Reason One announces 2023 recipients of the Black Tech Mentorship and Scholarship Program

BY PAUL JUNOR

It has been two years now since Reason One has been making a difference in the lives of young people who are pursuing a career in the tech field. According to its website: www.reasononeinc.com, is a full-service digital agency partner to non-profits, healthcare providers, and socially conscious businesses. The agency provides strategy, design, development and matching services to help those who do good, do better.

The agency has hub locations in: Toronto, Ontario and Charleston S.C. Its mentoring and scholarship program gives awards to Black students 17 years and older and less than 35 years old who are currently enrolled, or have accepted a program in a digital discipline with the hope of finding a career in tech. Details about this can be seen on the website:www.reasononeinc.com/romps.

In the promotional email, Ben Coach, Founding Partner of Reason One states, “This year due to the exceptional quality of applicants, we have decided to select four winners instead of the originally planned three. The remarkable talent and passion, displayed by the candidates inspired us, to recognize and support these four outstanding individuals notwithstanding their extraordinary achievement and potential.”

The four applicants were selected from the State of South Carolina and the province of Ontario. The top ten finalists were picked and interviewed by the Scholarship Committee. The criteria used for selection include:

• Financial needs
• Career aspirations to make the tech industry more inclusive
• Extra-curricular activities
• Community service

The funds may go towards the cost of tuition, books, supplies and living expenses. Recipients who develop a 1-year relationship with Reason One’s team will be able to acquire the following benefits:

• Career planning
• Professional development
• Mentoring to help inform and prepare them for their transition to a career in tech

The names of the recipients, backgrounds, accomplishments, and studies are:

Destiny Osunbiyi

Destiny just completed her high school education and will be attending York University to pursue a Bachelor of Science in: Biomedical Engineering, Design and Tech. Her interests lie in the areas of science, technology, photography and digital arts. She is the

recipient of a scholarship and she plays volleyball on the Varsity Women’s team. She is presently working as an RBC Summer Tech Labs intern as an Innovation Developer.

Katherine Daley-Chigbu

Katherine will be specializing in computer engineering in her second year after her acceptance into the Track One Undeclared Engineering Program at the University of Toronto. She will be a participant in this university’s Personal Experience Year Co-op Program which will broaden her career options. She intends to pursue a career in the automated manufacturing services sector working with robots.

Nolawi Teklehaimano

Nolawi will be commencing her studies at the University of Toronto in September 2023. She was the founder of a coding club that had more than 50 members and participated as management in the course with 10 executives. She volunteered with S.L.Y.E and hosted several virtual workshops in partnership with MACCA, and in conjunction with Stolen from Africa. She plans to pursue a career in compliance engineering in pursuit of her vision to make a long-lasting impact on the world.

Amber Oglesby

Amber is a veteran of the American Army and participated in the Vet-Tech Program, which is an initiative launched by the Veteran Army to help veterans make the transition to civilian jobs after completing military service. She will start a Master’s Degree in Computer Science in the fall of 2023, now that she completed her Innerserivce software development program at Carolina Code School. In moving from the medical field to the technical field, she hopes to use her core values as a platform to make a significant and influential impact on the community.