Some years ago, Maurice Kuykendoll was simply an attendee at the AFROTECH ™ Conference. Now in its eighth year, he will approach the annual tech affair as an official speaker on the Executive Stage. It’s not lost on him that when he attended the conference, he was responsible for global expense management at insurance company Prudential, with one of its largest expenses being technology. During the transformation, he notes how vital the event was to his leadership development. “I was transforming my team simultaneously, so it was an area of development for me,” Kuykendoll said in an interview with AFROTECH™. “So, a couple of days at this conference, where there’s Black people, and they know all about technology, I was like, ‘I’ll go and see if this can be one of the things I put on my calendar every year to make sure that I am developing this essential part of what’s going on in the world.’” After sitting in many rooms alongside founders and talking to them about their latest...

Created with good intention, Detroit, MI-based Sports Rap Radio has been shut down. As Blavity previously reported, it was the first all-Black-led sports radio station based in the United States. It was brought to life with the help of former Detroit sports anchor Rob Parker and his peers including former NBA player B.J. Armstrong and former college stars Dave Kenney and Maurice “Moe” Ways. “[This is] history-making,” Parker told CBS News at the time. “[It’s] groundbreaking, [and] we just believe that the time has come.” The need for a a fully Black-led radio station was essential, according to Parker, who considered it a “problem” the city didn’t already have one, when looking at its population. “Just four years ago, there were no Black full-time sports hosts on the radio in Detroit,” he mentioned, per CBS News. “In a city that’s nearly 80 percent Black, I looked at that as a problem.” The station launched on June 4, 2024 on AM 1270 leasing WXYT from Audacy, according to Barrett...

Keturah Orji isn’t your average Olympian. As a force in track and field, Orji is attending the 2024 Olympics through the USA Track and Field team. Her eyes are set on the gold as her retirement plans are underway. Orji is a two-time Olympian and a 10-time U.S. champion in the sport. When she’s not on the track, she is committed to helping to spread financial literacy to others, especially the youth in her community. “When people believe in you, you’re able to accomplish so much more,” Orji told AFROTECH™. With a busy schedule, she said she still wants to find time to use her love for learning to inspire others. Importance Of Financial Literacy As a financial planning major in college, Orji took courses on wealth management, retirement planning, and various money-related topics . “It opened my mind to how much information there is that we’re not exposed to,” she said. “I didn’t grow up knowing any of that; I only knew about saving.” As a full scholarship student at the University of...

Luol Deng investment in men’s sports has led to a first in the Olympics. Deng was a former NBA player for the Chicago Bulls and committed 15 seasons, per Sports Illustrated, to the league before officially retiring in October 2019. Following his exit, Deng turned his attention towards his home country — the youngest country in the world — South Sudan, and became president of the South Sudanese Basketball Federation (SSBF), ESPN reports. “I retired and I always did my basketball camps. I know a lot of players from South Sudan and I knew that we could make it something special,” he told ESPN. “I want to help the growth of the game, but I want to use basketball to change the narrative and the stories of South Sudan, but also find a way to bring communities along and for everyone to get something inspirational behind it.” Fast forward to 2024, and South Sudan has made it to the Olympics, becoming victorious in their match against Puerto Rico on July 28, 2024. This marked the team’s...

For the first time ever, a South Sudan university’s governing body will be led by a woman. Awut Deng Acuil — who is currently the Minister of General Education and Instructions for the Government of South Sudan — will serve as the head of the council at the University of Bahr El-Ghazal, Face2Face Africa shares from a BBC report. News of Achuil’s appointment was reportedly announced during a presidential decree that was read on the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, the national broadcaster. Acuil, who is no stranger to making history in her country, also previously became the first woman to serve as South Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, according to Face2Face Africa . A report from PaanLuel Wël shared that from 2005 to August 2019, Acuil held several high positions in the country’s government including Presidential Advisor on Gender and Human Rights, Minister of Labor, Public Service and Human Resource Development, Minister of Humanitarian and...