Focused on building a community of Black individuals in the Detroit Tech Community that are highly valued.
Welcome
In order for this group to grow we had to establish some core principles. Trust is the foundation of our principles because without trust we can't truely be ourselves, which is the core reason we started this group...we want this group to be a safe place where ideas and questions can be discussed without judgement.
We are focused on initatives that will support the growth of our community and inspire others to start or advance their technology journey
Initiatives
Hacking with the Homies is an inclusive coworking space for anyone in the tech community in the Metro Detroit area. Work on projects, debug code and network with successful tech professionals across all disciplines in technology.
This initiative provides insight into the journey of Detroit Black Tech Community. Listening to their stories will give you motivation and potentially give you some tips or tricks that will help navigate your journey.
The founding members of the community is Mack Hendricks, Jeseekia Vaughn, Aubrey Agee and Nikki Evelyn. However, the members that provide heavy influence are, Renee Hudson and Edward Carrington
Our Team
Mack obtained a Bachelor and Masters of Science in Computer Science from Oakland University. He has worked for large Silicon Valley-based companies for most of his 20-year career, including 5 years at Sun Microsystems and 10 years at Oracle Corporation. In parallel, Mack has built companies in the restaurant and technology sector. One primary principle driving Mack is setting up a framework that allows generational wealth to grow and be passed down to his kids, grandkids, great grandkids and so on.
Jeseekia is a Software Engineer, primarily focused on full stack web application development. Through her company Fully Developed, LLC she services clients using various languages including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, PHP, and SQL. She is an avid learner, currently training in Artificial Intelligence Engineering. Jeseekia is passionate about exposing others to engineering and development through teaching and mentoring.
Aubrey has spent 13 years in the tech entrepreneurial space by launching tech ventures, organizing tech training and creating hackathons. As the Director of Innovation Warriors at Wayne State University he has reached over 4,000 participants in their exploration of entrepreneurship. Aubrey has guided 800 individuals to generate their own business models and helped over 200 businesses launch. Over 100 ventures are generating revenue within the seven years of Aubrey’s leadership over the Innovation Warriors.
With a Bachelors in Public Relations and a Masters in Communications, Nikki changed her career path after participating in Detroit Labs’ Javascript Apprenticeship. Nikki is currently working as an Application Developer. Over the course of her career in tech she has worked on award winning testing software and assisted with the launch of the Detroit Chapter of Black Girls Code through General Motors. Nikki is passionate about exposure and equality in the tech industry and has spent time teaching coding classes to underserved youth through various organizations. She is also passionate about diversity in tech and co-founded Detroit Black Tech's "Hacking with the Homies" meet up.
Edward is a 3X Startup Founder with a unique background in banking, urban real estate development, and code. Understanding the importance of learning how to formally write code, Edward decided to attend a local bootcamp back in 2018 that introduced him to a number of concepts and frameworks including: Java, Python, Spring MVC, SQL, HTML5/CSS, JavaScript, JSON, GIT, SoapUI, Fiddler, Jenkins, Agile, and more.
Renee Hudson is a software quality assurance engineer at StockX, Detroit's tech unicorn e-commerce platform. At StockX Renee champions quality by creating process around testing at her fast growing start up company. Currently she is the lead QA on the international experience team where she designs testing plans for android, iOS and web platforms to ensure an authentic high quality user experience for international StockX customers. Renee earned her B.A. in Women's Studies from the University of Michigan- Ann Arbor in 2014 along with completing a coding bootcamp at Grand Circus through the ExperienceIT program in 2016. Renee strongly believes in community engagement to build a tech ecosystem in Detroit that reflects the real world. In 2019, she co-founded Hacking with the Homies a meetup group located in downtown Detroit with a mission to connect, support and empower tech professionals and those looking to transition into a tech career. For fun Renee loves to travel and does travel counseling for individuals planning a trips to visit Ghana in West Africa!
We are constantly looking to grow our community and looking to partner with organizations that believe in our mission
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