Ariana The Techie is a three-time tech founder, 16-year full-stack software engineer, product manager, and one of only four Black women to raise more than $1 million in the blockchain industry after securing over $3 million in venture capital by the age of 26 within only 3 months.

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Ariana's journey into technology began at the age of 14 when she became an intern in Georgia Tech's Computer Science Department. Her entrepreneurial journey began at just 18 years old when she launched a baking company in her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, which she successfully operated for three years.

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Ariana is the author of The Innovative Church, available on Amazon. The book equips Christian leaders and believers to build technology that glorifies God through biblical principles and includes more than 300 practical technology tools and resources for churches, ministries, and faith-driven innovators.

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Ariana served on the Board of Trustees for the Museum of Contemporary Art of North Miami (MOCA North Miami) as the youngest trustee and philanthropic donor in the institution's history. She also served as Co-Chair of the Finance Committee and chaired the institution's largest annual fundraising event, the MOCA Gala.

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She attended Tuskegee University, where she majored in Electrical Engineering before leaving after her sophomore year to pursue entrepreneurship full-time. She later completed a coding bootcamp to continue her technical education.

While at Tuskegee, Ariana earned engineering internships with companies including Honda Manufacturing, where she helped develop software supporting the Honda Pilot, Acura MDX, and Honda Odyssey. She also became the first HBCU intern at Exelon Nuclear's Byron Generating Station in Illinois before later working as a software engineer at GE Aviation. Since 2015, Ariana has been recognized as a NASA Grant Alumna for her outstanding academic achievement while attending the illustrious Tuskegee University.

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Since the age of 23, Ariana has delivered keynote presentations at some of the world's leading technology conferences, universities, and innovation events.

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She previously served as Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Dalilah Cann, a cannabis technology startup based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she helped build an Amazon-style digital marketplace for cannabis products. During that time, Ariana also co-founded the Black and Brown Cannabis Guild, one of the first organizations in the United States dedicated to helping historically marginalized communities build businesses in the cannabis industry. Through the Guild, she helped expunge more than 400 criminal records for individuals with minor cannabis-related offenses in partnership with Cooley Law School and strategic community organizations throughout Grand Rapids.

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Although this chapter was an important part of her entrepreneurial journey, Ariana no longer supports the consumption or promotion of cannabis products because of her Christian faith and personal convictions.

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Since 2018, Ariana has hosted the Women in Tech with Ariana podcast, which reached listeners in more than 30 countries within its first three years and ranked among the Top 5 Women in Technology podcasts on Apple Podcasts.

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Ariana is a 2017 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) Scholar, where she learned iOS development in just one week before earning her place among hundreds of developers selected from around the world.

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She is also an HF0 Fellow, selected as one of only 13 founders from thousands of applicants to participate in the prestigious HF0 Residency—an elite founder accelerator where software engineers build venture-backed startups and raise capital during an intensive 13-week program backed by some of the world's leading venture capital firms.

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Today, Ariana is passionate about helping organizations leverage artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurship to create meaningful impact while encouraging the next generation of builders to use technology as a force for innovation, opportunity, and service.

 

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