Black Innovators in STEM

Meet the Game Changers: Black Women Redefining Tech 👩🏾💻 Across industries — from startups and venture funding to digital media and AI — Black women are shaping the future of technology with vision, innovation, and purpose. They’re turning ideas into impact, building companies, and inspiring the next generation of girls in STEM. Here are four leaders transforming the landscape: 💎 Kara Branch, MBA, LSSGB — Founder & CEO, Black Girls Do Engineer Corporation With a background in chemical engineering and an Executive MBA, Kara launched her nonprofit to serve girls ages 6–21 in robotics, cybersecurity, AI, aerospace, and more. She’s not just teaching STEM — she’s building a pipeline of young Black women technologists through mentorship, hands-on training, and real representation. 💻 LaToya Shambo — Founder, Black Girl Digital From ad agency life to digital entrepreneurship, LaToya’s media agency empowers Black women creators and brands in digital spaces. Her work shows that “tech” includes not only code but also the digital storytelling and production that amplify women’s voices and expand opportunities across industries. 🌎 Mrs. Kristi Jackson-Muhammad, MBA, Serving Coaches Marketing ➕ Business Strategist — Founder, Women CEO Project Kristi leads one of the most dynamic ecosystems for women founders. Her “Global Power Tour” conference and more than 40 business courses each year spotlight women of color in tech and business — expanding what leadership looks like and helping entrepreneurs build skills, visibility, and confidence. 🎮 Margo Jordan — Founder & CEO, Enrichly A Texas Southern University grad, Margo is pioneering “PD Tech” — personal development technology — through Enrichly, a gaming platform that helps kids strengthen self-esteem through play. Her innovations earned her recognition from Google for Startups and even the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi. 💬 “Self-esteem is a muscle that needs to be worked out every single day,” Margo says. ✨ These innovators remind us that technology isn’t just about machines or algorithms — it’s about people, purpose, and possibility. Their work is building bridges for the next generation of girls in STEM to thrive. Read the full story here! 👉 https://lnkd.in/e75WgVHQ ✍️ Article by ReShonda Tate #WomenInSTEM #GirlsInSTEM #STEMGems #GiveGirlsRoleModels

3D image technology has changed entertainment and science as we know it - all thanks to Valerie Thomas. This futuristic concept became a reality and continues to shape today’s technology, all thanks to this NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist and inventor. Before her invention, visual displays were limited to flat, 2-dimensional images. Then, in 1976, after witnessing an illusion where a lightbulb appeared lit despite being removed from its socket, Thomas began experimenting with concave mirrors. By 1980, she patented the “illusion transmitter,” a groundbreaking system that uses mirrors and cameras to create realistic 3D images - holograms - that forever changed how we perceive visual information. This invention was later used in NASA satellite technology, revolutionising how we analyse and interpret data from space. It has also since been adapted for use in surgery, enhancing precision in medical imaging and procedures, And, of course, has influenced the production of television and video screens, paving the way for immersive entertainment experiences. But her legacy extends far beyond holography: 👉🏾 Thomas played a critical role in developing image-processing systems for Landsat, the first satellite to send images of Earth from space. 👉🏾 She helped to develop computer program designs that supported research on Halley's Comet, the ozone layer, and satellite technology. 👉🏾 She’s received many awards for her work and her activism, including an Award of Merit from the Goddard Space Flight Center and the NASA Equal Opportunity Medal. Thomas retired from NASA in 1995, but her impact didn’t stop there. She continues to inspire generations, to enter STEM fields and break new ground. Her invention changed how we see the world - literally and figuratively, influencing everything from medical technologies to entertainment. #ReclaimingNarratives

The next time you make a video call, remember: a Black woman in the ‘80s made it possible. In 1982, Marian Croak joined Bell Labs with a PhD in quantitative analysis and social psychology from USC. She started in Human Factors Research. Her job: figure out how tech could make life better for real people. At the time, the modern internet didn’t exist. But she saw what was coming. Most telecom companies were betting on ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) to transmit voice, video, and text. Marian said no. She pushed AT&T to adopt TCP/IP—the protocol that still powers the internet today. Then she went further… What if your voice could travel as digital data? What if a phone call didn’t need a phone line? That’s how she helped invent the foundations of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). She worked on quality control, latency, and how to make voice over the internet sound human. Then came her second breakthrough: text-to-donate. In 2003, Marian saw AT&T build a text voting system for American Idol. Fans could vote via SMS. She had a thought: if people can vote by text, why can’t they donate too? In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, she and co-inventor Hossein Eslambolchi built it. It raised $130,000 for relief organizations. Five years later, after the Haiti earthquake, the same system raised $43M via mobile donations. She received a U.S. patent for it: “Method and Apparatus for Dynamically Debiting a Donation.” In 2013, she was awarded the Thomas Edison Patent Award for it. In total, she holds over 200 patents, with nearly half related to VoIP. By the time she left AT&T in 2014, she was Senior Vice President of Applications and Services Infrastructure, overseeing 2,000 engineers and more than 500 projects in enterprise mobility and consumer wireline tech. Then she joined Google. There, she became VP of Engineering. She helped bring broadband to underserved communities across Africa and Asia. She launched Google’s Center for Responsible AI and Human-Centered Technology, building ethical frameworks for the future of artificial intelligence. Her team is applying AI to problems such as: – Maternal health monitoring in developing nations – Early disease detection – Climate impact mitigation In her words: “AI can amplify the worst stereotypes and spread misinformation. It has to serve the deepest needs of humanity.” In 2022, she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 💡Follow Justine Juillard to read 365 stories of women innovators in 365 days. Tap the 🔔 on my profile so you don’t miss a single story.

Alice Parker was a groundbreaking African American inventor whose work helped lay the foundation for modern central heating systems. In 1919, she was granted a U.S. patent for a gas-powered heating system that introduced the concept of using natural gas to heat individual rooms through a centralized structure. At a time when most homes relied on fireplaces or wood- and coal-burning stoves, Parker envisioned a safer, more efficient, and more controllable way to heat entire buildings. Her design proposed a system that distributed heat through ducts, allowing different rooms to be warmed individually rather than relying on a single heat source. This idea was revolutionary because it anticipated zoning—one of the most important principles in modern HVAC systems. Parker also focused on safety, designing her system to reduce the risk of fires, which were common with open flames and traditional stoves in early 20th-century homes. Although Parker’s exact system was not widely adopted during her lifetime, her ideas directly influenced the evolution of central heating technology used today. Modern gas furnaces, ductwork, and zoned heating systems all reflect concepts she pioneered more than a century ago. Her contribution stands as an important but often overlooked example of how Black women have shaped everyday technologies that millions of people rely on—often without knowing whose vision made them possible. #BlackHistoryMonth #blackhistory #blackgirlsrock #BlackGirlMagic

When America's most famous inventor, Thomas Edison, tried to claim credit for his patent in the 1880s, a self-taught genius named Granville T. Woods took him to court and won. In the late 19th century, train travel was incredibly dangerous. With no reliable way for moving trains to communicate, horrific collisions were tragically common. 🚂 Granville T. Woods, born in Ohio in 1856, saw this problem and used his brilliant mind to find a solution. He was a mostly self-taught electrical engineer with a gift for seeing how things worked. In 1887, Woods patented a revolutionary device he called the 'Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph.' It was a system that allowed moving trains and stations to communicate with each other through telegraph lines. For the first time, dispatchers could know where trains were in real-time. This simple ability to communicate drastically reduced the risk of head-on and rear-end collisions, saving countless lives. But this incredible, life-saving invention caught the eye of Thomas Edison. Edison filed a legal claim against Woods, stating that he was the rightful owner of a similar technology. Woods, an African American man with far fewer resources, had to defend his patent in court against one of the most powerful and wealthy men in America. The courts sided with Woods, affirming him as the true inventor. After being defeated, it's said that Edison was so impressed he offered Woods a prominent position at one of his companies. Woods turned it down, choosing his own independence and integrity. Granville T. Woods, sometimes called the 'Black Edison,' went on to secure over 60 patents. His story is a powerful reminder of how character and truth can overcome even the biggest challenges. 🙏 Sources: Encyclopedia.com, National Archives

The gas mask and the modern traffic light were both invented by the same person: Garrett Morgan. Born in 1877 to parents who had been enslaved, Garrett Morgan grew up with limited formal education but an extraordinary mechanical mind. He became an inventor at a time when Black Americans were largely shut out of patents, funding, and recognition. In 1914, Morgan invented a breathing device designed to protect people from smoke and toxic fumes. His invention gained national attention in 1916 after an explosion trapped workers in a water tunnel beneath Lake Erie in Cleveland. Morgan and his brother used the device to rescue several men who would have otherwise suffocated. This invention later became the foundation for modern gas masks and firefighter breathing equipment. A few years later, after witnessing a serious traffic accident, Morgan turned his attention to road safety. Cars, bicycles, and pedestrians were sharing streets with almost no regulation. In 1923, he patented an improved traffic signal that introduced a warning phase between “stop” and “go.” That idea evolved into the three-signal traffic light system used around the world today. Despite the importance of his inventions, Morgan often faced discrimination and was sometimes forced to sell his patents through white intermediaries to be taken seriously. Even so, his work was adopted internationally and continues to save lives every day. #BlackHistoryMonth

Gladys Mae Brown, a remarkable mathematician often hailed as a "hidden figure," defied the limited opportunities available to young Black girls in rural Virginia. Despite the prevailing norms pushing towards farming or tobacco processing, her academic excellence led her to Virginia State College, now Virginia State University, where she obtained a mathematics degree in 1952. Subsequently, she pursued a master's degree while navigating racial segregation and discrimination in the job market. In 1956, Gladys joined the U.S. Naval Proving Ground as a mathematician, becoming only the fourth Black employee. Renowned for her prowess in solving intricate mathematical problems manually, she later transitioned to computer programming. Her contributions were instrumental in projects like the Naval Ordinance Research Calculator and the groundbreaking Seasat satellite initiative, a pioneer in ocean surveillance technology. From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, West programmed an IBM 7030 Stretch computer to deliver increasingly precise calculations to model the shape of the Earth – an ellipsoid with irregularities, known as the geoid. Generating an extremely accurate model required her to employ complex algorithms to account for variations in gravitational, tidal, and other forces that distort Earth's shape. West's team once discovered an error during the study and out of all of the brilliant minds, she was the only one that was able to solve it. West's data ultimately became the basis for the Global Positioning System (GPS). Leading the Seasat project in 1978, Gladys West demonstrated the potential of satellites in gathering crucial oceanographic data. Her work paved the way for GEOSAT, a revolutionary satellite program enabling precise calculations of Earth's surface features. These innovations, including the development of a geoid model, significantly contributed to the accuracy of the GPS system we rely on today. Throughout her illustrious career, Gladys West continued her academic pursuits, earning multiple master's degrees and a Ph.D. even after retirement. Her memoir, "It Began with A Dream," co-authored with M. H. Jackson, not only chronicles her extraordinary journey but also stands as an inspiration for women and girls aspiring to break barriers and excel in STEM fields. Dr. West is the only black woman to be inducted into the Air Force Missile and Space Pioneers Hall of Fame and was recently inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame.

In 1978, a team of scientists hit a roadblock. Their Earth model was flawed—until Gladys West, a Black woman in a male-dominated field, cracked the code with equations still guiding satellites today. Working at the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center, West tackled the challenge using an early IBM 7030 Stretch computer. She developed incredibly complex algorithms. These calculations accounted for gravitational, tidal, and other forces distorting Earth’s shape. This work produced a highly precise model of the geoid, Earth's true form, essential for satellite accuracy. Her meticulous geoid modeling became a critical pillar for the Global Positioning System. While GPS was a vast U.S. Department of Defense project involving many pioneers, West's insights provided foundational precision. Despite the significance of her work, widespread public recognition came much later. In 2018, the U.S. Air Force inducted Gladys West into its Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame. Sources: U.S. Navy records, U.S. Air Force citations.#WomenInSTEM #BlackHistory #GPSInnovator

Every time your phone finds you, it’s using math written by someone history forgot. #storytime Do you know the Black woman who helped build the math behind GPS; the system used by airplanes, ships, satellites, and every phone in your pocket? Her name is Gladys West. And most of us were never taught it. Born in rural Virginia in the 1930s, she grew up picking cotton on a farm where education was the only way out. She earned a mathematics degree and became one of the very few Black women hired at the U.S. Naval Proving Ground. Her work demanded absolute precision. One wrong number could destroy an entire satellite mission. Long before AI or big data, Gladys West was a human computer calculating, modeling, validating. Often invisible. Rarely credited. To make satellite navigation possible, scientists first needed the right physics. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity explained how time behaves differently in motion and gravity a correction without which GPS could never work. But physics alone doesn’t build systems. What GPS really needed next was an exact mathematical model of Earth. Not a perfect sphere, but a planet that bulges, tilts, shifts, and curves unevenly. This is where Gladys West comes in. She helped develop the geodetic models that made satellite positioning accurate enough to work. She didn’t know she was building GPS. She believed she was “just improving maps.” Her equations were later used by NASA, aviation, shipping, the military and eventually every navigation system we now rely on. Planes landing safely. Ships crossing oceans. Emergency services. Ride-hailing. Logistics. Every smartphone. She worked 42 years before being recognized. In 2018, at age 87, she was finally honored by the U.S. Air Force. And here’s the part that still matters. Today, we celebrate the big (mostly male) names in AI. We quote them. Podium them. Mythologize them. Meanwhile, women continue to build the foundations; quietly, precisely, invisibly. Then. Now. The technology changed. The pattern didn’t. So maybe the real question isn’t who invented the next breakthrough, but who are we not seeing — again? #WomenInTech #HiddenFigures #AI #Leadership #Innovation #HistoryMatters