Every June, Pride Month celebrates LGBTQ+ communities worldwide and honors their contributions to society. It’s also a time to recognize the ongoing struggle for representation, equality, and acceptance. In the tech industry, the LGBTQ+ community is underrepresented, with only 11% identifying as LGBTQ+. A McKinsey and Co. report found that while Black people make up 12% of the US workforce, only 8% are in tech jobs, resulting in a relatively low number of Black LGBTQ+ individuals in tech. Despite these challenges, many Black LGBTQ+ people are paving the way for
Record labels including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Records are suing AI song-generators Suno and Udio for ‘mass copyright infringement’. The lawsuits allege that the music startups are exploiting the works of artists including Chuck Berry, Billie Holiday, and Michael Jackson. What Does Suno And Udio Do? Suno and Udio have garnered attention over the last few months for their music-generation capabilities. The platforms allow users to create complete songs using a single-word prompt, and most recently, they added new updates enabling you to upload your audio
Jackie Aina, renowned beauty influencer and co-founder of FORVR Mood, has announced a new partnership with Canadian whiskey company Crown Royal. In addition to the release of a limited-edition candle, the partnership will see $50,000 donated to Black Girl Ventures Foundation, supporting underrepresented women founders. Supporting Black Girl Ventures Founded by serial entrepreneur Shelly Bell in 2016, Black Girl Ventures (BGV) aims to empower underrepresented and underfunded small businesses by providing access to capital, community, and capacity-building resources. Aina’s partnership with Crown Royal is rooted in support of the nonprofit,
Cadana has raised $7.1 million in seed funding this year. Launched in 2021, the startup allows global workforces to integrate payments and payroll management into their systems. Cadana According to the company, the world’s largest payroll platforms and talent marketplaces use Cadana’s APIs to build compliant hiring products in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Founders Albert Owusu-Asare and Ameer Shujjah, who are originally from Ghana and Pakistan, gained years of experience working at Amazon, Esusu, and Goldman Sachs before founding the company. Although the pair appreciated their version of the
Breega, a Paris-based venture capital firm, has announced the first close of its $75 million Africa-focused fund, designed to back pre-seed and seed-stage startups. Expanding Horizons With Local Presence Breega’s new fund, “Africa Seed I,” marks its first foray outside Europe and aligns with opening two new offices in Lagos and Cape Town. These new locations join Breega’s existing offices in Paris, London, and Barcelona, enhancing its presence across the EMEA region. According to Ben Marrel, Breega’s co-founder and CEO, the firm’s approach is rooted in its “founders-for-founders” ethos, offering
A growing trend among America’s largest corporations reveals a shift in how diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) metrics influence executive compensation. According to a review of approximately 1,200 companies by Farient Advisors, the proportion of corporations using DEI metrics to set compensation has decreased from 33% to 28% in 2023. High-profile companies like Best Buy Co., Johnson & Johnson (J&J), and Lazard Inc. are among those that have de-emphasized or removed DEI from their executive pay criteria. Conservative Pressure and Corporate Response This shift is partly attributed to conservative activists
UC Davis Health’s new telehealth program aims to address disparities in postpartum care for Black patients and improve maternal outcomes. Bridging the Gap in Postpartum Care Black patients at UC Davis Health and across the nation face significant disparities in postpartum care. These inequities, particularly during the six-week period after birth, contribute to an increased risk of complications and even death for Black people who give birth. To tackle this issue, UC Davis Health has launched a new telehealth program aimed at reducing these disparities and improving maternal outcomes for
This Juneteenth, we want to celebrate some Black founders who have set out to uplift and support their communities. Commemorating Juneteenth Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned that slavery had been abolished – two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The first Juneteenth was observed in 1866 and has been celebrated by Black Americans ever since. It is often referred to as the country’s second independence day and became an official federal holiday
Dr. Leeja Carter has developed a smart refrigerator device that provides free healthy food items to schools and hospitals. Dr. Carter is the CEO and founder of Coalition for Food and Health Equity (CFHE), which she launched after the pandemic when she recognized an increase in the number of people without food. Dr. Carter now has several programs, including The Ujamaa Cafe and Ujamaa Well, which offer food and wellness innovation with access programs addressing food and health access. The Ujamaa Cafe Fridge Program The Ujamaa Cafe has now expanded
internXL has announced a partnership with FYI (Focus Your Ideas), an AI-powered productivity app for creatives co-founded by will.i.am and tech founder Sunil Reddy. The partnership aims to connect college talent, particularly from underrepresented communities, with career opportunities in the AI and prompt engineering industry. internXL and FYI Collaborate An initiative of Robert F. Smith’s Fund II Foundation, internXL is an AI-driven platform that matches top employers with skilled entry-level candidates. The platform’s s AI-generated recommendations consider the educational background, career aspirations, cognitive abilities, learning style, and personality to ensure a fair evaluation.
