EdUp Edge STEM

Whitney Lubin is a technologist, serial entrepreneur, ecosystem builder, and a 2019 Code for America Fellow.

After a trip to Oakland to attend AfroTech in 2019, she decided Haitians in the diaspora needed a space to locate and network with incredible tech talent. So Feb 2020 @HaitianinTech was launched.

HaitiansInTech quickly grew from a simple email list, into a clubhouse room, before becoming a fiscally sponsored nonprofit initiative to build tech talent in the Little Haiti community.

With the support of local community partners like @KnightFoundation and @centerforblackinnovation, she’s excited about the opportunity help other aspiring Haitian technologists make a successful transition into tech careers as the 4th industrial Revolution and Web 3.0 shake up the future of work.

In this episode, Whitney shares details about her personal journey and the awesome work she's doing as a Black woman in tech. 

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Jay Flores is founder of Invent The Change LLC.  Jay knows just how important STEM is to the future of the world and he’s spreading the word through his energizing presentations and outreach to schools, community groups and industry experts.  He is masterful in connecting STEM to everyday life and motivating students to become tomorrow’s innovators.  Jay is as a member of Discovery Education’s Mystery Science Team and a Global STEM Ambassador who holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  The power of STEM, Jay advocates, can help young girls and boys become super heroes, solve big (and little) problems and contribute their best ideas to improve our planet.  Jay currently lives in the Miami area. 

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Derrick is Founder/Chief Executive Officer at CourMed®.  In addition, Mr. Miles is Chairman + Founder of TMB Equity Partners (executive team are former healthcare executives with 15+ years of experience); a boutique firm focused on investing/developing innovative healthcare solutions that achieve a liquidity event within five years.  Derrick is also a multiple patented inventor.  Mr. Miles received both an MSHA (#1 Program in the country) and MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He also holds a BS in Medical Technology (minor in Chemistry) from Bethune-Cookman University. Mr. Miles received a certificate in Lean Healthcare from the University of Michigan and is enrolled at Stanford University working towards a professional certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

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Arthur Mitchell is the Executive Director for the STEM Equity Alliance (STEM EA), a nonprofit dedicated to three goals: creating systems whereby STEM subjects are taught using culturally responsive approaches; increasing the diversity of STEM educators; and creating a more durable STEM pipeline for groups which are underrepresented in STEM career fields. Through the STEM EA he provides clients and partners key strategic direction and leadership development in systems change aligned to cultural proficiency and equity goals. STEM EA has partnered with the PA Department of Education to create a statewide network to increase STEM teacher diversity through the creation of school district and higher education strategic planning and action teams. He also serves as a technical advisor for equity for the Washington STEM and Washington LASER networks where he has helped them refine their strategic plan to intentionally center on equity and helped to build the capacity of their regional networks. Arthur is also the inaugural STEM Equity Fellow for the Philadelphia Regional Institute for STEM Educators (PRISE). In addition to his work with at STEM EA, he is a co-founder of the National Institute for Inclusive Competitiveness (NIIC), a national hub of strategists playing a critical role creating the regional economic infrastructures needed to increase asset ownership, entrepreneurship, and productivity for America’s Most Vulnerable Populations. The NIIC’s mission is to accelerate economic productivity in targeted vulnerable communities in partnership with HBCU and regional economies. Through the NIIC Arthur leads a collaboration with the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) where they developed and manage the Takeda STEM HBCU Innovation, Industry, and Immersion (I3) program, sponsored by Takeda Pharmaceuticals. I3 is a pipeline to the doctorate program for STEM students from HBCUs.

Arthur has served in K-12 education for almost 30 years, working in the most impoverished urban and the most affluent suburban districts in the Mid-Atlantic region as a teacher and administrator. He has held positions of influence in a variety of institutions in the directing county and state level activities tasked with improving STEM curriculum and instruction, designing robust professional development systems, fostering innovation, and securing industry and higher education partnerships.

He is a graduate of Howard University (Microbiology), Temple University (Science Education) and Gwynedd Mercy University (K-12 Administration).

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Dominic Vogel is the Founder & Chief Strategist at CyberSC.  Dominic holds a proven track record within cyber security across multitude of industries (financial services, logistics, transportation, healthcare, government, telecommunications, and critical infrastructure). He actively participates in the Vancouver security community and is a well-respected cyber security expert for appearing on media news outlets across North America and Internationally on BBC World News. Dominic is highly regarded as a cyber security thought leader and was recently appointed to the BC Provincial Cyber Security Advisory Committee!

Dominic focuses much of his energy on providing strategic security leadership to technology start-ups and small/midsize businesses to proactively solve their cyber risk challenges. He strives to provide practical cyber security advice to his clients and actively turning the security consulting world upside down.

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Aliya Aaron is the Founder of Nursing Innovation Hub, Inc. (NIHUB), a healthcare technology business accelerator established in 2019 to support entrepreneurs and aspiring innovators building for the future of health.  Aliya is also the Founder of AMR Healthcare Consulting, LLC (AMR), a boutique healthcare technology consulting firm providing IT management, software development, telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and EHR implementation services since 2010.  She is the co-founder of Center For Health Tech, Research, Innovation & Policy (CHTRIP), a non-profit service, research, and education center based in Miami, focused on promoting improved access to public health services for underserved communities through technology-enabled health solutions.  Aliya has been featured in Fox News, CBS, NBC, Today's Purpose Woman, Women in Tech Review, Med Tech Outlook, Journal of Nursing Informatics and International Archives of Nursing and Health Care.  She earned her Master of Science in Health Systems Management from George Mason University, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Winston-Salem State University, an HBCU.  

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Bilal Issifou is the Founder and CEO at UNCHAINEDINC., a tech based startup company with a social professional platform that helps students who attend historically Black colleges and universities obtain employment and career development opportunities, while helping corporations find top diverse talent.  Bilal earned his Bachelor's degree in only 3 years from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and is a high performance oriented individual who is passionate about creating opportunities for under-served populations and through UNCHAINEDINC he is on track to strengthen the HBCU to corporation pipeline while also making Diversity, Equity and Inclusion the standard for recruiting as a whole.   

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Kendrick Trotter is the CEO and Founder of Us In Technology, a company and DEI partner on a mission to diversify the technology industry by helping their partners attract, retain and develop diverse talent.  Kendrick shares more about his important work and background as a Division 1 student athlete and how this experience has helped him have success in business and technology.  From earning a full Division 1 athletic scholarship and playing for the University of Idaho, to working in cybersecurity, to becoming a tech entrepreneur and founder, Kendrick shares his journey and how you can support his awesome work!    

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Beau McCoy is CEO & Founder of SOLcademy - a new short-format educational video platform. He is on a mission to improve the quality and availability of learning. He went to Dartmouth College and worked as a software engineer before discovering his true passion for education. He was the first sales leader of GoGuardian, a very successful EdTech startup. He's evangelizing personalized and adaptive learning to achieve his goal of Equity for ALL scholars. Learn more about his important work, how he got started and future plans for SOLcadedmy!  

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Dr. Kilan C. Ashad-Bishop (she/her) is a biomedical scientist and advocate for inclusion who has carved her niche at the intersection of science, health, and social change. She is a proud alumna of Morgan State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology, and the University of Miami, where she earned her Ph.D. in Cancer Biology. Kilan is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Miami and the Inaugural Director of the First Star National STEAM Academy. Her professional experience spans academic research, policy, and the nonprofit and private sectors, but her goal remains to improve the health and well-being of communities of color.

Kilan is an outspoken advocate for equity and inclusion in health, science and society and the responsibility of science (and scientists) to advance positive social change. She is a regular volunteer and advisor to various K-12 and collegiate STEM programs designed to mentor, uplift, and support the next generation of scientists.