIT about her remarkable career journey as a woman of color in tech. She shares her tips for forging
Black founders raised only 0.13% of all capital allocated to US startups in Q3 of this year, Crunchbase has reported. A decline in funding Only 0.13% of venture dollars allocated between July and September went to Black founders. This equates to about $39.7 million of the total $29.9 billion allocated, a massive year-over-year drop for Black founders. In Q3 2022, Black founders raised $1 billion out of around $81.7 billion in venture dollars, approximately 1.2%. TechCrunch also reported a massive quarter-over-quarter drop as in Q2 of 2023, Black founders raised
Latimer, named after African-American inventor Lewis Latimer, is a new platform trying to make generative AI more inclusive. The new large language model (LLM) is built to reflect the experience, culture, and history of Black and brown people more accurately. The platform recently announced new partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to help bring the inclusive tool to students, agencies, brands, and the general public. Tackling racial bias and erasure Many generative AI models amplify the bias, inaccuracy, and erasure of Black and brown cultural data. A Bloomberg
Black-owned beauty-tech company Myavana is using AI to provide personalized insights and hair regimens that work for women of color. Myavana is the brainchild of computer scientist Candace Mitchell Harris. Her natural hair journey led her to seek data-driven, intelligent hair care solutions everywhere, from the lab to the Metaverse. The Science of Hair Data reveals that Black consumers drive the global hair-care market, spending nine times more on hair-care products than other racial groups. Black women, in particular, spend about $1.7 billion annually on hair-care products. While studying computer
The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has announced the launch of the Venture Access Alliance. Comprising over 70 investors, the Alliance aims to build a more inclusive tech startup ecosystem in New York City. A more inclusive startup ecosystem New York City is the second largest tech ecosystem in the world. Over 30% of businesses in the city are minority-owned, and there has been a noticeable surge in Black-owned businesses. The Alliance is part of NYCEDC’s broader Venture Access NYC program, which aims to increase diversity in the city’s startup
Grammy-winning artist John Legend has co-founded his first-ever tech startup, It’s Good, to give users personalized food, travel, and experience recommendations. The company, co-founded by tech entrepreneur Mike Rosenthal, recently raised $5 million in a seed funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Legend previously co-founded Cravings – a food e-commerce site – with his wife, Chrissy Teigen. The “It’s Good” App It’s Good is an invite-only platform that delivers travel, food, and experience recommendations from people you know and critics, celebrities, and influencers. Launched in March with a select
This Hispanic Heritage Month, POCIT spoke with Marcos Navas, the CEO of Latinos in Coding, about his work to empower Latinx communities in tech and make coding more accessible. By 2045, the minorities of the US will make up the majority of the workforce, with the Latinx community playing a pivotal role in this shift. Despite making up 17% of the workforce, Latinx people currently account for only 8% of workers in STEM. Coding is the language of the modern world, Navas argues, with the COVID-19 pandemic shedding light on
