Amanda Spann

Last updated

Amanda Spann is an American marketing consultant and app entrepreneur, known for creating tech businesses to support and engage with the Black tech community. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Spann is a graduate of Florida State University and Georgetown University. [3] [4]

Career

Alongside her partner Kat Calvin, Spann co-founded Blerdology: The Science of Black Nerds, a social platform that unites the black tech community. [5] [6] [7] [8] Initially known as Black Girls Hack, [4] Blerdology is tailored towards the African American community and encourages engagement from tech enthusiasts through events such as hackathons. [5] [6] [9] The first Blerdology hackathon was held in November 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia and consisted of fifty black tech enthusiasts competing to create mobile apps. [7]

Spann serves as the communications and content manager for the IBM Cloud Category. [5]

Spann is the co-founder of TibHub, a platform designed for entrepreneurs in the African diaspora. [10] [11] Founded in 2014, TipHub serves as a community for sharing ideas and innovations, empowering its members to collaborate and succeed in their ventures. [10] [11] Annually, Tibhup hosts an annual US-based residency program, called the Diaspora Demo Day, in which 14 individuals from the African Diaspora are provided with mentorship and support for their start-up businesses. [11] [9]

Another contribution of Spann's is Happii, an initiative that provides young entrepreneurs with accessible tools and support they need to start and grow their businesses effectively. [10] Happii is divided into several business verticals, which includes products like TipOff App, CultureCrush App, and DubbleTap.com, online coaching, and e-learning and produce development. [10] Spann is also known for her involvement with AfriDate, a dating app specifically designed for African American singles, connecting users through shared ethnicity and nationality. [10]

Spann is recognized as a key partner in an App Accelerator program that collaborates with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), such as Clark Atlanta University. [1] [12] The App Accelerator program provides a framework to first time app building for non-technical individuals. [3] With the support of Clark Atlanta University, along with PNC Back, The App Accelerator program hosts a 15-week program designed for non-technical individuals, called Idea to App, which allows them to bring their app ideas to fruition. [12] This initiative aims to foster innovation and entrepreneurship within the HBCU community, enhancing access to technology and business development opportunities for underrepresented founders. [1]

Related Research Articles

A business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services, starting with management training and office space, and ending with venture capital financing. The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) defines business incubators as a catalyst tool for either regional or national economic development. NBIA categorizes its members' incubators by the following five incubator types: academic institutions; non-profit development corporations; for-profit property development ventures; venture capital firms, and a combination of the above.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackathon</span> Event in which groups of software developers work at an accelerated pace

A hackathon is an event where people engage in rapid and collaborative engineering over a relatively short period of time such as 24 or 48 hours. They are often run using agile software development practices, such as sprint-like design wherein computer programmers and others involved in software development, including graphic designers, interface designers, product managers, project managers, domain experts, and others collaborate intensively on engineering projects, such as software engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathryn Finney</span> American author, entrepreneur, innovator, and businesswoman

Kathryn A. Finney is an American author, researcher, investor, entrepreneur, and businesswoman. She is the founder of Genius Guild, a $20 million dollar venture fund & studio that invests in Black entrepreneurs building scalable businesses that serve Black communities and beyond. She is also founder and Board Chair of The Doonie Fund, a social platform that provides micro-investment to Black women entrepreneurs. Finney first made her mark as a tech entrepreneur when she sold “The Budget Fashionista” after running the site-turned-media company for 11 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Techstars</span> U.S. startup accelerator

Techstars is a global startup accelerator and venture capital firm founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City. The accelerator provides capital, mentorship, and other support for early-stage entrepreneurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology</span> School in Accra, Ghana

The Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) is an Africa-wide technology entrepreneur training program, seed fund, and incubator headquartered in Accra, Ghana. The three-phased institution was founded in 2008 to provide training, investment, and mentoring for aspiring technology entrepreneurs with the goal of creating globally successful companies that create wealth and jobs locally in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Sharma</span>

Ray Sharma is the founding partner and CEO of Extreme Venture Partners, the founder of XMG Studio and a super angel investor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Americans in Atlanta</span> African Americans living in Atlanta, USA

Black Atlantans form a major population group in the Atlanta metropolitan area, encompassing both those of African-American ancestry as well as those of recent Caribbean or African origin. Atlanta has long been known as a center of Black entrepreneurship, higher education, political activism and culture; a cradle of the Civil Rights Movement.

Angela Benton is an American businesswoman. Benton founded NewME (acquired), the first startup accelerator for minorities globally in 2011. She is a pioneer of diversity and one of the most important African-Americans in the technology industry. She has helped minority-led tech companies raise over $47 million in venture capital funding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariéme Jamme</span> Senegalese-born French-British businesswoman and technology activist

Marieme Jamme is a Senegalese-born French-British businesswoman and technology activist. In 2016 she founded the iamtheCODE Foundation and served on the World Wide Web Foundation board. In 2017, Quartz Africa included Jamme in their "Quartz Africa Innovators 2017" list. In 2013 she was nominated as a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum. In 2017, she won the Innovation Award at the Global Goals Award as a Goalkeepers for her work in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, curated by UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for globally supporting girls and young women and advancing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. That same year, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert F. Smith (investor)</span> American businessman and philanthropist (born 1962)

Robert Frederick Smith is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. He graduated from Cornell University with a chemical engineering degree and from Columbia Business School with an MBA, before working as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HackerEarth</span> American software company

HackerEarth is a software company headquartered in San Francisco that provides enterprise software that assists organizations with technical hiring. HackerEarth is used by organizations for technical skill assessments and remote video interviewing. In addition, HackerEarth also has built a community of over 4 million developers. HackerEarth has raised $11.5 million in funding over three rounds. Currently, more than 750 customers worldwide use its technical coding assessments platform, including Amazon, Walmart Labs, Thoughtworks, Societe Generale, HP, VMware, DBS, HCL, GE, Wipro, Barclays, Pitney Bowes, Intel, and L&T Infotech. HackerEarth is backed by GSF Global and Angelprime.

Thuy Thanh Truong was a Vietnamese American serial entrepreneur, technology influencer, and cancer advocate. She was known as "Vietnam's startup queen" for her contributions to the Vietnamese startup community

Oswald Labs is a Dutch-Indian based accessibility technology company that builds products for individuals with disabilities. It specializes in enterprise web accessibility, offers smartphone apps, and also runs a startup accelerator. It was established in 2016 by Anand Chowdhary, Nishant Gadihoke, and Mahendra Raghuwanshi after their product, Oswald Extension, won an event at the AngelHack hackathon in New Delhi.

The National Security Innovation Network is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) program office under the Defense Innovation Unit that seeks to create new communities of innovators to solve national security problems. NSIN partners with national research universities and the venture community to reinvigorate civil-military technology collaboration. As opposed to making investments in specific technologies, government research and development programs, or startups, NSIN focuses on human capital innovation – i.e., developing and enabling innovators and human-centered networks to solve national security problems. In support of this mission, NSIN provides tools, training, and access to DoD assets that enable entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs to develop and commercialize high potential products in the national interest.

Women in Tech Africa (WiTA) is an organization with a focus on entrepreneurship expansion and multiplying the numbers of females in technology, especially in Africa. It was founded by Ethel D Cofie. Over the years, WiTA has strategically focused on enabling women to drive Africa's growth story and create an impact on personal life through technology. Currently, its target audience comprises aspiring female tech entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 40. Women in Tech Africa is the largest group on the continent with membership across 30 countries globally with physical chapters in Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Somaliland, Germany, Ireland, Kenya, Tanzania and Mauritius.

Tania Imani is a Rwandan Belgian entrepreneur and television presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quincy K. Brown</span> American academic in the field of computer science

Quincy K. Brown is an American computer scientist and former Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She is a published academic and co-founder of blackcomputeHER.org, NationOfMakers.org and Black In Computing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michal Sela Forum</span> Israeli nonprofit organization founded in 2020

The Michal Sela Forum (MSF) is an Israel-based nonprofit organization founded in 2020 by Lili Ben Ami that seeks to develop technology to aid in the prevention of domestic violence. MSF has participated in a variety of initiatives to support survivors of domestic violence and abuse, including the development of technology and the provision of security services, as well as public awareness campaigns.

Angel Rich is an African American tech entrepreneur and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kat Calvin</span> African-American activist, entrepreneur and author

Kat Calvin is an African-American activist, entrepreneur, and author. She is the founder of Spread the Vote and Project ID and the Co-founder of Blerdology. Calvin's organization supports Americans to obtain their IDs for housing, jobs, and voting. Additionally, Calvin advocates for advanced minority representation in the STEM field.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Nxumalo, Gugulethu (2024-08-30). "Amanda Spann Partners with HBCU to Help Founders Scale Tech Ventures". UrbanGeekz. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
  2. ↑ Dickey, Megan Rose. "The 30 Most Important Women Under 30 In Tech". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
  3. 1 2 Brown, Doug C. "Inspirational Women Leaders Of Tech: Amanda Spann of The App Accelerator On The Five Things You Need To Know In Order To Create A Very Successful Tech Company". Authority Magazine. 2020. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  4. 1 2 Ford, Winston (2013-02-25). "5 Future Leaders in Technology". Black Enterprise. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  5. 1 2 3 "A Day In The Life: Women Tech Innovators". NPR. 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Black Girls Hack holds first non-profit hackathon targeting African-Americans in tech". TheGrio. 2012. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
  7. 1 2 Evans, Erin E. "Hacking the Science of Black Nerds". BET. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  8. ↑ Kim, Larry. "20 Women Entrepreneurs Worth Watching These inspiring leaders prove there are unicorns among us". Inc. 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Women's History Month: Black Women in Tech". LA sentinel. 2019.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 McDonough, Ashley. "This Black Woman Is Opening The Door For People of Color In Tech". Essence. 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  11. 1 2 3 Christian, Bonnie. "Celebrating Black History Month: the men and women blazing a trail in STEM and modern culture". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  12. 1 2 Moore, Kianga (2024). "How Amanda Spann’s App Accelerator Is Helping Non-Technical Founders Thrive Through HBCU Partnerships and Tech Automation". Ebony. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.