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In celebration of Black History Month, marketer and social influencer LaToyia Dennis launched a digital advertising and marketing firm for women of color. The national boutique firm coined Melanin Moms Media specializes in connecting women of color to brands and events to help drive revenue for those mom bloggers and influencers from marginalized backgrounds. Dennis was inspired to launch the firm after seeing the lack of resources and income opportunities for minority women in the economy. “Since joining the mom influencer community four years ago, I have met many amazing moms of color with stellar content that are still passed over for campaigns,” said Dennis in a press release. “With my experience in advertising sales, sponsorship activation, event production, and brand engagement, I decided the time was right to start a company that pulled my experience, expertise, and passion together to help moms of color influence the world. My mission is to help moms live a life of purpose,...
Content creator and director Jourdan Guyton does not believe in the word “no.” Throughout her career as an actress and content creator for network television, she longed to see programs that reflected the stories and the faces of women who looked like her. Tired of waiting, she decided to take the reins. Guyton and a former colleague from her television past joined forces to explore programming beyond network television. In 2017, the pair launched “Two Grown,” a web series that explores the hijinks of two young women of color experiencing the personal and professional highs and lows of life in New York. “The web series space leaves room for full and vast credibility. You can tell stories that aren’t limited the way they are in mainstream media. It’s a powerful platform for people of color, because it’s not limited in space or duration,” according to Guyton. When “Two Grown” began, the two co-creators took on multiple roles in front of and behind the camera, along with a small crew....
Alphonso “Fonz” Morris is a senior product designer at Coursera, one of the world’s largest EdTech platforms. We sat down to talk to him about his journey and his vision for the company and himself. The Beginning Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Fonz made his way to the south in search of higher education at the historically Black Morehouse College. As a self-described “engineering-minded kind of kid,” his childhood dream was to become an architect. However, when he got to college, a computer science career seemed to have more potential than an architectural one. While at Morehouse, he also participated in a study-abroad program at Oxford University, where he studied art history and visited some of the world’s most iconic museums and galleries. Although he began his computer science degree at Morehouse, he later transferred to Georgia State after two years because he could no longer afford tuition. While he made this move purely out of financial necessity, he believes everything worked...
2019 has been a busy year for actor and producer Issa Rae, and it seems she has no intention of slowing down. Issa has acquired a minority stake in L.A-based streaming startup Streamlytics , which is lead by serial entrepreneur Angela Benton. Angela Benton, a Silicon Valley powerhouse, founded at least two other companies before starting Streamlytics in 2018. She’s also served in advisory capacities for several other startups, including NewME, a startup accelerator for minority founders . Under her leadership, the accelerator assisted entrepreneurs from underrepresented demographics in raising over $47MM in venture capital funding. According to Streamlytic’s website, their goal is “to level the playing field by democratizing access to streaming media data for both users and companies who want to leverage it.” NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – AUGUST 25: Issa Rae attends Black Girls Rock 2019 Hosted By Niecy Nash at NJPAC on August 25, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty...
Terragon Group, a Lagos-based data technology firm, recently announced they purchased Bizense, a Singapore-based mobile technology company, in a cash and stock deal. The deal is the first of its kind in Africa, according to the company. The acquisition will allow Terragon to leverage Bizense’s expertise in mobile advertising and targeting technologies in key Asian markets where the Nigerian data analytics firm has consumer data research and development teams. “This move has been a long time coming as it will strengthen the company’s technology offerings to its clients,” said Terragon co-founder Ayodeji Balogun in a press release. “We are united by a common culture of innovating game-changing mobile solutions – this is the unique differentiator.” Terragon provides businesses insights for Africa’s mobile users with products designed to help clients connect with millions of consumers. The acquisition will help the company scale its digital transformation and data monetization service...
UPROXX, an entertainment and pop culture news site known for having a young, digital audience and expanding into Snapchat original series’ such as F That With Vince Staples or the Emmy-nominated basketball docu-series Us Against The World, was recently acquired by Warner Music Group. “Over the past years, we’ve won the trust of our audience, along with numerous industry accolades, because of our understanding of culture, entertainment, and marketing – an approach that’s rooted in authenticity and transparency,” said UPROXX CEO Benjamin Blank in a statement. “With Warner Music Group, we just doubled down on that formula and are now able to deliver more to our audience and partners with even more access and at much bigger scale.” Blank will continue to run the platform as CEO and Chief Creative alongside publisher Jarret Myer. This acquisition follows the news earlier this year that WMG purchased Songkick, a concert discovery app. “With this acquisition, we grow our significance as a...