This year, search interest for “Black in tech” reached a five-year high in the US, according to Google. The demand for Black people in tech is clearly skyrocketing and POCIT is part of the flock of leading publications trying to provide you with the latest updates on the people you need to look out for. Here’s a list of some of our favorite Black people in tech and articles you should have a read of to get some inspiration and advice. Imposter Syndrome, Believing You’re Enough And Raising $40M –
Emtech, a Black female owned central bank digital infrastructure provider, targets emerging markets where payments infrastructure need aligning with digital innovations — to improve efficiency, introduce new products and services that are likely to promote financial inclusion, and in ensuring the secure movement of money.
Zuora, Inc, the leading cloud-based subscription management platform provider, announced that Valerie Jackson will join as the company’s first Chief Diversity Officer, in November 9, 2020 and since then she’s been making waves. Jackson has been leading Zuora’s diversity and inclusion strategy and initiatives across its global workforce. As the newest member of the executive team, she reports directly to co-founder and CEO Tien Tzuo. She made the move to technology as she has always viewed it as an industry of innovation, core to building the future and changing the
Northern Commerce, a web development and digital marketing firm that was founded in 2015 and has about 190 staff, is giving $150,000 to the Lead to Change Foundation, a Toronto-based agency that supports black youth in arts and culture. The money is a one-year commitment and will be used to offer youth workshops in garment and print design, podcasts and broadcasting, photography and video, and audio recording and engineering. Northern staff will also work with youth in developing digital marketing skills. The firm has presented Lead to Change with an
The historical and ongoing cost of not addressing our climate disasters is some-what insane. The United States is said to have spent $29bn cleaning up climate disasters in the 1990s, but $112bn dollars in the last five years. That’s a huge jump. This week we’re celebrating the Black-owned innovative companies from across the US that are working on sustainability and environmental solutions. The three founders, based across the US — from Silicon Valley in California to tribal nations across the Midwest — are driving innovation in energy efficiency, AI, solar,
British entrepreneur and YouTube star Jamal Edwards has died at the age of 31, his company has told the BBC, but his cause of death has not yet been revealed. He was the founder of SBTV, an online urban music platform that helped launch the careers of artists like Dave, Ed Sheeran, and Skepta. His YouTube channel, which was started in 2006 “on a £20 phone” while he was still at school, has given early exposure to almost every key player in the game including the much-loved Stormzy, Skepta, JME,
The Capital Factory and DivInc Black winners in Tech Challenge pitch competition have been announced. Typically – there is just one winner but according to reports the competition was too good this year and two startups were chosen. The local winner of the challenge, which is aimed at increasing diversity in the tech community, was Safer Management, a public school and university attendance tracking startup. Safer was founded by Fred Burns in 2020. His company, along with Indiana-based gig work platform Clutch, took home a $100,000 investment. According to reports, Burns noticed one of these
NBA Star Jrue Holiday And Olympian Lauren Holiday To Provide $1M In Grants To Black-Owned Businesses
NBA All-Star Jrue Holiday and his wife, who is two-time Olympic gold medalist, Lauren Holiday, are on an admirable mission to help more Black-owned businesses and Black-led nonprofits. In this third round of grant funding, the athletic superstar couple will continue Jrue’s 2019-2020 season commitment where he pledged to donate a portion of his salary to the couple’s organization. Grants will be provided to organizations and small businesses that are located in the Greater Milwaukee, New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Los Angeles areas with priority given to those with a focus on social impact
A new phone app is hoping to help close the racial wealth gap by empowering Black investors and helping build generational wealth. Trevor Rozier-Byrd, founder and CEO of Stackwell Capital, an early-stage startup on a mission to empower a new community of Black investors—specifically Black millennials and Gen Z, is ready for 2022. Launched early this year, the app combines pre-built portfolios based on risk, educational resources and behavioral nudges in order to address the pervasive underinvestment and unbanking of Black people in the US. It intends to drive black
Tulsa educators are eligible for an exclusive teaching fellowship program run by Black Tech Street and Hewlett-Packard to give teachers the tools to reinvent their classrooms. Black Tech Street is specifically asking teachers of color to apply for this program. It says this unique fellowship will allow teachers to experiment with new tech tools in their classrooms and build community with other Tulsa educators, according to Newson6. The fellowship called HP Teaching Fellowship is offering 25 teachers tools for free in Tulsa Public Schools. “We want to ensure that our Black
