February is Black History Month. It’s a month where we typically honor those from the past who have made an impact on American culture for equal rights, those who have invented, those who have a helped others and those who have inspired everyone to be the best they can be. 28 Innovate applies a new twist by highlighting innovators and difference makers who are making an impact – and changing history – today.
Follow us on Twitter and friend us on Facebook to be notified when we announce the daily profile. 28 Innovate is a lead-in to the Top Ten Black Innovators of 2012 Awards. The winners will be announced on March 1st.
FEBRUARY 1 \\ SIAN MORSON
is the CEO & Founder of Kollective Moile – a mobile development agency in Oakland, CA. Morson came to technology early via the Commodore Vic 20 but spent her early years being more creative than technical. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the arts, Sian fuses art with technology to create video and interactive art pieces. These days she spends her time working on innovative mobile products via Kollective Mobile and speaking at conferences on mobile technology and connected devices.
FEBRUARY 2 \\ KIMBERLY BRYANT
is a Biotechnology/Engineering professional who has spent the last decade in the Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical, and Manufacturing industry. Kimberly founded Black Girls Code in April, 2011 to meet the needs of young women of color who are underrepresented in the currently exploding field of technology. The program focuses on introducing girls of color between the ages of 7 and 17 to the field of digital technology and computer programming with a focus on emerging entrepreneurial concepts. In August of 2012, Kimberly Bryant was awarded the prestigious Jefferson Award for Community Service for her work to support communities in the Bay Area with Black Girls Code.
FEBRUARY 3 \\ JAMES ANDREWS
is a U.S.-based entrepreneur with a huge passion and focus around digital culture, online communications and transmedia content. When he is not managing a client’s vision for social media, lecturing at a university, or appearing on tv or radio, Andrews spends his time gaining a deeper understanding of global consumer trends. Don’t be surprised to see him in your city judging a hackathon, DJing a great party or appearing on your local morning radio show talking social media and technology.
FEBRUARY 4 \\ FELECIA HATCHER
is a thought provoking social entrepreneur, author and speaker. Felecia has dedicated her life to inspiring a new generation of leaders through her conversational talks on Entrepreneurship, College Funding and Personal Branding.
Hatcher has been honored by the White House as one of the Top 100 Entrepreneurs under 30, Featured on the NBC Today Show-Young African American’s Making History, a TEDx a and White House Young America presenter and featured on the Food Network, Inc.com, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Essence Magazine and Black Enterprise.
FEBRUARY 5 \\ ORY OKOLLOH
is the Policy Manager, Africa for Google. She is a co-founder of Ushahidi and served as the organization’s Executive Director from inception until December 2010. Ory is also the co-founder of Mzalendo, a website that tracks the performance of Kenyan Members of Parliament.
Ms. Okolloh graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh, and with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She was previously a summer associate in Covington and Burling, Washington DC and a Chayes Fellow at the World Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity.
FEBRUARY 6 \\ ANTHONY FRASIER
is a native of Newark, NJ. Former cofounder of mobile startup Playd, and award winning gaming site TheKoalition.com. Anthony was also profiled on the hit documentary Black in America: The New Promised Land – Silicon Valley, which has received over 1 million viewers. CNN Money profiled him as being one of 8 minorities diversifying the tech scene. Anthony was listed on NBC The Grio’s 100: Making History Today list for his acclaimed work. Currently working on building up the Newark, NJ tech scene and a new tech startup.
FEBRUARY 7 \\ BARATUNDE THURSTON
is a politically-active, technology- loving comedian from the future. He co-founded the black political blog, Jack and Jill Politics and served as Director of Digital for The Onion before launching the comedy/technology startup Cultivated Wit. Then- candidate Barack Obama called him “someone I need to know.” Baratunde travels the world speaking and advising and performs standup regularly in NYC. He resides in Brooklyn, lives on Twitter and has over 30 years experience being black. He writes the monthly backpage column for Fast Company, and his first book, How To Be Black, is a New York Times best-seller.
FEBRUARY 8 \\ LISA NICOLE BELL
is a media entrepreneur, executive producer, international speaker, and on air personality. She creatively blends media and commerce to achieve her mission of moving the social and economic progress agendas forward. Working at the intersection of entertainment, technology, and social change, Lisa is the founder and CEO of Inspired Life Media Group where she and her team conceive, develop, produce, and manage a slate of premium original content and multimedia properties that offer a blend of entertainment and enrichment. With a passionate interest in creating positive ripples, Lisa is a noted advocate of entrepreneurship and women’s issues.
FEBRUARY 9 \\ WILL LUCAS
is one of the few young African-American TEDx organizers in the United States, running TEDxToledo. As founder and CEO of Classana, an online lifestyle resource directory, his passion for curating his own TEDx event developed out of a desire to help inspire his midwestern town, renowned for its manufacturing and automotive industries, to take advantage of the rapid growth in STEM-based opportunities.
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FEBRUARY 10 \\ MELISSA HARRIS PERRY
is a professor of political science at Tulane University, where she is founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, and Politics in the South. She previously served on the faculties of the University of Chicago and Princeton University.
Harris-Perry is author of the well received book, Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America (Yale 2011) which argues that persistent harmful stereotypes-invisible to many but painfully familiar to black women-profoundly shape black women’s politics, contribute to policies that treat them unfairly, and make it difficult for black women to assert their rights in the political arena.
FEBRUARY 10 \\ W. KAMAU BELL
is one of the fastest rising socio-political comics in the United States. This summer he will star in his own weekly half-hour series on FX, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, executive produced by Chris Rock and premiering August 9th at 11:00 PM.
A founding member of the stand-up comedy collective “Laughter Against the Machine,” Kamau is also co-host of The Field Negro Guide to Arts & Culture podcast with Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid. Praised by Punchline Magazine as “one of our nation’s most adept racial commentators with a blistering wit,” Kamau has been voted San Francisco’s best comedian by the SF Weekly, the SF Bay Guardian, and 7×7 Magazine.
FEBRUARY 12 \\ MAE JEMISON
in 1992, was the first African-American woman to go into space. She’s become a crusader for science education — and for a new vision of learning that combines arts and sciences, intuition and logic.
In 1994, Jemison founded the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, which runs an internationally-known science camp called The Earth We Share. She also founded BioSentient Corp. to explore bringing NASA biofeedback technology to public market. Jemison is also the first real astronaut to appear on Star Trek.
FEBRUARY 13 \\ ANDRE WOOLERY
is a brilliant artist best known for creating amazing celebrity portraits from different color thumbtacks. He previously worked on a more typical medium of oil painting art. But after wanting to create something a little more different and a little more unique, Woolery first tried making art out of Froot Loops. He found that the vibrant colors of the cereal could make a pretty accurate portrait.
But as far as durability, these fun and edible art just wouldn’t do. Luckily for us Woolery moved away from Toucan Sam when he found a mixed color pack of thumbtacks. The rest is history! His most popular portraits are of Jay-Z, Kanye West, Jimmy Hendrix and President Obama.
FEBRUARY 14 \\ ERIN MCKINNEY
serves as the president and executive director of the National Association of Multicultural Digital Entrepreneurs (NAMDE). She has a deep passion for emerging technology and diversity. For the past years, McKinney has been heavily involved in helping women and minorities have a more active role in the entrepreneur space.
A graduate researcher at Howard University, McKinney studied the participation of women and minority entrepreneurs in the innovation economy. Along with a background in non-profit management, telecommunications policy and marketing communications, McKinney has been a strong force in inspiring and supporti
FEBRUARY 15 \\ JON GOSIER
is a tech entrepreneur and the founder of big-data startup MetaLayer, which provides corporate data-analysis and visualization solutions. He is also the founder of Appfrica, a technology consultancy based in East Africa.
In 2012, MetaLayer was honored by winning the Audience Choice Award for best start-up at Strata, the world’s preeminent data conference, where he also gave a keynote speech. Jon has been invited to speak at TED conferences many times about his work in Africa, and will be speaking at the upcoming TEDxOrlando. Not content with his own successes, Jon also hosts a weekly podcast that offers advice to first-time minority entrepreneurs, GosTalk.tv.
FEBRUARY 16 \\ MARCIA TALBERT
is a multimedia content producer focusing on technology at Black Enterprise Magazine. Before joining BlackEnterprise.com as an interactive reporter in 2008, she freelanced with Black Enterprise for several years while working as the technical editor at Prepared Foods magazine. There she further honed her writing skills and became an authority on food ingredients, including ingredients used in food fortification and enrichment. Her freelancing helped keep her stay current on issues pertaining to the financial and business welfare of African Americans.
FEBRUARY 17 \\ HAMET WATT
is a co-founder and Co-CEO of bLife, Inc. and also a co-founder and Chairman of MoviePass, Inc. Previously, Hamet was an entrepreneur-in-residence with True Ventures. As an entrepreneur and company-builder focused on solving large problems. Hamet has brought several successful innovations to market—and frequently advises businesses on their own innovations.
A leader in the Los Angeles entrepreneurial community, Hamet sits on the board of the LA Venture Association and is active with other entrepreneur organizations. He’s frequently been noted in the national press for innovation in media and entrepreneurship, and has been featured in such publications such as Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times and Forbes. Hamet also advises several technology and media companies on marketing ROI and media innovation.
FEBRUARY 18 \\ GLENNETTE CLARK
is the founder Smarter Experiences, an event partnership company. Smarter Experiences produces the always sold-out UXCamp and MobileUX Camp in Washington, D.C.
She uses her years of experience in the user experience and web design realms to help other professionals connect, collaborate and share through the Camps. She is an unwavering advocate for increasing the number of minorities in tech startups and has appeared on stage at the prestigious SXSW festival.
FEBRUARY 19 \\ MALIK DUCARD
is the Director of Content Partnerships at Google where he is in charge of premium film, TV and new media partnerships for YouTube.
Prior to joining YouTube, he served as senior vice president of digital distribution for the Americas at Paramount Pictures and oversaw the distribution of films to online, mobile and digital platforms including iTunes, XBox, Netflix, and a range of mobile, online and device technology partners.
A native of the Bronx, N.Y., Malik earned his B.A. in Film and African-American Studies in 1995 from Columbia University and his MBA in 2000 from the University of California, Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management.
FEBRUARY 20 \\ HEATHER HILES
is the CEO and Founder of Pathbrite. Her leadership experience spans over 15 years, during which she has founded and led several private and public sector organizations.
Her roster of leadership roles includes being the former Commissioner of San Francisco Unified School District, Executive Director of Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2), CEO of Hiles Group (a philanthropy consultancy firm), Co-Founder of EARN (Individual Development Accounts program), CEO – SFWorks (NGO to place women from welfare into careers) and COO – Break the Cycle (K-3rd grade tutorial program). Heather currently serves on the board of Leadership Public Schools; Social Venture Network; and three startup companies.
When Heather is not involved with Pathbrite (which doesn’t happen very often) she likes to spend time with her family and three dogs in Oakland, gardening and playing basketball. Heather received her B.A. from UC Berkeley and her MBA from Yale University.
FEBRUARY 21 \\ VICTORIA WALKER
at the ripe old age of 11, has come up with a clever mobile app that discourages people from texting while driving. The app, called ‘Rode Dog’, received the help from David Grau, the creative director and designer at the interactive agency WLDG.
Rode Dog allows users to invite friends and family members into groups referred to as ‘packs’ and the GPS coordinate of each member is shared at all times. Once the app detects that a user is driving and texting at the same time, an alert would be sent to the other members. Others in the same pack can send ‘barking’ sounds to the driver to remind him/her to stop texting.
The app was created as part of AT&T’s ‘It Can Wait’ hackathon and has already received $20,000 in funding to help develop the app further.
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FEBRUARY 22 \\ KATHRYN FINNEY
is an author, tech entrepreneur, Television Correspondent, blogger, is best known as one of the first fashion and shopping bloggers for her blog, The Budget Fashionista.
Kathryn was named in 2010, along with Maria Shriver, Elizabeth Warren, and Suze Orman, as one of the Top Ten Women in Money by AOL. Her site, The Budget Fashionista, was named by MSN as one of the 100 most useful sites on the web.
In 2011, Kathryn accepted a position with BlogHer, a global media media representing over 40 million women, as Editor-at-Large.
Kathryn is also the founder of digitalundivided, a company that develops programs, projects and forward thinking initiatives that bridge the digital divide. The FOCUS100 Symposium and Pitch BootCamp is DID’s first initiatives. Kathryn’s work in the area of tech entrepreneurship has been recognized by several mainstream press outlets.
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FEBRUARY 23 \\ STEVE STOUTE
is the founder and chief executive officer of leading brand-marketing firm Translation. His track record as a consumer brand marketer for Fortune 500 companies makes him one of today’s most influential voices in entertainment marketing and pop culture.
With a diverse client roster that includes brands such as McDonald’s, State Farm, Target, Estee Lauder, Budweiser, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co, Microsoft, Coke Cola, and Lady Gaga, Mr. Stoute continues to revolutionize the way blue chip marketers and superstar artists connect with consumers.
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FEBRUARY 24 \\ NAVARROW WRIGHT
is the founder and chief executive officer of leading brand-marketing firm Translation. His track record as a consumer brand marketer for Fortune 500 companies makes him one of today’s most influential voices in entertainment marketing and pop culture.
With a diverse client roster that includes brands such as McDonald’s, State Farm, Target, Estee Lauder, Budweiser, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co, Microsoft, Coke Cola, and Lady Gaga, Mr. Stoute continues to revolutionize the way blue chip marketers and superstar artists connect with consumers.
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FEBRUARY 25 \\ KATRINA MILES
As co-founder and the Chief Strategic Officer at Roscoe Labs, Katrina lives a fast-paced day, every day. Roscoe.tv is a mobile television news app designed to bring casual and professional reporters together, on the same platform, to report and distribute local news.
Leveraging the low ratings that traditional televised news programs are experiencing, Miles is making certain that additional perspectives are offered. “Ultimately, I believe Roscoe.tv will cause us to redefine what it means to be a casual or professional journalist, and hopefully, change the way we communicate and use technology,” stated Miles.
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FEBRUARY 26 \\VICTOR ABI JAOUDI II
Victor has served as the Chief Operating Officer of Incoming, Inc. from July 23, 2010 to October 5, 2011 and also served as its President until October 5, 2011.
Mr. AbiJaoudi was the Founder of Reset Creative, Inc. and served as its Brand Manager from 2008 to July 2010. He served as an Engineer and Project Manager of Bad Boy Entertainment Worldwide from 2005 to 2008. He founded TradeMark Entertainment, LLC and served as its Chief Executive Officer from 2002 to 2008. He founded shao.studios, Inc. and served as its Chief Executive Officer from 2002 to 2005. He started his entrepreneurial career with a new media design company providing a range of creative services. He started an entertainment company, managing production schedules, where he served as a Liaison between Mr. Combs and high level executives.
Additional entertainment clients include Jay-Z, The Game, Lil Kim, Brandy and many others. He served as a Director of Incoming Inc. from July 23, 2010 to August 9, 2012. Mr. AbiJaoudi graduated in 2003 from Duke University with a degree in Economics.
FEBRUARY 27 \\ AVA DUVERNAY
is an American filmmaker, marketer and film distributor.
At the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, DuVernay became the first African-American woman to win the Best Director Prize for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere.
FEBRUARY 28 \\ B. BONIN BOUGH
is Vice President of Global Media and Consumer Engagement at Mondelēz International. In this role, Bough is responsible for all forms of media, including leading and developing the partnerships, internal capabilities and strategies across all forms of consumer connections, including digital, TV, print and outdoors. Most recently, Bough was recognized as one of business’ hottest rising stars in Fortune’s 2011 “40 under 40” list, as well as Fast Company’s 2011 100 Most Creative People in Business and Ebony’s Power 100 list.
Prior to joining Mondelēz International, Bonin spent three and a half years at PepsiCo where he oversaw company-wide digital strategy and the implementation of social media tools across PepsiCo’s portfolio of food and beverage brands. Bough was instrumental in integrating digital media into PepsiCo’s overall brand vision and growth strategy, helping to make them one of the most innovative companies in the world as recognized by Fast Company in their 2011 “Most Innovative Companies” issue. He is credited with bringing PepsiCo to SXSW and helping launch the groundbreaking PepsiCo10 and Pepsi Refresh programs, as well as creating Gatorade Mission Control and the Women’s Inspiration Network.Read more »
