The Village, 5/20/2013 (Kai Dupé)

Tech Support: Networking for Blacks in STEM. In 2008, I found myself trying to decide on a problem to study for my doctoral dissertation. Most of my classmates were studying problems in their workplace. For most of them this meant studying a problem in education as they were educators. I, however, was working in the corporate world as a software developer. A classmate suggested that I study an issue related to African American software developers. I remember thinking to myself, what African American software developers?

As Oprah would say this was my “aha” moment. I decided to study and write about this subject and start a blog where I could keep aspiring African-American tech professionals informed about the latest industry news, opportunities and opinions. I approached one of my marketing savvy co-workers who said I should call it simply, Where Are Blacks In Technology? I have been blogging my thoughts on the digital divide ever since.

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NOTE: Kai Dupé is a long-time BDPA member.

The Atlanta Post, 9/13/2011 (Kai Dupé)

Why Technology Networks Are Critical for African Americans.  The lack of support networks has been identified as a critical aspect to involving more African Americans in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  While I agree that this is very important, I do not agree that African Americans lack technology support groups.  I assert that the problem is that the African American community at large is not aware of the networks that do exist.

There are three that I have worked with over the years. I am sure there are others and I am even more certain that most of our people, particularly our young people are not aware of these groups.  I know this because I do quite a bit of public speaking around the country.  When I ask students if they are familiar with The Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), BiTWiSE, or Blacks In Technology the answer is invariably no.

Read the rest of The Atlanta Post article.