CINCINNATI — A major national conference is underway in Ohio. Black Tech Week is taking over Cincinnati, with professionals in tech traveling from all over the country to learn more about working in the industry and how to advance their careers.
What You Need To Know
- Black Tech week is in its tenth year, and this year at a new venue at the Aronoff Center for the Arts
- The three-day conference covers topics from fundraising to mental health to AI
- The majority of professionals travel to Cincinnati for the yearly conference
- Organizers say the conference is expected to make an economic impact of $20 million on Cincinnati
It’s a hustle and bustle kind of morning for Nancy and Nikki Odofin, twin sisters who traveled here to attend Black Tech Week.
“This is my first time at a tech conference in general,” Nancy, a product manager for Wells Fargo, said. “So I’m super excited and I really look forward to learning, meeting new people and just learning more about tech and what it can offer young African Americans.”
The sisters sought the conference to network and learn. For Nikki, as a manager at Zoc Doc, it’s been a challenge, but also rewarding.
“I love the opportunity to give back and to empower and grow other young professionals that have traditionally been excluded from the field,” Nikki said. “Definitely something that has brought me a lot of joy and pride. I love to see my daughter watch me at work and be proud of me.”
And that’s exactly what Candice Matthews Brackeen, CEO of Lighthouse Foundation and organizer of Black Tech Week, hopes attendees get out of the conference.
“I want them to get the same thing out of it that I experienced my very first time at Black Tech Week,” Matthews Brackeen said. “I met my tribe. I met the people that have helped me to expand to where I am today and I hope they find that same thing.”
“We’re really trying to teach people how you can leverage AI, but also to understand what are the rules, what are the laws you really need to have in place to make certain that the tech companies that are creating those platforms are doing the right thing,” Matthews Brackeen said.
“I definitely would like to learn a little bit more about AI and what the product can do potentially for my company, Zoc Doc, and the health care field,” Nikki said.
And the event is making a big splash locally with thousands of people traveling in from across the country, it’s expected to make a $20 million impact on the city. Matthews Bracken hopes it sheds some light on what this city and black professionals in tech can do.
“We want people to understand that there are amazing businesses being built by people in the Black community,” Matthews Brackeen said. “Black women are the number one group of entrepreneurs in the country.”
While the conference is sold out, there are events in the evening that are open to the public for them to learn more about tech.