It’s important to surround yourself with friends you can win with, and Software Engineer Jovonne Cameron can attest to this.
Cameron is a first-generation American who was initially discouraged from entering the tech industry by a high school guidance counselor. This led her to obtain a bachelor’s degree in business communication from Baruch College. She then went on to pursue a career in special education, working as an educator.
However, she still maintained an interest in tech, particularly in computer science. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she was able to pursue her dream.
“The pandemic came, and that was part of my story. I wanted to give myself that chance that I never got growing up and bet on myself. And then, within six months of making the decision, I became a software engineer,” she told AFROTECH™.
Cameron now doubles as a software engineer and runs a tech consultancy that helps small businesses integrate artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline their operations.
In Q4 of 2024, Cameron was seeking new opportunities within her career and foray into entrepreneurship. Her friend presented the idea of attending the AFROTECH™ Conference for its first year in Houston, TX. Her friend also supported her by gifting a corporate ticket, and they created a spreadsheet for how they hoped to maximize their time and make a return on the investment at the annual conference labeled as the “Black tech mecca.”
@jovitalkstech Replying to @tiadesha Here is my @AfroTech game plan! Let me know if you want me to go in more detail. Im already plotting for next year lol @Lexus #afrotech2024 #afrotech #afrotech24 #afrotechconference #blacktechtok #pocintech #techtok #networking #blackintech #lexus #lexususa
“The original goal when I went to AFROTECH™ when I found out I was going, was to get a job. I’ve done it at other conferences…When I got there, that’s when I started to open up my mind about the concepts of, ‘Oh, this would be great for my business. Oh, this would be great to implement in the back end. This would be great to expand my thoughts,'” Cameron said.
Cameron had three key focus areas for her time at the conference. She wanted to uplevel her content, as she also uses her platform to educate others on how to break into tech, expand her network, and attend sessions around AI to apply to her consultant and technical projects.
“I just felt like it spoke to like the different sides of me, the content creation, the consulting, the software engineering side. And I was able to marry everything that I love at that conference. And I felt like that’s what made AFROTECH™ a little bit different from some of the other conferences that I’ve been to,” Cameron said.
@jovitalkstech Was @AfroTech worth it? First off, glory to God that I was able to make this conference and have the opportunity to go, because thats not everyone’s reality. Im so grateful. Here’s what I learned: 1. Good planning and knowing how to sell your skills is key! 2. Networking makes room for opportunities to chase you down 3. No idea is too small, a whole lot can change in a year. Already planning for Afrotech ‘25 #afrotech2024 #afrotech24 #afrotechconference #blacktechtok #blackinstem #pocintech #techtok #techconference
Cameron’s expectations were not only met but exceeded. She walked away with two interviews and has since landed a client for her consultation business.
“Originally, when I wanted to learn a little bit more about AI for my business, it was just more so to see how I can use it to serve smaller businesses…But also, in my career as a software engineer, it’s clear that we’re going into like a sector of specialization. So, specializing in machine learning and AI was something I was always considered on the career front. It was when I got to the conference I realized, ‘Oh, this would be a great business move to learn a little bit more and see if I can implement what I learned at the conference in my business.’ It helped because I was able to talk to someone about getting contract work and working with them on their business to implement it and see how they can overall improve their operations,” she explained.
Advice To Future Attendees
Cameron also leaves some advice for future attendees, particularly students, commenting, “The advice I would give them is that putting yourself out there and building your personal brand and then topping it off with conferences like this can really prove to make you successful. Being that we’re stepping into we’re in 2025, the job market looks vastly different than it did four years ago when it was probably a little bit easier to maybe cold apply or just slide in and try to get a role.Now it’s more people facing. The people who are succeeding are those who know how to sell their value and know how to speak to exactly what it is that they do how, they can help companies, and how they can make an impact. So you have to basically be like a walking resume. So if you and if you can master that and then go to conferences like this where you have so many different companies that are in the room, so many different people that are in the room, you can really make out like a bandit…I kind of prove that it can happen.”
Those interested in attending the 2025 Conference can purchase early bird tickets here. You won’t want to miss out!
