Living up to its name and social media promotions from celebrities Jidenna and J. Alphonse Nicholson, the Stacked Up Summit will feature a truly stacked lineup of speakers, including Amanda Seales of HBO’s Insecure, CodeSignal co-founder and CEO Tigran Sloyan, and Humane co-founders Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri. From comedy and foregrounding Black experiences in the media to reimagining more equitable recruiting processes to designing products that center the human experience, the diverse group of speakers will provide both a breadth of perspective and an immense depth of knowledge in their respective fields. 

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A tour de force in the entertainment industry, Amanda Seales is known for her performance as Tiffany DuBois on HBO’s Insecure. She’s the host of the comedy special I Be Knowin and the 2020 BET Awards. In addition to her performances on the big screen, Seales is the recipient of a master’s degree in African American Studies from Columbia University, the author of Small Doses, and a prolific podcaster. Across mediums, she is passionate about centering Black experiences. With this mission in mind, she is also the host and creator of Smart Funny & Black, a touring variety show in which contestants compete in a series of games that celebrate Black history and culture. 

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Tigran Sloyan is the co-founder and CEO of CodeSignal, a tool that allows recruiters to easily screen applicants based on technical ability rather than a traditional resume-first approach, thereby reducing bias against skilled applicants who might be branching into the tech industry for the first time. Building on this passion for equitable recruiting, Sloyan also founded a nonprofit movement called #GoBeyondResumes that aims to make waves in the way recruiting is done today among some of the industry’s key players. Sloyan is also a member of the Forbes Technology Council and a contributor to the publication where his voice on all things hiring and inclusion is resonant.

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Bethany Bongiorno was a physics major at Barnard and an astrophysics researcher before driving the execution of some of Apple’s most integral iOS, MacOS and iPad features. She made the jump and founded Humane alongside her husband, Imran Chaudri who will also be speaking at the summit. Chaudri worked at Apple for over 20 years and is cited as the inventor on over 1,000 patents. He is also responsible for creating the touch-based interface for iPhone that we know and love today. Together, Bongiorno and Chaudri are working on developing products that are at the cutting edge of human-centered design at Humane. 

ColorStack’s second annual Stacked Up Summit will kick off on August 17th. In addition to featuring these speakers and more, it will host a variety of career development, networking, and recruiting opportunities for Black and Latinx students hoping to pursue careers in computer science. The free three-day event will be held virtually (to sign up check out this registration page).