Nike believes that if you have a body, you’re an athlete. This perspective has changed the game for how the company approaches its products and people. Vincent Sanders is aligned with this approach, and he’s committed to using his voice and perspective to help change the world. For him, the mantra “Just Do It” is about more than just getting it done. It’s connected to breaking down barriers and eliminating issues that can hinder success. Although he graduated with an engineering background, Saunders’ journey to Nike was unconventional. His first job was as a systems analyst in the financial services industry. It was during that time that he realized he wanted a role that offered a more hands-on approach to technology. This is where his work with Nike began. Currently, in his fourth year at Nike, Sanders is a Senior Applications Engineer on the price optimization team. In this role , Sanders helps business planners make well-informed price decisions. He’s also responsible for...

Twitter might have you thinking college grads and young professionals are the only ones working in tech, but the truth is the field has plenty of seasoned technologists. Conrad Meneide, Vice President of Tech Ops and Cloud Engineering at Gap Inc., is one of those industry veterans. Meneide has worked in tech for more than 26 years. At Gap Inc., he’s responsible for managing and innovating foundational technology for the family of brands: Gap, Old Navy, Athleta and Banana Republic. “We are the builders of the interstate highway that gets features to our customers,” he says. At Gap Inc., the engineers and developers deliver best-in-class retail technology for teams and customers. The tech ops and cloud engineering team is responsible for leading the evolution, modernization and performance of tools and shared services. That means, if you work at Gap Inc. or shop at one of the stores, Meneide’s team enabled or created the technology you interact with. Meneide also uses his role as an...

Anthony Winston III wanted to make a positive impact within the construction industry while also having the ability to spend more time with his family. With that in mind, he created Winston Engineering Inc, a minority-owned business specializing in the design of Mechanical, Electricial, & Plumbing (MEP) Engineering for residential & commercial buildings. Winston’s hard work and dedication have made his firm the only minority-owned MEP business on the West Coast, but it wasn’t easy to do. “My story is fairly similar to a lot of my peers growing up. Not having a father around as much and dealing with broken promises has turned me into the driven individual I am today. I am fiercely loyal and somewhat obsessed with sticking to my word,” he told AfroTech. “Luckily this trend is no longer the case since Black dads – whether they live with their children or not, are more actively involved in their children’s lives than their counterparts of other races.” Despite all of that, he overcame...

Caleb Anderson is not your average 12-year-old. Despite his young age, Anderson is already a sophomore studying aerospace engineering at Chattahoochee Technical College in Georgia. According to 11Alive , he began to show his brilliance from the time he was in diapers, learning sign language to effectively communicate before he could even speak. He leveled up even further by learning to read the United States Constitution at the age of two. “By nine months old, he was able to sign over 250 words, and by 11 months old, he was speaking and reading,” shared Anderson’s family. At the age of three, Anderson could already speak Spanish, Mandarin, and French on top of his native language English. He also qualified for MENSA — the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. According to Face to Face Africa , this society is only open to people who score at the 98 th percentile or higher on a supervised, standardized, or other approved intelligence test. “As we started to interact with...

Vanessa Wyche is the first African-American to hold the role of Deputy Director at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.  She has worked at the JSC since 1989 when she joined the team as a project engineer. She’s also a South Carolina native who graduated from Clemson University with a bachelor of science in materials engineering and a master of science in bioengineering. In this role, the deputy director is responsible for leading more than 10,000 civil service and contractor employees and also a number of human spaceflight activities for the space center. Wyche, who has received two NASA Achievement Medals among other accolades, is highly respected at NASA and has built agency-wide relationships according to JSC Director Mark Geyer . In a press release from NASA, Wyche said the following about being appointed to the role: “I am incredibly humbled to take on this role at JSC, and also excited to assist Mark with leading the home of human spaceflight,” she said. “I look forward...