Book of Lists Newsmaker – Technology: Sabrina Short

After an influx of startups triggered a post-Katrina tech boom in New Orleans about 10 years ago, community organizer and digital media creative Sabrina Short saw a disconnect. The city was full of qualified, experienced yet tech professionals of color. Yet they weren’t being represented in New Orleans’ emerging tech industry.

“I had been having these conversations already as a creative: Where is the space for Black people who are in tech?” she asked.

To that end, Short met up with three other women in tech who had expressed the need for a space where local creatives and professionals could meet and network. The women ended up launching the Black Tech NOLA Inclusive Innovation Conference in 2018 during Essence Festival, and nearly 200 people came to the event.

Just as Short was wondering whether to do another event for 2019, Lyft reached out expressing interest. “I said, ‘There isn’t even an event yet,’” she said. “And they said, ‘We have this amazing person we want to bring from Lyft to speak at your event.’ I said, ‘Who is it?’ And they said, ‘We’ll get back to you. We just want to know if you’re in.’” Short agreed.

The keynote speaker turned out to be Valerie Jarrett, Lyft board member and former senior adviser to President Barack Obama.

“We doubled our numbers that year,” Short said. “It was bigger than I could have imagined. It was supposed to be a meetup, and it turned out to be one of the greatest tech activations during Essence ever.”

Energized with the momentum from the 2019 event, Short started planning for the 2020 meeting. Then COVID hit.

To Short’s surprise, she started getting calls from companies looking for diverse talent. “People are being extra innovative in this quarantine space that we’re in. And I said, ‘I think this is the future of where NOLAvate is going,’” she said.

Despite catching COVID herself, Short raised money to hold the 2020 conference anyway and planned a virtual event within six weeks. The conference had 1,200 people register and received 5,000 views of its virtual content over three days.

“We were global at that point,” she said. “We did Zoom and tapped all these amazing tech companies to have a conversation about inclusion in tech, and what does tech look like for our region and building a sustainable pipeline.”
Fast forward to today, and people are shifting to a virtual work force. To meet those needs, NOLAvate Black partnered with Greater New Orleans Inc. to work together to address inclusion, access and equity in tech.

NOLAvate held its fourth annual conference in June, reaching nine additional countries this year. Over the years, the event has reached over 2,000 people. And NOLAvate Black has shifted its focus to the intersection of tech and culture, and how tech plays a part in the city’s creative economy.

“We’re not Silicon Valley, not New York, not Seattle, not even Miami or Atlanta,” Short said. “We’re unique.”

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