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5 STEM Internships Blerds Should Know About

Internships have always been a great way for individuals to advance in the professional world. Internships provide skill-building workshops, networking opportunities, monetary benefits and sometimes potential for a full-time position with a company.

For you Blerds out there looking for internships in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields to help advance your career, here are five STEM internships you should consider.

1. Minority Educational Institution Student Partnership Program

What: MEISPP is a program that is open to high school students and undergraduate/graduate students with a desire to work in the STEM fields. They provide students with an opportunity to work with experts in science and engineering so they can enhance their career and leadership skills. The program targets underrepresented students, like women and minorities, in STEM fields. The research focuses on policy, business and government relations.

Benefits: Students receive paid lodging, round-trip airfare and monetary compensation.

Eligibility Requirements:

  • 18 and over
  • U.S. citizen
  • Earned no less than 24 semester credits hours
  • Must be enrolled as a full-time undergraduate or graduate/professional student in an accredited institution of higher education in the fall of 2012
  • Maintain an overall grade point average of 2.8 or above on a 4.0 scale
  • Applicants must demonstrate the following:
    • ​Leadership potential
    • Commitment to public service
    • Interest in energy-related issues
    • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • Must fill out an application
  • Must provide a transcript
  • Must have two letters of recommendation

 

2. Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship Internship Program

What: The Mickey Leland Energy Internship Program was created in honor of the late Texas Congressman Mickey Leland who was a huge proponent of social, cultural and environmental issues. It is a 10-week program that supports underrepresented students in STEM majors by allowing them to work in a mentorship program where they can work with officials whose research falls in line with the Office of Fossil Energy. At the end of the 10 weeks, the students will present their research at a technical forum.

Benefits: Students receive a stipend, housing and transportation

Eligibility requirements:

  • Be at least 18 years of age
  • Be a U.S. Citizen
  • Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0
  • Be currently enrolled full time in an accredited college or university (sophomore year or higher)
  • Participate in the full 10-week program

 

3. Clean Cities Internships

What: The Clean Cities Internships are unique in that they focus on students who are interested in changing the future of onroad transportation. Students work with Clean Cities Coalition coordinators and stakeholders to plan events, analyze data, research markets and design websites. The program encourages peer exchange, networking, engaging with case studies and doing research. They do hands-on work that involves implementing the use of clean vehicle technologies. Students work toward increasing awareness for things like alternative fuels and the reduction of petroleum. This is all in an effort to improve the overall environment. The internships are available throughout the year.

Eligibility:

  • Students who are studying communication, public relations, business marketing, engineering or environmental sciences
  • Fill out an online application

 

4. The Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships Program

What: The Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships Program encourages undergraduates interested in STEM careers to apply. The students conduct research at the Department of Energy laboratories (16 locations). The program has three cycles. The summer cycle is a 10-week cycle that starts in May and ends in August. The fall cycle is 16 weeks and starts in August and ends in December. Lastly, the spring cycle, also 16 weeks, begins in January and ends in May.

Benefits: The program provides enrichment activities, professional development and laboratory tours. Students receive a $500 stipend per week. There is opportunity for transportation reimbursement and housing.

Eligibility:

  • Must be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident
  • Must have completed at least one year of school as a matriculating student
  • Must be enrolled in an undergraduate program full time
  • Must have a 3.0 GPA at the time of applying

 

5. Minority Serving Institutions Internship Program

What: The Minority Serving Institutions Internship Program is a 10-week summer program that  supports undergraduate and graduate students who are high-performing students in the STEM fields. The program provides on-the-job training, opportunities to work on projects in laboratories, federal field offices, etc. Students will be working with some of the nation’s top scientists and engineers. Ultimately, this program allows students to gain experience in their fields of interest so they can make more informed decisions about their futures in STEM.

Eligibility Requirements:

  • A United States citizen at least 18 years of age
  • Attending a participating MSI
  • Enrolled as a degree-seeking student maintaining a minimum of a half-time academic course load (as defined by the educational institution at which the student is enrolled)
  • Maintaining a minimum grade point average of 2.5 and be in good academic standing.
  • Apply to the program

 

 

 

 

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30 Young African Women Prepare to Revolutionize STEM Careers

A group of high school girls from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia are prepared to revolutionize STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers by breaking down the barriers that often leave women excluded from such career paths.

On Aug. 30, the Taungana Movement STEM Expo awarded 30 young ladies with certificates to prove they have been given the skills and knowledge that will allow them to compete with their male counterparts for careers in STEM industries.

The annual expo is part of the Taungana movement that aims to take young African women from rural and disadvantaged communities and allow them to receive the type of specialized training and professional experience that many white males have become accustomed to.

The organization was founded in 2013, making it a relatively new program, but the support for the program has already grown substantially.

Taungana was set up in partnership with South Africa’s STEM IT Forward, TechWomen Zimbabwe and Zambia’s Asikana Network.

The program also boasts impressive partners and mentors from companies like BMW, Anglo America, SAA, Eskom, NECSA, Thoughtworks Africa and the Innovation Hub.

The attendees at the expo were given the opportunity to visit all of these companies and speak to professionals who are already thriving in the fields that the young students hope to conquer one day.

For one of the attendees, 17-year-old Sibongumusa Xaba from Zimbabwe, the program gave her a better idea of what career path she wants to pursue.

“What I enjoyed the most was yesterday’s seminar with Dr. Thenjiwe Hlongwane from a hospital here in Johannesburg because I want to become a gynecologist,” she told Htxt.Africa. “Now I really have a better idea of the career path I have chosen.”

The expo focused on more than just education and training. It also made sure it worked to inspire the girls to conquer all the obstacles they are sure to face as they move forward in their career goals.

As the founder of Taungana, Sandra Tererai from Zimbabwe explained it is not common to see Black women working in STEM careers.

“Being in this industry, usually I’m the only female when I’m at meetings, and it’s very rare to see females in companies’ management,” she said. “I’m typically surrounded by males.”

She then began pondering why there weren’t more women at those meetings and working in those management positions.

“So I started thinking why there aren’t more women at the table,” she said. “Is it that they were never exposed to the industry? The drop-out rate of women studying STEM courses? That’s where the passion to get young girls interested in STEM came from.”

For 14-year-old Chipo Manda from Zambia, the program certainly served as a powerful form of inspiration. She hopes to pursue a career in medicine in the future and said that the expo taught her not to let any major challenges stand in her way.

“Dr. Hlongwane told us that being in medicine is hard, but if that’s what you want to do, then go for it, she really inspired me,” Chipo said.

In the future, Tererai hopes to expand the expo to more countries in Africa and bring in even more students who are passionate about changing the face of STEM careers.

 

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#BlackTwitterStudyResults Bashes USC’s Black Twitter Research

When the University of Southern California announced its latest study on Black Twitter, the virtual community gave the student researchers a firsthand taste of just how powerful of a digital vehicle Black Twitter really is.

The university’s Data Science at the Annenberg Innovation Lab website explained the details of one of the school’s latest studies – a closer look at the online sub-culture that has become known as Black Twitter.

Problems arose, however, when many users felt the research method watered Black Twitter down to nothing more than Scandal-watching live-tweeters with short attention spans.

“In order to observe the unpredictable flow of Black Twitter activity, we turn instead to a structured set of events around which a significant percentage of the Black Twitter community has gathered,” the DSAIL website explained. “Our case study focuses on the popular television show, Scandal (of which the protagonist is notable actress, Kerry Washington). From October 3 to December 12, 2013, we tracked the activity of any user tweeting about Scandal, and logged their Twitter conversations and user metadata. With this collection as a starting point, we have begun to map out relationships among users who ‘live-tweet’ Scandal in an effort to identify sub-groups of users that interact with one another outside of their shared interest in the TV show.”

The study, which initially seemed to be headed by only three white males, came across as offensive to many Black Twitter users who responded to the research in true Black Twitter fashion – with a sarcastic hashtag.

The hashtag #BlackTwitterStudyResults started circulating on the social media site rather quickly and even garnered attention from BET.

“#blacktwitterstudyresults: people still like #CollegeHill …That’s why we are re-airing it. MIDNIGHTS,” BET tweeted.

Others joined in by slamming the false perceptions that often swirl around the online community.

“Lacking the ability to multitask, Black twitter often forgets about Black on Black crime #BlackTwitterStudyResults,” another user tweeted.

Others used pop culture phrases to inspire their tweets.

“#BlackTwitterStudyResults Felicia is clearly disliked as everyone wants her to leave #ByeFelicia,” another user tweeted.

It wasn’t long before users began mentioning some frequently discussed topics in Black Twitter such as “shade throwing,” the term “beat face,” and thinning edges.

“If one catches fade then they also may be the victim of shade throwing? Something about edges. Still deciphering. #BlackTwitterStudyResults,” another user tweeted before quickly gaining over 100 retweets.

After the hashtag started to garner more and more attention, a young Black woman was added to the project’s website’s attribution section.

The woman, who was identified as Dayna Chatman, eventually took to her own timeline to defend the project that she claimed was her idea from the start.

“I want to voice my frustration with how the research is inaccurately represented online,” she tweeted. “I will say more about my role in the project.”

Through a series of tweets, Chatman said her only goal for the project was to “archive and understand the voice of Black people” because she feels it is not “done enough in Communication.”

She also explained that she “pitched this project” as a part of her dissertation.

Many users felt as if this was merely a tactic being used to help fend off some of the backlash aimed toward three white males heading a research project on Black Twitter.

Others simply felt as if the study would serve to be pointless and was far too narrow-minded.

“If you want to understand the way blck ppl communicate you’ll have to go beyond Twitter #BlackTwitterStudyResults,” one user tweeted shortly after Chatman explained her involvement with the project.

 

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A Look Back in History: Jerry Lawson — The First Black Game Designer

Engineer Jerry Lawson was born Dec. 1, 1940, and died April 9, 2011. He introduced home video gaming by creating the Fairchild Channel F in August 1976, the first game system with interchangeable games.

As a child, he was inspired by the work of scientist and inventor George Washington Carver. Lawson started repairing televisions to make a little money before enrolling at Queens College in New York City. In the 1970s, Lawson joined the Silicon Valley’s Homebrew Computer Club as the only Black member at the time.

The Fairchild Channel F was the predecessor to the Atari 2600 and only lasted a year. This console was designed for one of the first coin-operated arcade games, Demolition Derby. The console was the first cartridge-based gaming system that came to market that featured a pause button and featured eight colors in a single game.

After leaving Fairchild in 1978-79, Lawson started his own video game development company called Videosoft. The company was started to create games and tech tools for the Atari 2600 but fell short of that goal. Videosoft ended up creating only one cartridge, Color Bar Generator, which was made to fix your television’s color and adjust the vertical and horizontal picture.

Lawson may very well be the first Black video game designer, producer and engineer in the industry.

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Could IBM’s Watson Get to the Bottom of the Issues in Ferguson?

IBM’s “cognitive supercomputer” is starting to get involved in law enforcement, and now there is speculation that the data-crunching device could get to the bottom of issues with law enforcements in Ferguson, Missouri, and other Black communities across the nation.

IBM’s supercomputer, better known as Watson, garnered a lot of attention after it soared to victory on the Jeopardy game show more than three years ago.

Since then, the computer has been used in matters pertaining to food science, customer service and helping veterans prepare for life after the military.

Now, authorities are hoping Watson can get more involved with police investigations like the shooting of Michael Brown, the unarmed teen who was fatally shot Aug. 9 by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.

Police investigations very quickly lead to thousands upon thousands of pages of reports, statements and lab results that investigators have to sort through.

While this can be a lengthy process for a human and leave tons of room for someone to miss a connection, Watson has the potential to complete years of work in a matter of seconds.

“There may be something in lead No. 25 that doesn’t make sense until you get to lead No. 2,050,” Tucson, Arizona, chief of police Roberto Villasenor told Mashable.com “How is a human going to tie those things together? Cognitive computing can.”

While authorities hope to get Watson involved in their investigations, Villasenor made it clear that humans will still need to be very involved in checking out leads and checking Watson’s results.

“It cannot be a computer or a human analysis,” he said. “It has to be an ‘and.’ We say, ‘Watson said this – let’s go check it out.’ ”

The analytical power behind the supercomputer could allow it to get a deeper understanding of issues with police that are currently being debated in situations like Ferguson.

Many influential figures are launching national discussions to try to figure out how to solve law enforcement issues in urban communities that are leading to Black men being killed and aggressive police tactics being used.

This is where Villasenor believes Watson could help sort through the chaos in Ferguson.

“There are a lot of theories being thrown out in the news media,” he said. “Being able to trudge through all the information and data, and put out accurate information, as opposed to speculation or analysis based on speculation and supposed truth that’s being put out through third-party hearsay … You need to filter through that.”

As Mashable writer Pete Pachal pointed out, it isn’t fair to say that all the comments regarding Ferguson have been “third-party hearsay.”

“Most of the commentators on Ferguson cite some statistics or studies to support their point of view,” Pachal wrote.

The difference, however, is that Watson would be able to digest more relevant data, link relevant information and sort through more files than humans can alone.

With the issue of police militarization being prominent in the media, Watson can sort through all the records that reveal what type of equipment was sold to which police agencies and departments and how this equipment has been used so far.

By analyzing this information, Watson can clearly identify if different, more aggressive tactics are being used more often in Black, urban communities.

“There are mounds of information out there that we’re going to need help sorting through to help us not necessarily answer the question, but at least define the problem,” Villasenor added. “We need to get the data-driven information, and not go with anecdotal information because there’s a lot of emotion behind it. We need to try and get past the emotion and find the truth. It may be bad, but we need to find out what it is so we can adjust.”

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Code for Progress Fellowship Brings Politically Minded Organizers Into Tech Industry

The Code for Progress fellowship graduated its first-ever class of newly trained coders last week, introducing a new wave of politically minded entrepreneurs to the technology industry.

The graduation ceremony for the new class of coders looked more like a rally for slain teenager Michael Brown from the outside looking in.

According to GoodBlackNews.org, the ceremony kicked off with a freedom chant in honor of the slain 18-year-old from Ferguson, Missouri. who was fatally shot multiple times Aug. 9 by police officer Darren Wilson.

“What side are you on my people,” the chant asked. “What side are you on?”

The nation’s reaction to the shooting of Brown made it clear that when technology and political activism come together, a powerful movement can be created in an instant.

What began as hashtags on Twitter and Instagram spurred into nationwide marches, rallies and protests pushing for justice for Brown and all the other Black men who have been killed by law enforcement.

The Code for Progress fellowship has always acknowledged this powerful relationship and has been busy training classes of politically minded individuals to provide them with skills that will allow them to exceed in the tech industry.

The fellowship takes things far beyond the world of social media, however.

The new graduates spent four months learning from instructor Aliya Rahman.

Rahman taught the class a handful of different coding languages they will need to exceed in the tech industry.

While the fellowship focuses on bringing politically minded individuals into the tech space, it also caters to minorities and aims to help solve the diversity issue that currently exists in the technology field.

Diversity statistics revealed by companies such as Google and Facebook revealed that the vast majority of their employees are White males.

For both companies, about 60 percent of their employees were male with less than 5 percent of all employees being African-American.

According to Rahman, the fellowship can help improve those numbers by giving minorities access to the education they need.

“Folks who are in communities of color have a higher probability of going to a school that doesn’t teach computer science,” she said. “Seven kids took the advanced placement computer science exam in Washington, D.C., [last year] compared to hundreds in Maryland and Virginia.”

Rahman also pointed out that many women and minorities are intimidated by the college-level computer science course because they are “unwelcoming” and tend to have “unsupportive” faculty.

Lastly, the cost of the classes makes them largely inaccessible to many minorities, she added.

While Rahman believes the fellowship has the ability to train people of color and women to kick start a career in the tech industry, she believes cultural issues in America could still pose a serious problem.

She explained that when Google responded to backlash about its diversity statistics, the company immediately suggested free classes for women and people of color.

According to Rahman, however, many minorities and women are already qualified for the job but are passed up for leadership positions.

“I think affinity groups in organizations play an incredible role in creating community, but in terms of pipelining [people of color] into major positions of leadership – who holds the power?” Rahman said.

Despite the cultural obstacles, the fellowship will continue to push forward with its mission.

The Code for Progress has already made plans to graduate two more classes of fellows next year.

 

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Ethel Cofie, CEO of Edel Consultancy, Talks Supporting Women Through Technology

Ethel Cofie, a self-proclaimed techie and CEO of Edel Consultancy, has been using her love for technology to provide solutions for socio-economic issues in Africa. She is currently finishing up her studies at Yale University through the Washington Fellowship, a program for young African leaders to build leadership and management skills. When she is not spending her time supporting startups, building apps to support women’s health or improving her skills at Ivy League universities, she can be found working on narrowing the gap between men and women in the tech industry.

Q: What are three terms that describe your professional journey?

Persistence

I worked for one of my professors who taught computer science, when I was a university student back in Ghana. I was 21, and he was letting me weigh in on these huge discussions that were way above my head. This exposure helped to inform my career journey.

This encouraged me to be a businesswoman. I started a business in 2010. I felt I was pretty passionate and intelligent. In terms of what happened, I got really interesting jobs working across Africa. I failed a lot along the way but learned many lessons, which made it easier to get back up and try again. So persistence was key in my development as a professional and a businesswoman.

Awareness

One of my last corporate jobs before I started my tech company was being head of commercial solutions for Vodafone Ghana.

As women, we work hard, and because of it, we should be acknowledged for it. However, that acknowledgement doesn’t always come. I learned how to be aware of emotional intelligence, and I learned that working hard is not enough. It is important for professionals, women especially, to be able to walk into a room and be aware of who is in the room, the motivations of the individuals in that room, recognize the synergy and how to work with them. Once I realized that, it made things easier for me.

Hard work

It is pretty self-explanatory. I work as hard as possible to accomplish my goals.

Q: Explain the function of your position as a technical product/solutions manager. How do you assist your clients?

From a technical perspective, I describe myself as technical product/solutions manager. I am sort of the person that is in the middle of technical expertise and customer design. I’m a techie that is focused on customer service products.

When working with clients, I first like to start by testing the customer journey out before I build anything. I like to sit with a client and understand what their business is and who their customers are and what is the company’s path. Once that happens, I can begin to build tools that work.

So there’s an anthropological component to how I approach my work. That makes the technology part successful beyond just a working tech product.

Q: What does a typical workday look like for you?

OK, so apart from running Edel Consultancy, I also run a women-in-tech group in Ghana, and I’m working with women-in-tech groups across Africa to create an alliance.

I am also working to create an accelerator for StartUp Africa. So right now, my days are a little everywhere. Literally, I have a plan for what I’m achieving for each quarter. So, essentially, no day at the moment looks the same. I could be doing a client brief, business development, working with multinational companies that are coming into Africa and helping them with technical solutions.

Q: What is one project that you worked on that you were really proud of?

I worked with the Gates Foundation to build a mobile app that enabled pregnant women to know when to go to the hospital and what medicine they should be taking. I also built one for nurses to track their patients. That did really well. It was piloted in Ghana and then deployed to other countries like Tanzania and Uganda and other countries across Africa. This was work that I was really excited about doing, and I want to continue to do that kind of work.

Q: How did you get involved with the Washington Fellowship?

It’s actually funny how I got involved. I initially did not want to apply for it. I’ve been so busy, and I have all these other projects that I didn’t want to add this to my plate. My husband was the one who told me about it, and although I was reluctant, he wouldn’t let it go. So to avoid a big argument, I just applied, and I actually was called to be interviewed. From there, I was accepted.

The program is a wonderful initiative that [President Barack] Obama created called the Young African Leaders Initiative where 500 young leaders are chosen to receive leadership and management training in the United States.

I spent six weeks at Yale receiving the training. I had the opportunity to meet with President Obama and the first lady. I also met with United Nations ambassadors and government leaders.

The experience has been great. They encourage you to work on a project before the end of the fellowship, so I have been working on this accelerator program StartUp Africa.

The goal is to support startups that are in their nascent stages and help them to get access to networks, funding and the exposure to triple their chances of surviving. Seventy to 80 percent of startups fold within the first year. I realized that I wanted to help startups but doing that in a way that is structured. I sought after startups that wanted to launch in multiple markets because it seems more profitable. The accelerator  program is a three-month program. A lot of the work is virtual. And we are recruiting other people to help, such as mentors.

I have always had the idea in my head for ages, but I just couldn’t do anything about it just because of timing. Being a part of the fellowship allowed me to access additional resources and support to make it easier to execute the idea.

Q: You are very involved in a lot of different projects. Tell me more about the work you are doing with BarCamp Africa UK.

BarCamp Africa UK started in 2009. I did my master’s in the UK, and I realized there are a lot of Africans in the diaspora in the UK, and I wanted to find a way to bring those skills that these people have and bring them to Africa. I reached on social media. I shared my ideas and left it there. Then people started to reach out saying they are ready to help. And so that’s how we ended up forming this with five or six people.

Essentially, this initiative was about connecting Africans in the UK and having them network. We want to work with organizations doing things on the ground who need our help. So for instance, the Gates Foundation or social enterprises who could use our help, which could be developing an app or putting together a marketing strategy or business plan. We would take all these diverse skill sets into one room and put them to work for four or five hours. The question we posed was: What could you do to help the continent in four to five hours? This is much harder to do than just a conference. So right now, we are partnering with an organization this year that is doing something similar to our initiative.

BarCamp Africa UK was sort of my first move to doing all the things I do now. It gave me the confidence and provided me with a strong network.

Q: What are some of the challenges you experience in the work that you do?

So I run a women’s tech group in Ghana because I strongly believe that women are underrepresented in the industry. We need to help support women in the field. My efforts have been deemed feminist. Or sometimes, I will get asked questions like: How are you married doing all of this?

It is important for me to help women in the tech field, but it is a challenge convincing people that my passion to support women does not mean I’m against everyone else.

The other challenge is travel. I’m married, and my husband and I travel a lot, so the separation can be hard. I’m grateful though because despite the challenge of travel, he is very supportive. He double-checks all my work. He’s a great teammate.

Q: What are your overall thoughts about women, specifically women of color, in the STEM fields?

Women in technology are extremely underrepresented. Having diversity in your organization helps with diversity of thought and that helps with the bottom line. If your aim is to profit, it just makes sense to have diversity. You will not grow as a business without that.

Women in the tech field has improved, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. I’ve been thinking about how I could partner with different organizations to narrow the gap. I’ve said this a couple of times. It’s easy for me to be a part of the boys’ club because I’m in tech and a bit boisterous. But a lot of women think tech is a bit of a boys’ club, and it’s hard to penetrate that. Well, I’m trying to create a girls’ club to provide women with the resources and networks.

We need more of these groups to help support women so they can do this on their own.

 

 

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Black Entrepreneurs Ready to Change the Face of the Tech Industry

An overwhelming majority of entrepreneurs in the tech industry are white and male. But through better education, assistance from venture capitalists and support from major companies, the industry could be on the brink of a major shakeup.

Companies like Facebook and Google recently disclosed statistics about the demographics of their workforces, which confirmed what many had already believed – the faces behind these companies are mostly white males.

Out of Facebook’s nearly 7,000 employees, 69 percent are males. Out of all of its employees in the U.S., nearly 60 percent are white.

Google’s report, which was released in January, revealed similar numbers.

Roughly 70 percent of Google’s employees are men, and more than 60 percent are white. About 2 percent are Black.

So what is causing such a drastic race and gender gap in employees at major tech companies?

According to the panelists at Technoir, it has a lot to do with education and support.

Technoir, which was held in August, is the first in a series of discussions and networking events created to examine the challenges and opportunities that Black entrepreneurs often face.

One of the main challenges the event’s panelists discussed was the importance of quality education.

Aaron Saunders, chief executive of Clearly Innovative, pointed out that youths need to be skilled in mathematics and science in order to succeed in the tech industry.

Not only that, but they need to be in an environment where they can learn about all the different careers that the tech industry has to offer.

Saunders has already co-founded a summer camp and academic program at Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science in Washington, D.C., called Startup Middle School.

The program gives its young members more experience using science, math and technology to solve a variety of different problems.

According to Saunders, it was not only troubling that the students were not given many opportunities to build their math and science skills outside of his camp, but also that they had never even met anyone who worked in the technology industry.

“These are the things that make a difference,” he said. “These are the things that move the needle.”

Meanwhile, other panelists stressed that the right education will not be enough to create a more diverse space in the tech industry.

Minority tech entrepreneurs need the same support and financial backing that white males are often awarded.

“A lot of these firms, their diversity is in my opinion shameful,” said Justin Maddox, the chief executive of CrowdTrust. “It’s extremely lame in 2014 for you not to be able to reach outside your demographic and grab somebody of another gender or another race.”

Talib I. Karim, executive director of the nonprofit STEM4US!, agreed with Maddox.

“If you have a great idea and somebody believes the only people who have great ideas are white males, then how are we ever going to create an economy that outperforms those economies like China,” Karim questioned. “We have an advantage in our diversity.”

The good news for many minority entrepreneurs is that the growth of crowd funding provides some sort of financial backing when venture capitalists and other potential investors turn the other cheek.

Sites like KickStarter and Indiegogo have made it easy for emerging entrepreneurs to get the financial aid they need to launch a startup or continue the growth of their business.

With those tools in mind, Toya Powell believes it is vital that minority entrepreneurs support each other.

“Everyone in this room has the capacity to be an angel,” said Powell, the vice president of operations at the National Black Chamber of Commerce. “You could, in your own sphere of influence, invest in each other.”

 

 

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Romona Foster, Social Media Marketing Expert, Talks to Blerds About Finding Her Niche

Romona Foster, a Pennsylvania native, never imagined that her skills as an events planner would lead her to have a strong role in the tech field as a social media consultant. She is revered for her training style and her expertise in social media management and marketing. Foster shares her unexpected journey to becoming a social media trainer and consultant.

Q: What are three words you would use to describe your professional journey?

The first word that I would use to describe this journey is unimaginable. I would have not imagined in a million years that I would be doing what it is that I’m doing today. And I love what I do.

The second word would be difficult. When I first started doing social media management and marketing, I was out of work. Getting to this place where I am now was hard, and many people admire where I am and often think it just happened. It took a lot of hard work.

The last and final word would be amazing. When I look back at the times when I was down and out, I think about how far I have come, and the journey has been amazing. To know that people are looking for me, asking me to be places to help them, are excited about what I have to offer after all this time is still amazing to me. I thank God for the opportunity. Without Him, I wouldn’t be here.

Q: Social media management is definitely a fairly new profession in the technology industry. How far back would you date it?

For me personally, I would say 2003. This is from what I have seen. When I teach my classes, it’s important for me to share facts, and one that I share is that LinkedIn started in 2003. At that time, I didn’t know it even existed. It wasn’t until 2006 that I created a profile. Someone sent me a request. I opened an account and then didn’t look back until about 2010. According to Tom Standage (digital editor of the Economist), social media is actually 2,000 years old. He talks about his philosophy on why it is so old in an article on Tech Crunch. It’s very interesting. You should check it out.

Q: ‘Difficult’ was one of the words you used to describe your journey. What was difficult about it?

Well in 2007, I left my real job, as they would say. I was going to George Washington University for event planning and management. The program required that students do a full-time internship and 160 practicum hours. I completed everything in 2008. Unfortunately, when I was done, I couldn’t find a job; 2008 — that was when the economic crash happened, and so jobs were scarce.

Naturally, I was concerned about what I was going to do about making money. During my internship and practicum, I was building websites, doing email marketing and administrative work. So while I was unemployed, I began to assist people with those things.

Many of the [projects] I received were by request. I would go online and look things up, and then I would teach myself how to do it. I would do a lot of research, a lot of reading, and sometimes I would sign up for free trials for different programs and platforms just to gain skills to effectively help my clients.

About a year after doing this, my pastor asked me to build a Facebook page for the church. I said OK, but, in my mind, I was skeptical about doing it. Most of what I knew about Facebook was that people tend to post their personal business on the site, and that turned me off.  After I did the page, other people started coming to me and asking me about how to use Facebook and LinkedIn. I had no picture on my LinkedIn page, but I updated it and started showing people how to do things but for free.

A couple of years later, I had an idea. I wondered if I did teach a class on social media management and marketing would people come. I decided to try, and so I secured a small venue and advertised the class via email and through an online calendar.

Five people showed up. When the class ended and I did the math of what I made in two hours from five people, I was amazed. The cool thing was that the people who came were people who didn’t know me at all but were interested in what I could teach them. One of the five participants expressed the class was too short and she would have liked more. So I did another class for three hours, and the feedback from that was that that class was too short. So I started a boot camp course that lasted six hours. I could not believe that I could hold people’s interest for six hours. That’s how I got started with the training component of my work. I have to give my pastor credit because if he hadn’t asked me to create that Facebook page, I might not have ever done it.

Q: You mention that you did a lot of research and reading to learn more about social media marketing. Would you say that the time you put into researching exceeded the profits you made when you started?

Yes. In the beginning, I was doing a lot more research than I was making money. Looking back now, I can say that all that reading, researching and learning was all worth it. And now, I don’t have to do that much research, but I do keep informed by reading articles and stay up to date on changing trends and new platforms.

Q: Would you consider yourself an entrepreneur in the technology field?

Yes, I would consider myself an entrepreneur of sorts — or more specifically an independent consultant.

Q: What does a typical workday look like for you?

The first thing I do when I get up at around 5 in the morning is to start posting on various platforms for my clients. My workday consists of meeting with clients, conducting webinars and trainings.

Q: You will be facilitating a workshop at the Code(Her) conference Sept. 13 in Chevy Chase, Maryland. What are some things that attendees can look forward to?

They can look forward to learning new tips and tricks that will help them manage their social media platforms in 60 minutes or less. Many of the people I train are often social media managers, so I hope that if that is the audience for the conference that they walk away learning something new. What I hope happens is that they feel more empowered about the work they are doing and realize that social media management and marketing does not take forever.

Q: What advice do you have for aspiring social media managers?

My advice is to learn as much as you can in school about social media management and marketing. However, understand that even after you gain formal training in your school, don’t assume the learning stops there. Many people consider me an expert in this field, but I don’t. Simply because I know there is always some knowledge to be gained, hence why I am always reading about new changes each and every day. I would also encourage them to get into the habit of creating a content calendar.

Q: What is a content calendar?

A content calendar is similar to an editorial calendar for a magazine. Where the editors have each issue planned out a year in advance. For me, I usually create a content calendar for my clients 30 days out. That doesn’t always work depending on how often information is coming in. So some clients need updating every day because of how quickly the information comes in.

Q: What are your overall thoughts about women, specifically women of color, in the STEM fields?

I feel like I can only talk about the technology piece, but as far as technology is concerned, know that there are a lot of women of color in the tech industry, but I have to say that I don’t run into them. And the only reason I know this is because I see them on Twitter and Facebook. I don’t see a lot of women in my region doing what I do. Many of my trainees tell me that they don’t see anyone that looks like me doing what I do.

I hope that more women of color will surface in this field. This is a great profession. It is constantly evolving.

 

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How Might Big Data Affect You As a Minority

With almost everything we do, we are leaving trail bits of tech data. Think about where you are right now, the computer (PC, Mac, tablet, phone, etc.) that you are using, the websites you’ve visited today, the items you’ve purchased and posts you’ve made on social media platforms.

Now consider that process over time  – most of us won’t remember all of what we did this week alone. But if you collected the tech trail of information about yourself and performed an analysis on it, you’d be surprised by what the data tells you. You’d be able to identify trends  and patterns in your behavior, your moods, spending habits, and so on.

Now imagine what businesses, governments, credit authorities, and data resellers have on you. This is not meant to make you wary of the digital age, it is simply to make you aware. It’s a cliche, but “knowledge is power.”

Big data is a term used to describe large (possibly petabytes) and complex data sets that are oftentimes difficult to process with commonly used software for data management. However, with new technologies that can efficiently process large amounts of data, analytics can provide insights into patterns which can lead to a myriad of opportunities.

For those who have taken advantage of big data or at least kept abreast of the topic, it is known that there are some amazing benefits to big data analytics – tailored recommendations, fraud prevention, real-time traffic information, just to name a few. But there are always two sides of a coin.

So, how might this pile of data be used against individuals or groups of people? Let’s say you live in an underprivileged neighborhood; you might receive credit card offers with higher than normal interest rates. This could be because big-data analysis identified that many people living in your area are short of cash, maybe in need of a credit card and don’t qualify for good terms.

This doesn’t mean you aren’t financially responsible, don’t qualify for a better rate, and wouldn’t be given one if you had applied on your own. But people are put into categories, and categories are used for marketing and decision-making.

Perhaps you frequent retailers where a large majority of other shoppers, possibly of your same race, also frequent, but many of them make late payments on their credit cards. Your credit card limit may be automatically decreased because your credit card company has created an algorithm that analyzes big data and determines high-risk profiles. You may be categorized with those who have high-risk profiles because of your weak association with those shoppers.

Think about how your social network, your posts, tweets, etc., all could play a role in your creditworthiness. Some companies are thinking of using social networks to help rate their customers.

These are just a few theories and possible examples of how big data can be used in somewhat nefarious ways. If you are divulging information that can be used by others, be mindful of what you share, how you use these technologies, and what can be done with it.

Be the master of your digital mind!

Quiessence is an Information Security Professional with over seven years of experience. She is also the Curriculum Development Lead for Black Girls CODE NY, creator of the Girltechie Campaign, and a workshop called “Securing Your Web”. Find her on the web @ www.itsquiessence.com