CELEBRATING AFRICAN AMERICAN INNOVATORS IN MANUFACTURING & TECH

Celebrating African American Innovators in Manufacturing & Tech

As we celebrate Black History Month, we’re shining a spotlight on five African American innovators and changemakers in manufacturing, electrical engineering, and technology. Without the vision of these profound innovators, we would not have the advances in manufacturing and tech we still utilize today! From home security systems to global internet and silicon chip design, these incredible advances in technology continue to impact our daily lives. Join us as we celebrate five incredible innovators in manufacturing and technology.

Alicia Boler Davis is an American engineer and businesswoman. Boler Davis began her career at General Motors as a Manufacturing Engineer, rising to the rank of executive vice president of global manufacturing in 2016. In 2019, she joined Amazon as senior vice president of global customer fulfillment. During her time at Amazon, she led much of the company’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and became the first Black executive to join its senior leadership.

In late June 2022, Davis announced she would become the new CEO of Alto Pharmacy, a digital pharmacy startup with about $1 billion in revenue and 1,200 employees, starting in September 2022. Learn more.

Madam C.J. Walker is a manufacturing entrepreneur and philanthropist, recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America in the Guinness Book of World Records. Orphaned at 7, married at 14, and widowed at 20, Walker’s perseverance lead to a successful business and positive reputation as an entrepreneur and philanthropist. Walker built a successful business manufacturing a line of beauty products. Throughout her life, Walker made an effort to employ both women and African Americans. The self-made millionaire used her fortune to fund scholarships for women and donated large parts of her wealth to the organizations dedicated to supporting African Americans including the NAACP, the Black YMCA, and other charities. Learn more.

Victor Lawrence is an Electrical Engineer, renowned for his work in global telecommunications. His contributions made high-speed connections more available, paved the way for many developments in broadband, DSL, HDTV technologies and wireless data transfer, and stimulated the growth of the global Internet. His work has advanced data encoding and transmission, modem technology, silicon chip design, ATM switching and protocols, speech and audio coding, and digital video. Learn more.

Terry Davis, founder of Brilliant You Denim, is a pioneering figure in denim manufacturing. Terry’s journey began in the field of electrical engineering. Graduating with honors in the early 2000s, she quickly established herself as a force in her field, breaking barriers as one of the few African American women in the male-dominated industry.

From her early days as an electrical engineer, Davis honed her problem-solving skills, which she later channeled into conquering the denim world. Her innovative spirit led her to secure a design patent for a unique jeans enhancement, and today, her company boasts 11 patents with several more in the works.

As the first Black female denim manufacturer in the U.S., Terry Davis’s journey has been marked by a commitment to breaking down barriers. Learn more.

Mary Van Brittan Brown devised an early security unit for her own home in 1966 – long before security systems became a household fixture. After spending many nights at home alone in Queens, New York while her husband was away, Mary felt unsafe with high rates of crime in her neighborhood. On top of that, the police were unreliable and unresponsive. So she took matters into her own hands, inventing a device that would help put her mind at ease. Brown invented a security system that used a camera that fit into the peephole in her front door. The camera’s view would appear on a monitor in her home where she could survey any potentially unwanted guests.

Over time, she added other features to the system including a microphone to speak to anyone at the door, a button to unlock the door, and a button to contact the police. She was awarded the patent for the system in 1969. Home security systems commonly used today use various elements from her original design. Learn more.

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