The State of Black America Panelists will include, Jason Towns, venture capitalist and managing partner at Groundwork Ventures; Kimberly Bryant, founder and executive director at Black Girls Code; Brittney Cooper, professor and author of Beyond Respectability, Damon Young, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Very Smart Brothas; Linda Goler Blount, president and CEO of Black Women’s Health Imperative;Ben Crump, civil rights attorney; Angela Yee, radio personality; and Shermichael Singleton, political strategist.
Since its first publication in 1976, the NUL’s report has become one of the most sought-after guides for thought leadership around racial equality in America across economics, education, health, social justice and civic engagement.
The report evaluates the social and economic status of African Americans using an Equality Index, and new to this year’s report, Save our Cities: Powering the Digital Revolution, is a Digital Inclusion Index, which benchmarks and measures the inclusion of African Americans in the digital economy.
The index is built on three pillars of the digital economy: digital skills and occupations, including the percentage of STEM degrees conferred by race; digital access, including the prevalence of technology incubators targeted for minority startups; and digital policy, including smart city projects. A major focus of the program will surround the need for African Americans to engage in digital technology.