All results
NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook’s AI-enabled funeral planning platform Eazewell has partnered with LegalZoom to help users simplify the process of preparing wills, trusts, and estate planning documents, according to a press release. Partnership With LegalZoom The partnership will grant access to LegalZoom’s estate planning infrastructure, allowing end-of-life documents to be created in minutes. It will also leverage LegalZoom’s attorney network and an advanced AI-driven interface to streamline the onboarding experience. “Our partnership with LegalZoom is a game-changer. Legal and estate planning has always felt out of reach for many families, too complex, too expensive, or simply too intimidating,” Donnell Beverly Jr., an Eazewell co-founder, told AFROTECH™ in an email interview. Adding, “LegalZoom helps us break down those barriers. Together, we’re democratizing access to essential documents like wills, power of attorney, and trusts, all through a seamless, user-friendly experience....
A movement that was birthed out of the COVID-19 quarantine has raised millions of dollars to support Kamala Harris’ quest as the first Black woman president of the United States. “Win With Black Women” (WWBW) is a mantra and group conceptualized by Jotaka Eaddy, a social impact consultant in politics and technology who founded Full Circle Strategies. She understood the importance of community early on as a high school student looking to attend a conference geared towards those seeking law careers, Fortune reports. Raised in a humble environment in South Carolina, the $3,000 cost for the conference was out of reach for her parents. However, through the support of Black women church-goers she was able to attend. “Black women in my church and in my community sold chicken dinners and held bake sales to raise money to send me to that conference and to put me on an airplane that many of them have still never been on,” Eaddy said, according to Fortune. She went on to make history as the...
A resident of the South Side of Chicago, IL is putting her Atlanta-based employer on blast. The Chicago Sun-Times reports Adrienne Harmon-Beckwith filed a complaint against chemical goods company Zep after a vice president allegedly used a racial slur on a Zoom call with other employees in November 2021. Harmon-Beckwith was also the only Black employee on the call. “He must have said it at least another four, five times. I was floored. It was a professional setting. Who does that,” Harmon-Beckwith said, according to Chicago Sun-Times.
Imagine finding out that you’re being laid off via Zoom. Sadly, this is the reality for one group of employees. According to Inc., shortly after nearly 900 people were laid off through the video teleconferencing platform, Zoom, an additional 3,000 employees have been laid off. The company, Better.com, offers customers a one-click solution to the entire home-buying process including scouting an agency, securing a mortgage and even helping them to shop for insurance. Despite making the lives of its customers easier, some of its former employees might note that their experience has been the complete opposite.
The coronavirus undoubtedly caused a halt in the everyday lives of Americans across the country. Stores closed, Wall Street took a hit, and unemployment skyrocketed overnight, but one thing remained constant even in the face of COVID-19 — racism. At a time like this, when humanity itself is challenged, one would think such events would bring out the best in all citizens, or at least basic human emotions like compassion, love, and kindness. Instead, some have resorted to using video conference platforms like Zoom, to spew hatred toward Black people. Such is the case with Tiara Moore who created a virtual safe space for women of color where they could exchange professional resources, chat, and support one another through the outbreak. BuzzFeed reports that Moore’s Zoom conference was hacked and filled with about 100 people all yelling racial slurs including the N-word. “I immediately closed it down like, what just happened,” she told BuzzFeed. “I was super emotional. I cried and I was...
While the stock market is suffering from historic lows due to the coronavirus outbreak, some companies are cashing in big time and Zoom Video Communications Inc. is one of them. According to Fortune , Eric Yuan, founder of Zoom, increased his net worth by $20 million on Monday as Zoom stock increased by 0.4 percent leading to a year-to-date gain of 58 percent. On Tuesday, Needham & Co. analyst, Richard Valera advised the stock market community to buy Zoom shares which led to an additional 3.5 percent increase. Zoom’s online video platform is in high demand as most of the nation quarantines and companies turn to a work from home model to host business conference calls and meetings. With the closure of many universities and colleges, students are also forced to continue their studies virtually. Fortune reports Yuan, born in China, was denied a U.S. visa eight times before finally moving to Silicon Valley and creating Zoom. The idea sparked when Yuan grew tired of having to travel ten...
Praxis Labs has been acquired. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the company was co-founded by AFROTECH™ Future 50 honoree Elise Smith and launched as an “immersive practice-based platform that drives inclusive, engaged, and higher-performing teams” powered by AI. Praxis Labs’ product offerings are Pivotal Practice, which helps managers to improve their critical human skills, and Pivotal Experiences, 15-30-minute perspective-taking simulations intended to increase empathy and provide a practice ground for workplace scenarios, its website mentions. TechCrunch notes the company’s client pool includes eBay, Zoom, Amazon, Google, and Target. “For me, it’s how do we use technology to help us become even better humans, to help us be able to give feedback across differences, to navigate difficult conversations, to provide performance feedback and expectations with accountability and care in a way that actually serves us all better, that creates more value for everyone, doesn’t cause harm,”...
Taylor Rooks is launching a foundation that will assist Black and brown families. Taylor Rooks Foundation According to a press release shared with AFROTECH™, the two-time Emmy Award-nominated journalist and producer was inspired by the stories she has told and people she has encountered throughout the course of her life to launch the Taylor Rooks Foundation. This has led to what will be a long-term effort to support storytellers and uplift Black and Brown individuals and families through education, health, and opportunity regardless of their “zip code, background, or bank account.” The nonprofit is guided by the following pillars: REACH (educational resources, community wellness initiatives, small business support, and direct giving) RELIEVE (support for health and recovery, crisis assistance, and essential living needs) REPRESENT (mentorship for journalists, storytelling workshops, and launch of Rising Rooks Award) “I believe that equity starts with access — access to care, to...
Entrepreneur Mark Cuban believes AI is not only the future but will pave the way for a feat that has never been reached by a person before: the world’s first trillionaire. Cuban stated on the “High Performance” podcast that while every technological wave, from PCs to 5G, has brought forth innovation , AI surpasses them all. “We haven’t seen the best or the craziest of what it’s going to be able to do, and not only do I think it’ll create a trillionaire but it could be just one dude in a basement. That’s how crazy it could be,” he said. Cuban is a serial investor who is embracing artificial intelligence in his daily life. He said AI technology has been helpful for the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. “For the Mavs and for other businesses, we’re using all the new text-to-video stuff where you can just say ‘show me a guy carrying a rugby ball and that drop kicks it into a basketball basket,’ and it’ll give you 10 seconds of that in a minute. Just being able to be creative, whether it’s from a...
The third-most valuable Michael Jordan trading card has sold at auction. JOOPITER The rare card has made its way to JOOPITER, an auction house owned by Virginia legend and award-winning music producer Pharrell Williams. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Williams had been a serial collector and launched the platform in 2022 “to embrace the energy that is released when objects change hands, and to respect the value that’s been created around these objects.” “Joopiter was founded to not only introduce a new voice into the auction landscape, but to recalibrate what it means to be a collector… We are excited to bring these objects to the world,” Williams said , according to WWD. Signed 1986-87 Jordan Card JOOPITER’s latest auction item was a signed 1986-87 Fleer #57 Michael Jordan rookie card, according to information shared on Instagram. Jordan’s card had been one of nine trading cards that he signed back in 2024 on his private golf course in Florida, per the auction’s page. The card...
Expect to have a more seamless experience at this year’s AFROTECH™ Conference. The event, which is the largest gathering of Black tech professionals and entrepreneurs, will t ouch down in Houston at the George R. Brown Convention Center and run Oct. 27–31, 2025. This marks the conference’s second consecutive year in the city and builds on its momentum, having attracted over 40,000 attendees since its inception. It’s clear the conference is the place to be, and you won’t want to miss what’s next. We’re leveling up the experience for ticket holders to help you customize your scheduling for various sessions to ensure you achieve your conference objectives and professional goals. Whatever you’re looking for, we’ve got it. We’re targeting core areas including Cybersecurity and Risk, Engineering, Data, Government and Civic, Product and Design, Future of Work (HR), Esports, Energy and Sustainability, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Marketing, and Advertising. And we’re not stopping...
TikTok will be granted another 90-day extension to prevent its ban in the U.S. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, former President Joe Biden signed a law on April 24, 2024, that would require TikTok’s Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform within a year or it would face a nationwide ban. The U.S. has national security concerns about the app and China’s possible access to American citizens’ private data. TikTok is used by an estimated 170 million users, notes NPR. The Supreme Court had also upheld the law signed by Biden in January 2025. “There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the court had written in an unsigned opinion, according to another NPR report. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship...
Fireflies.ai, an AI meeting platform used by 75% of Fortune 500 companies, has officially joined the unicorn club, reaching a $1 billion valuation, according to a company news release . The milestone coincides with the launch of “Talk to Fireflies,” a voice-activated assistant built with AI answer engine Perplexity to bring real-time web search directly into virtual meetings. Founded by Nigerian-American aerospace engineer Sam Udotong and former Microsoft employee Krish Ramineni, as People of Color in Tech mentions, Fireflies has scaled rapidly without relying on traditional venture funding. Instead of raising another round, the company completed its first tender offer, allowing early employees to cash out some equity while keeping the firm’s cap table intact. Fireflies has been profitable since 2023 and hasn’t raised new capital since 2021, all while posting triple-digit annual growth, as the release states. “We wanted to recognize our earliest employees who’ve been vital to...
The majority of Levi Strauss & Co.’s shareholders have voted against anti-DEI proposals. WWD reports the company received a proposal from the National Center for Public Policy Research requesting that its shareholders “consider abolishing its DEI program, policies, department and goal.” At a time when other major corporations have rolled back their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in response to President Donald Trump’s efforts to eliminate DEI across the federal government , the proposal referenced that “Alphabet and Meta cut DEI staff and DEI-related investments; and Microsoft and Zoom laid off their entire DEI teams.” Levi’s executives, however, do not believe the company has partaken in discriminatory policies in its recruitment or promotions, according to David Jedrzejek, Levi’s senior vice president and general counsel, per the outlet. Still, Stefan Padfield, executive director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project, made a point to mention at the...
PepsiCo representatives met with civil rights leaders from the National Action Network (NAN) after Reverend Al Sharpton threatened to lead a boycott over the company’s decision to scale back parts of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives . After sending a letter to the food and beverage brand on April 4, 2025, outlining details of the intended boycott, Sharpton issued a statement on Tuesday, April 15, saying that he and several members of NAN had a “constructive conversation” lasting over an hour with PepsiCo Chairman Ramon Laguarta and PepsiCo North America CEO Steven Williams. During the meeting at PepsiCo’s global headquarters in Purchase, NY, they had a chance “to discuss our grievances over reports they were rolling back nearly $500 million in DEI commitments .” “We agreed to follow up meetings within the next few days,” Sharpton wrote. “After that continued dialogue, NAN Chairman Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson and I, both former members of the company’s African...