Tech Innovator Sherrell Dorsey Announces Content Platform ‘The Plug’ Is Closing Its Doors

Sherrell Dorsey, the founder of The Plug, said the popular content platform is closing.

Dorsey took to The Plug’s webpage and her Instagram account to announce the news: 

“Dear readers, subscribers, and long-time supporters—Today is the last day our team will serve you all through The Plug. We’re closing our doors, but never abandoning our convictions. Since hitting send on the very first newsletter published 7 years ago, I was never certain that The Plug would be the force that it is today. I just knew that Black founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders deserved better reporting, data insights that documented our stories, and platforms that built communities and not just content full of click-bait and open letters. When I look over the body of work we created, I am damn proud of what me and my team were able to accomplish with your support.”

Dorsey created a lean content platform to quickly get content out to as many people as possible. The site aggregates tech news involving people of color via Feedly. The content is then pushed out to subscribers in a daily newsletter.

According to Dorsey, The Plug was created to show how Black people engage with the economy. Created in 2016, it was the first daily newsletter that covered novice Black companies and the economy. 

“Today, we synthesize the fastest-growing crop of communities leading the future of work, business, and technology, for leaders, executives, government officials, reporters, and researchers who are thinking inclusively about building, supporting, funding, and stewarding next-gen communities, companies, and technologies,” The Plug reads. 

The Plug has been supported by major corporations such as Comcast NBCUniversal, New Profit, Knight Foundation, Knight-Lenfest, Morgan Stanley, Ford Foundation, Goldman Sachs, and  MasterCard. 

Earlier this year, Dorsey gave a TEDx Talk at Binghamton University. She’s also in talks to host a TED Tech podcast.

“I remain open to new opportunities to help planet-forward companies build the necessary technologies to change our relationship with the resources we have on earth, while also creating onramps via skills training for underserved communities to onboard into the future of work,” Dorsey said in the newsletter, according to AfroTech.