Kalina Bryant ’14 | Speaker, 2023 Undergraduate Commencement

Bryant is the founder of UnapologeTECH, a Forbes 30 under 30 Honoree, and a notable tech advisor to various companies.

by SMC Office of Marketing and Communications | April 12, 2023

Kalina Bryant ’14 will deliver the 2023 Undergraduate Commencement Address at Saint Mary’s College on May 20. A Forbes 30 under 30 North America Honoree, author, podcaster, and enterprise technology executive, Bryant is the voice that breaks barriers and leads change in the organizations she engages with in Silicon Valley.

As an African American woman change agent and activist in business, Bryant started her professional advocacy for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) and women over a decade ago, launching her mission at the National Conference of Race and Ethnicity in 2012. She presented the effects that racism and microaggressions have on institutions' growth and the communities impacted, and she educated listeners on how to dismantle the isms and drive social impact in organizations.

After disappointing responses seen in Silicon Valley regarding the events of 2020 spring with the tragic murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, she vowed to use her voice, knowledge, and creativity to tackle the injustice and disparities in Silicon Valley and beyond, for women and people of color, through an education-first approach by-way-of UnapologeTECH.

Since launching UnapologeTECH (unapologetech.com) in August 2020 and bringing together a community of over 20,000 allies and BIPOC women, she dedicates her spare time to empowering and uplifting young professionals, women, and the BIPOC community to overcome both conscious and unconscious bias—and triumph regardless of the environment and focusing on closing the equity gap between underrepresented groups and opportunity in business.

Kalina Bryant serves as an advisor to venture capital firm First Round Capital and a variety of early-stage tech startups. She is a champion of Ladies who Launch Non-profit Organization and sits on the Board of the School of Science at Saint Mary’s College of California, her alma mater, to focus on training and educating the institution to help prepare other underrepresented communities.

Most recently, she was included by the BAM agency among its 101 Black Tech Titans for 2023.


Learn more about 2023 Commencement at Saint Mary's.

READ MORE about Kalina Bryant: LinkedInInstagramkalinabryant.com   

IN THE NEWS: Enterprise Technology Trailblazer Kalina Bryant ’14 Featured in Forbes 30 Under 30