4 The Hampton Roads Messenger


Volume 14 Number 3


Editorial AfroTech Leaves Companies Little Room for Excuses Not to Hire More African Americans


December 2019


Senate Passes Bill to Renew Expired Funding for HBCUs


Dennis Azorlibu poses at the Amazon booth at AfroTech 2019 BY ANGELA JONES


AfroTech 2019, a gathering


of approximately 10,000 African American Tech enthusiasts and a plethora of technology companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and LinkedIn, continued to offer a valuable experience for attendees. In its third year, the highly anticipated conference drew people from all over the continent. Attendees hailing from as far away as Toronto, Canada traveled to Oakland, California to rub elbows with representatives from some of the largest companies in the Tech Industry. Dennis Azorlibu traveled from


Sacramento, California to AfroTech, where he met up with some of his former classmates at the Google Kickback tent; they all graduated from North Carolina A&T with engineering degrees. Although AfroTech took place thousands of miles from Greensboro, North Carolina, there were enough Aggies ‘in-the-house’ to make the group feel at home. “AfroTech, in one word is ‘Inspirational,’ Mr. Azorlibu said. “I met so many people that looked and think like I do.” One of the Aggies had an interview


with LinkedIn during the conference and managed to snag the job while attending the festivities associated with AfroTech. Less than a year out of graduate school, she has landed what most people would consider a dream job. She will be working as a software engineer at one of the most sought after companies in Silicon Valley. Aside from career opportunities,


AfroTech offered attendees, who are interested in learning more about entrepreneurship, nuggets of opportunity to sink their teeth into as well. Amazon held a Fireside chat with two entrepreneurs who sold their companies and now work at Amazon. One of the Amazon employees,


who participated in the chat, Jewel Burks Soloman, actually sold the company she co-founded, Partpic,


to Amazon for an undisclosed amount prior to joining their team. Ms. Soloman expressed, during the chat, how difficult it was for her to transition from founder to employee. She thought she would sell her company someday but she was not prepared for that moment when Amazon came calling. Today, Ms. Soloman is happy and still able to perform the type of work at Amazon that she began as an entrepreneur. She is also able to be an Angel investor, lending financial support to other companies and mentoring female entrepreneurs.


Amazon was like the gift that


kept on giving at AfroTech. On Sunday, they hosted a breakfast for founders. The breakfast provided an excellent opportunity to network with other founders and eat an amazingly tasty assortment of Caribbean dishes prepared by Miss Ollie's restaurant. The popular eatery is located just one block from the Oakland Convention Center, where most of the AfroTech events took place.


After a long weekend of


networking, interviewing and just plain partying, AfroTech attendees had a lot to think about as they returned to their respective communities. Will they be offered an opportunity to work in the tech industry or do companies look at AfroTech as just another opportunity to market their


products and services? With the current dismal diversity


numbers of most technology companies, these entities will either have to do some significant hiring of people of African descent or admit that they are just not that interested in increasing their diversity numbers. AfroTech leaves little room for the excuse that technology companies cannot find talented African Americans to hire.


Photo courtesy of Virginia State University COURTESY OF U.S. SENATOR TIM KAINE'S OFFICE


Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate


Health, Education, and Pensions Committee, Labor, applauded


Senate passage of the FUTURE Act, bipartisan legislation he cosponsored to renew expired funding for minority- serving institutions of higher education, including the five Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Virginia.


“I’m thrilled the Senate was able to


find a compromise and pass our bill to support HBCUs in Virginia and across the country. This funding demonstrates that we’re committed to the students who are doing fantastic work at schools like VUU, VSU, Hampton, Norfolk State,


and Virginia University of


Lynchburg. By keeping our promise to America’s HBCUs, we can help ensure these


institutions remain not only strong for


generations to come,” Kaine said. "Virginia State University (VSU)


educates students, but also


equips them with the experience and skills necessary to change our world for the better. The passing of the FUTURE Act supports VSU in preparing students to make such change. We’re grateful for Senators Kaine and Warner’s efforts to ensure that VSU is able to continue its mission of graduating lifelong learners who are well-equipped to serve their communities,”


said “The Virginia State


University President Dr. Makola M. Abdullah.


passage of the Fostering


Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education Act (FUTURE Act) is exciting news because it provides critical funding to Hampton University, other


Historically Black Colleges


and Universities (HBCUs) and other minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) by providing mandatory federal funding. These federal funds also allow our institutions to better serve our students in the STEM fields of study while on


Established 2006 Angela Jones, Publisher Chris Parks, Editor


Sarah Parks, Graphic Designer Brenda Buchanon, Contributing Writer Sales and Information: info@hamptonroadsmessenger.com Copyright pertaining to contents of this edition. All rights reserved.


WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. campus. creating


The FUTURE Act is also good job


opportunities for our students once they


graduate.


STEM education is crucial to the continued growth and


Most importantly, economic


development and value-added job creation in all of our communities,” said Hampton University President Dr. William R. Harvey.


“Today, the United States


Senate passed an amendment to the FUTURE Act that will extend mandatory Title III funding for ten years. For Norfolk State University, this represents more than $5.8 million in federal funding for our teacher preparation and STEM programs. NSU expresses appreciation to Senators Tim Kaine, Mark Warner and Congressman Bobby Scott for standing


with Virginia’s HBCUs,


and urges the members of the House of Representatives to pass this legislation and send it to the President’s desk without delay,” said Norfolk State University President Dr. Javaune Adams-Gaston.


“The faculty and students of


Virginia Union University (VUU) appreciate the bipartisan efforts of the U.S. Senate,” said Virginia Union University President Dr. Hakim Lucas. “We feel so strongly about Congress’ need to authorize this funding that our student trustee, Ms. Jalynn Hodges, recently pushed both the House and Senate to finalize this effort. As she has stated, VUU is one of the top ten producers of African Americans who eventually receive a Ph.D. in the biological sciences. That is only possible with the kind of intentional federal support that the FUTURE Act offers.


More


efforts like this should be done so that HBCUs can continue to make the same kind of impact that VUU is making on the Commonwealth of Virginia and the rest of our nation.”


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