Founder of Alabama Kids Code Announces Black Tech Alabama Conference

Birmingham, AL — Award-winning STEM education program, Alabama Kids Code, is conducting the State of Alabama’s inaugural Black Tech Alabama™ conference. The technology conference will focus on diversity and inclusion in schools and the workplace in Alabama.

Although there have been several conferences around the state that focus on technology, Black Tech Alabama™ 2019, is the first in the state to tackle diversity and inclusion for people of color. The conference is an effort to bring a more diverse workforce to technology, where there is still a shockingly low number of women and people of color working in the field. The research is clear, a more diverse workforce normally leads to higher company revenues and more creative teams. Additionally, working in technology has been shown to provide economic equality for people of color.

The lack of diversity and inclusion is usually not done maliciously, but just getting the conversation start has proved challenging and most companies don’t know where to start. The event will have people of color in many diverse roles, from multi-millionaire entrepreneurs to technical recruiters. The goal and the aim is to get potential students and employees in the door as technologists and executives.

Technological fields are consistently the top paying fields in the US, with thousands of vacancies a month going unfilled.

For founder of the conference, Jackie Whitehead and her team to still be fielding calls and emails from people and companies wanting to be involved with the conference is a positive sign that companies in Alabama are interested in taking diversity and inclusion seriously.

The conference will kick-off on June 7, 2019 at 8am and will have over 20 panelists from some major tech companies from around the US. It will also hold a pitch competition for tech-startups in the area. To learn more, please visit www.blacktechalabama.com.

 

About the Alabama Kids Code
Founded by Jackie Whitehead, the organization was created to help students obtain internships in STEM related fields. The organization, which has won several awards, conducts weekly programs in Birmingham and monthly and summer programs throughout the state. She has partnered with several colleges, universities, and corporations to give her students hands-on experiences with STEM via internships. Jackie holds a BS degree in Computer Science and worked as a consultant for over 25 years for Fortune 100 companies.

 

PRESS CONTACT:
Jackie Whitehead
bta@alabamakidscode.org
205-378-9352