Launched in January 2020, Birmingham Black Techies has grown to nearly 300 members and counting, says the group’s founder Niesha White. White said one of the group’s best assets is there is no gatekeeping – anyone who enjoys engaging with technology and considers themselves a techie is a techie, she said. The group – which is free to join – began in an effort to build community and eliminate isolation amongst Black techies. The Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) partnered with the group on its first-ever conference, Black Tech Takeover, which attracted 1,030 registrants and 15 participating companies, including Shipt, Regions Financial Corp., BBVA, Protective Life Corp. and others. The BBA sat down with White to learn more about the work the group does.
Describe the work of Birmingham Black Techies. What do you do?
The purpose of the group is that we exist to build a supportive community of local black tech. If you’re new to tech, here you’ll find a supportive techie BFF that will hand-guide you along your tech career. Ultimately, we want to empower people to embrace their inner techie.
Because of COVID the primary way of connection is digitally. Virtual events may range from tech topics and learning, and we also do things that are just fun and engaging, like a tech game night. We talk about what we’re doing in tech and get first-hand answers to whatever questions [members] may have.
In 2021, we’ll start doing more partnerships with more companies and organizations, because we really want to make sure we’re keeping Birmingham Black Techies thriving in the tech ecosystem. We’ll have a lot more joint events happening this year, and cater to career development and soft skills.
What sparked the idea to start this?
I am a Birmingham transplant – I moved to Birmingham six years ago. I was just a workaholic; all I did was go to work. If it wasn’t happening at work, I didn’t know what was going on. It was all I was doing. I thought “I bet there are other groups of Black people in tech feeling like they lack community” because we are so underrepresented in tech fields. It started as a way for us to meet up with each other and network, and it has grown into something beyond socializing. The focus is still connecting with people, and another big focus is being supportive of people new to tech as they learn their way.
Why is diversity so important in tech?
Tech is usually people creating some sort of product because they want everyone to use it, but oftentimes the people building and designing things are not representative of everyone. You can’t have a truly innovative, accessible product if the team behind it isn’t diverse with different ways of thinking, different thoughts, different walks of life. Diversity in tech is necessary if you want to build the best things possible. You have to have a diverse group of people behind it.
What makes for a healthy tech ecosystem?
When people think about a thriving tech ecosystem, sometimes they only focus on corporate tech jobs or startup jobs. To have a really great tech ecosystem, we need freelancers and contractors spinning up things and building things on their own. A tech community can have all the jobs in the world, but if they don’t have the talent and take the time to develop that talent, then it goes nowhere. To have a really good tech ecosystem, there needs to be a lot of learning resources accessible to people; no matter if they’re working full-time [in tech] or not, people can engage in tech while also doing other things that are important to them.
Another thing that makes a strong tech ecosystem is a lot of word of mouth, doing things new and innovatively. Tech innovation is a buzzword, but a lot of times people are forgetting to do something different. Try to do new things – throw it out there. People may not have a full-fledged startup idea, but throw it at the wall, and see if it sticks. It’s all necessary to a creative, flowing tech ecosystem.
What’s next for the tech landscape of Birmingham as a whole in 2021?
I am definitely seeing more startups on LinkedIn, so I hope [in 2021] we’ll see even more new startups. I hope Birmingham Black Techies helps bring even more Black-owned startups. I hope that happens. I hope to see even more free learning resources – you can never have enough. I except to see the Birmingham tech ecosystem continue to thrive this year, definitely capitalizing on remote opportunities and things of that nature.
The group meets monthly; click here to learn more.