By Matthew Memrick
Brandon Barnes knows what it feels like to have the skills, the idea and the determination and still not get the opportunity.
That experience forms the basis of his work in Charlotte, where he established the Black Tech Initiative (BTI), a nonprofit creating pathways into the technology field for Black professionals and HBCU graduates through certifications, mentorship and structural access.
Before tech, Barnes, a Virginia native, earned a political science degree from Elizabeth City State University, considered a career as a sports agent, but ultimately decided to enter law school. He was inspired by his father, Harold Barnes, a civil rights attorney. When Barnes dropped out one year in, he said he felt at the time like he had failed, but he recalls his father reframing the setback:
“Most people don’t even get into law school,” his dad advised. “So you’ve already handled the curve most people never face. What are you going to use — the things and tools you have now — to do something else with it?”
Barnes revisited his previous pursuit of a career as a sports agent and earned a master’s degree in sports administration from the University of Miami. But when COVID hit, he taught himself app development and built XCard, a geolocation tool for local creators and small businesses.
Brandon Barnes, founder of the Black Tech Initiative. Courtesy of Brandon Barnes
After months of meetings with banks and investors, funding finally seemed close. Barnes declined the offer because of the terms — $350,000 in exchange for 75% to 80% equity.
“I know industry standards … This just doesn’t make sense,” Barnes recalled. He had to make the hard choice to close the company.
“There’s two kinds of pain,” Barnes said. “There’s pain that hurts, and there’s pain that alters. And so I chose the route of altering.”
Barnes moved to Charlotte in 2023 to be near family. The move gave him room to rethink Black tech events he’d already been organizing. The feedback was consistent: professionals needed certifications, soft-skills training and direct economic mobility rather than routine networking.
That realization led him to found BTI in 2025. The model yielded early proof when tech founder Jasmine Ballard, who attended a BTI session, told Barnes that the feedback was more valuable than anything she had asked for. A week later, she was accepted into Black Ambition, a national organization for founders of color.
Attendees at a BTI’s “After Hours: Records and Culture” event in partnership with Hardy Boy Records.Brandon Barnes
“That validates what I’m doing,” Barnes said. “Those are the things that put a smile on my face, when I can provide the opportunities that I wish I’d had.”
Barnes said BTI’s core strength lies in its one-on-one intake conversations to evaluate individual goals and barriers.
“When I see someone across from me, I see my son,” he said. “It is my job and my duty to make sure we help them increase their economic mobility.”
He recalled a candidate who held multiple certifications and boot camp credentials but received no callbacks. “I just want to make sure I’m not wasting my time,” the man told him.
“We cannot keep using the same antiquated ways to reach a different demographic in a different era,” Barnes said, confirming what Barnes had suspected: the old playbook doesn’t work for this generation.
Tuskegee University students celebrate winning first place and $7,500 at the internXL AI Innovation Challenge during HBCU AWARE Fest, with support from the Black Tech Initiative.Brandon Barnes
BTI addresses this through practical programming, including IBM SkillsBuild AI training, digital networking and AI-driven interview preparation matched to active job postings.
Barnes’ work raises a bigger question: who gets to participate in Charlotte’s expanding tech economy? He worries AI could widen existing gaps in access to training and networks. The issue, he argues, was never whether Black professionals can compete; it’s whether they’ll get the same chance.
“Talent is already here,” Barnes said. “The missing pieces are often access, visibility, relationships and infrastructure.”
