User:Samnadj/sandbox

Type: For profit organization

Industry: Broadband and Telecommunication

Founded: 2013

Founders: Clayton Banks, Bruce Lincoln

Headquarters: Harlem, NY

Website: siliconharlem.net

Silicon Harlem is a for-profit organization created to facilitate the development of emerging urban communities into technology and innovation hubs. CEO Clayton Banks and Bruce Lincoln founded the company in 2014. The organization works to improve and expand the broadband infrastructure of Harlem and increase technological literacy in the community.

Founding
Clayton Banks and Bruce Lincoln were inspired to start Silicon Harlem after hosting a technology-based meetup in Harlem in 2013. The group then began holding monthly meetups and developed a database of meetup participants. The group then proceeded to develop a business plan, and incorporated in 2014.

Clayton Banks
Banks is a pioneer of the cable and communications industry. Prior to founding Silicon Harlem, he served as Regional Director at Showtime Networks, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Sega Channel, and Vice President of Affiliate Relations at Comedy Central. Banks proceeded to found Ember Media, an organization that built and deployed multi-platform solutions for MTV, ESPN, Budweiser, Essence Music Festival, Urban Latino, Prudential, New York Institute of Technology, United Technologies, National Urban League, Denny’s, Scholastic, and other top brands. The CEO also worked with former president of the United States Bill Clinton in creating an interactive college guide series called “The Key.” Clayton Banks currently serves on the Commission on Public Information and Communication for the city of New York, the Board of Directors of the Armory Track and Field Foundation, and the board of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce. He previously served as the President of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC), from 1996 through 1998.

Bruce Lincoln
Co-founder Bruce Lincoln is a member of the NYC Mayor’s Broadband Advisory Task Force, a Senior Fellow at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information at the Columbia Graduate School of Business, and from 2008 through 2011, he was the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Center for Technology, Innovation and Community Engagement (CTICE) at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. He was a Senior Educational Technologist and Manager of Community Outreach at the Institute for Learning Technologies at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he managed a ten-year cycle of projects that served as national models for equity and access to the socioeconomic benefits of Internet. Lincoln was also as an advisor to the White House under the Clinton Administration, and served on the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee.

COSMOS
Silicon Harlem has partnered with New York City, City College of New York, the University of Arizona, along with lab researchers from Rutgers, Columbia, and NYU to create a proving ground for next generation wireless technology. The National Science Foundation (NSF), under the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) initiative, has invested $100 million to build a set of wireless networks, with New York and Salt Lake City serving as the first test beds.

Apps Youth Leadership Academy
The company, in partnership with the department of Education for New York City runs a program with the goal of enhancing the career skills of children in the community. The seven week summer course focuses on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) related concepts.

RISE Network
The RISE network is a project created to build a resilient broadband network within the city of Harlem. The project was conceived of after Hurricane Sandy knocked out power and WiFi signals throughout the upper Manhattan area. It’s designed to have local residents maintain the equipment.

Innovation Center
The company plans to open a collaborative workspace in Harlem, focused on encouraging innovation in the community.

Silicon Harlem Tech Conference
Produced by Silicon Harlem LLC., this is the only comprehensive technology conference in Harlem. The conference takes place each summer, and focuses on next generation internet and its impact on urban markets economic development.

Fortnite In The Heights
A key event that Silicon Harlem produced in 2018 was the Fortnite In The Heights tournament. This event allowed young adults to play the game Fortnite for a day with the winner winning $5000. It was held at the armory track in washington heights.