The Haitian Roundtable (HRT) hosted the New Age of Tech Innovators panel on July 12 at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute. The event, which is a part of HRT’s Haiti Dialogue Series, featured panelists working at the forefront of the technology industry.
“As part of our ongoing Haiti Dialogue Series, the Haitian Roundtable provides access to dynamic influencers from a variety of sectors. Our digital and technology event was designed to highlight the important contributions of Haitian-Americans to this evolving industry and show young professionals how to get your foot in the door at a big tech firm or startup,” said Daphne Leroy, Co-Founder and Vice Chair of the Haitian Roundtable. “By forging meaningful cultural connections at our New Age of Tech Innovators forum, the Haitian Roundtable strives to empower the next generation of leaders to capitalize on the limitless opportunities within the tech community.”
Panelists included, Patricia Cesiare, principal solutions consultant at Content Square; Price-Mars Delly, co-founder of Ideacoil; and Richard Nellhaus, engineering leadership recruiter at Facebook and co-founder of BlackTech Meetup, and was moderated by Kedma Pognon Brown, SVP, Operations and Project Management of Zenith and board chair of Digital Diversity Network.
The program was presented as part of HRT’s ongoing “Haiti Dialogue Series,” a forum that looks to bring together distinguished thought leaders and accomplished practitioners for candid conversations on a range of topics that impacts the Haitian Diaspora. There was also a special guest appearance by Clayton Banks, CEO & Co-Founder Silicon Harlem.
“STEM and digital jobs are increasing more than any other industry. Culturally the inspirational jobs of choice for most first generation kids and immigrants has been to study hard to become a doctor, lawyer, nurse or teacher. Young Haitian professionals need to know that there is a viable and lucrative opportunity in the tech world,” said Brown.
“The HRT Haiti Dialogue Series: New Age of Tech Innovators event provided a platform to have a conversation with an inter-generational group of Haitians about the possibilities in the space – not only from people that looked like them but really smart and experienced professionals that had the same cultural background. Our young people need to be part of the talent pool that is driving the Innovation and Tech economy. They should be encouraged and inspired to know that they can become the next Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Tristen Walker or Angela Benton.”