The 2017 UNCF HBCU Innovation Summit is Here

When is it?

October 25 – 29, 2017 HBCU students (summit fellows) and faculty take on Silicon Valley.

What is it?

Every year, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) HBCU Innovation Summit is a national movement to drive innovation, entrepreneurship, and access for African-American and minority communities in the worlds of technology and science.

Who will be there?

This year 104 student fellows will network with CEOs, listen in on active panel sessions, partake in interview training, attend a Career Fair and workshops, learn from recruiters, and engage in dozens of tech experiences to shape their future and help open the door for their tech-filled futures. Summit fellows and faculty will also take campus tours of top performing technology companies including Google, Yelp, Salesforce, and Uber.

Why is it happening?

The Innovation Summit falls under UNCF program – ICE – which stands for Innovation, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship.

The mission of the ICE platform is to transform our campuses into high-performance STEM hubs and nodes of innovation and entrepreneurship that will have increased economic impact for the African-American community. The specific goals of the platform are to significantly increase the post-secondary yield of African-Americans pursuing STEM careers; to foster innovation and entrepreneurship across HBCU campuses in a manner that improves the R&D profile, commercialization activities and tech-entrepreneurship performance of HBCUs; and to connect our campuses to economically productive innovation and tech-ecosystems around the country.

This year’s summit is building productive HBCU innovation ecosystems and connecting them to Silicon Valley and other tech hubs across the country