There is so much to love about the AfroTech Conference. This year’s event promises thought provoking firesides, insightful sessions and a place where tech minded folks can meet and greet. Speakers set to present at this year’s global gathering include a wide range of top industry names many of which are Black women. AfroTech takes place from Nov. 13-16, 2024, in Houston, TX.
Black Women Speakers at AfroTech 2024
Here are some of the Black women speakers on AfroTech’s 2024 lineup you don’t want to miss.
Beatrice Dixon
The Honey Pot Company is the vulva and personal wellness brand made by humans, for humans. At the helm of the popular brand sits Beatrice Dixon. She is the CEO, Co-Founder, and Chief Innovation Officer of the company which was created in 2014. Dixon says she did so out of great personal need during an eight month battle with bacterial vaginosis. The constant symptoms and fruitless search for solutions led her to formulate what became The Honey Pot Company’s first product, a vulva-safe wash.
Cortney Worthy
It’s likely you have interacted with the cloud storage service, Dropbox, at least once at work. Cortney Worthy works as the Data Governance Leader for the company and brings more than 15 years of expertise to her role. Her background includes technology, government, and consulting. Her session, “Data Drip: Making Waves in the Tech Pool,” will include leaders from Meta and Deloitte.
Sharon Bowen
Commissioner Sharon Bowen is the Chair of the New York Stock Exchange and the first woman or person of color to hold that position. Talk about a boss! She was the first African American to be appointed as Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, serving from 2014 to 2017. Her groundbreaking career includes three decades working in corporate and transactional law.
Ashley Gatewood
Ashley Gatewood is a change and transformation strategy leader at Google. She brings more than 15 years of experience in organizational change management to that role. What does that kind of experience look like? Well, Gatewood has successfully guided companies through global rollouts of new systems, cultural evolutions and major business disruptions. She has change management expertise across several industries including government, tech, retail, energy and manufacturing.
Zuhairah Scott Washington
Zuhairah Scott Washington’s background is in sustainable fashion. She is the former CEO of Otrium, a global, sustainable fashion marketplace recognized as one of the The Most Innovative Companies of 2023 by Fast Company Magazine. Washington is also the founder, CEO and Public Company Board Director of Unlimited Venture. She has over 20 years of business experience under her belt including executive roles as a Senior Vice President at Expedia Group and General Manager at Uber.
Shardé Marchewski
Despite what feels like an endless attack on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, Shardé Marchewski is standing tall in her role as the Global Head of Purpose & Inclusion at Wayfair. There, she leads DEI and Social Impact for Wayfair’s 16,000 employees. With 6 years at Wayfair, she has transformed its approach to equity and inclusion. Marchewski balances work with family. The mother of three lives in Boston with her husband and children.
Early bird tickets for AfroTech 2024 are already on sale. Organizers encourage attendees to start planning ahead for what promises to be an unmissable event in the tech calendar.