>>> IF I TOLD YOU BLACK WOMEN

ARE THE FASTEST GROWING GROUP OF

ENTREPRENEURS IN THE UNITED

STATES, WOULD YOU BELIEVE ME?

WELL, GUESS WHAT?

IT'S TRUE.

THE NUMBER OF BUSINESSES OWNED

BY AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN HAS

GROWN BY 322% SINCE 1997.

THIS YEAR, BETWEEN BLACK HISTORY

MONTH AND THE BEGINNING OF

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH, WOMEN OF

COLOR UNITED AT THE ANNUAL BLACK

WOMEN TALK TECH CONFERENCE.

WITH THE SPOTLIGHT ON BLACK

FEMALE FOUNDERS IN TECH, THE

TWO-DAY CONFERENCE FOCUSED ON

PROMOTING BLACK GIRL MAGIC IN AN

INDUSTRY LED BY PREDOMINANTLY

WHITE MALES.

THEIR GOAL?

TO HELP WOMEN BUILD THE NEXT

BILLION DOLLAR COMPANY.

SO WAS IT A SUCCESS?

OUR ONGOING CHASING THE DREAM

INITIATIVE, POVERTY IN AMERICA

TAKES US TO THE CONFERENCE FOR A

LOOK AT HOW WOMEN OF COLOR ARE

SHAKING UP THE INDUSTRY ONE

START UP AT A TIME.

JOINING ME NOW IS ONE OF THE

FOUNDERS OF THE CONFERENCE AND

FOUNDER OF JEANNIE BOTS.

WELCOME TO BOTH OF YOU.

>> THANK YOU.

>> FIRST TELL ME ABOUT THE

CONFERENCE YOU WERE AT, WHAT

MADE THIS SO UNIQUE AND SPECIAL?

>> I THINK THE BIGGEST THING

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE IS THAT IT

WAS REALLY THE SECOND TIME EVER

AND THE FIRST TIME WAS FLASHIER

WHEN WE DID THIS, THAT WE EVER

HAD BLACK WOMEN TECH FOUNDERS

ALL IN ONE ROOM, THAT'S NEVER

HAPPENED BEFORE, ARE IT?

>> AND JUST SO WE'RE CLEAR, HOW

BIG OF A ROOM WAS THIS?

WAS THIS LIKE A FULL ROOM?

>> YEAH, YEAH ACTUALLY.

WE HAVE AN ACTUAL SCREENING

PROCESS OF WHERE WE VET THE BEST

ENTREPRENEURS AT THE RIGHT STAGE

WHO ARE DOING THEIR BUSINESSES

FULL-TIME TO JOIN US.

AND WE HAD OVER 300 PEOPLE IN

THE ROOM AND OVER -- SO MANY

PEOPLE WE COULDN'T FIT BECAUSE

OF THE SPACE CAPACITY.

SO WE OUTGREW IT AGAIN, SO IT

JUST GOES TO SHOW HOW MANY BLACK

WOMEN ARE WORKING ON AMAZING

GAME CHANGING COMPANIES THAT

MOST PEOPLE DON'T EVEN HEAR

ABOUT.

>> CHINA, TELL US ABOUT SOME OF

THESE COMPANIES THAT WOMEN ARE

STARTING AND I ASSUME BLACK

WOMEN ARE SUPPORTING, BUT MAY

NOT BE GETTING THE ATTENTION

THAT OTHER COMPANIES DO.

>> BLACK WOMEN ARE STARTING SO

MANY COMPANIES IN SO MANY

DIFFERENT STAPACES, AR, TECH, S

WE ARE STARTING COMPANIES ACROSS

THE GLOBE IN ALL SPACES.

ONE THING THAT PEOPLE THINK THAT

YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO IN

ORDER TO START A TECH COMPANY IS

KNOW HOW TO CODE, BUT MANY OF US

ARE FOUNDERS WHO EITHER START

TECH ENABLED COMPANIES OR WE ARE

THE BUSINESS END AND BOTH OF US,

WE'RE NOT CODERS, BUT WE BOTH

HAVE TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES.

SO YOU CAN BE IN THE TECH SPACE

IF YOU HAVE BUSINESS ACUMEN, IF

YOU KNOW MARKETING.

YOU DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO

KNOW HOW TO CODE IN ORDER TO BE

IN THE SPACE.

>> ONE OF THE THINGS I WANT TO

LET YOU TOUCH ON THAT AS WELL.

BUT VERY QUICKLY ONE OF THE

THINGS I DO WANT TO SORT OF GET

TO IS WHAT IS IT THAT BLACK

WOMEN BRING TO THE BUSINESS

WORLD, TO THE TECH SPACE THAT

OTHER GROUPS MIGHT NOT BE

BRINGING TO, IS IT CERTAIN

SERVICES OR WHAT IS IT THAT'S

DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE?

THE.

>> IT'S AMAZING, BECAUSE BLACK

WOMEN HAVE SUCH A UNIQUE LENS

AND OPPORTUNITY OUT THERE TO

KIND OF SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS AND

ONE OF THE BIGGEST THING I THINK

IS PEOPLE FORGET, WHEN YOU'RE A

PERSON OF COLOR, THAT'S ONE PART

OF IT, AND THEN YOU'RE ALSO

FEMALE, THAT'S ANOTHER PART OF

IT.

SO THE INTERSECTIONALITY OF BOTH

IS VIEWING IT THROUGH A LENS.

AND TECHNOLOGY IS ONE OF THE

WAYS TO ENABLE THAT.

SO WE HAVE TONS OF FOUNDERS

CREATING AND SOLVING SOME OF THE

BIGGEST PROBLEMS OUT THERE.

LIKE WE HAVE LAST YEAR, FOR OUR

PITCH COMPETITION, ANGEL RICH

SHOWED HOW SHE'S HELPING PEOPLE

IMPROVE THEIR CREDIT SCORES

THROUGH GAMING.

SO SHE HAS A GAME APP THAT

ACTUALLY TEACHES US HOW TO

IMPROVE OUR CREDIT SCORES.

SO PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY GAINING

CREDIT POLITERACY.

>> YOU MAY HAVE AN IDEA FOR A

TECH BUSINESS, BUT YOU DON'T

KNOW WHERE TO GO FROM THERE.

WHERE WOULD YOU GO FROM THERE?

>> GO TO WOMEN TALK TECH, IT

REALLY IS A COMMUNITY.

SO YOUR QUESTION AROUND LIKE

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF BUSINESSES

THAT BLACK WOMEN ARE CREATING?

SO NOT ONLY DO YOU GO AND YOU

LEARN ABOUT DIFFERENT BUSINESSES

THAT BLACK WOMEN ARE CREATING,

BUT THEN WE'RE ON THE PANELS,

RIGHT?

SO WE'RE A SPONSOR, SO IN OUR

CASE, WE BOTH SPONSOR THE

CONFERENCE AND ALSO IT'S ON A

PANEL.

SO BLACK WOMEN TALK TECH IS

REALLY DOING THE ECOSYSTEM SOME

JUSTICE.

LIKE REALLY ENABLING US TO GROW

AND LEARN.

>> IT'S VERY UNIQUE, BECAUSE

BLACK WOMEN TALK TECH IS REALLY

FOR FOUNDERS, IT'S BY FOUNDERS

FOR FOUNDERS.

SO IT HAS A UNIQUE SET OF

QUALIFICATIONS FOR THESE

CONFERENCES, BUT OUTSIDE OF THE

CONFERENCES, WE DO A GREAT DEAL

OF COMMUNITY BUILDING FOR OUR

DIFFERENT LISTENERS AND EVENTS

OUTSIDE TO MAKE SURE WE CONNECT

AND MAKE SURE OUR FOUNDERS ARE

GETTING ACCACCESS.

>> THE MAJORITY OF BLACK WOMEN

TECH FOUNDERS RAISE ONLY AN

AVERAGE OF $36,000 COMPARED TO

$1.5 MILLION, THAT AN AVERAGE

WHITE FOUNDER WOULD RAISE.

SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO KNOW

THESE NUMBERS AND FIGURE OUT HOW

DO WE SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITIES TO

REALLY INVEST IN BLACK WOMEN IN

BUSINESS, AND NOT ONLY BLACK

WOMEN IN BUSINESS, BUT BLACK

WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS.

BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE NEED IN

TERMS OF BUILDING WHAT BLACK

WOMEN IN TECH LOOK LIKE.

>> SO FOR YOU ENTREPRENEURS OUT

THERE WHO MIGHT BE THINKING

ABOUT STARTING A NEW BUSINESS,

THIS IS YOUR VILLAGE.

AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR

JOINING US AND TELLING US ABOUT

BLACK WOMEN TALK TECH.

>> THANK YOU.

>> THANK YOU.

>> THANK YOU.