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About BOT

Making technology education, resources, and mentorship accessible.

At BOT, we're committed to creating opportunities in the tech industry for communities — helping individuals grow and succeed.

Our mission

Bridging the digital divide

Our mission is to bridge the digital divide by providing access to technology education, mentorship, and career-building opportunities. We aim to accelerate economic advancement by increasing awareness, activities, networks, and resources for those interested in pursuing careers or entrepreneurship in technology.

By offering hands-on training and support, we strive to create an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive in the ever-evolving world of technology.

Our vision

Technology accessible to all

We envision a world where technology is accessible to all, regardless of background, location, or resources. We believe in a future where people from all walks of life have the tools, knowledge, and support they need to succeed in the tech industry.

Through education, innovation, and collaboration, we aim to foster a stronger tech community that reflects the world we live in.

What we believe

Three convictions behind every program

Tech is a pathway to economic freedom.
Learning should be practical and approachable.
Local growth fuels national impact.

In the room

What that looks like in practice

Ten years of programming has produced something harder to count than course completions: a network across Orlando of people who know each other, refer each other, and turn up when it is someone else’s turn.

Read their stories

Deena, Emily Walker and Janelle together at a Building Our Tech community event — Deena, Emily and Janelle at a BOT community event in Orlando.

A Diamond Decade

10 years of impact

10,000+Participants engaged

165+Programs and events

100+Founders trained

$1.5M+Grants secured

50+Regional partnerships

300+Tech professionals developed

Our team

Practitioners, educators, and organizers

Our team includes tech experts, educators, mentors, and community organizers, all working together to create meaningful opportunities — united by a shared goal of bringing new talent into the tech industry.

Meet the team

Our partners

A regional network behind every cohort

BOT works with a wide range of partners, including tech companies, educational institutions, and community organizations, to expand our reach and the resources available to participants.

See everyone we’ve worked alongside

Founders’ story

Where this started

Joshua Walker and Mike Felix founded Building Our Tech to close a gap they kept running into: plenty of talent in Orlando, far too few doors into the industry. Ten years on, this is that story in their words.

Three attendees talking together at the ScaleUp Orlando Business Conference

The network, in person

The organizations below are not logos on a page. They send people, host rooms, judge pitches, and turn up for each other across Central Florida.

How we grew

A decade, in photographs

Meetups in borrowed rooms, workshops, festival tents, partner studios and founder showcases — ten years of the work as it actually looked.

2016–2018

Borrowed rooms, campus visits and panel nights.

Three of Building Our Tech’s earliest members around a table at Catalyst Co-Working Space, mid-laugh during the first town-hall meeting — Nov 2016The first meeting, at Catalyst

Around fifteen people posed together in a bright open-plan workspace after a monthly community meetup — Mar 2017Monthly meetup at Canvs

Students and Building Our Tech speakers grouped together in a Bethune-Cookman University room beneath a STEM banner — Apr 2018Talking tech at Bethune-Cookman

Panellists and guests standing together at Canvs Parramore after a panel of women of color working across the technical stack — Aug 2018“The Full Stack” panel night

2019–2020

Community awareness, corporate partnerships, and giving back.

Children in matching green shirts lined up beside a Black Orlando Tech banner at the Zora Neale Hurston Festival — Feb 2019Zora Neale Hurston Festival

Members standing in front of an illuminated EA Sports sign during a studio visit — May 2019Behind the scenes at EA Sports

Three cohort members working at laptops during a Salesforce administrator training session — Jun 2019Salesforce cohort at Starter Studio

Volunteers at laptops around long tables, rebuilding the Wells’ Built Museum’s website and systems — Mar 2020Wells’ Built Museum tech refresh

2021–2023

Founder showcases, financial backing and innovation challenges.

A full room of guests at round tables during the Black Tech Founders Showcase — Jul 2021Black Tech Founders Showcase

Three people holding an oversized Addition Financial Foundation cheque for $20,000, in front of a balloon arch and a branded backdrop — Sep 2022$20,000 Community Impact Grant from the Addition Financial Foundation

Seven participants wearing lanyards, posed beneath an Orlando Magic sign at the team’s innovation challenge — Jun 2023Orlando Magic Innovation Challenge

Attendees gathered around a Black Orlando Tech pop-up banner at the entrance to a brick-walled venue during TenX Tech Con — Jun 2023TenX Tech Con with Innovate Orlando

2024–2025

Hands-on workshops, $17,500 pitch prize and the first one-day conference.

Attendees at laptops following along during a Swift and SwiftUI workshop at Credo Conduit — Sep 2024From idea to app: a SwiftUI workshop

Nine people standing together holding three oversized Building Our Tech cheques — ten thousand, five thousand and two thousand five hundred dollars — at the Launchpad Liftoff Pitch Competition — Oct 2024$17,500 awarded at Launchpad Liftoff Pitch Competition

Guests under a string-lit pergola at the Sunset Soirée, some playing a card game at a low table while others mingle beside a Sunset Soirée banner — Jun 2025Sunset Soirée — Juneteenth social and networking at The Grape & Grain

A speaker presenting beside a screen reading “Automation” to attendees seated at tables with laptops at the ScaleUp conference — Sep 2025ScaleUp — the first one-day conference, about 100 founders

Depth of connection

Who we’ve worked alongside

“50+ regional partnerships” is a number on a page. This is what it actually looks like — a decade of coworking spaces and innovation hubs, chambers of commerce, universities, recruiting firms, community groups, sports teams, museums and festivals, small businesses, and some of the largest employers in Central Florida. Some of them no longer exist. The work still counts.

Listed alphabetically, and deliberately incomplete — ten years of showing up in the same rooms involves more people than any one page can hold. If we have worked together and you are not here, tell us and we will put that right.

Join us

Become part of a movement changing the face of technology.

Whether you're looking to upskill, find a mentor, or give back to the community, BOT has a place for you.

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