The ‘Talented Tenth’ Most Influential Blacks In Technology

1. Andre Gray is an inventor of Belizean extraction who first gained recognition for uploading the very first complete song on the on August 8^th, 1988 titled “Internet Killed The Video Star”, a song he composed in the MIDI format. That song served as the absolute starting point and calling card for the online digital music & entertainment revolution. In June of 1991, he invented the electronic ticket when he began selling concert tickets through his USENET newsgroup for a King’s X concert he promoted at the Elco Theatre in Elkhart, In. He invented ringtones & ringbacks and the SYNC Programming Language in 1994 for his IBM Simon cell phone and single-handedly jumpstarted the mobile phone entertainment industry. SYNC also holds the great distinction of being the world’s first downloadable App that gave rise to the multi-trillion app industry we know today. In mid-1994, Gray posted a 1,000 word treatise called ‘Mind-Over-Matter Technology’ on his USENET newsgroup that set forth the theoretical parameters and framework of what constitutes MOM Technology, thus becoming the founding father that new branch of science & technology. In 1995, Gray invented the Electronic Press Kit, or EPK, which is the single most important marketing, branding and PR tool in the world. The EPK is also the precursor and starting point of social networks. Andre Gray invented Microgrooves Electronic in 1998 (the world’s first mobile phone music player), which eventually killed the stand-alone MP3 players. He unveiled Online Music Sales Certifications in 1999. On January 1^st, 2016 at exactly 12am, Gray launched Microgrooves HD, Microgrooves Digital, and Microgrooves Green T record vinyl formats-the biggest improvement in vinyl record sound quality in many years and, in doing so, ensured that the vinyl record format will be around for decades to come. On January 8^th, 2016, Gray instituted the first annual ‘EPK Day’ and had millions of netizens from around the world participated. His impact & influence upon the world touches billions of people and generates trillions of bits a data on a daily basis. He is truly one the greatest inventors of the late 20^th and early 21st century or ANY century for that matter.

 

  

2. David Drummond is Single most important person working at Google and its parent company Alphabet this side of its founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Drummond currently serves as senior vice president of corporate development for Alphabet. Previously, he served as senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer of Google. Joining Google in 2002, he led global teams for legal, public policy, communications, corporate development/mergers and acquisitions, and product quality operations. He also serves as chairman of Google’s investment arms, Google Ventures and Google Capital. David was first introduced to Google in 1998 as a partner in the corporate transaction group at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, one the country’s leading law firms representing technology businesses. Serving as Google’s first outside counsel, he worked closely with Larry Page and Sergey Brin to incorporate the company and secure its initial rounds of financing. David serves of the board of directors for Uber Technologies, Inc., KKR & Co. L.P., and Rocket Lawyers Inc. David earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Santa Clara University and his J.D. from Stanford Law School.

 

  

3. John Thompson is an American businessman who has a net worth of $250 million. John W. Thompson was born in Fort Dix, New Jersey in April 1949. Thompson was CEO of Virtual Instruments and is the Chairman of Microsoft Corporation. He graduated from Florida A&M University and earned an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. He has been a vice-president at IBM and the Chief Executive Officer of Symantec Corporation. Thompson was an independent director on the board of Microsoft and was named Chairman of the board in February 2014. He helped select Satya Nadella as the CEO of Microsoft. He has also been a board member for UPS, Seagate Technology, Florida A&M University, Teach For America, the Illinois Governor’s Human Resource Advisory Council, Illumio, and Liquid Robotics. He was appointed to the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee in 2002. Thompson also owns a 20% share of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Forbes named him the 8th most highly compensated CEO in 2006 at $71.84 million. He has been a strong supporter of President Barack Obama and was considered for the post of Secretary of Commerce in 2009. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appointed him to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in 2009.

 

4. Shellye Archambeau is the CEO of MetricStream and under her leadership, MetricStream has grown into a recognized global market leader recognized for growth and innovation. Shellye has proven global business expertise combined with a passion for public policy. She is a member of the board of directors for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a nationally recognized organization focused on fostering a cooperative effort between business and government officials to address major public policy issues. Shellye was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of Nordstrom, Inc. She also serves on the board of directors of Verizon Communications Inc. Shellye has led initiatives and Washington DC delegations to address regulatory compliance issues, and to improve governance. She also pens a column on leadership and entrepreneurship for Xconomy, and is frequently quoted in top tier media publications, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Compliance Week, and Silicon Valley Business Journal. Previously, she served on the Board of Directors and the Audit and Technology committees for Arbitron, Inc., a media research company.  Shellye is a much sought-after speaker who has presented on GRC issues to Fortune 500 corporations, members of Congress, and various associations, including the IIA, ISACA, and NASDAQ. In April 2013, Shellye was named the “#2 Most Influential African American in Technology” by Business Insider.

 

5. Lisa Lambert is a Managing Partner at the Westly Group responsible for investments in software, IOT, and the Internet. Prior to joining the Westly Group, Lisa was a vice-president at Intel Capital and the Managing Director of Intel Capital’s Software and Services Fund and the Intel Capital Diversity Fund where she managed over 70 portfolio companies and a team of 8 investment professionals. During her career at Intel Capital, Lisa managed several investment funds including the Intel 64 Fund, the e-Commerce Fund, the Enterprise Software Fund, before becoming the Managing Director for the Software & Service Fund in 2006 and the Managing Director for the Diversity Fund in 2015. Lisa was a voting member of Intel Capital’s investment committee. She produced top decile returns during her 16-year career including 7 IPOs and 30 accretive M&A exits. Lisa is also on the board of directors of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).

Prior to Intel Capital, she held a Product Marketing Management position with Intel’s Desktop Products Group with responsibility for the Pentium II, III processor family. Prior to joining Intel, Lisa worked as a Software Engineer and in senior roles in strategic planning, product marketing, and sales at Owens-Corning.  Lisa sat on the board of directors for Silkroad Technology, Brit+Co, Mark One, and X+1. Lisa was most recently served as board observer for Urban Airship, Kaltura, Zend Technologies, CollabNet, and Fonality. Lisa has invested in and managed exits for VMware (IPO), MySQL (acquired by Sun), Endeca (acquired by Oracle), DATAllegro (acquired by Microsoft), JBoss (acquired by Red Hat), X+1 Solutions (acquired by Rocket Fuel), Joulex (acquired by Cisco), to name a few. Lisa was just named the #1 Rising Star on an elite list of corporate venture capitalists by Global Corporate Venturing, a 10,000 member global organization of the corporate venture capital industry.

 

 

6. Ime Archibong leads a business development/product partnerships team at Facebook. Ime has led several of the company’s major media related partnerships, including those in the music industry and online video space. A lot of Facebook’s entertainment offerings are made possible be Archibong. Prior to joining Facebook, Ime was an Advanced Technology Business Development Professional at IBM where he focused on the licensing of IBM’s global portfolio of storage research technology. Ime started his career at IBM as a software engineer working in the Systems and Technology Group before transitioning to the IBM Corporate Strategy team, and eventually settling in business development. In the last two years, Ime has emerged as the most important and popular person at Facebook after Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg. Ime holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Yale University and a MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

 

 

7. Malik Ducard is the Global Head of Family and Learning at YouTube, driving business development efforts for the platform’s; family entertainment and educational content partnerships and programming. Previously Malik served as Head of West Coast Partnerships, managing YouTube’s film, TV and original content partners. Malik was previously Senior Vice President of Digital Distribution for The Americas, for Paramount Digital Entertainment. In this role, Malik ran the studio’s digital distribution team and P&L for The Americas, setting and executing on the group’s strategic course.

Prior to Paramount, Malik led Lionsgate’s Home Entertainment Acquisitions group, executive produced a stand-up comedy series for Showtime, led MGM’s Home Entertainment’s Acquisitions and Business Development division, and drove several successful new business pitches at Young & Rubicam Advertising in New York. A native of the Bronx, New York, Malik earned his B.A. from Columbia University and his MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Malik currently serves on the Los Angeles Mayor’s Council on Technology and Innovation, has been profiled in several industry publications, and is on the Boards of LA Makerspace and the Digital Diversity Network. Malik is also author of “Henry’s Big Win”​, winner of the Jessie Redmon Fauset Award for Best Children’s Book.

8. Kirk McDonald is a media and technology industry leader with over 25 years of experience working with the world’s leading brands, media companies and technology providers. Currently he is the President of PubMatic, Inc. a leading marketing automation software company sitting at the intersection of the converging worlds of Media and Technology.

Before joining PubMatic in 2011, Kirk was President of Digital at Time Inc. As a part of the team at the early pivotal stage in the digital transformation of the organization, he brought together the company’s digital assets to support the launch of its brands into mobile apps and to deliver display audience and brand advertising solutions at scale. He also served as Chief Advertising Officer of the Fortune|Money Group, overseeing worldwide advertising sales, integrated marketing, and the events business. He’s previously held senior sales, marketing and client success positions at Aquantive’s DRIVEpm and Atlas Enterprise, CNET, ZiffDavis and Condé Nast Publishing.

Kirk has been fortunate to receive many professional awards, including: Adweek’s 2015 “50 List of Vital Leaders in Tech, Media and Marketing,” Adweek’s 2014 “12 Stars of Ad Tech Who are Building the Future of the Industry Right Now,” Business Insider’s 2014 “The 46 Most Important African-Americans in Technology,” Business Insider’s 2013 “The 25 Most Influential African-Americans in Technology,” and Business Insider’s 2012 “THE SILICON ALLEY 100: The Coolest People in New York Tech This Year”.

 

 

9. Kimberly Bryant is the Founder and Executive Director of Black Girls CODE, a non-profit organization dedicated to “changing the face of technology” by introducing girls of color (ages 7-17) to the field of technology and computer science with a concentration on entrepreneurial concepts. Kimberly has enjoyed a successful 25+ year professional career in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries as an Engineering Manager in a series of technical leadership roles for various Fortune 100 companies such as Genentech, Merck, and Pfizer. Since 2011 Kimberly has helped Black Girls CODE grow from a local organization serving only the Bay Area, to an international organization with seven chapters across the U.S. and  in Johannesburg, South Africa. Black Girls CODE has currently reached over 3000 students and continues to grow and thrive.

Kimberly serves on the National Champions Board for the National Girls Collaborative Project, and the National Board of the NCWIT K-12 Alliance. Kimberly and Black Girls CODE have been nationally recognized as a social innovator and for her work to increase opportunities for women and girls in the tech industry. In August 2012 Kimberly was given the prestigious Jefferson Award for Community Service for her work to support communities in the Bay Area. In 2013 Kimberly was highlighted by Business Insider on its list of “The 25 Most Influential African- Americans in Technology” and was named to The Root 100 and the Ebony Power 100 lists. A highlight of 2013 for Kimberly was being invited to the White House as a Champion of Change for her work in tech inclusion and for her focus on bridging the digital divide for girls of color.  In 2014 Kimberly received an American Ingenuity Award in Social Progress from the Smithsonian along with being given the Inaugural Women Who Rule Award in Technology via Politico. She has been identified as a thought leader in the area of tech inclusion and has spoken on the topic at events such as Personal Democracy Forum, TedX Kansas City, Platform Summit, Big Ideas Festival, SXSW, and many others. 

 

10. Kenneth Coleman, also known as Ken, is a Special Advisor at Carrick Capital Partners, LLC. Mr. Coleman is also a Special Advisor at Andreessen Horowitz since April 11, 2013. He co-founded ITM Software Corporation in October 2001 and served as its Chief Executive Officer since May 2002 to 2005, and Chairman from May 2002 to June 11, 2007. From 1987 to August 2001, Mr. Coleman was at Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) and served in various senior executive positions such as Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President of Global Sales, Service and Marketing; Senior Vice President of Customer and Professional Services; Senior Vice President of Global Services, Head of Administration, and Senior Vice President of Administration & Business Development, from 1987 to 1998. He served as an Executive Vice President of Global Sales, Service and Marketing at Graphics Properties Holdings, Inc. In May 2001, Mr. Coleman founded Coleman Consulting and consulted on various strategic matters for several companies through May 2002. Prior to SGI, he served as a Vice President of Product Development at Activision Inc. where he was responsible for software development activities. Mr. Coleman spent ten years at Hewlett-Packard Company, where he held several management positions including a two-year assignment in Europe. He also served as a Captain in the United States Air Force. He has been the Chairman of Saama Technologies, Inc. since February 7, 2013. Mr. Coleman serves as the Chairman at Accelrys Software Inc. He serves as a Member of Strategic Advisory Board of Corefino Services, LLC.

Mr. Coleman serves as Member of Advisory Board of Avokia Inc. and Global Alliance Partners, Inc. He has been a Director of AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah Insurance Exchange since 2008; Accelrys Software Inc., since May 2003; United Online Inc. since September 2001 and Classmates Media Corporation since September 2007. Mr. Coleman has been a Director of City National Corp. and its subsidiary of City National Bank since 2003. He serves as a Director of The Tech Museum of Innovation; The Ohio State University Alumni Advisory Council and The Ohio State University Business Dean’s Advisory Council. He served as the Chairman of MIPS Technologies Inc., from November 11, 2010 to February 7, 2013. Mr. Coleman served as the Non-Executive Chairman of Accelrys Inc. since February 6, 2006 until December 2011. He served as Director of Care Assured and Harris IT Services Corporation since March 2000. Mr. Coleman served as a Director of MIPS Technologies Inc. from January 1998 to February 07, 2013. He served as Lead Independent Director of Accelrys Inc. since May 2004 and its Director, from May 2003 to May 30, 2013. He served as a Director of Acclaim Entertainment Inc. since July 1997 and ITM Software Corp. He is the recipient of numerous honors including The Ohio State University School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award, the Nation Alliance of Black School Educator Living Legend Award, the American Leadership Forum of Silicon Valley Exemplary Leader Award, the One Hundred Black Men of Silicon Valley Lifetime Achievement Award and the Silicon Valley Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame. Mr. Coleman holds an M.B.A. and a B.S. degree in Industrial Management from The Ohio State University.