[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"conference-blog-article-afrotech-conference-tanya-sam-returning":3},{"id":4,"author":5,"authors":14,"title":16,"subTitle":9,"excerpt":17,"slug":18,"body":19,"categories":20,"tags":26,"featuredMedia":35,"publishedAt":43,"publishedAtGMT":44,"updatedAt":43,"updatedAtGMT":44,"type":45,"listicle":46,"disableContentGate":47,"disableListicleNumbers":47,"canonicalUrl":9,"socialThumbnail":9,"readingTime":48,"customFields":49,"additional":50,"acf":51},275554,{"id":6,"avatar":7,"firstName":8,"lastName":9,"displayName":10,"email":11,"username":10,"normalizedUsername":12,"description":9,"htmlBio":9,"twitter":9,"facebook":9,"instagram":9,"registeredAt":13},32,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2020\u002F06\u002FScreen-Shot-2023-02-28-at-4.54.31-PM.png","AFROTECH™","","AfroTech","AfroTech@blavity.com","afrotech","2018-09-24T13:05:40+00:00",[15],{"id":6,"avatar":7,"firstName":8,"lastName":9,"displayName":10,"email":11,"username":10,"normalizedUsername":12,"description":9,"htmlBio":9,"twitter":9,"facebook":9,"instagram":9,"registeredAt":13},"Tanya Sam Is Bringing a No-Permission-Needed Message to AFROTECH™'s 10th Anniversary Stage","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.”","afrotech-conference-tanya-sam-returning","\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">When \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Ftanya-sam-on-pivoting-into-tech\">Tanya Sam\u003C\u002Fa> takes the stage at \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fcompanies-at-afrotech-conference-2026\">AFROTECH™ 2026\u003C\u002Fa> in Houston, there’s one thing she wants the room to walk away with: “You do not need anyone else’s permission to begin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\">Confidence Comes After the Leap\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“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.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">That’s the part she plans to press on in Houston. Feeling ready, in her view, isn’t a requirement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\">‘Do It Anyway’\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Sam’s advice is practical. Stop editing your goals down to what other people can picture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“Do not shrink your dream to fit the imagination of someone who cannot see what you see,” she said. “Find your people, build your community, ask for the introduction, make the pitch, and take the shot. You may not feel ready. Do it anyway.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 dir=\"ltr\">Why AFROTECH™ Is the Right Room for It\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Sam is bringing that message to a conference marking its 10th year, and she sees AFROTECH™ own story as proof of it. The conference, she said, was built on an idea much of the industry wasn’t ready to hear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“Black talent was never the problem. The problem was access, visibility, capital, and proximity to opportunity,” she said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Over the past decade, she said, AFROTECH™ has chipped away at those gaps by putting Black engineers, founders, investors, creatives and executives in the same room, where “we do not simply network.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">“We exchange knowledge, open doors, fund ideas, hire one another, challenge each other, and expand what we believe is possible,” Sam said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">\u003Cstrong>Buy Your Ticket Today\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\">Innovate, learn, and lead at AFROTECH™ 2026! From shaping the future of work to championing tech for good, this is where innovation meets impact. Don’t wait — \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F?utm_source=afrotech&utm_campaign=general&utm_medium=web\">lock in your tickets\u003C\u002Fa> today for Nov. 2-5, 2026, in Houston, TX!\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[21],{"id":22,"name":23,"slug":24,"description":9,"image":25},323,"News","news",null,[27,31],{"id":28,"name":29,"slug":30,"description":9,"image":9},16112,"Afrotech 2026","afrotech-2026",{"id":32,"name":33,"slug":34,"description":9,"image":9},8304,"AfroTech Conference","afrotech-conference",{"url":36,"thumbnail":36,"credit":37,"title":38,"alt":38,"type":39,"width":40,"height":41,"mimeType":42},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F10\u002FGettyImages-1441733645.jpg","Robin L Marshall\u002FGetty Images for AFROTECH","AFROTECH Conference 2022 – Day Three","image",160,118,"image\u002Fjpeg","2026-10-11T09:35:13-04:00","2026-10-11 13:35:13","default",[],false,2,{"disableConnatixPlayer":47},{"disableAd":47,"disableConnatixPlayer":47,"enabledComments":47,"headScript":25,"hidePhotoAttribution":47},{"reviewer_name":9}]