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African American Women in New Media and
Technology Benefit from DigitalSistas.net
|
Philadelphia, PA —
DigitalSistas.net
is an On and
Off-line Community for African American Women in New Media and
Technology created to respond to the growing needs of African
American women in technology. Isolated throughout the industry,
DigitalSistas.net
provides a portal through which African American women nationwide
can identify, link and collaborate with one another around the
world.
MPN's Thomas Brooks: Tell us about your organization and
how you got started.
Carole I. Smith, CEO of DigitalSistas.Net:
After attending a meeting
| of an all white women's technology group in
new media, the three co-founders (Carole I. Smith, Bernadine
Hawes and Narissa Wallace) decided that it was time to
establish a portal to link African American women in
technology and new media around the country and the world. |
Carole I.
Smith |
MPN: What were some of the hurdles you faced in launching
your organization?
Smith:
Financing, strategic partnerships, time and identifying content
providers
MPN: How successful have you been, and what has been the
key to your success?
Smith:
Since our initial launch in February 2001, we have had over a
quarter million hits on our portal. Continuous and ongoing
networking, as well as developing a strategic partnership in the
early stages of our development with The Black World Today/Black
Women Today website, which had established a strategic partnership
with Tom Joyner's website Blackamericaweb.com.
MPN: How do you serve your members better than other
organizations of your type?
Smith: By
developing an off-line component of our on-line portal,
DigitalSistas.net Unplugged. Through this vehicle, we convene
African American Women in Technology Summits, C-Level Roundtables,
and Special Interest Groups, and are in the process of
establishing a mentoring program for girls and women interested in
technology and new media.
MPN: What general lessons have you learned that can be
applied to any organization or minority small business?
Smith:
Stay focused and network, network, network.
MPN: How can potential new members contact your
organization?
###
Thomas Brooks is the Vice-President of
Marketing and Senior Webzine Editor for Minority Professional Network,
LLC. Follow this link for
Thomas' Bio.
