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Episode 4: Zuri Hunter on Thriving at a Hackathon, Identifying Red Flags of a Toxic Culture and Giving Back to the Community
(6:08) “When I go to these hackathons, I don’t go with the intent of trying to win something. I go with the intent of: ‘What do I not know right now? And what can I learn through these next 24-72 hours?’ – because the goal is for me to learn something new about myself.”
(20:57) “We need everyone in tech. We need to make sure we have a supportive environment for people to grow and be valued… so if you’re hearing this, recognize those red flags and go where you are welcomed.”
(22:56) (On DCFemTech) “This has had a huge impact on our community, it has given a lot of our ladies the courage to definitely stay in the industry, get the support they need, the networking opportunities, and grow overall throughout their career.”
(25:58) “I think what makes DC tech scene a really great place – and actually a good place for diversity and inclusion – is because they care, to some level. They care about having a diverse and inclusive community… We have companies in the area that care about the cause and want to do anything they can to help.”
(30:25) “One of the biggest blockers we have in the tech world is that we have folks in places to make decisions that do not give people from underrepresented communities a chance.”
(32:54) “It’s very fulfilling – and it really does make an impact – when you have somebody who is not a white male in a leadership position. Cuz it gives hope for us, there is a path… I see myself up there.”
(44:40) (On how technology can help the anti-racist and Black Lives Matter movements) “So if anybody has time and the tech talent to contribute, I would recommend that you reach out to the folks at Black Lives Matter and ask them what help they need…”
Bio
Zuri Hunter is a software engineer at Black Cape based in the DMV area. She attended the illustrious Howard University where she obtained her bachelor's in Computer Information Systems. While completing her undergraduate degree, she taught herself Ruby on Rails and applied this knowledge at several local hackathons. She has worked on several projects such as the US Presidential Innovations Fellow, Hack the Pay Gap and AngelHack Incubator, SlimSpace. After her 5th hackathon, she was presented with her first introduction in the tech industry with opportunity at HumanGeo with web applications in a microservice architecture. Outside of building amazing applications, our guest is heavily involved in increasing diversity and inclusion within the DC tech community. She volunteers regularly with Women Who Code, Black Girls Code, Bison Hacks, and DCFemTech. As of 2018, she was nominated as DCA Live Power Women in Tech.
Mentioned in the episode:
Black Cape
Black Girls Code
DCFemTech
Black Lives Matter - DC Chapter and national organization
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By Tech, Rebalanced(6:08) “When I go to these hackathons, I don’t go with the intent of trying to win something. I go with the intent of: ‘What do I not know right now? And what can I learn through these next 24-72 hours?’ – because the goal is for me to learn something new about myself.”
(20:57) “We need everyone in tech. We need to make sure we have a supportive environment for people to grow and be valued… so if you’re hearing this, recognize those red flags and go where you are welcomed.”
(22:56) (On DCFemTech) “This has had a huge impact on our community, it has given a lot of our ladies the courage to definitely stay in the industry, get the support they need, the networking opportunities, and grow overall throughout their career.”
(25:58) “I think what makes DC tech scene a really great place – and actually a good place for diversity and inclusion – is because they care, to some level. They care about having a diverse and inclusive community… We have companies in the area that care about the cause and want to do anything they can to help.”
(30:25) “One of the biggest blockers we have in the tech world is that we have folks in places to make decisions that do not give people from underrepresented communities a chance.”
(32:54) “It’s very fulfilling – and it really does make an impact – when you have somebody who is not a white male in a leadership position. Cuz it gives hope for us, there is a path… I see myself up there.”
(44:40) (On how technology can help the anti-racist and Black Lives Matter movements) “So if anybody has time and the tech talent to contribute, I would recommend that you reach out to the folks at Black Lives Matter and ask them what help they need…”
Bio
Zuri Hunter is a software engineer at Black Cape based in the DMV area. She attended the illustrious Howard University where she obtained her bachelor's in Computer Information Systems. While completing her undergraduate degree, she taught herself Ruby on Rails and applied this knowledge at several local hackathons. She has worked on several projects such as the US Presidential Innovations Fellow, Hack the Pay Gap and AngelHack Incubator, SlimSpace. After her 5th hackathon, she was presented with her first introduction in the tech industry with opportunity at HumanGeo with web applications in a microservice architecture. Outside of building amazing applications, our guest is heavily involved in increasing diversity and inclusion within the DC tech community. She volunteers regularly with Women Who Code, Black Girls Code, Bison Hacks, and DCFemTech. As of 2018, she was nominated as DCA Live Power Women in Tech.
Mentioned in the episode:
Black Cape
Black Girls Code
DCFemTech
Black Lives Matter - DC Chapter and national organization