Christal Jackson had a vision to honor the past, create the present and prepare for the future when she dreamed up her latest Mosaic Genius, Silicon Valley conference “Children of the Dream: The Tech Ecosystem.” The conference focused on bringing much-needed attention to the recognition of the contributions made by Black and Brown people in Silicon Valley. Held Dec. 16-17 at The San Francisco Playhouse, the conference brought together leaders ranging from software experts, founders, tech venture capitalists and many more for an up-close look at the role of inclusion on the tech ecosystem.
“Silicon Valley talks about a diversity issue. Silicon Valley started out diverse because the first co-creator of the PC was a Black man by the name of Dr. Mark Dean. I think what Silicon Valley has to think about is how to have an inclusive ecosystem,” said Jackson. “So, [at this conference] we’re launching our tech platform, which we believe fosters inclusivity. And part of that is we’re believing that the more we can help small business become tech-enabled, then more people can benefit from this entire tech ecosystem,” Jackson went on to say.
“Children of the Dream” was inspired by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and reimagines Silicon Valley through a lens shaped by his values and ideology that are all equal. Day one was held at Impact Hub Oakland and consisted of speakers from Color Farm Media co-founders Ben Arnon and Erika Alexander as well as Nneka Norville, director of corporate social responsibility and communications.
Day two was another impactful day filled with a variety of phenomenal speakers including the son of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Martin Luther King III, senior advisor at Phase 2 Consulting. Other amazing speakers included Lamell McMorris, founder, Phase 2 Consulting; Denise Evans, vice president, women and diverse B2B Marketing, IBM; Ben Hecht, president and CEO Living Cities; Christopher Gray of Shark Tank fame and founder of Scholly, a scholarship resource app that helps students find scholarships; Stephanie Lampkin, founder of Blendoor, an enterprise software that mitigates unconscious bias in hiring; Di-Ann Eisnor, founder of Waze and Director of Urban Systems at Google’s Area 120 and Monique Woodard, angel investor, venture capitalist and early stage investor in tech and newly powerful consumer groups, whose investments include Blavity, Mented Cosmetics and many others.
To find out more information about Mosaic Genius and the types of conferences they produce, please visit https://www.mosaicgenius.com/.
Make sure to scroll through the picture gallery above to get a feel for the type of conference that brought so many people of color together in one space to encourage Silicon’s “New” Tech ecosystem.
