CMD-IT Announces New Name for Tapia Conference, Makes Early Call for Speakers and Sponsors

Annual Conference Celebrates 20 Years of Promoting Diversity in Computing

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Feb 18, 2021, 11:58 ET

CHICAGO, Feb. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Center for Minorities and People with Disabilities in IT (CMD-IT) is proud to celebrate 20 years since the inaugural Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference. In this milestone year, the conference will be renamed the CMD-IT/ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference. ACM stands for the Association for Computing Machinery and like CMD-IT, the organization aims to advance computing as a science and a profession. CMD-IT is now accepting sponsors and speaker submissions at tapiaconference.cmd-it.org.

"We must continue to support and create spaces for African American, Hispanic, Native American, and people with diverse abilities in tech," said Rosario Robinson, the Executive Director at CMD-IT. "The Tapia Conference reminds us of the critical role that varied perspectives play in this industry."

The Tapia conference is the most diverse tech conference in the country. It will take place on September 15 -17, 2021, and serves as one of the top venues to bring together graduate and undergraduate students, researchers, and professionals from all backgrounds and ethnicities in computing. This year's theme is "20 Years of Celebrating Diversity in Computing" celebrating the wide-range of computing professionals leading innovation throughout the years. Last year, over 3,000 people were in attendance at the virtual conference and over 250 Colleges & Universities represented.

"We are proud to celebrate our 20 years since the first Tapia Conference and our continued dedication to working to ensure diverse representation in computing," said Dr. Valerie Taylor, CEO, and President at CMD-IT, and one of the founders of the Tapia Conferences. "We strongly believe that diversity and inclusion drive innovation and we look forward to celebrating its impact at Tapia 2021."

This year, Google and Dropbox have committed to joining as sponsors. For more information on sponsorship opportunities, click here.

The first Tapia conference was held in Houston, Texas in 2001. At the time over 160 professionals and students were in attendance. The theme of the first conference was "Expanding Horizons," with the goal to expand the community of people in the industry.

For more information, visit the CMD-IT/ACM Tapia conference page. For press inquiries please contact Jahmika Mitchell at [email protected] or 914-715-5217.

Media Contact
Jahmika Mitchell
914-715-5217
[email protected]

SOURCE CMD-IT