UmanityEDU builds black tech innovation ecologies, with Black joy, research, and community-centered programming, to build a national black tech ecosystem.

“No more episodic interventions! We can solve the digital divide and eradicate racial tech disparities by attacking the entire tech ecosystem. Meaning CS4ALL in every public school, community colleges get access to NSF Broadening the Participation funds, tech companies use blind recruitment practices, student loan debt is wiped away for black tech founders, and Smart Cities respect the privacy of black communities. These things can be done simultaneously.” Dr. Fallon S. Wilson

Dr. Fallon Wilson is the Founder of UmanityEDU. UmanityEDU builds black tech innovation ecologies, with Black joy, research, and community-centered programming, to build a national black tech ecosystem. Currently, her firm is piloting, building, and growing #BlackChurch Futures, The National Black Tech Ecosystem Builder Association, and #BlackTechFutures Research Institute. Dr. Wilson is the Co-Founder and former CEO of Black in Tech Nashville and the former Research Director of Black Tech Mecca. Under Dr. Wilson’s leadership, Black Tech Mecca (BTM) built its Smart Black Tech Ecosystem Framework that uses 30 indicators and 120 metrics to score a city’s ability to create a thriving black tech ecosystem. Using this framework, Dr. Wilson worked with community stakeholders in the cities of Chicago and Philadelphia to score and strengthen their black tech ecosystems.

She is a member of the Federal Communications Commissions’ Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment. Dr. Wilson is a 2019 TEDx Speaker (e.g. Stop Ignoring Black Women and Hear of Our Tech Prophecies). She is a Board Member of the State of Tennessee’s Future of Work Taskforce and Co-Chairs Nashville’s smart city plan, Connected Nashville: A Vision of a Smart City. Given her tech activism, she is a 2017 recipient of the ISTE Digital Equity Award. Dr. Wilson’s research on first generation black college students’ alternative tech pathways and tech ecosystems has garnered notable research grants from Kapor Center & Kauffman Foundation. Dr. Wilson chairs the Tennessee Higher Education Commission's HBCU Success Board.

Dr. Wilson has a BA from Spelman College and MA/PhD from the University of Chicago. As a public interest technologist, she discusses race, gender, faith, and civic tech issues. She is on twitter @SistahWilson