Meet the local woman who brought Black Tech Week to Cincinnati

Black Tech Week has become a beacon for Black technology professionals.

Founded by Felecia Hatcher and Derick Pearson in 2013, thousands of people from different industries, backgrounds and experience levels gather together each year to learn from and network with other technology professionals.

Historically, Black Tech Week has occurred in Miami, Florida, but two Cincinnatians acquired ownership of the event and brought it to the Queen City this year.

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Candice Matthews Brackeen, founder and CEO of Cincinnati-based economic development organization Lightship Foundation, and her husband and business partner Brian Brackeen announced their acquisition of Black Tech Week in March.

Candice said Cincinnati is a fantastic city for business and is often overlooked compared to other tech hubs like San Francisco and New York City.

She recently sat down with The Enquirer to discuss her journey as a Black woman in the tech industry, the acquisition of Black Tech Week, and some of her favorite aspects of Cincinnati.

Before diving into the Q&A, let's learn about Brackeen.

Who is Candice Matthews Brackeen?

Candice Matthews Brackeen is a general partner at Lightship Capital, the Cincinnati-based firm investing in innovators and ecosystems across the nation, focusing on consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, sustainability, artificial intelligence and health tech.

Brackeen is the founder and CEO of Lightship Foundation, an organization focused on enabling growth within the minority innovation economy. Her dedication to moving inclusion in innovation forward is also reflected in her numerous advisory roles with organizations, including the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium for NASA.

Brackeen serves on the Cincinnati Innovation District Advisory Council and the Endeavor Northwest Arkansas Board of Directors. She is also a University of Cincinnati Kautz-Uible Fellow.

Brackeen, originally from Toledo, attended the University of Cincinnati, where she graduated with a degree in economics. She has resided in Cincinnati for approximately 25 years with her husband and two teenage sons, and she's a Bengals super-fan and a vegan.

Here are a few highlights that stood out from the Q&A. These excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: First, can you start by telling me about your journey in the tech industry?

A: Yeah, so I started my first tech company eight years ago. It was just a small company that went through local accelerator. We raised in venture capital, ran out of venture capital and around that same time a report came out called Project Diane that said that less than 1% of venture capital goes to a Black-led company. I decided that was the problem that I wanted to fix, most specifically for here in Cincinnati. So, I started an accelerator to support women and people of color in tech.

Q: Can you talk more about the Lightship Foundation?

A: Lightship Foundation provides education for remarkable founders throughout the Heartland. So, we typically avoid San Francisco, New York and Boston. We're investing in Black, indigenous, people of color, both from the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities. We run programs in multiple cities, including Cincinnati and Tulsa, and we run accelerator programming, boot camps, online pitch competition, biweekly meetups, as well as now, Black Tech Week. That's everything that sits under the Lightship Foundation umbrella.

Q: What made you want to bring Black Tech Week to Cincinnati?

A: Moving to Cincinnati was a natural fit. I've lived here for 25 years, and I just realized that it's an amazing city to get business done. It's just an overlooked gem.

Q: Tell me more about your experience in tech as a Black woman.

A: I mean, it's not easy, but no great thing is easy. You just have to learn how to maneuver and use your voice to let people know if you run into any sort of obstacle. But it's not been easy, but I can also say that I've carved my own path quite well.

Q: In your opinion, how can the tech industry motivate or empower young Black people, especially Black women, to get into tech fields?

A: I think that, unfortunately, they tried. There's a trust issue, and I think the only way to hail more Black people into the tech space is that we invite each other in and showing and proving that there is an opportunity there. I think it has to be kind of community driven, because there's a lack of trust for some of the big three tech companies like Google and Facebook... I think it it's really up to us to change that narrative.

Q: What does it mean for you personally to have this event in Cincinnati after having been here for over two decades?

A: I'm a proud Ohioan... And for me, I think that's the lens that I look at it through is kind of bringing it to the state. I've been beating this drum around, making certain that tech is more equitable for Black founders for several years. It's difficult to tell someone about how great Black Tech Week is, from Cincinnati to Miami, but when you bring it here and you put it in everyone's faces, they recognize, 'Oh, that's what she meant.' ... For me, that's all I was trying to do was just show Ohio, to show the Midwest that, Black tech founders are as good or better in some cases than their majority peers.

Q: Any advice you would give to young Black and brown kids just getting out of college, about to embark on their tech careers?

A: Your first job is not gonna be your last job, very likely, and that's okay. Try a lot of things. Try and fail with a lot of things. I've done a million. I've done so many different jobs. Just wait until you find the one that you love. Right? There's no reason to be unhappy in a job.

Q: What are your favorite spots or aspects of Cincinnati?

A: I love the food scene. I love the chefs here in town. The owner of Via Vite, he's, I think, a visionary. He's got amazing Italian food. Jose Salazar and things that he's doing for the community. I'm a huge fan of that. I try to follow some of the James Beard winners. There's a new place in Oakley that has like an Asian-inspired bakery and café. That was amazing. And I'm a rabid Bengals fan. So I've got one season ticket for myself. I go by myself every other week to the home games. My Twitter will flip to Bengals after we're done.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: This local woman brought Black Tech Week to Cincinnati