The year 2020 sprung the coronavirus surprise on the whole world, a surprise it is yet to recover from. After a year without a cure, two clinically tested and globally approved vaccines were released early in December 2020. One is manufactured by American pharmaceutical firm — Pfizer — and German BioNTech SE, while American biotech company, Moderna, is responsible for the other. However, two African countries had taken steps to provide a cure before the release of the vaccines in December. Madagascar’s President, Andry Rajoelina, unveiled Covid-Organics — a herbal remedy for
Update: Meet Five Black-Led Startups That Have Achieved Unicorn Status The term unicorn in the tech space is synonymous with hugely successful tech companies (think Uber, Airbnb, Stripe, Pinterest, & DropBox). Its a term given to a private company with a $1 billion valuation. Although still very much a rarity, the number of unicorn startups is higher than ever. According to recent stats, there are 506 tech unicorns globally. So how does a company founded by a POC reach unicorn status? There is no definitive recipe for success. When less than
In the 1930s Dr Gertrude Blanch led the important Mathematical Tables Project, a nearly 450-person effort to compute logarithmic, exponential, and other calculation results essential to the American government, military, finance, and science. After earning her doctorate in mathematics at Cornell, she led new approaches to computation and published volumes of tables and calculations in scientific journals. Despite her contributions, Blanch did not appear as the author of the papers she wrote. For the majority of her time on the project, her male supervisor Arnold Lowan instead received credit. This is a lasting
There will always be someone that wonders how you got to where you are. Here I tell how I got to where I am, and why it is less important than who I am. The more you lean into who you are, the higher you will elevate. The Question I often get asked, “Hey, being that you are a mechanical engineer, how did you get a job at Microsoft?”. I wasn’t sure I knew the answer [even with more than a year into the role]. Like many others, given an
The news rippled across the Internet of Google’s sudden firing of prominent AI ethics researcher Dr. Timnit Gebru. Renowned for her groundbreaking work in making AI more equitable and exposing its potential for racial and gender bias – Gebru was recently highlighted in our article: the Black women fixing AI. In a series of tweets, Timnit announced the tech giant had fired her [via email] after she expressed frustration internally about Google’s lackluster diversity initiatives. Timnit explains via Twitter that she was previously asked to retract a research paper she co-authored that highlighted potential pitfalls
It’s no secret that artificial intelligence, algorithms, and big data have a problem with gender and racial bias. These systems can be biased based on who builds them, how they’re developed, and how they’re ultimately used. Trying to solve the problem is a community of Black data scientists, researchers, and organizations. This article highlights the Black women amongst their ranks, who are exposing algorithmic biases, empowering communities of color with data, and arguing for more diverse representation. Fighting racial and gender bias in algorithms Joy Buolamwini is a Ghanaian-American computer scientist
The Fallout After The New York Times Exposes Black Workers’ Struggles at Coinbase? – Techish Podcast
Techish · Kevin Hart’s Clubhouse Drama, Salesforce Buys Slack, Dave Chapelle, Black Employees Expose Coinbase? Techish is back with a brand new episode! Abadesi and Michael discuss the NYT article exposing the fallout from the CEO of Coinbase who told employees to ‘leave concerns for issues like racial justice at the door.’ (0:17) They also break down: Do Tech companies need to engage with mainstream media? (4:04) Kevin Hart jumps into Clubhouse room over claims he isn’t funny anymore (7:44) Salesforce set to acquire Slack (17:57) The early days of startups and cultural biases
Techish · Elon is Space Karen, Tech spying on Muslims, Airbnb IPO, Bill Gates, Jeremih in the ICU Techish is back with a brand new episode! Abadesi and Michael discuss how a Muslim prayer and dating app is connected to a location data firm that sends your personal data to brokers, contractors, and the US military. (1:30) They also break down: Jeremih in the ICU with Covid-19 (10:05) Airbnb files IPO (16:30) Elon is Space Karen (23:10) Can Bill Gates repair his reputation? (27:50) This Episode Is Sponsored By Notion! Get your Notion account here.
Three months ago I joined Brandwatch as their first-ever VP of Global Community & Belonging. I initially approached this newly created role with an unsettling combination of enthusiasm and self-doubt. Would I be able to deliver on the expectations I created during the interview process? Would I be able to gel with the team and make an impact in my first few months? Would I be able to be authentically me, and challenge racism and other forms of oppression wherever I see them manifesting? These are the questions that kept me up
According to a 2018 study by Equity Ventures, just 3% of Venture Capitalists are Black. This presents a problem because venture capitalists tend to fund people that look like them. The current demographics of most venture-backed startups should therefore be of no surprise. Exacerbating the problem, minority founders consistently lack access to capital. The average Black entrepreneur starts a business with around $35,205 in the capital [white entrepreneur receives $106,720 in comparison] Driving change To grow a more equitable and diverse ecosystem, Black/minority-led venture capitalist firms have launched to exclusively target traditionally underfunded entrepreneurs. We’re
