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Annual Black Tech Week to Kick Off, Issa Rae Set as Keynote Speaker

Black Tech Week is an inclusive ecosystem-building experience driven by community and corporate collaboration. BTW connects investors, entrepreneurs, tech professionals and creatives across several days of curated content, social events and incredible energy.

Black Tech Week, (BTW) returns and is set to once again connect tech entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals to educational opportunities, resources, and to one another.

Candice Matthews Brackeen, Founder of Black Tech Week, aims to bring together some of the greatest innovators in technological industries.

“As Black people we’ve been inventing things for a long time, we been entrepreneurs for a long time,” said Mrs. Matthews Brackeen. “We just want to make sure they all convene in the same space; they build community, they build network, and they do business together.”

Cincinnati plays host to Black Tech Week, where the annual event is headquartered. The week-long conference runs July 18th – July 20th where over 3,000 attendees, over 100 speakers, and over 50 workshops, along with curated content across the venue.

There is an intentional focus on ensuring Black people lead and captivate this industry. The Keynote Speaker for this year’s BTW is Issa Rae, writer, producer, entrepreneur and founder of HOORAE.

Best known for her groundbreaking work as the creator and star of the hit HBO series “Insecure,” Issa Rae is also a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in the tech industry. Rae is also committed to supporting and amplifying Black and female voices in the tech and media space.

The full list of speakers for Black Tech Week are below.

Candice Matthews Brackeen
CEO of Lightship Foundation

Aisha Bowe
CEO of STEMBoard

Brian Brackeen
General Partner at Lightship Capital

Everette Taylor
CEO of Kickstarter

Detavio Samuels
CEO of REVOLT

Felecia Hatcher
CEO of Black Ambition Opportunity Fund

Sandra Moore
Managing Director of Advantage Capital

Jeff Noel
Founder of Barbershop Speakers

Eric Cook
Privacy Attorney at Loeb & Loeb LLP

Ryan Lee
Principal of Comcast Ventures

Adam Philips
Managing Director of Techstars

Lindsay Sims
Digital Coach at Google

Philip Cunningham
Co-Founder of Jamaa Health

Densil Porteous
Executive Director of Stonewall Columbus

Landon Campbell
General Manager of Drive Capital

Alana Hinkston
MBA Grad Student of Harvard Business School

Bee Law
Founder of rrecess

Nicole Alexander
Global Head of Marketing at Meta

Dr. Kwane Watson
CEO of Kare Mobile

Craig Lewis
Founder and CEO of Gig Wage

Jamie Porter
ssistant Group Advisor at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Katie Taylor
EO of Narratize

Regina Carswell Russo
CEO and Founder of RRight Now Communications

Evan Leaphart
Founder & CEO of Kiddie Kredit

Joey Wignarajah
Managing Partner of 19 Days

Dujon Smith
Co-Lead BFDP, Senior Manager of Accenture Black Founders Development Program

Meloni Boatswain
Director of Strategy of Transformation Lead

Chisom A’Marie
Vice President of  New Voices Fund

James Love
Senior Vice President of Lean Process DesigN at Fifth Third Bank

Melissa Bradley
Managing Partner at 1863 Ventures

Shauna Smith
Director of B2B Marketing & Demand Generation at The Knot Worldwide

Chandler Malone
Founder of Bootup

Danza Huey
CEO and Founder of Party Card Mash Up

Ugi Ugwuomo
Lead Global Creative Strategist at TikTok

Ursula Spencer
CEO and Founder of Dope Nerds

Denna Lambert
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager at NASA

Damien Hooper-Campbell
Chief Impact Officer of StockX

Terell Cobb
Principal Design Manager at Microsoft

Jeneba Wint
CEO of Bloomology LLC, Jen Talks Tech

Govinda Davis
Partner at Dinsmore

Paige Hendrix Buckner
CEO of All Raise

Brittani Baker
Sr Customer Success Manager and Global Strategic Partnership Lead at LinkedIn

Kendra Abney
CEO and Founder of PM Mindset

Sydney James
Mental Health Therapist and Consultant at Black On Black Therapy PLLC

Rod Walton
CEO and Founder of ThinkMODA

Christian Mckenzie
Associate at Red Cedar Ventures

LaTosha Ward
Chief Strategy Officer at BID

Ajay Bam
CEO of Vyrill

Tamara Ward
SVP Insurance Operations & Network at Oscar Health

Delali Dzirasa
CEO of Fearless

Sofia Stanley
Entertainment Attorney at Sony Pictures Entertainment

Regina Moilan
Senior Scrum Master/Agile Coach at Insight

Sydnee Sampson-Blackwell
Custom Software Engineer at Accenture

Vanessa Stephens
Venture Capital / Growth Equity Attorney

Derrick L. Maultsby Jr.
Senior Associate at Frost Brown Todd

Davielle Jackson
Founder and CEO of Femi Secrets

Brooke Chambers
Director of Digital Marketplaces at Kroger

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