Data Fluencies Speaker Series – Fallon Wilson

Fallon Wilson from the Black Tech Futures Research Institute will present on the Black Tech Ecosystem Index.

About Dr. Wilson:

Through her work with non-profits, academia, and government partnerships, Dr. Fallon S. Wilson
strives to make visible the work of historic and modern-day Black crises solvers. As the Lead
Principal Investigator for #BlackTechFutures Research Institute, which she co-founded with Melissa
Brown-Sims, M.A., Fallon engages in community action that creates change in her community and
across the US. The Institute’s work, funded in part by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s
2020 Open Knowledge grant, builds a national network of city-based researchers and practitioners
conducting research on sustainable local Black tech ecosystems, especially within underrepresented
communities. Fallon serves as the Vice President of Policy for the Multicultural Media and
Telecommunication Internet Council (MMTC) through which she launched a national campaign,
“Black Churches 4 Digital Equity,” to support digital access in Black communities. The campaign
was so successful that she launched a national faith based civic tech fellowship, “Black Churches for
Digital Equity.”
Additionally, Fallon’s research on first-generation Black college students’ alternative tech pathways
and Black tech ecosystems has garnered notable research grants from the Kapor Center, the
Kauffman Foundation, and the Ford Foundation, among others. Her TEDx–Nashville presentation of
Stop Ignoring Black Women and Hear of Our Tech Prophecies eloquently addresses the intersection
of historical reality for Black women, spirituality, and technology. Fallon holds a Bachelor of Arts in
Political Science from Spelman College and a Master of Arts in Political Science and a Doctor of
Philosophy in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago.

This presentation is part of the Data Fluencies Speaker Series, co-sponsored by the Ahmanson Lab/Harman Academy at the University of Southern California and the Social Science Research Council Just Tech Program.

Email ddi_comms@sfu.ca for details and Zoom link.