LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Urban League Young Professionals hosted a workshop to introduce students to Black tech professionals.

Students, young adults and parents gathered on Saturday, May 10 for the Future Forward: Tech Career Pop-Up. It’s also been dubbed a ‘miracle territory.’

“That was the word of today, which is where you take the opportunity to put yourself in a room that’s going to introduce you to people that could transform the trajectory of your life,” said Gregory Mitchell, the vice president of Louisville Urban League Young Professionals.

There was a presentation and Q&A session during the Future Forward: Tech Career Pop-Up. (Spectrum News 1/Geraldine Torrellas)

Two tech professionals were invited to the event to share their journeys, discuss their ventures and give advice. One of them was Louisville native Ricky Mason, the CEO of BrainSTEM and Kentucky Agritech.

“Today’s event was awesome,” Mason said. “It’s amazing whenever I get the chance to talk to young people about their career, their purpose and being intentional about their lives.”

Network N’ Chill’s Co-Founder, Chris Redd, was the other speaker at the workshop.

“I think now understanding that you could be anybody, any background, have the consistency to say, ‘I want to show up today and learn something new,’ and over the next three to six months, build something incredible,” Redd said.

The goal is to show students that there are people who look like them in STEM careers.

According to the American Community Survey, Black people make up 7% of the computing workforce with most being computer support specialists.

The NAACP said, “diversity in tech is a modern civil rights issue.”

“Representation across the board is so important,” Redd said. “I think all of us are some way, are mentors to others and so today, having the opportunity to talk about tech and investing and really just building relationships.”

Representation and building those relationships are just some of the positive takeaways from the workshop.

“It’s free,” Mitchell said. “Why not walk away with some new knowledge, a new relationship, a new connection, a new potential job opportunity? We’re glad that everyone came out.”

Everyone who went to the workshop also went home with a free digital career kit with resources and tips on how to get started in tech.

Louisville Urban League Young Professionals will be posting information on upcoming events like the one on Saturday to its Instagram.

People between the ages of 21 to 40 are welcome to join the organization.