April is Black Women’s History Month. In honor of the Black women who are blazing trails for others in the tech industry, MADAMENOIRE and HelloBeautiful present Women To Know: Tech Titans.
The tech titans featured in our cover story have earned the distinction of being celebrated as visionaries, revolutionaries, disruptors of the status quo. Black women remain underrepresented in the tech industry—accounting for just 1.7 percent of the tech workforce.
Kelsey Davis, founder and CEO of CLLCTVE; Michelle James, Director of Culture and Community Marketing at Meta; Bozoma Saint John, Marketing Executive & Entrepreneur; and Kimberly Bryant, Founder and CEO of Ascend Ventures and Black Innovation Lab/ Founder of Black Girls CODE sit down for a roundtable discussion about their experiences as Black women in tech and strategies to attract more Black women to tech spaces.
“That’s important for us to see that reflection of ourselves in someone that’s a Black woman showing up unapologetic. That’s a titan,” Bryant says. “I think each of you all do that in your work everyday—stepping into your own light even if they don’t see it.”
Black women being natural “problem solvers, critical thinkers, creators, fixers”—are a natural fit for tech, says Davis. By bringing that unique perspective to the workplace, they are natural disruptors.
The tech titans agree that Black women are not a monolith.
“Kimberly brings something way different than I do. There is some specialness to what she brings as a unique individual who has her own unique set of experiences, circumstances and knowledge that I don’t possess,” says Saint John.
Breaking glass ceilings is difficult, at times painful, work. It is a burden carried by Black women, in particular. “As women in leadership, I’m overly confident that we can do the thing, whatever the thing is, but I’m always cautious of like, how heavy was that burden when we were carrying it? Because I want us to be okay at the end of the journey,” says Bryant.
“Obviously we understand the work has to be done, and that’s why we do it,” says Saint John. “But at the same time, can we also have some grace and care for ourselves?”
With paths being forged for future generations of Black women in tech, the landscape is changing. Workplace and leadership demographics are changing.
The next stage is having ownership of these companies, and being the leaders who build both the table and the team. By doing so, we can make these spaces more welcoming for young Black talent.
“What can we own where we write the rules?” says Bryant. “I think that’s how we ultimately change the narrative for the next generation. I want us to be the ones that own the company, that are the presidents of the company. I think that we have to have a certain level of control to really create the space in a way it should be most comfortable and welcoming to young people.”
“As Black women, we’re naturally dealing with all these problems in society that when we come to the table to solve them, we already have that perspective, and that’s the same thing for a lot of these marginalized communities,” says Davis. “So when we’re more attentive and intentional about going out to find them, I think that actually provides us a greater return in the long run organizationally.
Meet our Women To Know: Tech Titans. Read the full story here.
