Billionaire Venture Capitalist Timothy Draper, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson & Silicon Valley Powerhouse David Drummond Set To Speak At The Black Enterprise TechConneXt Summit Oct. 12-13 In Silicon Valley

Calling all business innovators, creators, entrepreneurs, designers, disruptors and leaders

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Sep 28, 2015, 11:42 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- BLACK ENTERPRISE will present the inaugural Black Enterprise TechConneXt Summit on Monday, Oct. 12 through Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, in Santa Clara, California, with host sponsors AT&T, Capital One, EMC and Intel Corp. The Summit will bring together today's forward-thinking leaders and a talent pool of extraordinary tech innovators, engineers, entrepreneurs, executives, and educators in one room.

The Black Enterprise TechConneXt Summit will present a unique and unparalleled opportunity–bringing together the best and brightest of the tech community to Silicon Valley. The Summit will help our attendees make the connections that matter by providing them with access to angel investors and venture capitalists that will be in attendance.

Attendees at the Summit will hear from serial tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist Jon Gosier, who has developed technologies for institutions such as the U.S. Army, the United Nations, Red Cross, and FEMA. Billionaire tech venture capitalist Timothy Draper, founder of Draper University, will speak on one of our six BE Tech Talk fireside chats where he will provide insights about his ABC Family reality TV show Startup U and how he identifies millennial tech stars.

The Summit will also present the Trailblazer Award to Silicon Valley pioneers Kenneth and Caretha Coleman and the godfather of Silicon Valley, Roy Clay, all of whom continue to make significant contributions to the quality of life of the people who live in Silicon Valley. Clay was a key figure in the development of Hewlett-Packard's computer division and in the 1970s served on the Palo Alto City Council, two of those years as vice mayor.

The 2015 Black Enterprise TechConneXt Summit will feature nationally recognized speakers, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders. Sessions will include One-on-One conversation with Google's David Drummond, Ascending to the C-Suite in Silicon Valley, Diversity in Silicon Valley, Spotting the Next Big Tech Trend, Succeeding in Silicon Valley, Opportunities in Gaming & Apps and a lot more. AT&T will also host a tour of the AT&T Foundry for top engineering students from across the country; the Foundry is one of four AT&T innovation centers, where developers and technology teams create the ideas and apps of tomorrow.

The Summit will also feature a live hackathon to create an app, with the winner receiving a special prize, hosted by Capital One. AT&T will host a Tech Talk session with Grammy nominated audio engineer Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton who will discuss the Intersection of Music and Technology. For the aspiring entrepreneur, How to Deliver a Powerful Pitch to Investors offers practical advice and insights from angel and venture investors and more than 20 other interactive sessions and tracks will be discussed.

Confirmed speakers include:

Jon Gosier, Founder, Cross Valley Capital
David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer, Google
June Riley, CEO, VC TaskForce
Kevin Johnson, Mayor of Sacramento
Timothy Draper, Founding Partner, DFJ; Founder, Draper University
Rodney Sampson, Founder & CEO, Opportunity HUB
Clarence T. Wooten Jr., Founder & CEO, Progress.ly
Shelton Mercer III, CEO, TwitChange
Charles Hudson, Partner, SoftTech VC
Michelle Fisher, Founder & CEO, Blaze Mobile
Carol Sands, Managing Member, The Angels' Forum; Founder, The Halo Fund
Erik Moore, Managing Director, Base Ventures
Stacy Brown-Philpot, COO, TaskRabbit
Donray Von, Founder, Castleberry & Co.
Charley Moore, Founder & CEO, Rocket Lawyer
Sequoia Blodgett, Entrepreneur In Residence at Draper University; Founder, 7AM
Kate Mitchell, Partner, Scale Venture Partners
Carlos Watson, MSNBC Contributor, CEO & Co-Founder, Ozy Media
Jill Ford, Head of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Detroit
Earl Robinson, President, PowerMoves.NOLA
Amber Senter, Cannabis Marketing Consultant
Emeka Anen, Founder, THRONE
Derek L. Manns, CEO, Sungura Games
Gimel 'Young Guru' Keaton, Grammy nominated audio engineer, record producer & DJ

Attendees of the 2015 TechConneXt Summit will also have the opportunity to tap into all the latest BLACK ENTERPRISE developments taking place in and around the Summit courtesy of the dedicated BE Events app. Available for free on Android, iOS and other smartphones (attendees with Windows and BlackBerry devices can go here), the app allows visitors to access the full event schedule, browse the event social media updates, receive information on all the speakers taking part in the Summit, as well as develop a personal event planner to remind them of their must-attend sessions. It also features a detailed interactive floor plan to help attendees navigate the session rooms as well as keep attendees fully up-to-date with the latest developments through a link to the #TECHCNXT social media tag. Attendees will also receive push notifications of giveaways.

The Summit begins Monday and concludes Tuesday evening. To register and find out more information, visit www.blackenterprise.com/techconnext and follow @BlackEnterprise on Twitter.

BLACK ENTERPRISE, your ultimate source to build Wealth for Life, is the premier business, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. Since 1970, BE has provided essential business information and advice to professionals, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and decision makers. Every month, BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine provides 6 million readers with information on entrepreneurship, careers, and financial management. A multimedia company, BE also produces television programming, business and lifestyle events, Web content, and digital media. Visit www.blackenterprise.com for more information.

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