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As the 2024 AfroTech conference approaches, anticipation builds for the impactful discussions that will celebrate Black excellence in technology. This year, Capital One, a tech leader committed to fostering diversity and innovation, is taking center stage with an exciting workshop on technology and product management. At the helm of this dynamic session will be two visionary leaders, Alexandra “Alex” Wood, Vice President of Product, and Jared Jordan, Managing Vice President, both of whom are driving the future of tech at Capital One. Their leadership exemplifies the company’s commitment to nurturing Black talent and pushing boundaries in the tech landscape. Meet the Leaders: Alex Wood and Jared Jordan Alex Wood and Jared Jordan bring diverse experiences and unique perspectives to their roles at Capital One. For Wood, the journey to Capital One wasn’t a linear path but rather a discovery of passion. “Like every good daughter of an immigrant, I wanted to be a doctor or scientist, but...
Don’t sleep on your vision for your future in technology. Let’s make it happen today with Capital One. With its Make Today campaign, Capital One is taking diversity and inclusion to the next level by encouraging Black technologists to contribute to innovation, prioritize data and pay homage to the past to create a more inclusive tech culture. Capital One reminds us that Black people have always been the original inventors, shakers, and movers of innovation. Make Today was launched by Capital One’s Blacks in Tech (BIT) Business Resource Group, an organization of Black technologists who are committed to cultivating, inspiring, educating, and supporting Black technologists at all stages of their career. BIT aims to create a lasting impact by amplifying BIT initiatives, engaging our peers to strengthen our inclusive culture and helping Capital One recruit, attract and retain top talent from all backgrounds. At October’s BIT conference and AfroTech conference in November, this year’s...
You walked across the stage with your degree in hand and were fortunate enough to land a job right away. Now what? Or maybe you have several years’ worth of industry experience and you’re thinking about changing things up. Whether you’re new to the game or looking to level up, setting new career goals can be overwhelming, and it’s a lot easier when you have some help. The Blacks in Tech (BIT) employee resource group at Capital One wants to help all its members think through and navigate career elevation. In 2021, the group launched the Rise Up mentorship program. 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. Eloise Hudgins, Chief of Staff, Budget and Labor at Capital One, was drawn to the program as a mentor and mentee. After two years with the company, she was looking for insight on the obstacles she was dealing with at work, and wanted to help others...
Sometimes work can be a lot. Even if we love what we do, we need to take time to reflect on our responsibilities within an organization and how to move forward in ways that align with our professional and personal goals. The Blacks in Tech (BIT) business resource group at Capital One makes space for that re-up through its annual BIT Summit. Thirty employee volunteers planned and hosted the 2021 virtual event held in October 2021. The four-day summit had a record-breaking attendance of about 1,300 employees who logged in to experience programming around the theme “Tech Out LOUD: Leadership, Opportunity, Unity and Diversity.” Lead event organizer Devon Rollins says the summit is a convening to celebrate, acknowledge, train and reward the work, resilience and incredible contributions of Black technologists at Capital One. “We intend for people to walk away with their ‘Aha!’ moment, where either they learn about new capabilities or platforms or tools available for them to do their jobs,...
Sisters and founders of Kids for Culture — Lamia Haley and Kristen O’meally — had a mission to create diverse and inclusive products for children, which has now received a stamp of approval from Walmart. Haley and O’meally created Kids for Culture in response to O’meally casually scrolling on Instagram and stumbling across ABC flashcards. Despite the great intention behind the product, she could not help but feel indifferent due to the lack of representation. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kids For Culture®️ (@kidsforculture) “I saw some ABC flashcards and I said well those would be nice if they also represented other races because it was just majority caucasian children that were on there and I said ‘Well I’m going to create some,'” O’meally shares in an interview with WHAS 11. After excitingly revealing the concept to her sister, Haley suggested the incorporation of affirmations to their products. The idea blossomed at the height of the pandemic and Kids for Culture...
To provide a space for Black talent in tech, OneTen — a group of industry executives aiming to hire and build Black individuals to create an equitable and inclusive workforce — has launched its inaugural scholarship program to provide support for over 3,500 students over the next two years, a press release states. The program was created to spearhead underserved Black talent toward the tech industry — with a focus on four core tech competencies: digital marketing, business analytics, front end developer, and predictive analytics — despite not acquiring four-year degrees. “By investing in talent transformation, we can help remove the barriers to diversity in tech. By providing access to resources that are designed to nurture and develop people’s skills, we can help get more Black talent into the technology space,” Dennis Schultz, Executive Director of the BIT Foundation, said in a press release. As a contribution toward OneTen’s commitment, Udacity and Blacks In Technology will lend...
It’s time to bridge the tech talent gap! Blacks in Technology Foundation has partnered with Apprenti in an effort to increase Black representation across the tech industry through developing, recruiting, and retaining diverse talent, per PR Newswire. Through the partnership, Apprenti — a national leader in delivering registered tech apprenticeship programs — will continue their work to place non-traditional hires into in-demand tech careers. While there are three million available tech jobs in America today, the nation’s colleges only produce 80,000 computer science graduates each year. “Both job seekers and companies need to expand their thinking when it comes to job placement and hiring,” said Dennis Schultz, Executive Director of the Blacks in Technology Foundation in an official news release. “We’re already seeing a shift in IT job requirements away from four-year and advanced college degrees in mathematics and computer science towards practitioner level skills. The only real...
The Linux Foundation — the non-profit arm of the merger between Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group — has announced in a press release that they’ve partnered with Blacks In Technology to provide $100,000 in training and certification to what they’re calling “deserving individuals.” According to the press release, the San Francisco-based company confirmed they’ll be awarding 50 scholarships each quarter to rising Black technology stars. The scholarship is not a monetary disbursement — rather, the Linux Foundation will provide a voucher for each recipient to register for any of their certification exams at no cost. Each certification costs approximately $300, and these scholarships will certainly allow aspiring techies to achieve their goals regardless of their socioeconomic status. In the past, much ado has been made about the financial barrier between Black men and women and high-paying tech jobs, so this is certainly a step in the right direction. “We are...