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In honor of International Women’s Day, we here at AfroTech thought it was only fitting to recognize the work of 31 Black women in tech. Too often, Black women’s accomplishments, especially in the technology field, are overlooked or overshadowed. We encourage you not only to check out these women’s profiles and businesses but also to help shine a light on other Black women in tech this month and throughout the rest of the year. Check out the list of 31 Black women in the tech sector below: Asmau Ahmed, CEO of Plum Perfect, an app that helps women find beauty products in line with their skin tone Sheena Allen, Founder and CEO of CapWay, which works to service the underbanked Shellye Archambeau, Current Board member of numerous tech companies, former President of Blockbuster.com, and CEO of MetricStream Angela Benton, Founder and CEO of Streamlytics, which helps make transparent what users are consuming on streaming services Jean Brownhill, Founder and CEO of Sweeten, which helps to...
Most people probably want to ask Courtne Smith about her time spent as Drake’s personal assistant and member of his management team. Working closely with one of the biggest pop stars and successful businessmen as his friend and right hand probably yields some inspiring, lifelong knowledge (and we get to that). But the more interesting thing about Courtne Smith, the co-founder and CEO of the polling app NewNew, is her ability to evolve her businesses and fearlessly meet new challenges along the way. It should be noted, this isn’t Smith’s first rodeo in business or tech. A serial entrepreneur, Smith previously launched the prize giveaway app Suprize in 2018. Users were given chances to win cool items, including concert tickets, Kylie cosmetics, and Nike sneakers. Then, Smith and her business partner Filip Diarra decided brands wouldn’t give away free goods forever, so they evolved Suprize into NewNew, which allows users to personalize polls around various topics using videos, popular...
Black women are continuing to create solutions to problems that have nearly been ingrained into society. One of the latest to do so is Thandiwe MIauli, founder and CEO of Studio Yezi, a South African development and animation studio on a mission to challenge Hollywood’s models of animation. According to their website, the name is inspired by the isiZulu word “inkanyezi” which means “Star.” Thus the company aims to be a “symbol of hope and light [and] serve the world with our storytelling.” She tells IOL News she feels the current landscape of the South African animation world does not accurately represent its audience. As a teenager, she fell in love with Japanese animation and “wanted something to connect her to [the characters].” “Black people have been fans of fantasy, superhero, comic-book inspired stories,” she said. “And yet writers seem to forget us when they create.” MIauli decided to create a whimsical fantasy adventure animation titled “SOLA” starring a brown-skinned, afro...
Trailblazing information systems professor, Siobahn Day Grady, Ph.D., is a Black tech unicorn you should know about. Not only is she the first woman to receive a doctorate degree in the field of computer science — according to North Carolina Central University — from North Carolina A&T State University in 2018, but she also recently received a $190,000 grant to conduct research to improve self-driving cars. Grady received the grant from the National Science Foundation’s Historically Black Colleges and Excellence in Research program and plans to use the funds to research and identify issues with self-driving cars. “This research is very timely and relevant; it’s the future,” Grady said, according to North Carolina Central University . “I’m excited to contribute to the field as well as provide research opportunities to students.” North Carolina Central University reports that Grady’s research will center around analyzing fault-detection capabilities of self-driving vehicles including...
Angie Jones, a veteran of the tech industry and an avid creator of online coding courses, has made history as she was named as a new Java Champion. OMGGGG! Wow, this is a dream come true!!! Thank you so much 😭 Wait, I gotta go tell my Java college professor. He's gonna be over the moon! 😂🙏🏾 https://t.co/P5HtHs4gls — Angie Jones (@techgirl1908) July 2, 2020 Oracle defines Java Champions as “an exclusive group of passionate Java technology and community leaders who are community-nominated and selected under a project sponsored by Oracle. Java Champions get the opportunity to provide feedback, ideas, and direction that will help Oracle grow the Java Platform. ” In fact, the group is so exclusive that there are only 299 members globally, period. Jones was the first Black woman ever to be selected for the honor. To many in the Java world, Angie is no stranger . For almost two decades, Jones has been in the industry, is active on social media, and teaches several courses on Test Automation...
Computer science often seems like a field open only to people who are fully dedicated to computing and mathematics. However, this could not be further from the truth. High-profile celebrities around the world have told their fans that they know how to code and that they also value learning to code . It’s not difficult to understand why these celebrities are interested in programming. After all, coding not only unlocks job opportunities—according to the non-profit Code.org , there are nearly 500,000 “[o]pen computing jobs” in the U.S. alone—but knowing how to code can help you solve problems more effectively. Here’s why these Black celebrities — that you may not have known were into coding — are learning the skill. Serena Williams Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Apartment List Serena Williams is a professional tennis player who has won 23 major singles titles throughout her career—the most won by any woman or man. Williams holds more Grand Slam titles than any other active player in...