Black Students in Tech Grant

Funded by
user profile avatar
Mechanism Ventures
$1,000
1 winner$1,000
Awarded
Application Deadline
Oct 11, 2020
Winners Announced
Nov 11, 2020
Education Level
Any
1
Contribution
Eligibility Requirements
Ethnicity:
African American

Talent is evenly distributed, but opportunity is not.

Inequality of opportunity is pronounced in the tech industry, where the share of Black employees is around half that of the US population, and has remained nearly unchanged over the last 5 years. 

This lack of diversity manifests in harmful ways, like racial bias against African-Americans in healthcare algorithms and facial recognition error rates more than 40x worse for Black women as light-skinned men.

In support of building a more diverse and equitable tech industry, the Black Students in Tech Grant will be awarded to a Black student or recent graduate at any education level or field of study who is pursuing or who plans to pursue a career in the tech industry.

This scholarship is part of the Mechanism Ventures Impact Grants Series.

Selection Criteria:
Impact, Drive
Published June 11, 2020
Essay Topic

Please tell us a bit about yourself. What do you hope to achieve in your career in the tech industry, and how are you preparing yourself to achieve it?

500–1000 words

Winning Application

Kristen Palmer
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyBrooklyn, NY

FAQ

When is the scholarship application deadline?

The application deadline is Oct 11, 2020. Winners will be announced on Nov 11, 2020.