Meet Shannon Morales, a single mom of three and founder and CEO of Tribaja, a tech talent marketplace based in Philadelphia that pairs Black and Latinx employees with companies committed to diversity and inclusion initiatives. Through her company, Tribaja, Morales, 34, provides Black and Latinx employees interested in the tech field with education and training and pairs them with tech companies she’s vetted as being truly committed to inclusion and diversity. Her company also offers 100% free coding, software engineering, data science, project management training, along with so many other
Apple hired Intel’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, Barbara Whye, back in 2021. Whye, who has years of experience and made it on Fortune’s list of Most Powerful, spent 25 years at Intel, helping the company make more meaningful and durable positive change. But she decided to take a leap and move on and work for tech giant Apple. In June, following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a $100 million racial justice initiative. Other tech executives have also spoken out against
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 –
Serena Williams’s early-stage venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, has raised an inaugural fund of $111 million that will invest in founders with diverse points of view. The achievement comes nine years after she first started the project and has taken on a portfolio of more than 60 angel investments. The investments were all backed by the athlete’s own money. For those who aren’t aware – an angel investor is an individual who uses their own funds to support a start-up company or project. “As an angel investor, you can only
Born in Los Angeles, Nwandu grew up in a foster home after her mother was killed by her father in a tragic episode of domestic violence. Fast forward to 2014, which by all accounts, looked like it was the year that Angelica Nwandu’s adult life was in a downward spiral. She failed her LSAT and GMAT exams because she couldn’t afford test-prep classes while all her friends were graduating. But her life turned around years after and now she owns one of the largest media brands on social media –
Just 1% of venture capital raised goes to Black entrepreneurs. Fifth Star wants to change that. It’s writing checks at the earliest stages of a startup’s life — the “friends and family” round — providing investments between $25,000 and $50,000 for each startup. It has so far raised just under $1 million, with plans ultimately to deploy $5 million to Chicago’s Black founders. Launched in February 2021, Fifth Star Funds has created a unique venture capital fund specifically dedicated to backing Black founders in Chicago. Fifth Star Funds aims to foster a more
Morgan Stanley’s recent panel discussion to mark Black History Month—featuring three alumni from our in-house accelerator for women and multicultural entrepreneurs—explored issues of access to funding, the Black wealth gap, and other challenges unique to Black founders. The conversation, entitled “A Founder’s Journey: Lessons in Resilience, Vision and Innovation,” moderated by Executive Director LaToya Wilson – included Tiffanie K. Stanard, founder, and CEO of Stimulus, a relationship intelligence SaaS platform that uses data and analytics to simplify how companies make purchasing decisions. B.J. Wiley Williams, founder and CEO of SoHookd, a wellness
Thousands of Africans studying engineering and other subjects in Ukraine are desperate to leave as Russia invades the country. Many of them are using social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter to keep people updated on their struggles to return back home. One Nigerian Twitter user said she and other students from the West African country were stopped by Polish border guards when attempting to flee. In her video, viewed over a million times, a crowd can be seen pleading with guards, who are standing with leveled weapons. Some,
You might have read the article published last year on the Silicon Valley employee who hid his disability from his employers. In an in-depth piece about his experiences, they started off by saying: “I have a learning disability, meaning that I learn differently from other people. I live and work in Silicon Valley, the natural habitat of road runners. I’ve spent my professional life as one of those worker bees who creates the widgets and doodads that make life a little easier. For the sake of this story—and my employability—let’s
The Blacks in Tech (BIT) employee resource group at Capital One wants to help all its members think through and navigate career elevation. I So in 2021, the group launched the Rise Up mentorship program, where for six months, participants are paired with mentors based on mutual career interests, current job positions, and professional goals, such as leadership or exploring another role. The Rise Up program provides long-term career mentoring and guidance in professional development. Eloise Hudgins, Chief of Staff, Budget and Labor at Capital One, is a mentee from the program.
