The AfroTech Conference recently made its way to Austin, bringing with it several speakers from a range of backgrounds in tech, business and music.
Aiming to promote inclusivity in Big Tech for the Black community, the conference drew thousands seeking to network, including Pamgrace Gachenge, founder of the Maryland-based Discover U Health.
“I came to AfroTech to connect with amazing, brilliant Black minds,” Gachenge said. “I’m really interested in the intersectionality of health, tech and hospitality. And so I’m really interested to partner up with investors, partners, vendors and just beautiful people that I could network and grow my relationships.”
Discover U Health aims to provide concierge medicine to small business owners with a eye on inclusivity and health equity. Gachenge said motivation to make her business accessible is a big factor in what she hoped to find at the conference.
“I’m interested about the health innovation when it comes to tech and how we can apply the progressive technology into health care and making sure that health care is more accessible,” Gachenge said. “I’m really, really interested in expanding our virtual health care model, which we’re already incorporating telehealth right now. But what is coming down the pipeline, or what do we need to allocate costs towards, right?”
The collaborationist spirit of the conference was also a big draw for Gachenge. For her, it wasn’t just the speakers and panelists but the numerous attendees she encountered that added value to the experience.
“I just think being here really debunks the propaganda projected in media that maybe Black people are not intelligent or we don’t want to learn or we can’t come together or we can’t organize and we can’t mobilize forward or we don’t have an interest in growing and learning. That is not the truth,” Gachenge said. “And coming to a place like this, like AfroTech, is evident that we are innovative, we are progressive, we are interested. We do have vigor, we do have tenacity, we do have will, and we’re willing to share information and we’re collaborative.”
