You oughta follow these 9 tech folks of color on Twitter right now

Building a tech scene that’s welcoming to people of color means building community, and why not on social media, too? Here’s a list of #DCtech people of color technologists and tech folk who make Twitter fun.
Tell us who we missed in the comments or tweet us @TechnicallyDC.

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Brandon Luong (@BrandonTLuong), cofounder of Technicolor DC with Sibyl Edwards, is serious about his goal of helping D.C. become a “hotspot for minority techies,” but he also knows how to have fun. Case in point, he took the time to compile some of the best #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes after the now-infamous incident of Melania Trump pulling a copy-and-paste of Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech.

"I wanna be like you, talk like you, too"#FamousMelianaTrumpQuotes pic.twitter.com/8aCcbAJXPr

— Brandon T. Luong (@BrandonTLuong) July 19, 2016

Monica Kang (@monicahkang), founder and CEO of InnovatorsBox, is someone you want to follow for your weekly creative fix. She tweets smart takeaways from events she attends. (Also check out her LinkedIn post recapping advice from a creativity-focused event series her company is co-hosting with WeWork.)

"You can be no use to anyone if you can't take care of yourself." Yes. Thank you for reminding us to #balance to #deliver. #nextgengov

— Monica H. Kang✨ (@monicahkang) August 2, 2016

Ximena Hartsock (@ximenahartsock), cofounder of Phone2Action, repped #DCtech at Philly’s Democratic National Convention last week, speaking at the public policy-centered Innovation Nation panel, where her talk focused on creating more business opportunities for immigrants.

Congrats @TiffanyMMoore @mpetricone for a fantastic #InnovationNation2016. Thanks for bringing #tech to #DNCinPHL pic.twitter.com/ImtNxGkS6U

— Ximena Hartsock (@ximenahartsock) July 28, 2016

We love how Phone2Action’s head of customer success Jill Nguyen (@GJNguyen) called this Buzzfeed article on Bill Clinton’s infatuation with balloons at the convention.

.@billclinton is so genuinely interested in the balloons! #DemsInPhilly #DemConvention

— Jill Nguyen (@GJNguyen) July 29, 2016

One day later:

Again, @billclinton loves balloons. @BuzzFeed is here to back me up https://t.co/oNtmvqDQe1 #DemsInPhilly #DemConvention

— Jill Nguyen (@GJNguyen) July 29, 2016

Johnny Ray Austin (@recursivefunk), director of technology at newly-acquired iStrategyLabs, is a fun one to follow just because you can never fully expect what he’s gonna tweet out, whether it’s about local politics…

I wish people were this passionate about local/congressional elections #DNC #DemsInPhilly

— Johnny Ray (@recursivefunk) July 26, 2016

Pokemon Go…

Me, waiting on the world to get over this pokemon nonsense

I'll wait… pic.twitter.com/N9F1NECmnn

— Johnny Ray (@recursivefunk) July 11, 2016

…or world domination.

I was planning world domination for 2016 but it's almost August and I'm waaay behind. Gonna have to push to 2017.

— Johnny Ray (@recursivefunk) July 27, 2016

I was planning world domination for 2016 but it's almost August and I'm waaay behind. Gonna have to push to 2017.

— Johnny Ray (@recursivefunk) July 27, 2016

Veni Kunche (@venikunche), a senior software engineer at U.S. Geological Survey who runs a monthly email newsletter that shares the success stories of women in tech, tweets out inspirational stories, as well as opportunities for women in tech.

How a Women Over 40 Broke Coding Stereotypes https://t.co/S8pRQ6Wn8J via @watc_updates

— Veni Kunche (she/her) (@venikunche) July 23, 2016

Paul Singh (@paulsingh), founder of coworking space Brickyard, is currently on the road in his custom Airstream for his Results Junkies Tech Tour, and he’s tweeting the entire experience. 

Good morning, Port Huron! #rjtechtour pic.twitter.com/cbR90UjT1Q

— Paul Singh (@paulsingh) July 25, 2016

Thomas Sanchez (@thomassanchez), founder and CEO of Social Driver, just launched his company’s internal Snapchat, but his Twitter presence is pretty well established. We have to give him props for his quirky inspirational tweets.

Sure, chickens sit on eggs. But so do eagles. Don't be afraid to spend more time incubating your thoughts until they are strong and ready.

— Thomas Sanchez (@thomassanchez) July 29, 2016

Stop putting out fires and start lighting some.

— Thomas Sanchez (@thomassanchez) July 27, 2016

If you’re just getting into coding, you’ll want to follow Jessica Dembe (@jmdembe). A research assistant at consulting firm JBS International, Dembe is chronicling her journey back into tech after a short break and seems to be using Twitter to hold herself accountable. Don’t miss her blog, either. 

Goal for August: code in JavaScript for an hour a day

— Jessica Dembe 👩🏾‍💻 (@jmdembe) July 26, 2016