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.
[divide]
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
Sharing economy hits agriculture with FarmLink service
A new-age economic model is entering the world’s oldest industry. Kansas City-based FarmLink introduced this week its Web-based farm equipment sharing community MachineryLink Sharing, which the company says will enable farmers to save money and generate revenue. “Agriculture is in the midst of its next big transformation, where new thinking and business models that have revolutionized…
Mighty Handle grips massive market with Walmart deal
A Kansas City startup recently grabbed a retail deal that will put its product in front of millions of customers. Mighty Handle last week signed a deal with Walmart stores that will roll out its product to help users carry multiple shopping bags at about 3,500 stores nationwide. So what’s it mean for Mighty Handle…
High-tech car showroom parks in Crossroads
The days of pushy, plaid-suited car salesmen is over at a new dealership teeming with technology in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District. Luxury car dealer Pure Pursuit Automotive recently set up shop in one of Kansas City’s trendiest districts, incorporating such technology as holographic attendants and personal tablets. Those technologies and others aim to create…