[Music]
so twenty six point three million
Americans live in food deserts and
almost double that over fifty million
Americans live economically distress
meaning that they’re disconnected from
the innovation economy and this boom
that we’re having in the United States I
know about food deserts firsthand
because for seven years I was the chief
popsicle of feverish ice cream and
gourmet pops a company that I founded
with my awesome and really cute husband
after falling now chasing an ice cream
truck in heels
so how careful I was coming down those
steps right who does that
but me providing and manufacturing
healthy treats and bringing those two
neighborhoods and people that are
disconnected from food deserts
vegan-friendly popsicles and I won’t
take too much time talking about them
but every now and then we’d put a little
alcohol in those pops right I now work
as a co-founder and executive director
of code fever in Miami and the founder
and co-founder co-founder of Black Tech
Week with my husband and we are on a
mission to rid our communities across
the United States of innovation deserts
50 million people in the United States
are disconnected from the innovation
economy what can we do about that what
should we do about that I used to play
basketball I played basketball for a
pretty long time you can tell by my
height a little bit right I got a job in
the WNBA as a marketing manager in the
minister for the Minnesota Lynx I never
actually like I know go Minnesota right
I never actually made it to the leagues
but because I was able to work for them
and Mark and I’d take that as like a win
right like I feel like I got drafted in
some sort of way but my high school
basketball coach would always say you’re
only as strong as your weakest player
and our communities
our cities our blocks our neighborhoods
our countries are only as strong as our
weakest people and so what can each and
every one of us do to rid our
communities of innovation deserts
through the work that we’ve done with
black tech week a national convening
base in Miami that brings people of
color from all over the globe to Miami
to celebrate innovators of color but
most importantly connect them to the
resources so they can be active
participants and financial beneficiaries
of the innovation economy through our
study the economic development and the
inclusive and innovation report that
we’ve done with our organization we’ve
come up with a few key things that we
think are important when we talk about
innovating and ridding our communities
of innovation deserts the first thing is
innovation hubs and co-working spaces in
these communities that are disconnected
that I don’t like to deem impoverished
communities but lo opportunities
communities we know these collision
points and what they can provide to
these communities as a catalyst for
innovative conversation but most
importantly innovative activity it’s
disheartening that if you want to be an
active participant and be involved in
tech get tech training advance your
career opportunities be an active
participant in the innovation economy
and not as a service worker right
driving a car or delivering food but as
an active participant that you have to
leave your home you have to leave your
neighborhood you have to leave your
block and none of these resources are
with arms reach that’s a problem and
that’s a problem that I definitely want
us to fix but it starts with having
these places and these convening places
and these innovation hubs within our
communities where this kind of activity
takes place on an ongoing basis then it
allows us to thrive it also starts with
changing the narrative of what
innovation is or who an innovator is
there’s kind of a stereotypical mold of
what we think an innovator is
and that’s a problem because if we don’t
think that someone that looks like me
right or a woman or someone from the
LGBTQ communities right or someone from
an indigenous community or an immigrant
is an innovator that group those group
lack a certain kind of resource
magnetism that is extremely important
for them to be able to excel in the
innovation economy the other
conversation that we don’t often have
around innovation and inclusive
innovation and reading communities and
innovation deserts is policy
alright so often we immediately go to we
need to do coding training and we need
to find jobs and we’re not looking at it
from a top-down approach oftentimes this
activity is bottom-up right grassroots
organizations working really hard and
both of those have to be able to meet in
the middle and provide some policy
redirect redirecting funds and resources
working with Community Redevelopment
agencies to be able to build these
spaces house this kind of programming
and foster the innovation we’ve been
fortunate enough in Miami to be able to
be funded by the knight foundation to do
this work
Miami was an innovation desert four
years ago when we first started
especially as it relates to the African
American Caribbean and the low income
Hispanic community most people think
about Miami as this bustling area it’s
one of the leading or arm cities when
you talk about entrepreneurial growth
but as 13 targeted urban areas that were
innovation deserts and we have to do
something about that and it starts with
policy it also starts with creating
asset Maps right so there’s all these
resources that currently exist in cities
that people are disconnected from
because they don’t know how to navigate
that so the strength of a community when
you’re truly committed to making sure
that your innovation and your resources
and those opportunities are spread
across everyone in your community it has
to it has to have an asset map for
specific groups that allows them to
easily map out their mobility within
that space they should understand how to
go from the idea
to success and be able to map that out
with the resources that make sense for
them VC and residents or residents
programs this is something that we
launched to solve a major problem with
the entrepreneurs that we were working
with is around funding and not having
access to funding for minority
entrepreneurs and not just the funding
pools but most VCS aren’t meeting with
you unless someone that they know and
trust introduces you and so what happens
if you don’t even have that person to
introduce you to that person you’re
completely disconnected from the funding
in our organization in our office we
always joke around and say what if your
friends and family can only give you a
round of applause and not a round of
funding right what do you do but the
same thing happens with your community
right and we can’t joke about that what
if your community can only give you a
round of applause to say good job good
luck you may not have all the resources
but we expect you to succeed just the
same and so we have to challenge our
communities that we live in to be more
supportive and provide wraparound
services for our entrepreneurs and not
just minority entrepreneurs but rural
areas as well because they are
disconnected from the innovation economy
innovation funds there are some
communities across the United States
that do a really good job of that you
think of Ohio with the jump start fund
you think of Detroit with investing Troy
you think of what’s going on in Atlanta
but I have to admit even where I live
there’s not an Innovation Fund for
high-growth minority companies in the
tech space or launching startups and
that’s a problem and we can do a much
greater job if we want to build and
foster innovative companies they need
funding they need the luxury to be able
to innovate they need to make sure that
basic Maslow’s needs are met so that
they can actually innovate that takes
time that takes money that takes
resources and that takes a really true
commitment another thing that we can do
when we talk about government local
state and federal and we talk about
organizations and most importantly we
talk about how major
corporations and our communities can
play a major role outside of funding
from angel and VC funding and innovation
funds our procurement opportunities
right the best thing that a business can
have in a start-up can have is customers
right and contracts and this is an
easier pulse of time than creating an
Innovation Fund and this is something
that we can definitely do on a local
level to make sure that those contracts
are there make sure that we’re matching
budding startup founders with
opportunities within these corporations
value is another thing and one of the
most important things that we have to
understand we have to increase the way
that our marginalized communities are
valued within the innovation economy and
at the same time add value to the
innovation economy to me this is one of
the bottom line issues with the
innovation deserts that we have is we
don’t value these people as concert
contributors within this space we don’t
understand the long history that
marginalized groups have had as
innovators and solving problems out of
necessity my family’s from Jamaica my
mom’s from Jamaica and in Jamaica we
have something called the Judah taxi
right and the Judah taxi you pay about
two dollars to go from point A to point
B a ton of people pile into these vans
right safety is kind of completely out
the window but that’s another story in
Miami in the Little Haiti area we have
something called the jitney taxi the
jitney taxi is 30 years old the utility
of those two companies in Jamaica in the
Caribbean here in the United States one
solving a transportation issue but to
the same utility is no different than
uberpool
right solving a transportation issue
people piling in with strangers paying a
few dollars to go from point A to point
B with the right resources in the
communities with the right deal flow in
the communities it’s not for a lack of
ideas does this guy essentially created
uber pool thirty years ago we can make
sure that we are building communities
that are strong that are innovative
and raise the potential and the capacity
for competitive competitiveness of my
god sir I didn’t get my copy in the
United States if we make sure that we
are ridding communities of innovation
deserts thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
you
[Music]
so twenty six point three million
Americans live in food deserts and
almost double that over fifty million
Americans live economically distress
meaning that they’re disconnected from
the innovation economy and this boom
that we’re having in the United States I
know about food deserts firsthand
because for seven years I was the chief
popsicle of feverish ice cream and
gourmet pops a company that I founded
with my awesome and really cute husband
after falling now chasing an ice cream
truck in heels
so how careful I was coming down those
steps right who does that
but me providing and manufacturing
healthy treats and bringing those two
neighborhoods and people that are
disconnected from food deserts
vegan-friendly popsicles and I won’t
take too much time talking about them
but every now and then we’d put a little
alcohol in those pops right I now work
as a co-founder and executive director
of code fever in Miami and the founder
and co-founder co-founder of Black Tech
Week with my husband and we are on a
mission to rid our communities across
the United States of innovation deserts
50 million people in the United States
are disconnected from the innovation
economy what can we do about that what
should we do about that I used to play
basketball I played basketball for a
pretty long time you can tell by my
height a little bit right I got a job in
the WNBA as a marketing manager in the
minister for the Minnesota Lynx I never
actually like I know go Minnesota right
I never actually made it to the leagues
but because I was able to work for them
and Mark and I’d take that as like a win
right like I feel like I got drafted in
some sort of way but my high school
basketball coach would always say you’re
only as strong as your weakest player
and our communities
our cities our blocks our neighborhoods
our countries are only as strong as our
weakest people and so what can each and
every one of us do to rid our
communities of innovation deserts
through the work that we’ve done with
black tech week a national convening
base in Miami that brings people of
color from all over the globe to Miami
to celebrate innovators of color but
most importantly connect them to the
resources so they can be active
participants and financial beneficiaries
of the innovation economy through our
study the economic development and the
inclusive and innovation report that
we’ve done with our organization we’ve
come up with a few key things that we
think are important when we talk about
innovating and ridding our communities
of innovation deserts the first thing is
innovation hubs and co-working spaces in
these communities that are disconnected
that I don’t like to deem impoverished
communities but lo opportunities
communities we know these collision
points and what they can provide to
these communities as a catalyst for
innovative conversation but most
importantly innovative activity it’s
disheartening that if you want to be an
active participant and be involved in
tech get tech training advance your
career opportunities be an active
participant in the innovation economy
and not as a service worker right
driving a car or delivering food but as
an active participant that you have to
leave your home you have to leave your
neighborhood you have to leave your
block and none of these resources are
with arms reach that’s a problem and
that’s a problem that I definitely want
us to fix but it starts with having
these places and these convening places
and these innovation hubs within our
communities where this kind of activity
takes place on an ongoing basis then it
allows us to thrive it also starts with
changing the narrative of what
innovation is or who an innovator is
there’s kind of a stereotypical mold of
what we think an innovator is
and that’s a problem because if we don’t
think that someone that looks like me
right or a woman or someone from the
LGBTQ communities right or someone from
an indigenous community or an immigrant
is an innovator that group those group
lack a certain kind of resource
magnetism that is extremely important
for them to be able to excel in the
innovation economy the other
conversation that we don’t often have
around innovation and inclusive
innovation and reading communities and
innovation deserts is policy
alright so often we immediately go to we
need to do coding training and we need
to find jobs and we’re not looking at it
from a top-down approach oftentimes this
activity is bottom-up right grassroots
organizations working really hard and
both of those have to be able to meet in
the middle and provide some policy
redirect redirecting funds and resources
working with Community Redevelopment
agencies to be able to build these
spaces house this kind of programming
and foster the innovation we’ve been
fortunate enough in Miami to be able to
be funded by the knight foundation to do
this work
Miami was an innovation desert four
years ago when we first started
especially as it relates to the African
American Caribbean and the low income
Hispanic community most people think
about Miami as this bustling area it’s
one of the leading or arm cities when
you talk about entrepreneurial growth
but as 13 targeted urban areas that were
innovation deserts and we have to do
something about that and it starts with
policy it also starts with creating
asset Maps right so there’s all these
resources that currently exist in cities
that people are disconnected from
because they don’t know how to navigate
that so the strength of a community when
you’re truly committed to making sure
that your innovation and your resources
and those opportunities are spread
across everyone in your community it has
to it has to have an asset map for
specific groups that allows them to
easily map out their mobility within
that space they should understand how to
go from the idea
to success and be able to map that out
with the resources that make sense for
them VC and residents or residents
programs this is something that we
launched to solve a major problem with
the entrepreneurs that we were working
with is around funding and not having
access to funding for minority
entrepreneurs and not just the funding
pools but most VCS aren’t meeting with
you unless someone that they know and
trust introduces you and so what happens
if you don’t even have that person to
introduce you to that person you’re
completely disconnected from the funding
in our organization in our office we
always joke around and say what if your
friends and family can only give you a
round of applause and not a round of
funding right what do you do but the
same thing happens with your community
right and we can’t joke about that what
if your community can only give you a
round of applause to say good job good
luck you may not have all the resources
but we expect you to succeed just the
same and so we have to challenge our
communities that we live in to be more
supportive and provide wraparound
services for our entrepreneurs and not
just minority entrepreneurs but rural
areas as well because they are
disconnected from the innovation economy
innovation funds there are some
communities across the United States
that do a really good job of that you
think of Ohio with the jump start fund
you think of Detroit with investing Troy
you think of what’s going on in Atlanta
but I have to admit even where I live
there’s not an Innovation Fund for
high-growth minority companies in the
tech space or launching startups and
that’s a problem and we can do a much
greater job if we want to build and
foster innovative companies they need
funding they need the luxury to be able
to innovate they need to make sure that
basic Maslow’s needs are met so that
they can actually innovate that takes
time that takes money that takes
resources and that takes a really true
commitment another thing that we can do
when we talk about government local
state and federal and we talk about
organizations and most importantly we
talk about how major
corporations and our communities can
play a major role outside of funding
from angel and VC funding and innovation
funds our procurement opportunities
right the best thing that a business can
have in a start-up can have is customers
right and contracts and this is an
easier pulse of time than creating an
Innovation Fund and this is something
that we can definitely do on a local
level to make sure that those contracts
are there make sure that we’re matching
budding startup founders with
opportunities within these corporations
value is another thing and one of the
most important things that we have to
understand we have to increase the way
that our marginalized communities are
valued within the innovation economy and
at the same time add value to the
innovation economy to me this is one of
the bottom line issues with the
innovation deserts that we have is we
don’t value these people as concert
contributors within this space we don’t
understand the long history that
marginalized groups have had as
innovators and solving problems out of
necessity my family’s from Jamaica my
mom’s from Jamaica and in Jamaica we
have something called the Judah taxi
right and the Judah taxi you pay about
two dollars to go from point A to point
B a ton of people pile into these vans
right safety is kind of completely out
the window but that’s another story in
Miami in the Little Haiti area we have
something called the jitney taxi the
jitney taxi is 30 years old the utility
of those two companies in Jamaica in the
Caribbean here in the United States one
solving a transportation issue but to
the same utility is no different than
uberpool
right solving a transportation issue
people piling in with strangers paying a
few dollars to go from point A to point
B with the right resources in the
communities with the right deal flow in
the communities it’s not for a lack of
ideas does this guy essentially created
uber pool thirty years ago we can make
sure that we are building communities
that are strong that are innovative
and raise the potential and the capacity
for competitive competitiveness of my
god sir I didn’t get my copy in the
United States if we make sure that we
are ridding communities of innovation
deserts thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
you
[Music]
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