For eons, black professionals have complained that St. Pete lacks a networking scene for their demographic. Things are even worse for those in the technology sector (African Americans are only 1% of St. Pete’s tech workforce).
The new event called ‘The Mix’ is out to change that reality with a social-slash-business mixer dedicated to black tech professionals and start-ups. The concept is one small but important facet of the vision for The Mainframe – a regionally-based nonprofit organization focused on growing Tampa Bay’s black tech and innovation ecosystem.
The group hosted its second installation of the event last week at the Birchwood Canopy rooftop bar in downtown St. Petersburg. Organizers plan to host ‘The Mix’ on the first Wednesday of each month, alternating between Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Founded in 2019, the Mainframe has secured partnerships with economic development organizations on both sides of the bay. In Hillsborough, the Mainframe is collaborating with Embarc Collective – recently named a global Top Challenger by UBI Global Rankings 2021-2022 of Business Incubators and Accelerators – to help diversify entrepreneurs using on-site spaces and services.
In Pinellas, the Mainframe is working with the St. Pete Innovation District, the Sankofa Group, Equity Institute St. Pete, and others to bring more resources to the sector.
Meanwhile, ‘The Mix’ is intentionally designed to build a “community” around African Americans seeking advancement in the field, according to Deni Brave. “It’s our goal for ‘The Mix’ to create a casual space for black techies to meet one another as people, to share their experiences, ideas, and contacts,” said Brave, who is Vice President of Community Activations for the Mainframe as well as Head of Production Systems at Viniks Sports Group and Owner of Full Moon Branding.
The Mainframe’s CEO, James Faison, said “Creating opportunity through relationship” was another goal for the event series.
The February 1 gathering welcomed just over 40 attendees, who included three dozen tech careerists and several black tech entrepreneurs.
The three-hour event offered food, music, a cash bar and casual conversation for the mixed crowd of mostly Millennials and Gen-Xers.
Ashley Simpson, an Aircraft Maintenance Planner with Breeze Airways, attended ‘The Mix’ last week and said she loves that events like it are happening more often in the Tampa Bay area. “This gave me an opportunity to meet and connect with like-minded individuals I otherwise would not have a chance to meet.”
Jamison Carnegie, Director of Advocacy & Outreach for The Mainframe, believes that “We [African Americans] are a marginalized group in the tech space. Events like this open avenues for us to collaborate, sharing our ideas and passions, helping to find a way to grow our innovative ideas and bring them to reality.”
