Tag

Joyce Agbanobi

Browsing

These women are working their way to the top and constantly improving themselves. While bias and opposition exist in the tech industry, they rise regardless and allow their creativity, innovation, and contribution to the industry to speak for them.

These exceptional women of color have instilled the mindset that though the Tech pathway might be difficult to ply, they are willing to work as hard to stroll that path and leave an imprint for the younger generation to follow.

Here are 15 exceptional black women in tech we admire;

  1. Aisha Bowe

Aisha Bowe is a former rocket scientist, entrepreneur, and founder/CEO of STEMBoard. STEMBoard has been recorded as one of America’s growing industries. Her enterprise empowers her student to pursue STEM careers.

In 2022, Bowe utilized Venture Capital to earn close to $2 million for LINGO; a coding kit that helps individuals practice technical concepts from the ease of their homes.

Black women in tech

 

2. Bozoma Saint John

Bozoma Saint John is a former chief brand officer at Uber where she was responsible for projecting the stories of different riders and drivers in over 600 cities. She is also an authority in numerous fields such as fashion, sports, consumer packaged goods, sports, automotive, digital music, and entertainment.

Saint John worked as Head of Global Consumer Marketing for iTunes and Apple Music where she created policies to advertise their services and increase brand-loyal consumers around the world. Presently, she serves as a CMO on Netflix.

Black Women In Tech
Bozoma Saint John

3. Damilola Odufuwa

Damilola Odufuwa is the CEO and Co-founder of Backdrop, a social network, and app that allows users to find and share beautiful spaces around the globe. She is a women’s rights advocate and tech executive whose work cuts across communication, women’s rights, and cryptocurrency.

Damilola is the co-founder of the FeministCoalition, an activist denomination consisting of young Nigerian feminists advocating equality for women in Nigeria, with a focus on financial liberty, politics, and education. She also leads Public Relations and Communications for Africa at the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.

Black women in tech
Damilola Odufuwa

4. Annie Jean Baptiste

Annie Jean-Baptiste is the director and co-founder of Product Inclusion at Google where she promotes inclusion innovation across their corporation. From extensive research initiatives to communication and consultation, she spearheads movements that would ensure people from underserved users are considered during product setup procedures.

Jean-Baptiste is committed to enabling Google products to be useful to underrepresented societies, and regardless of the status quo or background everyone can thrive in the organization.

Black women in tech
Annie Jean Baptiste

 

5. Dr. Adeola Olubamiji

Dr. Adeola Olubamiji is a Portfolio Professional – she is a Digital Transformation Leader and Additive Manufacturing subject matter expert, the Founder of STEMHub Foundation, Canada, the Founder of D-Tech Centrix Inc. Canada and USA, and a Real Estate Investor with over 10 properties within her portfolio.

Dr. Olubamiji became the first Black person to obtain a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan in 2017 and inspired us all through her humble beginnings and trailblazing journey.

Her passion is for helping others and she believes that people can’t be what they can’t see. As such, she founded STEMHub Foundation, Canada in 2017. STEMHub foundation is a Canadian Charity Organization that provides free hands-on experiments and unique learning programs that engage black youths in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), mentorship programs to visible minority professionals, and provide free industry 4.0 to professionals to pivot into the technology space in Canada.

Black women in tech
Dr. Adeola Olubamiji

6. Solape Akinpelu

Solape Akinpelu is a member of the Personal Finance Speakers Association and a certified financial education instructor. She is the founder and CEO of HerVest, an inclusive fintech and women-centered platform for underrepresented women in Africa. HerVest helps women to partake in credit, savings, and investments, especially smallholder female farmers in Nigeria.

Solape Akinpelu
Solape Akinpelu

7.  Kamilah Taylor

Kamilah Taylor is the head of financial products engineering at Gusto where she develops robotics and mobile apps. Jamaica-born who resides in San Francisco is a public speaker, entrepreneur, writer, and engineer.

Over the years she co-authored books such as Swift For Good and Women in Tech. Kamilah advocates for the underserved to enter STEM fields.

Kamalah Taylor
  1. Jewel Burks Solomon

Jewel Burks Solomon is the Head of Google for Startups in the Us and is committed to giving underserved startup founders opportunities to obtain Google’s products, best practices, and people.

Jewel’s role cuts across providing many more avenues into the technology invention ecosystem, thereby establishing a level ground of success for all.  Her remarkable assistance in tech has won her various awards: Atlanta’s 100 Most Influential People, Ebony Magazine’s Power 100, and Forbes 30 Under 30.

Jewel burks
Jewel Burks Solomon
  1. Damilola Olokesusi

Damilola Olokesusi is the CEO and Co-founder of Shuttlers, Nigeria’s top transportation startup. Under her supervision, Shuttlers generated $1.6 million in seed allocation, with expansion projects across various African urban areas.

Damilola founded an all-female shuttle service, Shemoves sponsored by Ford Motors Company in 2020 that has influenced more than 600 female experts by imbibing learning as they commute.

Damilola Olokesusi

  1. Olatokunbo Ogunlade

Olatokunbo Ogunlade is a DevOps Engineer at Ventures Garden Group using her expertise in automation processes and cloud monitoring.

The computer science graduate from Olabisi Onabanjo University was a senior loan officer at Microfinance Bank Nigeria before transitioning into the tech industry by first volunteering at Eduaid as an education facilitator.

women in tech
Olatokunbo Ogunlade
  1. Tyrona Heath

Tyrone Heath is the Director of Market Engagement for the B2B Institute at Linked In. She is an exceptional B2B keynote speaker and marketer who creatively blends topics of diversity, equity, behavioral science, transformation, and inclusion.

Tyrona is also the co-founder of TransformHer, a committee that’s devoted to competent black women in tech. To stir development and facilitate growth, she connects with renowned authorities within her field like IPA, ANA, and Cannes Lions for research functions and marketing insights.

Women in tech

 

  1. Honey Ogundeyi

Honey Ogundeyi served as the CMO of Kuda Bank before launching Edukoya, an educational platform created to help students prepare adequately for exams. Edukoya generated 3.5 million dollars in pre-seed which is one of the highest amounts attained for a women-owned startup in the edutech domain.

Women in tech
Honey Ogundeyi

13. Mariam Adeyemi

Mariam Adeyemi is a passionate tech enthusiast committed to unlocking potential, transferring knowledge, and transforming lives through digitalization and tech training. She is the founder of TechaVilly, a technology training platform aimed at empowering the black community through skills and knowledge transfer. She founded the company alongside her college friend, Omotoyosi Ogunbanwo who is also a tech enthusiast and currently works at Amazon USA.

Techavilly was founded in 2020. Currently, it has trained over 10,000 black people from 2020 to date, helping them to fit into today’s dynamic job market.

Mariam Adeyemi Techavilly
Mariam Adeyemi

14. Joyce Agbanobi

Joyce Agbanobi and her team are trying to fix the gender gap problem in the tech industry through their Black Woman Paving Ways Initiative.

Joyce is an enthusiastic Tech leader who is passionate and committed to closing the gender gap for women of color in technology. She is a Technical Program Manager Lead at Microsoft with over 7 years + of experience in e-commerce sectors.

She is also the Co-Founder of the Black Woman Paving Ways, a platform that aims at closing the digital divide and increasing the percentage of women in STEM, through building initiatives to help women upskill for the future and Matching newbies to their dream Mentors across different Fortune 500 companies.

Joyce Agbanobi
Joyce Agbanobi

15. Yanmo Omorogbe

Yanmo Omorogbe is a driving force to be reckoned with in various sectors. After obtaining a degree from Imperial College, as a chemical engineer she served as assistant to the Minister of Power, Works, and Housing.

Yanmo transitioned to the private sector and afterward, into the tech industry. She a the chief operating officer and co-founder of Bamboo, a setting that enables Nigerians to trade assets on the US stock exchange market.

Yanmo Omoregbe Bamboo
Yanmo Omoregbe

 

Joyce Agbanobi  and her team are trying fix the gender gap problem in the tech industry  through their Black Woman Paving Ways Initiative.

Joyce is an enthusiastic Tech leader who is passionate and committed to closing the gender gap for women of color in technology. She is a Technical Program Manager Lead at Microsoft with over 7 years + of experience in ecommerce sectors.

She is also the Co-Founder of the Black Woman Paving Ways, a platform that aims at closing the digital divide and increasing the percentage of women in STEM, through building initiatives to help women upskill for the future and Matching newbies to their dream Mentors across different Fortune 500 companies.

She founded BWPW with her grad school friend Lola Quadri  who is also in the tech sector.

Black Woman Paving Ways was created in November 2020 and since then, they have helped 4,000+ women find their unique paths in technology, gain skills for the future, get matched to technical experts and gotten their dream jobs.

Watch:  How To Save And Invest Wisely In 2023

With the major layoffs in the tech space., the goal of her company for this year is not only to bring women into technology but also to make sure they are uniquely skilled and indispensable on their roles.

To ensure that, and commemorate the Black history month, BWPW will be holding a free 2-weeks Data Analytics hands on training for women transitioning into tech, those in non-tech roles and those who own their business but not exactly sure how to make sense of their data. The training is open to both male and female.

In this interview with Esther Ijewere, Joyce shares her inspiring story and how her company is determined to support women transition into different parts of the tech industry.

Childhood Influence

I remember growing up being the only girl in a family of 6 (including my parents). With my dad been a mechanical engineer working in oil and gas, all he knew and wanted, was for all his kids to be either Engineers, Medical Doctor, or a huge disappointment.

I did not grow up having the opportunity to choose what I really wanted, my dad and Late Grand Pa (who was also an Engineering Professor) choose for me to become a Psychiatric Doctor hence I have a BSc in Psychology.

I remember my dad, saying when he was in school, in an Engineering class of 50 students, they only had about 10 girls and by final year they were left with only 2 girls with the others dropping out to less technical courses. As a result, he constantly coached my brothers and I exactly same way, to be always bold, never be afraid of been the only one and never to stop pushing even when its hard. My Parents never saw my Gender as a blocker to success, so I never saw it as a problem.

I have come this far in my career and rapidly growing, is because of some great traits (Grit, Confidence and Curiosity for Knowledge) I got from my Parents and Brothers. Who would have known that I will continuously be the only Girl or Black Girl in the room?

Inspiration Behind Black Woman Paving Way

Women are one of the most innovative creatures ever but been the only Woman of color constantly in the room was confusing to me, so I decided to really understand why and how that can change, instead of constantly complaining?

Based on my research, I realized there is a huge gender gap because of some key issues: Lack of Technical skill for the future, awareness, representation, and support on all levels. So, in 2020 during Covid, I started sharing knowledge on LinkedIn, IG, Clubhouse and had some technology series on a friends YouTube Channel- “how to break into the technology” with some technical trainings.

I also mentored women for free but got overwhelming after a while and knew I couldn’t scale doing this alone so I partnered with my Grad school friends who were also passionate about increasing the percentage of women in the space. That’s how BWPW was born!

The Journey So Far

I must say it’s been nothing short of amazing but also very tasking, time and personal funds consuming but refreshing, because we have been able to train, mentor, and help over 4,000+ women transition into different paths of technology across the globe. But we are still barely scratching the surface with over 3 billion women in the world, we have a lot more to do and planned for 2023, watch the space.

My Role As A Technical Program Manager Lead At Microsoft And How My Work Experiences In Jumia And Amazon Prepared Me For This Role

As a TPM, I Lead the analytics and process automation initiative for Hyperscale Network Connectivity in Azure, my strong analytical skills and PM experience across the 2 eCommerce giants has uniquely set me apart for my current role in Cloud Networking.

Challenges In My Line Of Work

I think my challenges are similar to a lot of other women in this space, but I can say the major challenge for me as a young woman of color and an Immigrant with an accent leading technical Projects in a room filled with white male mostly twice my age, I constantly have to prove myself, which I personally do not have a problem with as I am now used to it, but it’s a challenge.

Our BWPW Free 2-Week Introduction To Data Analytics Intensive Training For Women

With the current climate of heavy layoff in the tech space and as artificial Intelligence continues to take preeminence, we want to make sure our women are constantly upskilling to become the disruptor and not the disrupted. Low skill jobs will be the easiest to automate hence they need to stay up to date on latest technology and continuously learn new skills to stay relevant.

Whether you are a business owner, a Product Manager or wanting to get into the AI Space, an in-depth data analytics knowledge is very key.

Black woman paving way

Hence BWPW is partnering with some Snr. Data Engineers at Amazon, Google, and Samsung to hold a 2- weeks Hands on free Master Class to train women in Advanced Excel, SQL, Python and Tableau. With an opportunity to solve a real-life business problem through hands on project.

Click here to register; https://mailchi.mp/0fa2c3cea99b/data-science-masterclass?fbclid=PAAaZ7Ws_MqB3fNYMsK0BlYlnnDaWuUNgBB7Z9xgPNJkwI8OUQkkRYRjPPDHs

Other Projects And Activities

We have several products in works but our most recent is:

A platform to help democratize mentorship for women of color across the globe with a launch in 5 countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Canada, and US), so we are excited for that one.

What I Enjoy Most About My Job

Critical thinking and Ability to solve problems. Every Problem to me, is an opportunity to shine and learn something new.

3 Women Who Inspire Me And Why

  • Bozoma Saint John – CMO, Netflix
  • Shelley Zalis – Founder, Female Quotient
  • Annie Jean-Baptiste – Director, Product Inclusion & Equity @ Google

These women inspire me to do more every single day. They decided not to conform to the norm, but push themselves to constantly create solid tables, instead of waiting to be invited to one, in their respective space. Their continuous way paving for women in the cooperate space is highly admirable and with them I am hopeful for a brighter future with more women in it. I believe together we can all make this change!

What We Can Do Better As A Society To Support Women Who Aspire To Go Into The Tech Industry

Support: As of today, women make up to 47% of all employed adults in the US, yet according to Computerscience.org only 18% of women earn a computer science degree. This simply means just women alone are not able to do this, we need more male support to close the gender gap.

Hire Women: Diversity breeds innovation and according to ongoing research conducted by McKinsey, it’s been discovered that diverse teams financially outperform non-diverse teams as much as 25% based on gender diversity alone. Partner with platforms like BWPW for fill those roles.

Mentor and Promote Women: Again, it’s worth going out of your way to connect with women, support your female teammates and help them climb the ladder. It’s difficult to find your footing when your peers don’t look like you or can’t relate to your challenges. Be sure to extend the same benefit of doubt you extend to men.

Encourage Women to pursue STEM: the STEM Field can appear intimidating as its heavily male dominated, so it’s important we become the bridge for young women and encourage them to pursue these field.

Support Families: about 70% of adult women will become mothers so its important for companies to provide good employee benefits to include parental-focused incentives, as having a child is a huge life changing experience.

One Thing I Wish To Change In The Tech Sector

The Technology space is constantly changing, and companies should provide room for everyone to learn and grow whether you are an intern out of school or a leader. We need to support people, so they feel empowered by technology and not frightened by it.

Being A Woman Of Rubies

Honestly been exceptional to me means caring less about perfectionism and validation from everyone but deciding to be exceptional on my own terms. Embracing my uniqueness, acknowledging my struggles, following my path, believing in myself, and ensuring I don’t lose my identity is what makes me an exceptional woman

How We Are Reflecting International Women’s Day #Embraceequity 2023 Theme In BWPW

-Leading the Black Minority Student Program (BMSD) at Microsoft: creating technical workshops to educate, close the digital divide and expose high school students to technology

– Hiring Women

– Providing Mentorship for women within the company