# Making A Difference: Empowering women and girls about the advantages of STEM and global opportunities in STEM.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 1 Jan 2025, 27 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/c90a5ff6-a998-4d88-8f70-b24a000f413e/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=35a10561-3e1b-4d05-a529-af62012aab6a

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Dr. Maxine Cain. Founder of STEM Atlanta Women, joins Money Making Conversations Masterclass to discuss her mission to increase diversity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. She shares insights on how her organization bridges gaps for Black and Brown women in underserved communities and creates career pathways. 🔑 Key Themes & Highlights • Origins of STEM Atlanta Women • Founded in 2016, the organization was inspired by Maxine’s challenges as an HR leader in a Fortune 500 company, where recruiting women of color into innovation roles was difficult. • She recognized a lack of representation and cultural barriers that discouraged women from entering STEM careers. • Her background in corporate event planning and business development helped her secure sponsorships for STEM-focused initiatives. • Summerhill Community Hub • The organization operates out of a two-story loft space in Summerhill, Atlanta, a historically underserved community. • Summerhill lacked essential resources, including a bank and grocery store, for over 60 years. • Partnered with Carter Development, which helped provide space for STEM education and community programming. • STEM Education & Outreach • Works closely with local schools, including King Middle School, Carver Early College, Maynard Jackson High School, and Georgia State University. • Runs programs designed to introduce young girls to STEM careers, helping them build confidence and skills early. • Annual STEM Events • STEMinist Ball celebrates young women excelling in STEM fields by awarding crystal trophies, certificates, and graduation cords at a black-tie event. • STEM in the City is an afterschool program that exposes students to emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, drone technology, and flavor science with Coca-Cola. • Collaborated with Usher’s New Look Foundation and IBM to introduce artificial intelligence concepts to students. • College & Workforce Development • Partners with Clark Atlanta University and Emory University to provide certification programs in business intelligence and emerging technology. • Works with major corporations to create career pathways for Black talent. • Helps underserved individuals gain industry-recognized certifications for high-paying tech jobs. • Vision & Impact • Maxine started STEM Atlanta Women to create opportunities for young women who lacked access to STEM education. • She emphasizes mentorship, representation, and hands-on learning to help future leaders navigate STEM careers. 📘 Resources & Contact Information Dr. Maxine Cain’s work is accessible through: 🔗 Website: STEM Atlanta Women 🔗 Social Media: @STEMAtlantaWomen #STRAW #BEST #SHMS Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional…

## Transcript

[0:05] Speaker 1: Welcome to the show.
[0:06] Speaker 2: I'm Rashan McDonald, the host of Money Making Conversations Masterclass,
[0:10] Speaker 2: where we encourage.
[0:11] Speaker 1: People to stop reading other people's success stories and start
[0:14] Speaker 1: planning their own.
[0:16] Speaker 3: Listen up as.
[0:17] Speaker 1: I interview entrepreneurs from around the country, talk to celebrities
[0:20] Speaker 1: and ask them how they are running their companies, and
[0:23] Speaker 1: speak with dog prophets who are making a difference in
[0:26] Speaker 1: their local communities. Now, sit back and listen as we
[0:29] Speaker 1: unlock the secrets to their success on Money Making Conversations Masterclass.
[0:36] Speaker 2: Welcome to Money Making Conversations Master Class. I'm your host,
[0:39] Speaker 2: Rashan McDonald. We're down here in Atlanta, Georgia, actually community
[0:42] Speaker 2: called Summer Hill, where we're visiting the founder of STEM
[0:46] Speaker 2: Atlanta Women, doctor Maxine Kane, and we're going to learn
[0:49] Speaker 2: the secrets to her success.
[0:52] Speaker 4: Doctor Maxine Kane, Stem Atlanta Women. How did it get started?
[0:58] Speaker 5: That is an awesome question. So let me kind of
[1:01] Speaker 5: give you the backstory. So my background, I'm just kick Yeah,
[1:06] Speaker 5: I'm gonna tell you a story. So Stem Atlanta Women
[1:09] Speaker 5: started back in twenty sixteen. So my background is human
[1:14] Speaker 5: resources by trade, and so in the world of hr AT,
[1:18] Speaker 5: a fortune five hundred company. We had a really tough
[1:22] Speaker 5: time trying to staff and recruit women of color in
[1:24] Speaker 5: our innovation space, and so I didn't really think about
[1:28] Speaker 5: it at the time, because you know, we're always out
[1:30] Speaker 5: in the community, We're doing trade shows, owning college campuses,
[1:35] Speaker 5: just really trying to find the right talent. And so
[1:38] Speaker 5: it was a time where I had an opportunity to
[1:41] Speaker 5: really take advantage of a very rich pension plan at
[1:43] Speaker 5: this fortune five hundred company, and I decided to take
[1:47] Speaker 5: advantage of that, and I was really going to be
[1:50] Speaker 5: doing a different type of career, but God had other plans, absolutely,
[1:54] Speaker 5: and he said why not you? And the reason that
[1:57] Speaker 5: started was because I was on event planning. I had
[2:01] Speaker 5: an event planning company called Maxine Kane Events, and I
[2:04] Speaker 5: was working with a lot of high wealth individuals and
[2:07] Speaker 5: they were looking for people to sponsor various initiatives. And
[2:12] Speaker 5: they would come to me often and they would say, Hey,
[2:14] Speaker 5: can you ask this company what they sponsor? Is woul
[2:16] Speaker 5: they sponsor that? And so I would ask them, well,
[2:19] Speaker 5: what am I selling to them? Because right now, the
[2:22] Speaker 5: most important thing that these companies are focused on is science, technology, engineering,
[2:28] Speaker 5: and math. Back then, that was really when it was
[2:31] Speaker 5: taken off and they were looking for real talent.
[2:35] Speaker 4: Doctor Maxine Kane stem Atlanta Women. I'm in their office space.
[2:39] Speaker 4: Here is two store office space. Tell me about this
[2:41] Speaker 4: location in Summer Hill.
[2:42] Speaker 5: Summer Hill, Oh wow, you know so. Summer Hill is
[2:45] Speaker 5: the oldest community in Atlanta and one of my corporate partners, Moxie,
[2:51] Speaker 5: behind the gathering spot in Atlanta. I had an opportunity
[2:55] Speaker 5: to work with them a few years back, and Carter
[2:57] Speaker 5: Development was really the organization that's totally redeveloping this community
[3:04] Speaker 5: and they knew that I was looking for space to
[3:07] Speaker 5: be able to provide some education and training in the city.
[3:11] Speaker 5: And they say, hey, we have the great a great
[3:14] Speaker 5: space for you. Why don't we introduce you to the
[3:16] Speaker 5: vice president of Carter Development so you can go over
[3:19] Speaker 5: in the community and see what's happening. And this was
[3:24] Speaker 5: nothing but dirt. There was nothing hard ap the hard tours.
[3:30] Speaker 5: They walked us through what was what was going to
[3:32] Speaker 5: be what you see today, and we were going to
[3:35] Speaker 5: have two units that was big, and so because of
[3:39] Speaker 5: some construction constraints, we ended up having this two story life,
[3:42] Speaker 5: which we love, and they wanted to ensure that as
[3:47] Speaker 5: they were redeveloping the community, that we were here to
[3:50] Speaker 5: make sure that we were serving and supporting the residents
[3:54] Speaker 5: that have been here for over sixty years.
[3:56] Speaker 4: Doctor King, I love the colors game pink Green, intentional.
[4:01] Speaker 5: Yes, very much. So, so in this community, I think
[4:05] Speaker 5: you know that Summer Hill is the oldest community in
[4:09] Speaker 5: Atlanta and it's an underserved, underrepresented community for years. When
[4:16] Speaker 5: underserved on the ny that there's not a lot of
[4:19] Speaker 5: resources that were available in the community, one being that
[4:23] Speaker 5: it has been a food desert for over sixty years.
[4:26] Speaker 5: They've not had a bank in this community for years,
[4:30] Speaker 5: if not longer. So now you're starting to see as
[4:32] Speaker 5: a part of the redevelopment, you have banks over here,
[4:35] Speaker 5: you have a new grocery store here. But this community
[4:39] Speaker 5: has really been underserved, I mean really underserved.
[4:43] Speaker 3: It's a beautiful community, thank you.
[4:45] Speaker 5: It is beautiful. Cardial Development has done a phenomenal job
[4:48] Speaker 5: in redeveloping, but we still know that the legacy community
[4:53] Speaker 5: is still here. And so when they brought us into
[4:57] Speaker 5: and they really embraced us with open arms and make
[5:00] Speaker 5: sure that we had everything we need to provide the
[5:03] Speaker 5: services to the community. So the reason we were very
[5:08] Speaker 5: intentional about the colors is because I wanted to create
[5:12] Speaker 5: a space that was welcoming, that was safe, where the
[5:16] Speaker 5: girls can come in and feel like, this is a
[5:19] Speaker 5: place that they can relax and feel good. And colors
[5:23] Speaker 5: create it brings about creativity and so and we're all
[5:27] Speaker 5: about girls, and we wanted it to be beautiful. I
[5:30] Speaker 5: wanted it to feel luxurious, and I wanted them to
[5:33] Speaker 5: know that, yes, you can have a high end creative
[5:37] Speaker 5: space where you can come and feel good. I would
[5:40] Speaker 5: not dare deliver anything to them that was not as
[5:45] Speaker 5: exquisite as this place is.
[5:46] Speaker 3: It's beautiful.
[5:47] Speaker 4: Now, let's talk about the community academics in this community
[5:51] Speaker 4: of what schools are you are you are you serving
[5:54] Speaker 4: schools within the Summer Hill community?
[5:56] Speaker 5: Yes, give us absolutely. So we have Key Middle School,
[6:01] Speaker 5: which is the first middle school that was created by
[6:04] Speaker 5: doctor Martin Luther King right in this community. We have
[6:07] Speaker 5: Carver Early College High School, we have Maynard Jackson High School,
[6:12] Speaker 5: we have Georgia State University, we have Parkside Elementary School,
[6:16] Speaker 5: and then we also have Michelle and Barack Obama in
[6:19] Speaker 5: the community too. So it is a historic community with
[6:23] Speaker 5: a lot of historic names and schools because we're right
[6:27] Speaker 5: in the heart of downtown, but it's the Summer Hill community,
[6:30] Speaker 5: which we're very proud of, and we wanted to create
[6:34] Speaker 5: this urban creative oasis that are girls, not only the girls,
[6:39] Speaker 5: but their moms, their grandmoms that can come in this
[6:43] Speaker 5: community and use this center as a space for them
[6:46] Speaker 5: to learn and to develop and to feel safe.
[6:51] Speaker 4: No lose STEM, which is Science, Technology, Engineering math Atlanta women.
[6:57] Speaker 3: Yes to me.
[6:59] Speaker 4: When I were talking to you twenty sixteen, Yes, very
[7:01] Speaker 4: important year for you, when we were talking about secrets
[7:04] Speaker 4: to success.
[7:05] Speaker 3: What was the inspiration for you in starting this foundation?
[7:08] Speaker 5: Yeah, So my background is human resources. I was an
[7:12] Speaker 5: HR leader with one of the Fortune five hundred companies
[7:15] Speaker 5: around the country and during that time, I had a
[7:20] Speaker 5: very tough time and my team, of course, trying to
[7:23] Speaker 5: staff and recruit women of color in science technology there
[7:27] Speaker 5: sixteen in twenty sixteen, Yes, and it's still the same today,
[7:31] Speaker 5: but we were having a tough time. And when I
[7:34] Speaker 5: say tough, we were out in the community, we were
[7:36] Speaker 5: at trade shows, we were owning the college campuses. But
[7:41] Speaker 5: women of color were not embracing technology and innovation and
[7:46] Speaker 5: a lot of that was due to the lack of representation.
[7:49] Speaker 5: They didn't see people that looked like them. They felt
[7:52] Speaker 5: that the culture was not welcoming, They felt like they
[7:57] Speaker 5: were not smart enough, and that they didn't feel like
[8:00] Speaker 5: that was a career path. Maybe it was too hard
[8:03] Speaker 5: or whatever. And so my focus was to change that
[8:06] Speaker 5: because I've been in the industry for so long and
[8:08] Speaker 5: we had a culture and an environment where it was
[8:11] Speaker 5: all about leaders first, where we would learn all the
[8:14] Speaker 5: things that we needed to learn about the telecommunications industry,
[8:17] Speaker 5: and then we would cascade that information down to our
[8:20] Speaker 5: frontline employees. And I wanted women and girls to understand
[8:24] Speaker 5: that technology was the number one industry in the world
[8:27] Speaker 5: and they needed to have a space there. So my
[8:30] Speaker 5: purpose of starting STEM Atlant of Women was because I
[8:33] Speaker 5: was too one of those little girls.
[8:35] Speaker 3: I was born and.
[8:36] Speaker 5: Raised in Decatur, Georgia. My mother didn't have a whole
[8:40] Speaker 5: lot of resources. She was in an underserved community, and
[8:44] Speaker 5: we didn't have a lot of money, and I didn't
[8:46] Speaker 5: have a lot of resources. And I thought, because I've
[8:50] Speaker 5: been able to be successful today, I wanted to be
[8:53] Speaker 5: one of those leaders that reached back in the community
[8:56] Speaker 5: and bring up other young women to say you can
[8:58] Speaker 5: do it too. And because I was so passionate about
[9:03] Speaker 5: technology and science technology entered in the math. I knew
[9:07] Speaker 5: that if we didn't try to close that divide and
[9:10] Speaker 5: create a pathway for young women coming up behind me
[9:14] Speaker 5: to pursue careers in STEM, we were going to still
[9:17] Speaker 5: be in trouble. And it's the same today. So a
[9:20] Speaker 5: whole lot has not changed. We've made some impact, but
[9:24] Speaker 5: we still have so much more work to do.
[9:26] Speaker 4: I know, we go see the rest of the building
[9:28] Speaker 4: because I want to go upstairs, and that's where we're
[9:29] Speaker 4: going to leave.
[9:30] Speaker 3: One of your foundation members, the head of your foundation.
[9:33] Speaker 4: Correct, she's a board chair, board chair. And so the
[9:37] Speaker 4: whole thing about this is, you know, the hard hat,
[9:40] Speaker 4: the dream.
[9:41] Speaker 3: It's work, it's work.
[9:43] Speaker 5: It has worked. Oh my god, it's worked. People.
[9:48] Speaker 4: How do you get because you know, everybody has a dream,
[9:50] Speaker 4: everybody has a passion to desire to pursue something that's different,
[9:55] Speaker 4: and this is different.
[9:56] Speaker 3: It is not a forty all week job.
[9:58] Speaker 4: So how do you get how do you go through
[10:00] Speaker 4: the process of You've always said this was the location
[10:04] Speaker 4: you were in used to be a food desert. Twenty sixteen,
[10:07] Speaker 4: you couldn't even find women of color in this STEM field.
[10:11] Speaker 4: Even today, there's a lot of that their availability. Where
[10:15] Speaker 4: does the future hold for this organization or foundation and
[10:20] Speaker 4: how do you continue to make a difference along with
[10:22] Speaker 4: your board members.
[10:23] Speaker 5: Well, because we're very clear about our mission. We're very
[10:26] Speaker 5: clear about our mission. We're very clear that we want
[10:30] Speaker 5: to see equality with women and girls, that whole gender equality.
[10:36] Speaker 5: Were very clear. But our focus is to enhance and
[10:39] Speaker 5: increase the talent pipeline or pathway for women and girls
[10:44] Speaker 5: in STEM more specifically black and brown girls and underserved
[10:48] Speaker 5: and underrepresented communities. Because these babies are brilliant. They are brilliant.
[10:54] Speaker 5: We have a Steminus Ball that we do every year
[10:56] Speaker 5: or the end of the.
[10:57] Speaker 3: Year, and so quickly, as you said quickly, it is our.
[11:00] Speaker 5: Steminus Ball, steminist yes, and our Steminus Ball. We highlight
[11:08] Speaker 5: beautiful black and brown girls and underserved communities who have
[11:12] Speaker 5: done phenomenal work in their grade levels of achieving high
[11:18] Speaker 5: scores in science, technology, engineering, and math. And at the
[11:23] Speaker 5: end of every year we do a Steminus Ball, which
[11:25] Speaker 5: is the schools love it because it's their celebration and
[11:29] Speaker 5: we honor them by giving them cords, certificates, and awards.
[11:33] Speaker 5: They get a beautiful crystal award for their accomplishments in
[11:38] Speaker 5: their school. Wow, And they come to a black tie
[11:41] Speaker 5: event they get their awards. They are just beautiful and
[11:44] Speaker 5: they're brilliant. And so I want the world to know
[11:48] Speaker 5: that there are beautiful little girls who are pursuing these
[11:52] Speaker 5: careers and they are smart, they are strong, they are creative,
[11:57] Speaker 5: and they love stem. Believe it or not, they do.
[12:00] Speaker 5: So we're not unicorns. We do exist, but you just
[12:04] Speaker 5: have to nurture it. You have to nurture that. We
[12:07] Speaker 5: and by design, we serve middle schoolers, high schoolers, college students,
[12:13] Speaker 5: and recent college grads between the ages of nineteen and
[12:16] Speaker 5: thirty five. And you may think, wow, that's a big spread,
[12:20] Speaker 5: but it's by design because you need to create the
[12:23] Speaker 5: pathways and it starts early. So one of the programs
[12:27] Speaker 5: that we put into middle schools build on the programs
[12:29] Speaker 5: that go into high school. The high school builds on
[12:32] Speaker 5: the programs going into college. And then when you're in college,
[12:34] Speaker 5: we've helped you navigate from middle school to college, so
[12:39] Speaker 5: now it's time for you to prepare for that career.
[12:42] Speaker 5: We made sure that we've created that bench or that pathway,
[12:46] Speaker 5: so that now they're.
[12:46] Speaker 6: Ready, Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with
[12:50] Speaker 6: more Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money
[13:01] Speaker 6: Making Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations
[13:07] Speaker 6: Masterclass continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and full of
[13:12] Speaker 6: Money Making Conversations master Class on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which.
[13:16] Speaker 3: Dud said there was a love for.
[13:18] Speaker 4: There's not just a business side, because there's business because
[13:21] Speaker 4: you got to counter number.
[13:22] Speaker 5: Takeet the doors of corporation.
[13:24] Speaker 3: You got to get sponsors to come in and buy
[13:25] Speaker 3: into this.
[13:27] Speaker 4: When I, when I, when I go through the calendar
[13:29] Speaker 4: event because that's what that's what sponsor dollars do.
[13:31] Speaker 3: This is a nonprofit of Steming the City.
[13:34] Speaker 5: What is that STEM in the City is our after
[13:37] Speaker 5: school program. And it was really interesting when I created
[13:41] Speaker 5: that program because it started way before we moved into
[13:45] Speaker 5: the Summer Hill community.
[13:46] Speaker 3: I used to.
[13:47] Speaker 5: Work do work in a school called the Atlanta Girls School,
[13:51] Speaker 5: and one program that they have that I found fascinating
[13:55] Speaker 5: was that they travel around the world to different locations
[14:01] Speaker 5: and it's required for those girls to experience an international city.
[14:06] Speaker 5: And I thought Wow, that would be really cool if
[14:09] Speaker 5: our girls had that same type of resource to be
[14:13] Speaker 5: able to travel abroad to experience international culture. But as
[14:18] Speaker 5: you know, in these underserved communities, they don't have that resource.
[14:21] Speaker 5: So we during COVID, we created a program called STEM
[14:26] Speaker 5: in the City, and we wanted to be able to
[14:29] Speaker 5: bridge the gap between like a Coretta Scott King Young
[14:32] Speaker 5: Women's Leadership Academy and an Atlanta girls school, so they
[14:35] Speaker 5: get to know each other, right, they get to experience
[14:38] Speaker 5: each other. So we created an international virtual international trip
[14:42] Speaker 5: to Paris, France. I partnered with one of my partners
[14:46] Speaker 5: in Paris and we took them on a journey and
[14:50] Speaker 5: they it was all on a Goal Pro, So the
[14:53] Speaker 5: go Pro leaders were in Paris, we were on a
[14:56] Speaker 5: zoom and we had the entire school, the Correta Scott
[15:00] Speaker 5: Young Women's Leadership Academy School go on a trip. And
[15:03] Speaker 5: we also had girls from virtually virtually We had girls
[15:07] Speaker 5: from the Global Village Project in downtown Decatur. We had
[15:11] Speaker 5: girls in Nigeria, we had girls in Spain and Japan
[15:15] Speaker 5: and everywhere from all over the world. They logged in
[15:19] Speaker 5: and they were able to take this journey to Paris.
[15:22] Speaker 5: They were able to see the Eiffel Tower. They went
[15:25] Speaker 5: on a black cultural tour of Paris, and so that's
[15:28] Speaker 5: where it all started because we wanted to give access,
[15:32] Speaker 5: opportunity and exposure to international experiences. So we decided to
[15:37] Speaker 5: do it through a virtual experience first, and I said,
[15:41] Speaker 5: you know, let's create a program called STEM in the City.
[15:44] Speaker 5: We're in the city and we want to be able
[15:47] Speaker 5: to bring STEM education and training through an after school
[15:50] Speaker 5: program so that we can teach them all of the
[15:53] Speaker 5: emergent tech. And that's one thing that we specialize in
[15:56] Speaker 5: is emerging technologies. So it's all about advanced tech worth
[16:00] Speaker 5: industrial revolution, so that means artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, the hybrid cloud, drones.
[16:09] Speaker 5: We do a lot of drone technology, business and tech,
[16:12] Speaker 5: cosmetic science. Coca Cola teaches our flavor science, so they
[16:15] Speaker 5: learn what it's like to be a flavor scientist. So
[16:18] Speaker 5: we exposed them the things that they would never really
[16:21] Speaker 5: have access to. So that's what STEM in the City
[16:25] Speaker 5: after school program is.
[16:26] Speaker 3: All back now.
[16:28] Speaker 4: Now, he was in the Super Bowl this year performing
[16:30] Speaker 4: at halftime. Just recently got honored at NAACP in the rewards.
[16:37] Speaker 4: His name is Usher Yes and you did a big
[16:39] Speaker 4: event with Usher.
[16:40] Speaker 3: Tell us about that.
[16:40] Speaker 5: Yeah, So Usher's new Luk Foundation, their leader, Krisha Moore,
[16:45] Speaker 5: and I are colleagues and they do a Disruptivator summit
[16:48] Speaker 5: every year, and she asked me to come in and
[16:51] Speaker 5: do a STEM activation and so with me and my
[16:54] Speaker 5: partners at IBM, we went in and we taught an
[16:56] Speaker 5: artificial intelligence course. So that was we created, and well,
[17:00] Speaker 5: she created these various excursions to different corporations and we
[17:05] Speaker 5: invited the Usher's group. We probably had about seventy five
[17:09] Speaker 5: students that travel to IBM in their Sandy Springs corporate office,
[17:14] Speaker 5: and we taught them about the new Watson X IBM
[17:19] Speaker 5: orchestrates software and we centered it around creativity and so
[17:24] Speaker 5: IBM is really strong about let's create or what if?
[17:29] Speaker 5: And so we told the children, if you had the
[17:33] Speaker 5: opportunity to create or disrupt something in the industry leveraging
[17:37] Speaker 5: artificial intelligence, what would it be. So we broke them
[17:41] Speaker 5: up into groups. So we had retail, we had shoes,
[17:45] Speaker 5: we had the beauty industry, the car industry, we gave them,
[17:49] Speaker 5: we had sports, and so we gave them opportunities to
[17:52] Speaker 5: come up with creative ideas that they can disrupt that
[17:56] Speaker 5: industry by leveraging artificial intelligence. And when I tell you
[18:00] Speaker 5: they brought brought it, they brought it. And so the
[18:03] Speaker 5: winning team got five hundred dollars gift cards and I
[18:08] Speaker 5: mean fifty dollars gift cards for their entire team for
[18:10] Speaker 5: a total of five hundred dollars. And the winning team
[18:13] Speaker 5: also came up with this idea to serve and support
[18:17] Speaker 5: the blind by putting artificial soft artificial intelligence software and
[18:22] Speaker 5: sensors in their shoes, so they understood how to walk
[18:26] Speaker 5: around and get information feeding into them. And we're like, wow,
[18:29] Speaker 5: that's crazy. But I tell you, if you give them
[18:34] Speaker 5: the opportunity to utilize their creativity and imagination, you'll be
[18:39] Speaker 5: surprised what our young people can do.
[18:41] Speaker 3: You know, we're always surprised because you know, this is
[18:44] Speaker 3: really it. Hit told me. I grew up with six
[18:46] Speaker 3: sisters and so.
[18:48] Speaker 4: But in the African American community, we're always stereotyped, yes,
[18:52] Speaker 4: and we always last. You know, we're not stereotype when
[18:55] Speaker 4: it comes to entertainment, not stereotype when it comes to athleticism,
[18:59] Speaker 4: but when it comes to education, we always steer a type.
[19:02] Speaker 4: You know, we've heard people say, like you said earlier,
[19:05] Speaker 4: we can't find that it's not available. Right, HBCUs out there,
[19:11] Speaker 4: you know, delivering thirty three percent of overall STEM graduates
[19:15] Speaker 4: who are black are coming from HBCUs. Now, are you
[19:18] Speaker 4: creating college pathways let's go through. No, are you creating
[19:30] Speaker 4: college pathways in your relationship that you have with your foundation.
[19:36] Speaker 5: Yeah. So one of the things that we've done is
[19:39] Speaker 5: I work with Emory University and Clark Atlanta University, which
[19:43] Speaker 5: is an HBCU, working with doctor George French over there.
[19:47] Speaker 5: And so we put a workforce development Center at Clark
[19:51] Speaker 5: Atlanta University because we wanted to be able to reach
[19:54] Speaker 5: into the community, not just on the campus, but also
[19:58] Speaker 5: in the community. There are people who want to learn
[20:01] Speaker 5: and get certifications, and the students also want to get
[20:05] Speaker 5: certifications and emerging technology. So we created a program. It
[20:09] Speaker 5: was called Business Intelligence, and we set it up what
[20:12] Speaker 5: it can be virtual, so anybody that's interested in learning
[20:16] Speaker 5: business intelligence can come through the clock and Lanta University program.
[20:20] Speaker 5: And so our whole goal is to expose even though
[20:25] Speaker 5: you know that most of the HBCUs or literal art schools, right,
[20:31] Speaker 5: and this particular program was giving them the opportunity to
[20:34] Speaker 5: get a certification so they can immediately go and apply
[20:37] Speaker 5: that to a job, versus having to get a four
[20:40] Speaker 5: year degree, which we think is important to do. That
[20:42] Speaker 5: doesn't get me wrong, but there are some people in
[20:45] Speaker 5: a community that need additional skill sets and so we
[20:49] Speaker 5: were able to do that through Clock Atlanta and Memory together.
[20:53] Speaker 4: So are you kind of just throwing out titles a
[20:56] Speaker 4: your doctor of an academia, vaxine kine. But I talk
[21:01] Speaker 4: about talent acquisition. I think that's why I'm really here
[21:04] Speaker 4: to understand. Can people come to you for a resource
[21:10] Speaker 4: or your resource when it comes to talent acquisition? Yes,
[21:13] Speaker 4: talk about that aspect of what you're doing at Still
[21:16] Speaker 4: Atlanta Women.
[21:16] Speaker 5: So yes, still a lot of women works with a
[21:18] Speaker 5: lot of organizations in the city to provide access to talent,
[21:23] Speaker 5: more specifically black talent. Okay, And as you know, I
[21:28] Speaker 5: think it's about seventy eight percent of the nation and
[21:33] Speaker 5: I may not have that exact number, but some large
[21:36] Speaker 5: population that do not have four year degrees. And so
[21:40] Speaker 5: when you think about the African American community, that's probably
[21:43] Speaker 5: about sixty seven percent or more don't have college degrees.
[21:47] Speaker 5: And so my job in the city is to work
[21:50] Speaker 5: with major organizations to help find talent to give them
[21:55] Speaker 5: a family sustaining wage. So we give them the skills
[21:58] Speaker 5: that they need. We work with several talent developers, and
[22:02] Speaker 5: we work with colleges and universities and just in the
[22:06] Speaker 5: community alone to help them get these certifications that they
[22:10] Speaker 5: need so that they are equipped to be able to
[22:13] Speaker 5: go and have job interviews and go into these organizations,
[22:16] Speaker 5: which now I think you know most of them are
[22:18] Speaker 5: saying that we don't require a four year degree as
[22:22] Speaker 5: long as you have the skills. And it's all about
[22:25] Speaker 5: skills first and making sure that you are able to
[22:27] Speaker 5: get certifications and the appropriate training and make sure you
[22:31] Speaker 5: have the development that you can go in there and
[22:33] Speaker 5: be successful. You can still get a family sustaining job
[22:38] Speaker 5: of at least sixty thousand or more to be able
[22:41] Speaker 5: to to be able to take care of your family.
[22:43] Speaker 4: I know that before you started this foundation, you was
[22:47] Speaker 4: an event planner. Yeah, and so in twenty sixteen, a
[22:51] Speaker 4: shift in you. You know, we always talk about mentorship,
[22:55] Speaker 4: We always talk about faith.
[22:58] Speaker 3: What drove that shift?
[23:00] Speaker 5: So that's interesting that you used to say that. So
[23:03] Speaker 5: when I was at this fortune five hundred company. I
[23:06] Speaker 5: did corporate event planning for them, training and setting up
[23:09] Speaker 5: training and development for our metal managers to have company training,
[23:15] Speaker 5: and so we would do that quarterly and I loved it.
[23:17] Speaker 5: I loved it, and so when I left an organization,
[23:20] Speaker 5: I started my own event planning company called Maxine Kane Events.
[23:24] Speaker 5: I love doing that, and a lot of the leaders
[23:29] Speaker 5: in the city knew that I was working with a
[23:31] Speaker 5: lot of high wealth individuals and companies and they would
[23:34] Speaker 5: come to me from a business development perspective and say, hey,
[23:38] Speaker 5: can you help us get connected to this company or
[23:41] Speaker 5: this athlete or this leader, and we would love to
[23:45] Speaker 5: know if they would sponsor us. And I'm like, okay,
[23:48] Speaker 5: so what am I going to sell to these individuals
[23:51] Speaker 5: to make them say, hey, we're interested in sponsoring you.
[23:54] Speaker 5: What are you focused on? Are you focused on technology
[23:58] Speaker 5: and innovation? Because that was on the minds of many
[24:01] Speaker 5: leaders and most of them were not. And so I said,
[24:05] Speaker 5: you know, you're making my job harder because I know
[24:08] Speaker 5: what's important to the companies and so when they give money,
[24:11] Speaker 5: they're expecting a return and they're expecting to make sure
[24:15] Speaker 5: that they can see impact. And if you're not aligning
[24:19] Speaker 5: to what their given criteria is more than likely you're
[24:23] Speaker 5: not going to be successful with that sponsorship. And so
[24:28] Speaker 5: I remember one morning and I'm a person of faith.
[24:31] Speaker 5: I'm a person of faith and I believe in God,
[24:34] Speaker 5: and I was praying and I said, you know, Lord,
[24:37] Speaker 5: I wonder why. I wonder why that is that so
[24:41] Speaker 5: many of us are just not really focused on STEM
[24:44] Speaker 5: education and training because it's so needed. And I heard
[24:49] Speaker 5: a still small voice say why not you? Why not you?
[24:55] Speaker 5: And I paused and I thought, that's not that's I'm
[25:00] Speaker 5: planning company. This is what I'm doing. And I really
[25:04] Speaker 5: had to think about that. I had to really think
[25:07] Speaker 5: about that, because you know, when you.
[25:10] Speaker 3: Responded, why didn't you go how about you?
[25:15] Speaker 5: And I thought, and so I really had to do
[25:19] Speaker 5: a lot.
[25:19] Speaker 3: Of I was just talking.
[25:20] Speaker 5: I was just talking.
[25:21] Speaker 3: I was really talking that loud.
[25:26] Speaker 5: And so I had to really think about it. And
[25:30] Speaker 5: so I started doing some research around that, like is
[25:32] Speaker 5: this something that I can really do? And I just
[25:36] Speaker 5: really kind of resonated on my experience, my background, and
[25:40] Speaker 5: the whole purpose of it. But more importantly, it just
[25:43] Speaker 5: took me back to when I was a little girl,
[25:45] Speaker 5: and I'm that little girl that needed that support, and
[25:48] Speaker 5: I wish that I had organizations like Stement Line of
[25:51] Speaker 5: Women that will really reach out and develop and mold
[25:54] Speaker 5: and show us the way, tell us the unwritten rules,
[25:57] Speaker 5: help us figure out the pathway. So I want to
[26:00] Speaker 5: give a big thank you to you Money Making Conversations
[26:04] Speaker 5: Masterclass for selecting us to be highlighted in this way
[26:10] Speaker 5: to tell our story, because by doing that it really
[26:13] Speaker 5: continues to help us further our mission and impact the community.
[26:16] Speaker 3: So thank you, Wow, thank you.
[26:18] Speaker 2: This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass
[26:22] Speaker 2: posted by me Rushawn McDonald. Thank you to our guests
[26:25] Speaker 2: on the show today, and thank you listening to your
[26:28] Speaker 2: audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
[26:30] Speaker 2: I want to be a guest on the show, visit
[26:32] Speaker 2: Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
[26:37] Speaker 2: Join us next week and remember to always leave with
[26:40] Speaker 2: your gifts.
[26:41] Speaker 3: Keep winning.

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