On September 21, 2020, Blacks United in Leading Technology International was born and incorporated as a Texas nonprofit corporation. The Co-Founders, John Malonson (Los Angeles), Peter Beasley (Dallas), and DeAndre Levarity (Boston) each led tech social groups on the Meetup.com platform in their respective cities. They chose to come together to fill a real need.
“Unlike children who have no say in when, where, or how they are born, BUiLT was created on purpose,” says Peter Beasley, BUiLT’s incorporator and co-founder. “By 2019, there was an ongoing shift in how America embraced needed improvements in race relations. The Me Too and Black Lives Matter movements made lasting changes. The many ‘firsts’ for Blacks at the highest levels in American politics were swelling. We felt that these changes to improve race relations would be advanced and benefit from improved equality in tech.”
Some might say the field was crowded, but BUiLT was created to fill a real gap. Black people in tech have benefited tremendously from legacy pioneers like Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and the IT Senior Management Forum. These organizations have provided great value to their primary constituents, Black students in the classroom, Black college engineers, and Black senior leaders in IT.
“I did the math, looking at US Census data and employment ratios, and the equality gap that exists for Black people working in the technology industry,” says Beasley. “We can’t achieve racial equality in tech focusing just on students. BUiLT wanted to embrace those adults in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s who had no real option to be in tech when they were students. Many were lied to, pushed out, or given up on having lucrative careers in tech. Some didn’t believe in themselves. Most have transferrable skills, and many are doing tech or working in tech-adjacent fields.”
John Malonson is the real pioneer, leading the first Black in Technology social group on Meetup.com in Los Angeles since it was formed on January 27, 2011. In March 2020, Peter Beasley began leading the Dallas group formed on May 18, 2019, and DeAndre Levarity started the new Boston group on May 11, 2020.
“We wanted to be intentional about our name.” The founders created the name and logo after several conversations and intellectual property searches.
DeAndre Levarity is credited for creative genius. “I’ve been playing with the name ‘built’. I’m a fan of this for the many double entendres with this name”, said DeAndre. “Going off of the point John made, can we also Capitalize the ‘U’ as untied represents the whole,” he said. “There is also something to be said from the psychology of having the little ‘i’ in the mix. It says we, as an organization, recognize that it’s all about ‘U’.”
BUiLT was formed with many ideals.
- We are uniters. The problems we aim to solve are big and cannot be accomplished alone. We aim to work within our community but, importantly, across the aisle with the many allies who can hasten our journey. The problems we face exist for people other than men and for others who are not Black.
- Governance is essential. We have true, voting members who select our leaders. We don’t let volunteers give their time to an organization where they have no say in how it is led. We don’t self-deal with the leaders’ profit motives. We have bylaws and operate from a Creed.
- The conversation is not about our brand, hence the small “i.“
BUiLT serves the public to change attitudes on hiring, promoting, and funding Black people in tech. We favor our volunteers and members, giving them the best benefits we offer. We deliver demonstrated value to our sponsors. We thank our donors, philanthropists, and grant-makers for achieving our common missions.
Please welcome and join us on our future successes together.
BUiLT International.