Black Tech Green Money

Yelitsa Jean-Charles is the founder and CEO of Healthy Roots Dolls, which makes toys that represent more diverse backgrounds. A Detroit native, her dolls teach natural hair care to young girls of color through the toys. On this episode, Yelitsa chats with AfroTech's Will Lucas about toys and social impact, acquiring or being acquired, and how startups can secure shelf space in major retail outlets...

NFT has become Collins Dictionary's word of the year for 2021. The technology, which is game-changing for creators has generated much excitement in the world of tech and art, and soon, will be common in mainstream conversation. On this episode, Will Lucas, Brand Manager at AfroTech, host of the Black Tech Green Money podcast and an NFT enthusiast helps to break down the exact steps to creating and...

Rosalyn Gold-Onwude is a sports broadcaster and played college basketball at Stanford and the Nigeria women's national basketball team. She’s also a heavy NFT head, an investor and believer in the future of digital collectibles.  Ros speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas on the AfroTech World 2021 stage, alongside Morgan DeBaun, CEO and Co-Founder at Blavity, about NFTs, digital collectibles, and inve...

Lo is the Founding Managing Partner of Plexo Capital, which is an institutional investment firm he incubated and spun out from GV (Google Ventures). On this episode, Lo talks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about how VCs raise capital, the myth of Silicon Valley, and how legislation keeps would-be Black founders from large wealth-building opportunities. Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @willlucas Lear...

Deshuna Spencer is Founder and CEO at Kweli TV, a streaming platform featuring 500+ undiscovered, award-winning indie films, documentaries, web series & kids shows celebrating global black stories. Sean B. is creator of Connect, the Series which now streams on @kweliTV. The platform developer and content creator talk with Will Lucas about the need for our ownership of the Black narrative, and...

Kai bond is an investor, founder and entrepreneur and serves as partner at Courtside VC which focuses on sports, gaming, and fitness verticals.  On this episode, Kai speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about the differences between sports of yesteryear, and the sports of today - and why the sports of today, is ripe for innovation in ways it's never been before. Follow Will Lucas on Instagram at @wil...

Janeen Uzzell is an American global technology executive and CEO of the National Society of Black Engineers. She previously served as Director of Healthcare Programs in Africa and Head of Women in Technology for General Electric and as COO of the Wikimedia Foundation. On this episode, Janeen speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about why engineers need global experiences and how Black engineers can l...

Maisha Leek was, at the time of this recording, a partner at Human Ventures, an NYC based venture capital firm and startup studio. Today, she's Managing Director at A/B Partners, a digital storytelling agency. On this episode, AfroTech's Will Lucas sits down with Maisha Leek to talk about the capitalism with heart, opportunity in flyover country, and distributed teams. Follow Will Lucas on Instagr...

One of my favorite quotes is by the late, great Steve Jobs who said 'You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.' This quote is a summation of my life experience. On this episode, I discuss how intentionally putting yourself in a position to be successful can open up doors of opport...

Richard is Co-Founder and General Partner at Equal Ventures. Prior to co-founding Equal Ventures, Richard was an investor at Venrock, where he led seed-stage and Series A stage investments in 6Sense, Amino Apps, Beckon, Burner, Luxe Valet, and Salsify. On this episode, AfroTech's Will Lucas sits down with Richard Kerby to talk about the things that are at the core of Venture Capital: investing ear...

Jewel Burks Solomon is the Head of Google for Startups in the US. She works to level the playing field for underrepresented startup founders and communities by connecting them with the best of Google’s products, people and platforms. Joey Womack is the mind behind Goodie Nation which exists to eliminate the relationship gap that stands in the way of success for too many promising entrepreneurs, es...

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is a social justice advocate and CEO at Promise, which helps people avoid utility shutoffs, license revocations, sky-high interest fees, and even incarceration with flexible, interest-free payment plan, a range of payment options, and 24/7 client support. She was also a union organizer and previously served as Princes manager. On this episode, Phaedra talks with Will Lucas ab...

Ita Ekpoudom is partner at Gingerbread Capital, and her mission is to engage, educate, and elevate the next generation of successful women business leaders and investors. She holds an MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, and a certificate in Finance, from Princeton University. On Term Shee...

Al Harrington and Wilson Chandler are both former NBA players turned businessmen. John Monopoly is Kanye West’s manager. The partners joined forces to work together on expanding the current 3% market share of the cannabis industry that is owned by black people.  On this episode, the entrepreneurs and investors talk with Will Lucas about Village, the largest, national conglomerate for black-owned c...

Clarence Bethea is founder and CEO of Upsie, a technology company offering consumers an alternative when purchasing extended warranties for electronics like mobile devices and home appliances. He recently closed an $18 million Series A funding round. On this episode, Clarence speaks with Will Lucas about raising large startup financing rounds, capital intensive launch strategies, and how to make w...

J. Carter is co-founder and chief marketing officer of the One Music Fest, one of the ONLY existing Black owned live music events in the country. He’s found a ton of success with his event expertise finding partnerships with some of the biggest global brands like Adidas, MillerCoors, BMW, Heineken and more. On this episode, J. Carter speaks with Will Lucas about venture capital for entertainment,...

A. Donahue Baker, co-founder and CEO at Money Avenue teaches Entrepreneurship at Morehouse College and is also a Certified Public Accountant that specializes in helping clients create generational wealth through real estate acquisitions and entrepreneurial investment opportunities. On this episode, A. Donahue speaks with Will Lucas about how to leverage the tax code for personal benefit, the impor...

Tiffany Aliche, founder of “The Budgetnista”, is an award-winning teacher of financial education, and America's favorite personal financial educator. She is the author of Get Good with Money (a New York Times Bestseller), The One Week Budget, and the Live Richer Challenge series. On this episode, Tiffany talks with Will Lucas about how to develop a content strategy that gets attention, LLC Twitter...

Pierre Laguerre is CEO and Founder at Fleeting, a commercial fleet management and services company and the first Black man ever to raise more than $1 million from a crowdfunding campaign. On this episode, he speaks with Will Lucas about how tech can avoid displacing people while still aiming for disruption, how technology improves logistics and the wealth opportunity for truckers, and why autonomo...

Malcolm Etheridge is a certified financial planner, speaker and blogger. His areas of expertise include retirement planning, investment portfolio development, tax planning, insurance, stock options and other executive benefits. On this episode, Malcolm speaks with AfroTech's Will Lucas about who qualifies for equity at a startup, understanding the value of your shares, and paper millionaires. Foll...

Bärí A. Williams is COO of Bandwagon Fan Club. Inc., a data and identity analytics tech company focused on the sports and entertainment space, and a diversity, inclusion and corporate social responsibility consultant. Prior to Bandwagon, she held executive roles at companies like All Turtles, StubHub and Facebook. On this episode, Bari speaks with Will Lucas about how artificial intelligence can b...

Jeff Osuji is a serial entrepreneur and Co-Founder at Eventnoire, a technology start-up and event ticketing platform that seeks to support and promote Black enterprises and cultural events. On this episode, Jeff speaks with Will Lucas about discrimination in the events industry, how startups can make power moves in the same waters with bigger fish, and how promoters can leverage data to engage big...

Ayinde Alakoye is founder and CEO at Nēdl, the live audio platform where anyone can create a live call-in radio show that transcribes, amplifies & monetizes words as they're spoken. Nēdl also serves as an AI-powered search engine for live audio broadcast. Ayinde served as a speech contributor and message advisor to Senator Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election campaign. On this ep...

Bimma Williams is a creative industry leader, former executive at Nike, Yeezy (Adidas) and Saucony. Currently, he runs the #1 iTunes rated career podcast, 'Claima', which is a career discovery podcast to help Black and Brown creatives discover their dream careers. On this episode, Bimma talks with Will Lucas about the institutional constrains to building big brands, how design collaborations work,...

Dr. Key Hallmon is the founder and CEO of The Village Market, and cultivates events to provide a platform for socially-conscious, black-owned startups and entrepreneurs to get support, build community, and showcase their products and services. On this episode, Dr. Key talks with Will Lucas about 'Support' as a verb, strategies to building community around commerce, and how communities can replicat...