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Kalimah Priforce
Hacktagonist & Techquity Educator
Kalimah Priforce is a visionary "hacktagonist" and "codebreaker of human potential," best known for pioneering the "learn to code" movement. Through hackathons, he has created breakthrough educational models, empowering low-opportunity youth to solve the world's biggest problems with technology and innovation. As an expert in closing the digital divide, Kalimah’s upcoming memoir, How To Raise A Hacker, chronicles his journey from the group homes of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, to the dynamic boardrooms of Silicon Valley.
At the age of 16, Kalimah founded his first tech venture, which was sold before his 20th birthday. He is the retired Hacktivist CEO of Qeyno Group, a social enterprise recognized by Echoing Green. Qeyno launched the first internationally-televised hackathon for the MSNBC mini-documentary Swimming in Their Genius. Kalimah was also the inaugural senior fellow for Van Jones’s Yes We Code and created the first hackathon for Prince at the Essence Festival in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain.
As the creator of the "empathy-spillover model," Kalimah has revolutionized the inclusion of futurism and hacker culture in racial and social justice initiatives. He has been featured in major outlets like Forbes, Black Enterprise, Essence Magazine, PBS, KQED, NPR, and USA Today.
Kalimah’s work extends beyond entrepreneurship. As an educator, he helped form The Hidden Genius Project, a non-profit in Oakland that trains young men of color in modern programming languages. His advocacy for STEAM education has been recognized as a U.S. national security issue, with Kalimah honored by the Obama White House as a Champion of Change.
He is the central figure in the award-winning documentary Code Oakland and continues to mentor the next generation of underrepresented hacktivists. Kalimah also sits on the National Advisory Council for Forward Promise, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and is a TEDx speaker who has been without business cards since the mid-90s.
TOPICS
hacktivism, digital divide, tech equity, racism and dehumanization, youth and technology, education reform, social entrepreneurship, product development for social impact, improving life outcomes for young men of color, Buddhist mindfulness
BOOKS
How To Raise A Hacker (2020) | Kalimah Priforce
Don’t Knock The Hustle: Young Creatives, Tech Ingenuity, and the Making of a New Innovation Economy (2019) | S. Craig Watkins
I’ll Find a Way or Make One: A Tribute to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (2004) | Juan Williams & Dwayne Ashley

PAST CLIENTS
The Economist
Salesforce
Google
Microsoft
The College Board
University of Pennsylvania
Yale School of Management
The White House (Obama Administration)
Black Enterprise
Stanford University
UC Berkeley
Claremont McKenna College
My Brother’s Keeper Alliance
PACT Adoption Camp for Multiracial Families
Jackie Robinson Foundation
US Tzu Chi 360
Social Capital Markets
MSNBC
Human Capital Institute (HCI)
Focus 100
Rotary International
The Greenlining Institute
Business Innovation Factory
Wisdom 2.0
Berkeleyside
United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
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