Welcome to the very first Black Enterprise TechConneXt Summit kicking off today in Silicon Valley, at the Hyatt Regency, Santa Clara, California. Students, engineers, professionals, executives, and tech pioneers have gathered for two days of collaboration, forward thinking, learning, and networking as a means to present a unique occasion to make connections among the brightest of the African American tech community and offer a space for ideas and opportunities to flourish.
Check out what’s on the agenda today:
- From 2:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. PDT Capital One will be hosting a BE SMART Hackathon where teams of four college students representing Howard University, Johnson C. Smith, Southern University, and Spelman College, will use their creativity to develop apps that will enable users to create budgets, manage expenses, track spending, and develop a savings and investment plan, and more. The teams will be judged on the viability and utility of the app.
- BE Tech Talk: A Conversation with a Silicon Valley Powerhouse will also begin at 2:00 p.m., featuring speaker David Drummond, senior vice president of Corporate Development at Alphabet and interviewer Carlos Watson, co-founder and CEO of Ozy media. The two will discuss how Drummond has used his vision and legal expertise to help Google transform the world.
- At 3:00 p.m., AT&T will be presenting a Corporate Showcase with remarks by AT&T Senior Vice President — Compensation, Benefits, and Policy, Tom Moore, presented by Ken McNeely, president of AT&T Services.
- The corporate showcase will be followed by BE Tech Talk: Investing in Millennial Tech Stars. This exciting conversation features billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper, co-founder of DFJ and founder of Draper University, and Sequoia Blodgett, entrepreneur-in-residence at Draper University and founder of 7AM. The speakers will discuss Startup U, a Shark Tank-styled reality show for millennial entrepreneurs on ABC Family.
- TechConneXt attendees may receive direct insight from angel and venture investors on principles used to create pitch presentations that engage investors. How to Deliver a Powerful Pitch to Investors will feature CEO, VC Taskforce, June Riley; Partner, SoftTechVC, Charles Hudson; and Founder, Castleberry & Co., Donray Von. This session will be moderated by Carol Sands, founder and managing member of Angels’ Forum, and begins at 4:20 p.m.
- COO of TaskRabbit, Stacy Brown-Philpot, and Director, Product Management, Yahoo, Erin Teague will host BE Tech Talk: Ascending to the C-Suite in Silicon Valley, a guide to moving into senior management and making the leap to the executive level. This session begins at 5:25 p.m.
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