Black Innovators in STEM

She was told by her guidance counselor to become a cosmetologist. She became a NASA rocket scientist and flew to space. Meet Aisha Bowe, Founder and CEO of STEMBoard and LINGO. Aisha grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her dad was a Bahamian immigrant who drove a taxi to pay for his own engineering degree. Her parents divorced when she was young. Her mom was 27 with no college degree and two kids. Aisha struggled in school with low confidence and low grades. A 2.3 GPA. Her high school guidance counselor sat her down and told her she should pursue cosmetology. Not because she had any interest in it, but because the counselor didn't see her as a strong student. Aisha enrolled in community college. She felt demoralized. Then her dad stepped in. He said: "Take a math class. If you take it, I'll pay for it." She took pre-algebra. Got an A, then fell in love with math. Her professor said: "You're good at this. Dream bigger." She transferred to the University of Michigan, where she a bachelor's in aerospace engineering. Next, a master's in space systems engineering. Then NASA called. Aisha became an aerospace engineer at NASA Ames Research Center. She worked on nanosatellite missions and air traffic management systems. But she wanted more impact. In 2013, while still at NASA, she founded STEMBoard, a tech company providing engineering solutions for government and commercial clients. STEMBoard landed on the Inc 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in America. Twice. Then she founded LINGO, a self-paced coding kit to teach kids STEM skills at home. The kits are now sold at Amazon, Walmart, and Target. Now it is used by over 10,000 students in 10 countries. She raised $2.3 million in venture capital, and became one of the fewer than 2% of women founders to raise over $2 million. In April 2025, she flew to space on Blue Origin's first all-female mission alongside Gayle King, Katy Perry, and Lauren Sánchez. She became the first Bahamian to travel to space. The sixth Black woman to cross the Kármán line. Her father passed away in 2025. She was gifted a star in his honor. "My life changed because my dad was unwilling to accept anything less than greatness from me, even when I wasn't demonstrating that. Whenever I look up, I know he's there, still guiding me forward." What makes Aisha remarkable is that she didn't just break into aerospace. She broke in from a community college pre-algebra class after being told her ceiling was cosmetology. Aisha may be one of the most inspiring founders in STEM, yet this post might be the first time you've ever heard of her. 🔔 Subscribe to Jenny Stojkovic for more.

Meet the Game Changers: Black Women Redefining Tech 👩🏾💻 Across industries — from startups and venture funding to digital media and AI — Black women are shaping the future of technology with vision, innovation, and purpose. They’re turning ideas into impact, building companies, and inspiring the next generation of girls in STEM. Here are four leaders transforming the landscape: 💎 Kara Branch, MBA, LSSGB — Founder & CEO, Black Girls Do Engineer Corporation With a background in chemical engineering and an Executive MBA, Kara launched her nonprofit to serve girls ages 6–21 in robotics, cybersecurity, AI, aerospace, and more. She’s not just teaching STEM — she’s building a pipeline of young Black women technologists through mentorship, hands-on training, and real representation. 💻 LaToya Shambo — Founder, Black Girl Digital From ad agency life to digital entrepreneurship, LaToya’s media agency empowers Black women creators and brands in digital spaces. Her work shows that “tech” includes not only code but also the digital storytelling and production that amplify women’s voices and expand opportunities across industries. 🌎 Mrs. Kristi Jackson-Muhammad, MBA, Serving Coaches Marketing ➕ Business Strategist — Founder, Women CEO Project Kristi leads one of the most dynamic ecosystems for women founders. Her “Global Power Tour” conference and more than 40 business courses each year spotlight women of color in tech and business — expanding what leadership looks like and helping entrepreneurs build skills, visibility, and confidence. 🎮 Margo Jordan — Founder & CEO, Enrichly A Texas Southern University grad, Margo is pioneering “PD Tech” — personal development technology — through Enrichly, a gaming platform that helps kids strengthen self-esteem through play. Her innovations earned her recognition from Google for Startups and even the Royal Family of Abu Dhabi. 💬 “Self-esteem is a muscle that needs to be worked out every single day,” Margo says. ✨ These innovators remind us that technology isn’t just about machines or algorithms — it’s about people, purpose, and possibility. Their work is building bridges for the next generation of girls in STEM to thrive. Read the full story here! 👉 https://lnkd.in/e75WgVHQ ✍️ Article by ReShonda Tate #WomenInSTEM #GirlsInSTEM #STEMGems #GiveGirlsRoleModels

3D image technology has changed entertainment and science as we know it - all thanks to Valerie Thomas. This futuristic concept became a reality and continues to shape today’s technology, all thanks to this NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist and inventor. Before her invention, visual displays were limited to flat, 2-dimensional images. Then, in 1976, after witnessing an illusion where a lightbulb appeared lit despite being removed from its socket, Thomas began experimenting with concave mirrors. By 1980, she patented the “illusion transmitter,” a groundbreaking system that uses mirrors and cameras to create realistic 3D images - holograms - that forever changed how we perceive visual information. This invention was later used in NASA satellite technology, revolutionising how we analyse and interpret data from space. It has also since been adapted for use in surgery, enhancing precision in medical imaging and procedures, And, of course, has influenced the production of television and video screens, paving the way for immersive entertainment experiences. But her legacy extends far beyond holography: 👉🏾 Thomas played a critical role in developing image-processing systems for Landsat, the first satellite to send images of Earth from space. 👉🏾 She helped to develop computer program designs that supported research on Halley's Comet, the ozone layer, and satellite technology. 👉🏾 She’s received many awards for her work and her activism, including an Award of Merit from the Goddard Space Flight Center and the NASA Equal Opportunity Medal. Thomas retired from NASA in 1995, but her impact didn’t stop there. She continues to inspire generations, to enter STEM fields and break new ground. Her invention changed how we see the world - literally and figuratively, influencing everything from medical technologies to entertainment. #ReclaimingNarratives

The next time you make a video call, remember: a Black woman in the ‘80s made it possible. In 1982, Marian Croak joined Bell Labs with a PhD in quantitative analysis and social psychology from USC. She started in Human Factors Research. Her job: figure out how tech could make life better for real people. At the time, the modern internet didn’t exist. But she saw what was coming. Most telecom companies were betting on ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) to transmit voice, video, and text. Marian said no. She pushed AT&T to adopt TCP/IP—the protocol that still powers the internet today. Then she went further… What if your voice could travel as digital data? What if a phone call didn’t need a phone line? That’s how she helped invent the foundations of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). She worked on quality control, latency, and how to make voice over the internet sound human. Then came her second breakthrough: text-to-donate. In 2003, Marian saw AT&T build a text voting system for American Idol. Fans could vote via SMS. She had a thought: if people can vote by text, why can’t they donate too? In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, she and co-inventor Hossein Eslambolchi built it. It raised $130,000 for relief organizations. Five years later, after the Haiti earthquake, the same system raised $43M via mobile donations. She received a U.S. patent for it: “Method and Apparatus for Dynamically Debiting a Donation.” In 2013, she was awarded the Thomas Edison Patent Award for it. In total, she holds over 200 patents, with nearly half related to VoIP. By the time she left AT&T in 2014, she was Senior Vice President of Applications and Services Infrastructure, overseeing 2,000 engineers and more than 500 projects in enterprise mobility and consumer wireline tech. Then she joined Google. There, she became VP of Engineering. She helped bring broadband to underserved communities across Africa and Asia. She launched Google’s Center for Responsible AI and Human-Centered Technology, building ethical frameworks for the future of artificial intelligence. Her team is applying AI to problems such as: – Maternal health monitoring in developing nations – Early disease detection – Climate impact mitigation In her words: “AI can amplify the worst stereotypes and spread misinformation. It has to serve the deepest needs of humanity.” In 2022, she was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 💡Follow Justine Juillard to read 365 stories of women innovators in 365 days. Tap the 🔔 on my profile so you don’t miss a single story.

In 1971, a Black woman naval engineer in Washington, D.C., drafted a warship in eighteen hours. The Navy took the ship. They kept her title. Raye Montague was a civilian employee at the Naval Ship Engineering Center. The standard timeline to draft a military vessel was two years. It required a room of draftsmen, slide rules, and hundreds of vellum sheets. The Nixon administration wanted a new class of frigate. They gave the department two months. Montague was not officially an engineer. Her civil service classification was computer systems operator. She had a business degree from an Arkansas college that did not allow Black students to enroll in its engineering program. For months, she had been staying late, working on a program she called IDAS. It was a sequence of code designed to translate ship specifications into automated drafts. She fed the parameters into the UNIVAC I mainframe. Eighteen hours and twenty-six minutes later, the machine stopped printing. She tore off the continuous-feed paper. It was the complete, exact draft of an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate. It was the first ship in human history designed entirely by a computer. At the time, the federal civil service classification system operated on strict educational codes. Series 800 was reserved for engineers. Series 300 was for administrative and clerical staff. The distinction dictated not just salary, but whose name appeared on the final schematic. The manual made no provision for software substituting for an accredited degree. The Department of Defense The office checked her file. They pointed to the regulation. Without an engineering degree, she could not be classified as an engineer. The speed of the work did not matter. The accuracy of the math did not matter. Her classification remained unchanged. She went back to her desk. Over the next decade, she drafted landing craft. She ran specs for Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. She drafted the Seawolf-class submarine. She became the primary authority on US Navy ship design. The men she trained were hired in at the Series 800 engineering pay grade. During one afternoon meeting, a newly hired male manager handed her his empty mug and asked her to fetch the coffee. She fetched the coffee. She kept writing code. The Navy accepted the math. They rejected the mathematician. She ran the department for another ten years. She filed the paperwork for reclassification repeatedly. In 1990, the personnel office finally approved the change. They granted her the official title of engineer, nineteen years after she handed them the eighteen-hour frigate. The frigates she designed patrolled the oceans until 2015. The digital architecture she built remains the foundation of modern naval drafting. She died in 2018. Her original punch cards were discarded by the department sometime in the late nineties to make room for a server rack. Raye Montague: the woman who taught computers to build ships.

Alice Parker was a groundbreaking African American inventor whose work helped lay the foundation for modern central heating systems. In 1919, she was granted a U.S. patent for a gas-powered heating system that introduced the concept of using natural gas to heat individual rooms through a centralized structure. At a time when most homes relied on fireplaces or wood- and coal-burning stoves, Parker envisioned a safer, more efficient, and more controllable way to heat entire buildings. Her design proposed a system that distributed heat through ducts, allowing different rooms to be warmed individually rather than relying on a single heat source. This idea was revolutionary because it anticipated zoning—one of the most important principles in modern HVAC systems. Parker also focused on safety, designing her system to reduce the risk of fires, which were common with open flames and traditional stoves in early 20th-century homes. Although Parker’s exact system was not widely adopted during her lifetime, her ideas directly influenced the evolution of central heating technology used today. Modern gas furnaces, ductwork, and zoned heating systems all reflect concepts she pioneered more than a century ago. Her contribution stands as an important but often overlooked example of how Black women have shaped everyday technologies that millions of people rely on—often without knowing whose vision made them possible. #BlackHistoryMonth #blackhistory #blackgirlsrock #BlackGirlMagic

The gas mask and the modern traffic light were both invented by the same person: Garrett Morgan. Born in 1877 to parents who had been enslaved, Garrett Morgan grew up with limited formal education but an extraordinary mechanical mind. He became an inventor at a time when Black Americans were largely shut out of patents, funding, and recognition. In 1914, Morgan invented a breathing device designed to protect people from smoke and toxic fumes. His invention gained national attention in 1916 after an explosion trapped workers in a water tunnel beneath Lake Erie in Cleveland. Morgan and his brother used the device to rescue several men who would have otherwise suffocated. This invention later became the foundation for modern gas masks and firefighter breathing equipment. A few years later, after witnessing a serious traffic accident, Morgan turned his attention to road safety. Cars, bicycles, and pedestrians were sharing streets with almost no regulation. In 1923, he patented an improved traffic signal that introduced a warning phase between “stop” and “go.” That idea evolved into the three-signal traffic light system used around the world today. Despite the importance of his inventions, Morgan often faced discrimination and was sometimes forced to sell his patents through white intermediaries to be taken seriously. Even so, his work was adopted internationally and continues to save lives every day. #BlackHistoryMonth

Alice H. Parker was a Black inventor in the early 20th-century, best known for patenting a central heating system that uses natural gas. Her invention played a key role in the development of the heating systems we have in our homes today. Little is known about Parker’s life or upbringing, most likely because women, especially women of color at the time, were not documented sufficiently. She was born in 1895 in Morristown, New Jersey, and later attended classes at Howard University in Washington, D.C. To receive a higher education as a Black woman at the time was an achievement in itself. US Patent No. 1,325,905 Parker’s idea for a heating system came from being cold during New Jersey winters when fireplaces did not effectively heat an entire home. Most homeowners a hundred years ago were stocking up on wood or coal to heat their homes. Parker’s design was unique in that it used natural gas, which saved time from chopping wood, and increased safety measures without a fire burning all night. Granted on December 23, 1919, Parker’s patent was not the first for a gas furnace design, but it uniquely involved a multiple yet individually controlled burner system. Although her exact design was never implemented due to concerns with the regulation of heat flow, her system was an important precursor to the modern heating zone system and thermostats as well. Parker’s legacy endures with the annual Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation Awards via the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. The award recognizes the contributions of women to innovation in New Jersey, Parker’s home state.

Gladys Mae Brown, a remarkable mathematician often hailed as a "hidden figure," defied the limited opportunities available to young Black girls in rural Virginia. Despite the prevailing norms pushing towards farming or tobacco processing, her academic excellence led her to Virginia State College, now Virginia State University, where she obtained a mathematics degree in 1952. Subsequently, she pursued a master's degree while navigating racial segregation and discrimination in the job market. In 1956, Gladys joined the U.S. Naval Proving Ground as a mathematician, becoming only the fourth Black employee. Renowned for her prowess in solving intricate mathematical problems manually, she later transitioned to computer programming. Her contributions were instrumental in projects like the Naval Ordinance Research Calculator and the groundbreaking Seasat satellite initiative, a pioneer in ocean surveillance technology. From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, West programmed an IBM 7030 Stretch computer to deliver increasingly precise calculations to model the shape of the Earth – an ellipsoid with irregularities, known as the geoid. Generating an extremely accurate model required her to employ complex algorithms to account for variations in gravitational, tidal, and other forces that distort Earth's shape. West's team once discovered an error during the study and out of all of the brilliant minds, she was the only one that was able to solve it. West's data ultimately became the basis for the Global Positioning System (GPS). Leading the Seasat project in 1978, Gladys West demonstrated the potential of satellites in gathering crucial oceanographic data. Her work paved the way for GEOSAT, a revolutionary satellite program enabling precise calculations of Earth's surface features. These innovations, including the development of a geoid model, significantly contributed to the accuracy of the GPS system we rely on today. Throughout her illustrious career, Gladys West continued her academic pursuits, earning multiple master's degrees and a Ph.D. even after retirement. Her memoir, "It Began with A Dream," co-authored with M. H. Jackson, not only chronicles her extraordinary journey but also stands as an inspiration for women and girls aspiring to break barriers and excel in STEM fields. Dr. West is the only black woman to be inducted into the Air Force Missile and Space Pioneers Hall of Fame and was recently inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame.