Bevon Joseph is not your everyday worker in tech. A self-described ecosystem builder and advocate for financial and social equity, he is committed to empowering underserved – and underestimated – communities. He founded the Greenwood Project in Chicago, which has helped lead more than 1,000 Black and Latinx students into careers in finance, empowering them use AI-driven innovations to enhance their social capital.
At the June 3 Chicago TechPath Alliance kickoff event, Bevon gave a virtual keynote speech detailing his personal journey – no college degree, no insider network, only hard work and dedication to a meaningful goal. He discussed his tireless efforts to teach himself Python, Java, and SQL, which gave him a greater ability to connect with the community and launch grassroots tech initiatives in his own neighborhood.
This summer, he is bringing an innovative idea to the Chicago community that is sure to turn heads. He’s launching a series of grassroots AI and coding bootcamps. These bootcamps are not in classrooms or coworking spaces, but inside barbershops on Chicago’s South Side. They are specifically designed for young Black men, a demographic often overlooked in tech pipelines yet brimming with untapped potential.
“We always talk about bringing people into tech,” Bevon said. “But what if tech came to them?”
The barbershop is where the community lives. It’s where people gather, where stories are shared, where culture is shaped. These spaces, often misunderstood, offer a natural gateway to introduce technology in a way that feels personal, relevant, and empowering.
The workshops will dig in to the basics of AI, complete with interactive coding sessions and a focus on real-world applications, all tailored to meet participants where they are. But more than just skills, these sessions aim to shift perceptions. They look to challenge the notion that access to education in tech is only for a certain type of person. It’s about reclaiming space and agency, about showing that tech can live anywhere, and that innovation doesn’t need permission to exist in places it frequently passes over.
As the Chicago TechPath Alliance moves forward, we are proud to highlight and uplift leaders like Bevon – voices that reflect the city’s true spirit: diverse, resilient, inventive. These are the changemakers helping to shape a more inclusive tech future. A diverse future. One that doesn’t just open doors, but builds new ones entirely.
