George Nunez has made it his mission to give back to his Bronx community, one that has had its share of challenges. The way he sees it, there is untapped potential and he wants to be the one who helps open doors using technology to develop workforce opportunities. As the founder of Bronx Tech Hub, a new initiative focused on creating job opportunities and making the borough a tech hub, the tech entrepreneur used Bronx Tech Week, a series of events that started September 9, to connect Bronx residents of all ages with opportunities in tech and ways to grow their businesses.
“It’s not just workforce development, it’s not just getting people a job,” said Nunez. “It’s a lifestyle. We’re also talking about creating generational wealth for them and their families.”
Nunez was raised in the South Bronx in NYCHA housing—with his mother, brother, and sister—an environment that did not encourage academic success or the pursuit of a positive future.
“It was tricky getting exposed to gang violence, drugs, seeing friends take a turn, and…a whole bunch of negativity, whether it was friends who were dying or getting incarcerated,” Nunez said.
He says that with exposure to gang violence early in life, and even being shot in the leg at 14, he realizes how fortunate he was to find tech as a career path.
Having attended The Eagle Academy for Young Men in The Bronx, where he was school president, and a member of the debate team and Moot Court, Nunez says he initially anticipated getting into law, but his tech journey began because of the guidance of mentors he gained in school who worked in finance on Wall Street.
It was also his older brother who encouraged him to get into finance and investment banking. Nunez would go to Binghamton University, where he says learning about business was a good foundation and where he realized that tech was his calling.
“It was the shining light for me when I saw that tech was going to be the future,” Nunez said. He began his career in investment banking on Wall Street before transitioning into consulting and product management for tech firms.
Nunez says he realized most of the activity was in Manhattan and Brooklyn and that outside of The Knowledge House, a tech training school, The Bronx had been a “tech desert.”
“There’s so much creativity there. There’s so much potential there. There’s so much opportunity. People from The Bronx just want and need a chance,” Nunez said, highlighting the borough as the birthplace of hip hop, a hub of rich cultures, and a collection of diverse demographics.
“But when you hear about The Bronx, it’s all negativity and that’s the narrative that I’m looking to change, because I’ve met so many creative people who are doing great things,” he continued.
In 2023, he launched the first Bronx Tech Week, which led to his creation of the Bronx Tech Hub 501 (c) (3), with the mission of creating a tech ecosystem focused on workforce development, education, entrepreneurial access, and getting Bronx residents to build out their tech startups to create jobs for people in the borough, elevating the local economy.
Bronx Tech Hub has several new projects and events on the horizon, including a climate tech fellowship with the Bronx Economic Development Corporation for Bronx CUNY students beginning in October, where they are placed with tech startups. They also offer an AI fellowship to guide students to either matriculate back into school, pursue software engineering, or attend an AI bootcamp. The next major event they are hosting is the tech job fair on October 15th at Fordham.
The program serves all ages, from children learning about STEM to college students, working professionals looking for jobs, and seniors being given digital skills training. Some of the high schools they are working with include Eagle Academy, Bronx Academy for Software Engineering, Comp Sci High, and Horace Mann School, as well as colleges Lehman College, Hostos Community College, Fordham University, Bronx Community College, and Manhattan College, among others. They also connect with seniors through the YMCA.
Nunez says that the many stories of Bronxites he meets and works with who share how these opportunities changed their lives are what he is most proud of, including one gentleman he spoke to who was tired of his old job and came to Nunez to learn about tech, who is now in a data fellowship.
“That’s the most rewarding feeling, for somebody to come up and say, ‘Hey George, you changed my life, because of you, now I’m really living the role and the life I want to live,’” Nunez said.
Nunez, who works with three other board members in the organization, says they are now looking to secure a physical space and eventually scale to other boroughs, before going national, and then global. The Black-owned Sankofa Huas has been one of their main venues for events. Nunez says funding support and continued branding will be key going forward.
“All I can do is train. All I can do is provide opportunities, and all I can do is spread the word,” Nunez said.
The Bronx Tech Hub calendar of events can be found at bronxtechhub.org.