FanDuel is hiring on POCIT Meet Akilah Hugine-Elmore, a sports enthusiast who found her dream job by merging her love for sports with her expertise in UX research. A former basketball and softball player and avid sports watcher, Akilah is now the UX Research Director at FanDuel, America’s #1 Sportsbook. In this interview, she tells POCIT how she turned her passions into a fulfilling career. Introduce yourself and what you do at FanDuel. My name is Akilah. I’ve worked at FanDuel since August 2021 and am on the UX research team.
Black N’ Out is a platform for Black LGBTQIA+ professionals in tech to connect, support, and uplift each other. Black people are already underrepresented in tech, making up only 8% of the workforce. For Black LGBTQ+ individuals, this exclusion is even more pronounced. However, Black N’ Out is on a mission to create a welcoming and inclusive space for Black LGBTQIA+ individuals in tech. The Story Of Black N’ Out Black N’ Out was founded in 2023 by Brandon Sidney and Ryan Wesley after the pair attended several tech conferences
Dr. Heliana Ramirez, a researcher of racial and LGBTQ related workplace trauma, created the Black Women Toxic Job Survivor Suicide Prevention Resource Guide following the tragic death of Dr. Antoinette Candia-Bailey following workplace bullying. Ramirez spoke with POCIT about Candia-Bailey’s life and legacy, creating the guide, and strategies for Black women experiencing workplace bullying. Remembering Dr. Candia-Bailey Candia-Bailey experienced severe workplace abuse from her supervisor when she worked as Vice President of Student Affairs at Lincoln University Oakland, leading to her suicide in January 2024. Concerned about Candia-Bailey’s anxiety and
In 2023, the tech industry witnessed both advancements and persistent challenges concerning the experiences of Black and Brown individuals. Some companies are making strides in diversity and inclusion efforts, incorporating initiatives such as mentorship programs and targeted hiring practices. However, the sector has grappled with the complex intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) issues and ongoing legal battles against affirmative action. Concerns regarding biased algorithms and AI systems perpetuating discrimination have prompted discussions about the ethical use of technology in hiring and workplace practices. However, no matter how good or bad
What opportunities are there for shifting power towards the most racially marginalized? In a world as increasingly digitized as ours, there are urgent questions arising about centralized power, corporate accountability, and the impact on individual freedoms. An upcoming research report, “What Does Tech Justice Look Like In The UK?” explores Tech Justice and opportunities to empower the most racially marginalized. The research, funded by Catalyst and supported by the Engine Room, was carried out by a team of British women of global majority descent. Their backgrounds span West and East
“The money’s out there, we make it easy to find.” Scholarship app Scholly is the brainchild of Christoper Gray, who won $1.3 million in scholarships after hours of searching in the library. He eventually received scholarships from organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation to study finance and entrepreneurship at Drexel University. However, after realizing how broken and time-consuming the scholarship-searching process was, he created Scholly to make things easier for students. Private student lending company Sallie Mae acquired Scholly in August 2023. This
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
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
Movable Ink is hiring on pocitjobs.com Bradley Ciné is an Associate Director for Go-To-Market (GTM) Enablement at Movable Ink, where he works with different teams across the company to deliver training and enablement initiatives. Bradley spoke to POCIT about his journey to Movable Ink, owning his identity as a Black man in tech and defining what a tech space should be for him. Tell me about your journey to Movable Ink I’m a first-generation Haitian-American and grew up in Harlem, New York. Since I was in primary school, I knew
Earlier this month, a leaked Google spreadsheet revealed that Black employees earn less than white colleagues, leaving questions about why this is happening and how things can change. We spoke to Black former Google employees about their experiences of negotiating their employment contracts at the tech giant and their insights. What did the spreadsheet reveal? The leaked Google spreadsheet, encompassing data from over 12,000 US employees in 2022, revealed that Black employees had an average salary of $ 147,000. By contrast, white employees earned $170,000 on average. White employees also
