Showing 17 results for:

Future 50

by Topic

All results

17
Charles D. King Was The First Black Partner At WME And Went On To Build A Multi-Media Empire Championing Underrepresented Voices

Charles D. King has changed the entertainment landscape for the better. The Journey Born in Harlem, NY, and raised on the outskirts of Atlanta, GA, he showed early signs of being a businessman by selling supplies at school and even cutting neighbors’ grass, CNBC reports . He says his inspiration was his father, who founded a medical practice as a pediatrician. According to Forbes, King originally intended to also pursue a career in the medical field. “Seeing him leave a job to start his own practice. My mother was the first receptionist. It was just amazing watching it, but the other thing was the freedom that he had,” he told CNBC. King would follow that blueprint of ownership, but within the entertainment industry. As a political science student at Vanderbilt University, he showed an interest in recognizing talent. However, his pivot into the entertainment industry came during a two-year stint as a law clerk with a music attorney while at Howard University School of Law between...

Apr 11, 2025

Lewis Hamilton Was The First Black Formula 1 Driver — A Milestone That Fueled A Report Catalyzing DEI Efforts In Motorsports

Lewis Hamilton has made it his mission to diversify his sport. Hamilton, raised in North London, England, began racing at 8 years old and experienced a lack of representation in the sport firsthand. However, winning created an opportunity for him to feel accepted, he admits in conversation with GQ. “Being the only Black kid on the circuit, struggling at school, really always my big drive was acceptance — ‘If I win the race, I will receive that acceptance in this world,'” he expressed.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by AFROTECH (@afro.tech) Hamilton began to allocate a lot of his time towards go-karting at a young age with the support of his father, Anthony, who was his mentor and manager, Formula 1 reports. Anthony simultaneously had three jobs at a time to support his son’s driving career. The sacrifice would pay off even within Hamilton’s childhood years. “We won the first six races…Then we just kept going. We kept winning. We kept winning championships,” Hamilton...

Apr 8, 2025

After Being Fired From Google, Timnit Gebru Launched An AI Research Institute That Is Not Bound To Big Tech's Influence

Timnit Gebru is shaping the future of tomorrow.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by AFROTECH (@afro.tech) Non-Linear Career Journey Gebru has always loved math, science , and music. She attended Stanford University from 2008 to 2017, earning a bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. in electrical engineering—the same field her father worked in. She combined her interests to launch her career at Apple, first as an audio hardware intern in 2004. A year later, she was hired as an audio systems engineer and worked part-time as an audio engineer from 2007 until her departure four years later. Gebru’s professional journey has not been linear. In 2011, she co-founded Motion Think, a company that leveraged design thinking to create solutions for small businesses. While pursuing her Ph.D. at Stanford, she co-founded and became president of Black in AI after attending one of the largest academic conferences in 2016. At that time, she realized that Black professionals were significantly...

Apr 2, 2025

Brandon Nicholson, AFROTECH™ Future 50 Changemaker And CEO Of The Hidden Genius Project, Forms Partnership To Expose Youth Of Color To Sports Technology

Brandon Nicholson is a part of a nonprofit exposing Black males to technology. The Hidden Genius Project Nicholson, an AFROTECH™ Future 50 honoree, serves as CEO of The Hidden Genius Project, an Oakland, CA-based venture that curates several programs, mentoring Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills, according to its website. Nicholson reveals that the project was originally planned as a two-year initiative but ultimately grew into something much greater, now spanning nearly a decade. “As volunteers with no budget and no infrastructure and no real idea of what we’re doing and probably no business doing it at all, we set out to establish this first ever cohort in 2012,” he told AFROTECH™. “Five young men, high school age who are gonna commit to it just a short period. But what eventually became like a two-year program unbeknownst to literally everybody involved, it just, [was] building the plane as it was flying.” Today, The Hidden Genius...

Oct 23, 2024

Meet Visionary Founder Elise Smith, CEO And Co-Founder Of Praxis Labs, An Immersive Practice-Based Platform

Elise Smith is helping to create better outcomes for diverse employees. She is the co-founder and CEO of Praxis Labs, an “immersive practice-based platform that drives inclusive, engaged, and higher-performing teams,” a press release mentioned. The platform offers has assisted companies including Google, Uber, and ServiceNow to help achieve benchmarks that boost engagement and lead to retention, enhance company culture, and increase equity and inclusion. “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,” she told AFROTECH™. “We’re seeing our workplaces need that more than ever.” To date, Praxis Labs has raised $23 million, per digitalundivided. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Praxis...

Jul 3, 2024

Steve Stoute’s Bold Leap From High-Paying Music Executive To Leading His Own Companies

Steve Stoute forged his own lane in the music industry, rising to the cream of the crop. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Stoute worked as a former Sony Music Entertainment executive serving as its president for urban music between 1990 and 1999. He worked alongside some of today’s industry giants including Mariah Carey, Will Smith, and Nas. However, Stoute would soon be convinced to venture further into the industry covering his own terrain when working on the “Men In Black” soundtrack with actor and rapper Will Smith. He was there when Smith’s single from the movie skyrocketed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and won the star a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1997, according to Pop Sugar. At that time, Stoute also learned of the amount of dollars that existed in advertising when he found out a small agency representing Ray Ban sunglasses profited from increased sales of the shades after Smith wore them in a well-known scene of the movie. After Stoute had...

Jun 3, 2024

Sandra L. Richards Talks About Becoming A Corporate Catalyst At Morgan Stanley, Leading DEI Efforts And A Financial Education Program

Determined to have her voice heard in the financial sector, Sandra L. Richards now leads with over 20 years of experience. Since May 2007, she has been a dedicated member of Morgan Stanley. Initially hired as a director, diversity specialist, she supported diversity strategies in recruiting, retention, and business development. Over the years, Richards has been promoted six times, including moving into roles as vice president, business development officer – diverse and multicultural markets; managing director, head of business development and segment marketing; and most recently, managing director, head of global sports & entertainment and segment sales & engagement group for the past five years, according to LinkedIn. In her current role, she focuses on helping entertainers, industry professionals, and athletes build wealth by providing advice, tools, and resources. She is spearheading the digital financial education program Money In The Making, which encompasses topics such as...

Jun 3, 2024

Vanessa Wyche Leads The Way At NASA, Destigmatizing Firsts And Advancing Diversity In STEM Fields

Vanessa Wyche is leading the way at NASA and made history in the process. Since 1989, the South Carolina native, with a Bachelor of Science in materials engineering and a Master of Science in bioengineering from Clemson University, has worked at the U.S. government agency. Her first role was as a project engineer managing several space shuttle missions, as previously reported by AFROTECH™. Wyche was fueled by her interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and has continued to rise in the ranks with her titles having included director, CX program operations and test integration (2010-2011); director, exploration integration and science (2016-2018); and deputy director, NASA’s Johnson Space Center (2018-2021), according to her LinkedIn profile. “I knew when I got to the Johnson Space Center, there were not a lot of people that looked like me doing the kind of jobs that I was doing,” she told KHOU-11 in Houston, TX. “So, I kind of had to just kind of decide...

Jun 3, 2024

How Partake Foods Founder Denise Woodard Disrupted The CMG Space And Raised $30.5M In Capital Fueled By A Commitment To Her Daughter's Health

Responding to a fundamental calling, Denise Woodard became a visionary in a $2 billion industry. Her Calling Woodard was looking to find a solution to help her daughter who had various food allergies, as previously reported by AFROTECH™. She was searching for snacks that would help her daughter but ultimately started creating her own recipe for cookies made without wheat, tree nuts, peanuts, milk, eggs, soy, fish, sesame and shellfish — launching vegan company Partake Foods in 2016. Woodard saw great promise in her products and believed others would too. She received checks up to $10,000 from family and friends through a Kickstarter campaign to scale the business into Whole Foods and Wegmans, she told Forbes. “I was cobbling together $5,000 and $10,000 checks to keep the lights on, from anyone who would listen,” she told Forbes. “The dribs and drabs were not enough, so I sold my engagement ring. But we were seeing traction, which led us to raise our first institutional round.” A...

May 30, 2024

Sian Proctor Has Been Chasing Space Throughout Her Lifetime And Became The First Black Woman To Pilot A Spacecraft

Representation in space exploration is crucial, and Sian Proctor stands among the luminaries. A woman on a mission, Proctor aspired to have an impact on society. The geoscientist had been “chasing space” throughout her lifetime, Space.com mentions. Born the same year Neil Armstrong made history with his first steps on the moon during NASA’s Apollo 11 mission, and raised with a father working at the NASA tracking station on Guam, Proctor would go on to make her own significant contributions. Historical Firsts As previously reported by AFROTECH™, Proctor became the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft. This was accomplished after she earned a Ph.D. along with a pilot’s license and SCUBA certification. She also completed a four-month mission in a building located near a Hawaiian volcano for an experiment imitating the conditions and stresses on a habitat like Mars in 2013. Ultimately, Proctor’s expertise, creativity, and dedication to her JEDI space initiative — a just, equitable,...

May 30, 2024

Meet The 2024 AFROTECH™ Future 50 Who Are Actively Shaping A Better Tomorrow

It’s officially time to announce the 2024 AFROTECH™ Future 50! The AFROTECH™ Future 50 is celebrated in our digital hub and social media platforms. During previous years, the individuals have also been honored in person at the annual AFROTECH™ Conference. The categories for the 2024 AFROTECH™ Future 50 are Dynamic Investor, Future Maker, Visionary Founder, Changemaker, and Corporate Catalyst. The criteria for each are as follows, as previously shared by AFROTECH™: Dynamic Investors are venture capitalists who have made significant contributions to advancing underserved tech founders. Future Makers have spearheaded groundbreaking tech innovation. Visionary Founders lead remarkable company growth and promote diversity and inclusion. Changemakers have made a significant social impact in the tech industry. Corporate Catalysts actively promote diversity and redefine and implement initiatives to do so. Established in 2022, the AFROTECH™ Future 50 aims to spotlight contributions Black tech...

May 30, 2024

We're Back And Bigger: The AFROTECH™ Future 50 Honorees For 2023 Are In

The year 2022 was quite eventful and one of many firsts for us including the inaugural AFROTECH™ Future 50. Now, for its second consecutive year, the list of today’s Black tech innovators and leaders is coming in heavy with a new lineup and even bigger energy.

Apr 26, 2023

Mandy Price Joins Less Than 20 Black Women Founders To Raise Over $10M After Kanarys, Inc.'s $5M Series A

Co-founder and CEO Mandy Price was one of 93 Black women to raise at least $1 million in funding in 2021. Today, she is announcing another substantial raise for Kanarys, Inc.

Feb 15, 2023

13-Year-Old Alena Wicker Becomes The Youngest Black Person To Be Accepted Into Medical School

What can’t Black youth accomplish? 12 News reports that Alena Wicker has become the youngest Black person to be accepted into medical school.

Jul 11, 2022

Meet The AFROTECH™ Future 50

AFROTECH is honoring individuals across the tech industry — including the disrupters, innovators, wealth-makers, and overall game-changers in the industry in honor of Black History Month. The inaugural AFROTECH™ Future 50 list honors 50 rising titans in the tech industry. These are up-and-coming visionaries from sectors across CPG, FinTech, D&I, VC, Board Directors, Product Leaders, Beauty, Crypto/NFTs, Social Impact, and Entrepreneurship. You’ve seen their stories on here, and elsewhere. You’ve followed their journey and watched them change the face of technology. You even may have been inspired to begin your own entrepreneurial journey after reading about theirs. And that, really, is what they’re here for. AFROTECH prides itself on bringing you the best — and brightest — Black men and women who overcame impossible odds to become thought leaders, disruptors, and innovators. Black men and women certainly don’t get enough credit, and recognition, for their role in the ever-changing...

Feb 21, 2022

Download the AfroTech App