AfroTech Conference News

Stacey Abrams , Roy Wood Jr., former Apple executive Denise Young Smith and TikTok storyteller Tareasa “Reesa Teesa” Johnson are among the authors scheduled to speak at the Authors Pavilion during AFROTECH™ Conference 2026 in Houston .

The AFROTECH™ Authors Pavilion, presented by Penguin Random House in collaboration with Storehouse Voices, runs on the expo floor Nov. 3-6. Most sessions are 25-minute moderated talks with a single author, followed by panels that pair speakers from earlier in the day. When authors leave the stage, they go straight to the Book Nook, a pop-up bookstore run by Houston’s Kindred Stories, to sign copies.

Penguin Random House staff will also be on site between sessions. The publisher plans open Q&As, office hours with editors for attendees working on their own books, conversations with its HR team about publishing careers and giveaways of advance copies of titles that aren’t on sale yet.

In 2024, Christine Izuakor spoke at AFROTECH™ Conference for the first time. She also hosted a small dinner on the side.

“I was just scratching the surface of exploring how I could create space for multifaceted professionals to connect through curated conversations,” the founder and CEO of Rauk AI told AFROTECH™. “I hosted a small dinner at one restaurant to test the waters.”

The idea took off. In 2025, the dinners became an official AFROTECH™ Conference event partnership, with gatherings at dozens of restaurants across Houston.

Ten years ago, Dr. Tiffani Bright’s work centered on clinical decision support: rules written by humans and checkable by humans. AI, she said, wasn’t on her radar because it wasn’t in the clinic yet.

That changed fast. By 2018, a machine was allowed to diagnose a patient without a doctor in the loop, Bright told AFROTECH™ . By 2019, she said, it was clear those systems could be biased at scale.

“The shift wasn’t that AI got smarter. It’s that we handed it real decisions before we built a way to check its work,” said Bright , an assistant professor of computational biomedicine and co-director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University. She’s speaking at AFROTECH™ Conference 2026 in Houston.

Years ago, a PhD student in Atlanta reached out to Sandra Crespo with a request: Would she speak on mental health and policing?

It was a small ask. Crespo said yes, and it set the tone for the rest of her career as a speaker.

“He likely has no idea that one request opened a door I’ve been walking through ever since,” Crespo, the CEO and founder of Unalome Consulting Group and speaker at this year’s AFROTECH™ Conference , told us. “That’s part of what stays with me, because it means the people who shape us most profoundly often never see the full weight of what they set in motion.”

Dr. Dale Blackstock became a physician at a time when few people who looked like her were welcome in medicine. She died of leukemia at 47.

Her daughter, Dr. Uché Blackstock, told AFROTECH™ that her mother passed “before she could fully understand how profoundly her life would shape mine.”

“My mother, the late Dr. Dale Blackstock, set almost everything in motion for me,” said Blackstock, the founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity and a speaker at AFROTECH™ Conference 2026 in Houston.

When Tanya Sam takes the stage at AFROTECH™ 2026 in Houston, there’s one thing she wants the room to walk away with: “You do not need anyone else’s permission to begin.”

The founder of Elizabeth & Minnie told AFROTECH™ that too many people put off the big moves until they feel fully prepared, and end up waiting far longer than they need to.

“So many of us have been taught to overprepare, overprove, and wait until we are perfectly qualified before we take the opportunity, launch the business, raise the money, change careers, or step into leadership,” Sam said. “But confidence rarely comes before the leap. It is built because you leapt.”

AfroTech Conference runs Nov. 2-6 in Houston, and the Expo floor is where the week gets real. Recruiters, product teams, founders and executives across multiple industries will be on the floor, ready to talk about careers, partnerships and what they’re building next.

This is your guide to the companies at AfroTech this year, sorted by industry. Use it to plan your route, prep your pitch and decide which conversations to prioritize.

Get your AfroTech 2026 ticket , then download the AfroTech Connect app for booth locations, c ompany details and the full Expo floor map.

For first-time attendees, AfroTech is worth it, especially for those who arrive knowing what they want to get out of the week. AfroTech 2026 runs Nov. 2 to 6 at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center, bringing together more than 40,000 attendees, 300-plus speakers and 11 stages for the conference’s 10th anniversary. Tickets start at $350.

That scale is a big part of AfroTech’s value , and it is also why first-timers get the most out of the week when they arrive with a plan. This guide covers what the conference offers, who it is for and how to prepare for each day, from your first morning on the expo floor to the follow-up that turns new connections into real opportunities.

Yes, especially for attendees who arrive with a clear goal, whether that is a new role, new skills or new connections.

While coastal staples like New York, San Francisco and Las Vegas remain popular convention hubs, Texas offers a compelling alternative for industry events. Driven by the thriving commercial ecosystems of Austin, Dallas and Houston, the state naturally attracts diverse tech sectors spanning software engineering, health tech and artificial intelligence .

Attending these top Texas tech conferences provides a prime opportunity to expand your professional network, sharpen your industry knowledge and uncover exciting new career prospects.

AfroTech Conference 2026, Houston, November 2 to 6, 2026

The 21st-century healthcare landscape is moving at breakneck speed. Between AI integration, expanded telehealth options and evolving protocols for managing chronic diseases, providers are constantly navigating fresh tools and standards. While these digital innovations offer exciting possibilities for patient care, they also demand rapid adaptation from the professionals working on the front lines.

At the same time, persistent health disparities continue to affect marginalized groups, particularly within the Black community. Root causes like medical deserts, underrepresentation in clinical trials and a systemic shortage of culturally competent care make achieving true equity an uphill battle. Fortunately, Black-led healthcare organizations are actively tackling these issues through targeted conferences and advocacy. To help you stay connected with the leaders driving this change, here are eight standout medical organizations and conferences worth putting on your radar.

1. AfroTech HealthStack Conference, Houston, TX, November 4 to 5