The post-Covid jobscape is a whole new frontier for candidates of color looking to break into the new market. This is especially true for those hoping to join highly competitive companies. Though finding a job at larger companies seems daunting, it’s not impossible. Theo Burton, a talent manager and Diversity Ambassador at Amazon, has a solid piece of advice for candidates: “Life is short. Nowadays you can’t be afraid to rub with people the wrong way. Just get out there, handle yourself in a professional manner and keep it moving.” Theo is the real deal when it comes to talent acquisition. The recruiting veteran has over a decade of leadership and talent recruitment experience. His experience has taken him to recruiting roles at Robert Half International, and he was an early adopter employee at LinkedIn before landing at Amazon five years ago. Since his tenure began, he’s moved from consumer talent recruitment into a head HR recruiter role. So, he’s on the team that recruits the...

With hands in everything from online shopping to web services, online retail giant Amazon counts on the people behind the scenes to get the job done on a daily basis. Much of the company’s success is due, in part, to its ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Through its #BlackHistoryMakers series, Amazon celebrated Black creatives inside and outside of the company. In fact, we recently got real with a few Black women leading the way at Amazon. Now AfroTech is speaking with seven men creating change and impact for those around them. They share their professional journeys, offer encouragement for aspiring Black professionals and discuss how they’re changing the game at Amazon. The Black Men Making Waves at Amazon Mark Hatcher, Global Sales Account Manager As an industry leader and professional, this Detroit native found success through progressive responsibility at companies like Cintas, Coca-Cola, Harley-Davidson Motor Company and the Seattle Seahawks. Since joining...

From corporate boardrooms to launching new businesses, in addition to being the most educated group in America, women are making history 52 weeks, 365 days a year. So each March, the least we can do is highlight those doing it their way during Women’s History Month. With women facing additional hurdles in the venture capital world, Amazon Alexa Startups and the Alexa Fund , which provides up to $200 million in venture capital funding to fuel Artificial Intelligence (AI) and voice technology innovation, kicked off dedicated efforts to address such inequalities through capital and non-capital support for women entrepreneurs. In this spirit, in 2020, Alexa Startups and the Alexa Fund collaborated with All Raise — a nonprofit organization that works to empower women entrepreneurs and venture capital investors – to create an innovative pitch competition called Women Founders Represent (WFR). In celebration of Women’s History Month, meet five women who made their voices heard at WFR, and...

Sometimes you can’t just trust the process; you have to trust yourself as well. It’s something Samara Moore has learned during her career in technology. As a Security Assurance Senior Manager and Global Energy Specialist, she’s made her mark since joining Amazon Web Services (AWS) by leading the security and compliance program for regulated industries and public sector throughout North and South America. It’s a role that found her unexpectedly while she was still with another company. She says this shift happened while “I was going along my merry way with a company that I really enjoyed, and I got wind of an opportunity at AWS and someone said ‘Hey would you consider this?’” Less than two months later, Moore found herself implementing and sustaining integral programs that effectively managed cyber risks and aligned security measures with business and IT strategies. In many ways, it’s a role Moore was simply made for, thanks in part to experience that draws on over a decade with the...

Throughout this year’s Black History Month, it was remarkable to see how the Black community recognized and uplifted each other. #BlackExcellence is everywhere. This year, Amazon celebrated by turning the spotlight on the Black creators, innovators and entrepreneurs doing big things and creating history in real time. From artists to makers to tech professionals and more, there’s no shortage of #BlackHistoryMakers leaving a mark. “All of the contributions that Black people have made […] can’t be contained to just one month,” declares Latasha Gillespie, the Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Amazon Studios, Prime Video and IMDB. Amazon strives to create a space where Black employees feel empowered to grow their careers and continue to step up into leadership positions. This year, Amazon kicked off its BHM celebration by highlighting its innovative employees and partners who are creating real and long-lasting change within the community. The BEN Scholarship Amazon’s Black...

There are many paths to success in tech, but the most notorious is software development and engineering.  We want to introduce you to Makho Ngazimbi, a software development manager with Amazon Web Services. Amazon Web Services helps businesses scale and grow by offering secure cloud services on its platform along with database storage and more. Makho’s team of engineers is responsible for making sure that the operating system is distributing to all the data centers. Makho spoke with Will Lucas at AfroTech about his journey into tech and what he wants other Black professionals to know when venturing into the field. One of the proudest responsibilities that Makho has is in recruiting Black engineers into tech. Resources like Amazon’s Black Employee Network have allowed him to be hands-on in recruiting, retaining, and even advancing Black talent in engineering. “There’s a lot of programs that I am really proud of and [recruiting] is actually a huge passion of mine,” said Makho. If...