Brothers In Technology
The Purpose
The Brothers In Technology (BIT) Conference is the brainchild of Ina P. Montgomery, the Executive Director of Urban Technology Empowered Communities dba/ Urban TEC. Ms. Montgomery created this unique experience for urban boys, ages 13-18, when she realized in 2018 that there were no conferences for urban boys, in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area, to attend to be exposed to hands-on activities in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM).
According to a report by the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility, Black professionals continue to be underrepresented in tech jobs. The report goes on to say that “Black people make up 12 percent of the US workforce but only 8 percent of employees in tech jobs. That percentage is even smaller further up the corporate ladder; just 3 percent of technology executives in the C-suite are Black”. Pew Research Center reports that Black students earned only 7 percent of STEM bachelor’s degrees in 2018, compared with 10 percent of all bachelor’s degrees. Without intervention, the number of Black students who eventually pursue STEM careers will not increase. Urban TEC is answering the call to assist in closing the gap for underrepresented and underserved K-12 students.
The BIT Conference believes in the cliche that you cannot be what you cannot see; therefore all conference presenters are Black men. This feature has had the intended impact on conference attendees to see Black men engineers, CAD designers, college professors, Academy award winning audio engineers, augmented and virtual reality company owners, etc. It was important for the boys to know that the conference was specifically designed with them in mind. Features also include a DJ, door prizes and a photo booth - this is not a cookie cutter experience. This unique experience will also have a follow-up Zoom mini-conference (TBA) for the boys to take a deeper dive in some of the BIT Conference topics. Urban TEC is also working on securing job shadowing opportunities as well as internship opportunities for the boys.