Libbie Health, an AI-powered app that gives women of color tools to reduce anxiety, was announced the winner of this year’s Make It in Brooklyn pitch contest. Libbie Health The app was founded by behavioral health coach Colette Ellis in 2022 to address racial and cultural disparities in mental health care. It also aims to create positive health outcomes for women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and marginalized leaders. Ellis was trained in Emotional-Freedom Technique (EFT) tapping in 2013 and began building it into her client work. “If you’ve ever been in a situation where you smelled
An AI image creator, Playground AI, gave an Asian MIT graduate blue eyes and lighter skin when she asked it to turn her photo into a professional LinkedIn headshot. Rona Wang, who had majored in computer science at MIT, took to Twitter to share her surprise, adding to online debates about racial biases in generative AI. What happened? The Boston Globe reported that Wang uploaded an image of herself smiling and wearing a red MIT shirt to the platform, asking it to turn the image into a “professional” LinkedIn profile
Porcha Woodruff, 32, was eight months pregnant when she was arrested after facial recognition technology wrongly identified her as a suspect in a robbery and carjacking. She is the sixth person, all of whom are Black, and the first woman known to be wrongfully arrested due to facial recognition technology. What happened? The New York Times reported that Woodruff was getting her six and 12-year-old daughters ready for school when six police officers arrived at her door. She had been identified as the perpetrator of a robbery and carjacking that had
Many of us find ourselves drawn to the allure of the tech industry, seeking a path that promises fulfilment and stability. For Nigeria-born data professional Ifeoma Igwe, who first moved to the UK seven years ago to study, this journey led her through unexpected twists and turns. In a candid interview with POCIT, Ifeoma shared her experiences of entering the tech industry, facing layoffs, and discovering her unique path that blends literature with tech with her text-to-speech app, Easy Edit. Joining the Tech Industry Igwe studied Economics and Management as
Conservative group American Alliance for Equal Rights, founded by Edward Blum, has brought a lawsuit against Fearless Fund, which supports women of color who own small businesses. Reuters reports that the lawsuit accuses Fearless Fund of violating Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which bars racial bias in private contracts by opening its grant competition to Black women alone. Lawsuits brought by Blum and the conservative group led to the June Supreme Court’s ruling to shut down affirmative action, barring universities and colleges from considering race in their
Black borrowers have been disproportionately impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision to block President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan in June. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said the decision “is a clear disregard for what millions of Americans need – especially Black Americans.” The Forgiveness Plan Last year, President Biden announced a plan to deliver up to $20,000 in student debt relief to over 40 million borrowers. Borrowers who made less than $125,000 a year in 2020 and 2021 were eligible. It also would have wiped away $10,000 for eligible borrowers
Forbes has unveiled its third annual 50 over 50 list, highlighting dynamic female leaders and entrepreneurs who have achieved significant success later in life. Let’s meet some Black women over 50 making moves in tech and proving that success has no age limit. Brenda Darden Wilkerson – President and CEO of AnitaB.org Wilderson, 63, founded the nonprofit AnitaB.org, which aims to diversify tech by bringing in more women and nonbinary talent. She began the role at age 57 after spending eight years with Chicago Public Schools and has now boosted her organization’s
Over 70 years after Henrietta Lacks’ cervical cells were taken without her knowledge, her family finally settled with Thermo Fisher Scientific, a biotech company they say profited from them. Henrietta Lacks Lacks was a Black mother of five who died of cervical cancer in October 1951 at 31. She had learned she had cervical cancer eight months before her death when she was admitted to a racially segregated ward at John Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. Following a tumor biopsy, doctors saved a sample of Lacks’ cancer cells without telling her and
New research has shed light on the extent of misogynoir across social media platforms. The study comes from the Digital Misogynoir Report by Glitch, a charity tackling the online abuse of Black women and marginalized people. What is Misogynoir? Misogynoir, a term coined by the queer Black feminist Moya Bailey in 2010, describes the anti-Black racist misogyny that Black women experience. Glitch uses the term to detail the “continued, unchecked, and often violent dehumanization of Black women on social media, as well as through other forms such as algorithmic discrimination.” The charity highlights
This summer, Baddies In Tech is hosting its inaugural BaddieCon event to celebrate and connect women of color in tech. BaddieCon Event Baddies In Tech is a professional development and networking community for women of color in tech. Its first-ever BaddieCon will take place in Brooklyn, New York, on August 18, allowing attendees to gain insights from over 30 speakers, connect with employers, and build relationships with each other and a theme of “Sustainable Success.” Through engaging workshops and thought-provoking panels, women of color will also gain career growth insights and the tools
