Wrapping up an incredible week with one final event over the weekend! I was honored to be a panelist this past Saturday for the 14th Annual Kente Summit at the University of St. Thomas. 🎓
We had an engaging discussion on all things AI, with thoughtful questions from the students and great insights from my fellow panelists:
Another highlight from last week is that BAM Midwest hosted another successful Student Minority Day at the Microsoft Innovation Hub in Minnesota! 🎉
At this event, we welcomed 90+ high school students from around the Twin Cities. The day included a keynote by Dieumerci Christel Founder, a hands-on AI workshop with Microsoft Copilot, a Financial Literacy Workshop, and a Career Panel featuring:
For lunch, we enjoyed some amazing Jamaican food from Nanny’s Jamaican Kitchen.
The students stayed engaged, asked thoughtful questions, and had the chance to network with Microsoft and other tech professionals. It’s always inspiring to see the next generation of talent getting excited about tech and their future careers! 🚀
Last week was packed with activities, one of them included another trip to Microsoft HQ in Redmond. I attended onsite team meetings, connected with colleagues, and caught up with my friend Ayobami Ayodeji, MENG, PMP.
After 13 years of traveling to Redmond, I finally made it into the Microsoft Museum with Ayo! 🏛️ Every previous time, it was either closed or under construction.
The highlight of this trip was attending the Brothers in Tech dinner, hosted by Billy Anders (thanks for the invite!). The friendships and brotherhood at this dinner go back decades among some these veterans and heavy hitters at Microsoft. It was an honor and privilege to be included in such a special gathering.
Being able to plug into a community like this is rare. At the dinner, I finally met one of my mentors, Derek Hazeur, in person. I also had the chance to connect with Corey Rosemond, Rodney Bryan, David Fowler and many others. The laughs never stopped! 😂
Big shoutout to Glenn Grant for being a great colleague, the ride, and congrats on 35 years at Microsoft!
I’m looking forward to attending more of these dinners in the future, and continuing to get to know these brothers and build friendships.
The 26th Tekne Awards, held in November 2024, have officially landed on YouTube! If you missed the event, now’s your chance to experience Minnesota’s premier technology celebration, recognizing the incredible leaders and organizations driving innovation across Minnesota.
This event was hosted at the Minneapolis Convention Center. It was an unforgettable night, emceed by the radio host Angela Davis from Minnesota Public Radio. It brought together brilliant technology leaders shaping Minnesota’s business ecosystem and pushing the boundaries of tech excellence.
I was incredibly honored to have won one of the Individual Achievement Awards, in the Exceptional Tech Leadership category! 🏆 A huge thank you to Hilary Rushe for announcing the award.
I’m excited to share the release of my latest Pluralsight course, “IT Concepts and Terminology for CompTIA Tech+”, marking my 26th course with the platform. This course is tailored to help newcomers to the tech industry grasp essential IT concepts and terminology, serving as a solid foundation for those preparing for the CompTIA Tech+ certification exam.
Navigating the vast landscape of IT can be overwhelming, especially when you’re just starting out. Understanding the core principles and language of the field is crucial for building a successful career in technology. This course aims to demystify these elements, providing clear explanations and practical insights to boost your confidence as you embark on your tech journey.
In this course, you’ll dive into fundamental IT concepts, explore key terminology, and learn how these components interconnect within the tech ecosystem. Whether you’re an aspiring IT professional or looking to refresh your existing knowledge, this course offers valuable guidance to support your learning objectives.
The course is a part of a path titled “CompTIA Tech+ (FC0-U71)” that aligns with the CompTIA Tech+ exam objectives, covering domains such as:
IT Concepts and Terminology: Grasp the basics of computing and IT infrastructure.
Infrastructure: Understand hardware, software, and network components.
Applications and Software: Learn about different types of software and their uses.
Software Development Concepts: Get introduced to programming and development methodologies.
Data and Database Fundamentals: Explore data management and database concepts.
Security: Understand essential security principles and practices.
By the end of this course, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of these areas, equipping you with the knowledge needed to excel in the CompTIA Tech+ exam and your IT career.
I hope this course serves as a valuable resource in your tech education. Thank you for your continued support, and Be sure to follow my profile on Pluralsight so you will be notified as I release new courses!
Here is the link to my Pluralsight profile to follow me:
✨✨ This past weekend, I had the incredible honor of participating as a panelist in the “Rise & Future of AI & Its Benefits to Founders“ session during BIPOC Startup Week 2.0. This session brought together a diverse group of innovators, thinkers, and entrepreneurs to explore the profound impact AI is having on the startup ecosystem and how founders can harness its power to drive success.
Sharing the stage with Mustafe Artan, MBA, CSM, was inspiring. Mustafe brought his deep expertise to the conversation, and together we unpacked the many dimensions of AI—its opportunities, its challenges, and the practical steps founders can take to embrace it. 🙌
The session was expertly hosted by Octavia Treadway, who ensured the discussion was engaging and inclusive. Octavia’s thoughtful moderation set the tone for a dynamic exchange of ideas, and I am grateful for her role in creating such a welcoming space for dialogue.
One of the highlights for me was engaging with the audience—fellow founders, technologists, and visionaries—about how AI can empower their businesses. Whether we discussed automating processes, uncovering actionable insights, or scaling operations efficiently, the energy in the room was palpable. 🤖✨
Returning to the University of St. Thomas – Opus College of Business campus 🏫 was a personal highlight. As a familiar and inspiring space for growth and learning, it served as the perfect backdrop for an event centered on innovation and the future of work.
A huge kudos to Charlotte ABiOdun Epée-WillSuN 🇳🇬🇨🇲🇬🇭🇹🇬🇺🇸 for her vision and effort in organizing this event. Her dedication to uplifting BIPOC founders and fostering collaboration within the tech and startup community is nothing short of remarkable. Events like these are essential to driving inclusivity and innovation in our industry.
As I reflect on the weekend, I am reminded of the immense potential AI holds for transforming businesses and lives. It’s not just about the technology; it’s about empowering people to solve problems, create opportunities, and shape a better future.
Last week was the 26th Tekne awards. Here is the website for it: tekneawards.org. It is Minnesota’s Premier Technology Celebration honoring the leaders and leading organizations who are fueling Minnesota’s tech-driven economy, with 15 Tekne Awards across 3 categories: Business Impact, Community Impact, and Individual Achievement. It is a celebration of the excellence and innovation within Minnesota’s technology ecosystem.
The 2024 Tekne Awards event was nothing short of incredible! Held at the Minneapolis Convention Center and hosted by the amazing Angela Davis radio show host on Minnesota Public Radio, the event was filled with brilliant technology leaders who are shaping Minnesota’s business ecosystem.
I am beyond proud to share that we did it! We brought home the Tekne Award (glass flame) for ExceptionalTechLeadership!!! 🏆
I say “we” because this achievement is not mine alone—it’s a reflection of the support of my wife and family, mentors, the tech community, and all the people who inspire me every day. Together, we’re driving change, sharing knowledge, connecting people, and creating opportunities for those who traditionally haven’t had a seat at the table in tech.
What made the evening even more special was having one of my sons, present me with the award.
I also want to extend a huge shoutout to the other exceptional nominees in this category: Greg Larson, Michael G. Wulf, Ed.D., Yanina Grinberg, Justin Grammens, and Amy Patton. This was a fiercely competitive category, and it’s truly an honor to be recognized alongside such impactful leaders.
Many of you I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with, and I look forward to finding ways to work with the rest of you. Your work is inspiring—let’s keep pushing boundaries and making a difference!
Also a congrats to all the other winners throughout the night! Here is a video with more pics from the award night:
Exciting times! I’ve had a lot to share lately, and here’s another update. Shelley Benhoff‘s new book, “Lead Developer Career Guide“, has officially gone to print—huge congratulations to Shelley! 🎉
Published by Manning Publications Co., this book is a comprehensive resource for anyone aspiring to excel as a Lead Developer.
I’m incredibly honored to have written the foreword for this fantastic book!
In the Lead Developer Career Guide you’ll discover:
The key responsibilities of a lead developer
Techniques for writing effective technical documentation
Strategies for improving development processes
Best practices for communicating with non-technical clients
Methods for mentoring and inspiring a team
Approaches for delivering negative feedback constructively
The Lead Developer Career Guide is filled with interviews and real-world case studies from industry professionals and esteemed tech experts. You’ll learn how to become the public face for your development team, gathering feedback from your coworkers and communicating with clients and stakeholders. Plus, you’ll find proven techniques to reliably calculate project estimates, plan a project from scratch, and mentor junior developers and peers alike.
Recently I made an appearance on the news today alongside co-organizer Amondo Dickerson on Alexis Rogers “news at noon” show on Kare 11!
🎉 We had the opportunity to share about the upcoming Microsoft ManCode Mentoring Event, which I’m proud to be a part of. You can check out the video here:
This event, now in its 4th year, is all about providing young men of color the chance to learn from local black leaders in tech, business, and beyond. This year, we’re covering everything from AI and robotics to financial literacy, education, and careers in tech/gaming. It’s happening at Minneapolis College on October 17th & 18th, and it’s FREE for young men ages 12-17!
I have been so busy in 2024 that I didnt have a chance to post about my 24th and 25th Pluralsight courses. So I am a little late posting this but I am excited that my 24th course “JavaScript Performance Playbook” and my 25th course “Create Google Cloud Deployment Manager Templates Using Generative AI” have both published on the Pluralsight platform!
You can find both courses here:
JavaScript Performance Playbook
This course will teach you how to optimize your JavaScript app, or API overall, so that they will be lightning-fast and perform well.
Create Google Cloud Deployment Manager Templates Using Generative AI
This course will teach you how artificial intelligence (AI) can help you administer and deploy cloud resources faster and more accurately than ever before.
