Students from across the country can benefit from the AFROTECH™ Conference.
You don’t need to be a professional or a graduating college student to make an impact at the annual Black tech mecca. Learning is a lifelong process, and by attending the conference, you’ll gain access to a dynamic lineup of speakers and corporations covering topics such as entrepreneurship, wealth building, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and more.
Additionally, attending AFROTECH™ presents countless networking opportunities—its first year in Houston, Texas, in November 2024 drew more than 37,000 attendees.
Morgan State University junior Mivette Garcia had several expectations when she attended the AFROTECH™ Conference for the first time in 2024—expectations shaped by her pursuits as a business administration and management major, an intern at the university’s Entrepreneurial Development and Assistance Center, and the owner of a virtual beauty boutique that she hopes to expand to include beauty vending machines and hair salons.
Garcia wears many hats. She serves as vice president of the Collegiate Association of Start-Up Entrepreneurs and is a campus ambassador for the HBCU Universe Summit, TurboTax, and Fearless Tech, which sponsored her two-day attendance at the conference with a student ticket.
While at the conference, she attended Walmart’s panel, “Black & Unlimited: Scaling Your Brand to Walmart,” which she found insightful.
“That was a panel that I really enjoyed just because I’m an entrepreneur. They gave their insight on how to put your business there, but also kept it real with us… Is your business really ready to be in Walmart? They also shared their experience on how it was a lot for them when they first went to Walmart and how they had to turn down other opportunities just because they weren’t ready. They just had to, with time, grow their business. So that was a big nugget that I took from that,” Garcia told AFROTECH™.
Garcia also spent time exploring the expo floor—not to job hunt, but to network, expand her exposure to technology, and better understand what the AFROTECH™ Conference has to offer. She maximized her time by attending events outside of conference hours, including Founderfest, hosted by the HBCU Universe, and the Maryland Collective dinner.
“I have a business mindset, so if I could find that technical mindset and collaborate with that… That’s what I decided was my main focus when I went to AFROTECH™,” she explained.
Garcia says her expectations were met, and she plans to return this year with a full game plan.
“I made those connections with people in technical fields, but I feel like I actually got more out of it,” she said.
Part of what makes AFROTECH™ so powerful is the ability to immerse yourself in a community of Black professionals across industries. That impact was deeply felt by Reneke Hart, a senior computer science major at Villanova University, who interned as a customer solutions manager with AWS in 2024.
“I’ve been going to this PWI, and even half of my high school career, I started going to a private school. So being at a PWI for so long, I forget what it’s like to be in a space with so many successful Black people,” Hart said, reflecting on her experience attending the conference under a general ticket in November 2024. “On a day-to-day basis, I feel like I’m just trying to survive. I don’t feel like my PWI is a home for me—I just made it one because of the community I built.”
She continued: “So I would definitely say going to AFROTECH™ overwhelmed me in a good way… People wanted to get to know you. They wanted to know you on your professional stance and what you’re good at. I feel like it’s the opposite here, where it’s like, ‘Oh, computer science?’ I wear long braids. I wear sweat suits and UGGs. I don’t dress like people expect me to when I say I’m a computer science major, and it definitely throws people off and [they] underestimate me. So I would say that AFROTECH™ was a big help in proving to me that there’s a bigger community of us out here.”
Hart’s first time at the AFROTECH™ Conference was made possible through an $800 grant from her school’s career center. Her goals were to network, explore job opportunities, and find mentorship as she prepared for life after graduation.
While she admits her hopes for on-the-spot interviews fell a bit short, she still made valuable connections—some of which led to follow-up interviews.
“I was able to follow up with some job opportunities and actually get a little bit further than I feel like I would have had I just stayed at my laptop applying. I definitely would say it was great for networking,” she said.
Whether you attend an HBCU or a PWI, the AFROTECH™ Conference is the place to be to learn and innovate for the future. So don’t wait— lock in your tickets today for Oct. 27-31, 2025, in Houston, TX.
