The Value Gap is a MarketWatch Q&A series with business leaders, academics, policymakers and activists on how to reduce racial and social inequalities.
Nashlie Sephus found success in the tech industry in a place that doesn’t typically offer many options for Black tech workers like her: the Deep South. Now she wants to help others do the same.
The applied scientist, who focuses on ensuring accuracy and fairness in artificial intelligence for Amazon Web Services, bought a 12-acre property with seven buildings in her hometown of Jackson, Miss., last fall. Her vision: to create a tech hub that includes housing, retail and entertainment to try to help lift up the predominantly Black city in the poorest state in the nation.
Mississippi’s median household income in 2019 was $45,792 and its poverty rate was 19.7%, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The median…