Ep. 185 Aaron Russell is Director, Edge Network Infrastructure at Meta. He’s been with the tech giant for nearly a decade. Aaron has initiated and led critical Internet infrastructure projects connecting the unconnected people in the emerging markets, especially in Africa. Aaron is a creative; a former contributor for Huffington Post, a filmmaker, and a diversity and inclusion champion at Meta.

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Ep. 184 Udonis Haslem is a three-time NBA Champion, Miami HEAT legend, and NBA TV Analyst. He's now teaming up with Wells Fargo and the Rebuilding Together organization to make a lasting impact in the community by providing critical home repairs and safety modifications for families in need. Udonis is a businessman, philanthropist, and advocate for underserved communities, and this partnership furthers his efforts to uplift and inspire the next generation in his hometown of Miami, Florida.

Plus a look back to my chat with Derrick Faulcon of Cloudy Donut.

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Marketing Strategist Mahdi Woodard is an innovative thinker with broad business acumen and in-depth marketing and branding experience. He serves as a marketing Consultant and Chief Marketing Officer, and was previously a Marketing Brand Analyst and Associate Brand Manager at Mars Petcare which is home to Iams, Pedigree and more, and he was Brand Manager at Newell Brands, home to Rubbermaid, Graco, and Paper Mate.

His social media profiles teach others how to grow online and monetize their content.

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Sheena Allen is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, investor, and creative architect. Her fintech startup, CapWay, focuses on creating economic access and opportunities for all through inclusive financial products and services, including banking, content, payments, and more. With Capway, she became the youngest female in America to own and operate a digital bank.

Today she’s working on AI tools and other technology to help non-technical or early coders create mobile applications.

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Reign Ventures is an early stage investment firm that focuses on women and minority-led startups, investing at the Seed and Series A Stage in promising technology and tech-enabled startups with high-potential founders.

Monique Idlett is the Founder and Managing Partner, Erica Duignan Minnihan is Founder and General Partner.

Monique is a globally recognized entertainment pioneer. Prior to founding Reign Venture Capital she served as CEO to Mosley Brands and Mosley Music Group, home to a multi-platinum roster of artists, including iconic producer Timbaland, One Republic, Nelly Furtado, and others. She brings over two decades of unprecedented success as a CEO working in entertainment, marketing, press, and entrepreneurship.

Erica has been an active investor in and advisor to early-stage companies for over 15 years. Before launching Reign, she was Founding Partner of 1000 Angels, Managing Director at DreamIt Ventures and Executive Director at both STAR Angel Network and Golden Seeds. Prior to beginning a career in venture, she practiced Investment Banking at Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Cantor Fitzgerald.

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Telva McGruder is the Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at General Motors, and has spent more than 28 years at the company - starting as an engineer. Today, she’s focused on weaving DEI into the fabric of the company, working in partnership with internal and external leaders to champion the broad and diverse workforce.

On this episode recorded at the 2022 AfroTech Conference in Austin Texas, Telva speaks with Blavity Co-founder and COO Jeff Nelson about corporate commitments to DEI, electric vehicles, and why Black people should care about the future of EV.

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Ep. 179 Randall Yarborough is a multidisciplinary designer with professional experience in sporting equipment, apparel, and footwear. He was Senior Footwear Designer at YEEZY, working under Ye (Kanye West), and recently launched his own company, Joyshed, an athletic shorts brand.

On this episode, Randall speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about the technical aspects of design and how to balance moving fashion design forward artistically while still driving market demand.

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Jeff Nelson is known as “the Relatable CTO” for his ability to take very complex technology solutions and help others understand how and why to implement them to benefit themselves and their businesses. Jeff is driving innovation in technology, business, culture, and public policy.

Along with being known as “the Relatable CTO”, Jeff is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Blavity Inc, the leading company for Black culture and millennials, and the Founder and CEO of Cinchapi Inc., a real-time software platform for data discovery, analytics, and automation. His companies have combined to raise over $13 million in venture funding, generated millions in recurring revenue and created dozens of jobs for women and underrepresented people.

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