Tech leader Tariqua “Tai” Nehisi, the founder of AI-workplace platform Organizely, is set to launch Tulsa Tech Week, a week dedicated to the city’s growing reputation as a tech hub.
Scheduled for the week of Sep. 22, Tulsa Tech Week was created alongside 50 other partners, including HBCU Langston University. The week-long program will offer a series of events focused on providing equitable access to Black tech companies for them to further their tech and business skills.
Events include a digital literacy course, co-working sessions, podcasting courses, and workshops on using AI-powered tools to access capital and participate in mental wellness escape rooms. Participants can also attend entrepreneur roundtables, expert AMAs, as well as lessons on 3D printing and creating video games.
The week is set to end with a closing ceremony and a networking event for tech leaders to connect.
“The people, from our children through our elders and everyone in between need to have exposure,” said Nehisi in conversation with AFROTECH. “Representation is key, from the tech-averse to the tech-savvy. You need to discover. But you have to know that there is so much wealth here.”
Tulsa Tech Week follows the former Biden-Harris Administration’s recognition of the region with a $51 million award. Last year, the consortium, Tulsa Hub for Equitable & Trustworthy Autonomy, was awarded funds as part of a project to kickstart six projects in the area. The projects will focus on helping generate critical technologies for the creation of autonomous systems.
Goals include building simulation environments for companies, creating an AI Center of Excellence and expanding workforce programs. With the award, Tulsa Tech Hub will focus on becoming a leader in a $1.36 trillion business.
“Thanks to President Biden’s commitment to his Investing in America agenda, the Tulsa Hub for Equitable & Trustworthy Autonomy and the other Tech Hub awardees will play a critical role in accelerating America’s leadership in the industries of the future, all while creating high quality, family-sustaining 21st century jobs in people’s backyards,” said the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in a press release.
The award is estimated to create 56,000 new jobs and will increase wages by $7,000 above the national average.
The change comes as the city continues to grow in size through the Tulsa Remote Program. Since 2018, over 3,400 people have relocated to Tulsa through the program, according to Bloomberg.
As a result, wages have been boosted, new jobs have been created, and the economy has continued to generate $4.31 for every $1 spent on giving financial incentives to the new residents as they rebuild Black Wall Street.
