With Gratitude

This time every year, I find myself reflecting on the people, places and experiences that made up the previous 12 months and looking ahead to the New Year with a fresh perspective and renewed focus. Last year, that look back felt a lot more scary and somber than usual and what was to come in 2021 felt entirely unknown. Our world, and mine along with it, was rocked in a way that I’m still not quite sure I fully understand, but what I do know is this… It has opened the door to the possibilities of seeing ourselves in new ways and given us an opportunity to be creative with how we rebuild moving forward.

That’s why this year, I want to express my gratitude for the last 9 months, which has been, hands down, the most rewarding professional experience of my life. After a timely introduction?by my good friend Jason Bass and a 60-minute call to cement the Equitech vision, I was all-in on a bold new initiative. On March 8th, almost 1 year to the day after the start of a global pandemic, I met our CEO, Jamie McDonald and Chief of Staff, Hilary Roxe for the first time as the Director of Relationship Development for UpSurge Baltimore.

I found this vision to reimagine a major American city, through the lens of equity and diversity as a strength, extremely attractive. However, up to that point, my experience in tech had shown me that, just because I was able to carve a path for myself in this industry, not everyone who looks like me is able to do the same. The systematic barriers to entry for people of color in tech are not unlike those in other industries, but the cultural norms and overall mentality towards inclusion in tech is often apathetic, making the lack of diversity at all levels even more glaring.

At UpSurge, we, along with our partners in the Baltimore tech community, are on a mission to change the systems, shift the culture, and co-create an innovation economy where all belong.

If Day 1 of this 10-year journey made the task in front of us seem daunting, Day 2 gave me reason to feel like the opportunity was real. I was able to sit in on an episode of ‘Downtown Download’ with Shelonda Stokes. Her guest that day was a charismatic, young black tech leader by the name of Delali Dzirasa. The conversation that unfolded gave me tremendous insight into the current landscape of tech in Baltimore for marginalized communities, but more than that it gave me unimaginable hope. Even if I didn’t understand just yet how we might bring the Equitech vision to life, I knew that day that Baltimore had the right people to do it.

Over the past 9 months, I’ve had the privilege of meeting with hundreds of leaders from industry, academia, government, and the social sector, and have been inspired by faith leaders like Rev. Al Hathaway, community leaders like Joe Jones, culture creators like D. Watkins and Kondwani Fidel, and always by the beautiful and resilient citizens of Baltimore. Thank you for your love and commitment to our city.

On behalf of the UpSurge team, I want to thank the founders first (represented by Isaac Kinde, Nick Culbertson, Kristen Valdes, and Phil Croskey) who have led the way by building world-class companies here in Baltimore. Thank you to the new generation of founders (represented by Ellington West, Tina Williams-Koroma, Arion Long, Pava LaPere, Michael Ogunsanya and Juliana Buonanno) who continue to push for more equity and inclusion in tech. Thank you to our ecosystem partners (represented by Josh Ambrose, Madison Marks, Jay Nwachu, Wendy Bolger and Patrick McQuown) who continue to mold future generations of startup founders. Thank you to the funders (represented by Troy Stovall, Claire Broido-Johnson, Jeff Cherry, Mary Morris, and Mac Conwell) for turning your attention to the phenomenal companies growing in and coming to Baltimore. Thank you to Techstars (represented by Nancy Wolff, Monica Wheat, Ramzy Ismail and Laila Partridge) and Stanley Black & Decker (represented by Marty Guay) for partnering with us and believing in this bold vision and thank you to the 12 companies setting the standard in our first Techstars Equitech Accelerator. Thank you to everyone who participated on an UpSurge Team and continues to plug into our ongoing Pathways and Prosper-In-Place work. Thank you to Mayor Brandon Scott, Deputy Mayor Ted Carter and all of the local and state officials who have leaned into our work. Finally, thank you to Michael Hankin, Christy Wyskiel and our entire board and founding partners for your support. Transforming Baltimore into the first Equitech city in the world is our goal and we’re just getting started!