Collaboration Awaits: Blacktech Weekend aims to connect black innovators with a lasting network
October 31, 2019 | Anna Turnbull
The most important aspect of Blacktech Weekend’s return to Kansas City Friday: connecting individuals from different segments of the entrepreneur cityscape, said Denayja Reese.
“Across industries, we want them to collaborate with each other and continue to build community as well as bring in folks who are outside of the community into the fold,” said Reese, founder of Miami-based GWTLP, which organizes the one-day Blacktech Weekend in KC. “I hope that the people who attend the event learn things that they didn’t know before. Whether it be a funding resource or if they learn from someone else’s’ ideas.”
Blacktech Weekend 2018
Blacktech Weekend is entering its second annual Kansas City offering this week, having debuted during 2018’s Global Entrepreneurship Week. The program targets black entrepreneurs, innovators and “techies.”
Click here to read about the 2018 Blacktech Weekend conversation on tearing down walls built by exclusive startup lingo.
“Most of the time, [Blacktech Weekend’s] out of town [speakers] are dealing with many of the same issues as those [in Kansas City]. They are able to have conversations about how they are balancing it given their different circumstances,” Reese said, explaining the event. “It really gives the attendees an opportunity to learn from the people even if they are coming from different sides [of the issue].”
The Kansas City event is also set to feature a number of local voices, including Philip Gaskin, senior director of entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; April Boyd-Noronha, chief engagement strategist for The STEM Broker; Bryan Shannon, founder and CEO of TicketRX; Dan Smith, co-founder of The Porter House KC; and Dell Gines, senior community development advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Click here for more information on Blacktech Weekend, which begins 10 a.m. Friday at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Activities from a fireside chat and panel conversations to masterclass breakout sessions, Reese said.
This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
Featured Business
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Startup stakeholders: Opportunity zones could prompt culture shift on redevelopment
Startup community stakeholders think opportunity zones in some of Kansas City’s poorest areas could work, but only with collaboration between the government and private sector. A number of low-income communities in Kansas City are eligible for designation as opportunity zones — areas in which investors may defer paying capital gains taxes over a certain period…
OP-based motion capture startup DARI Motion sells to Omaha firm
DARI Motion, an Overland Park-based startup that created a motion capture platform that provides biomechanical analysis of athletes, patients and more, recently was acquired by a Nebraska firm. DARI, which stands for Dynamic Athletic Research Institute, was purchased for an undisclosed amount by Omaha-based Scientific Analytics Inc. With the acquisition, the firm aims to transform how…
Axing the status quo: Swell Spark builds experiences from West Bottoms HQ
Human interaction is about more than texting and social media posts, said Matt Baysinger, co-founder and CEO of Swell Spark. “One of the best things in life is sharing a meal together, but sharing a meal together is only as good as the conversation you get to have over that meal,” Baysinger said. “If you…
Metactive announces nearly $3M combined in funding round, government grant
Fairway-based Metactive has raised a $1.2 million round to accelerate the development of its products for the treatment of neurovascular, peripheral vascular and structural heart diseases. The round included Kansas City-based Mid-America Angels, as well as Serra Ventures. Founded by CEO Nick Franano, Metactive has raised more than $10 million to date. In addition to…