Two entrepreneurs with Triangle connections are among the first three selected for the new CODE2040 program, which is aiming to help “empower” more Black and Latino/a startups. One runs a startup in Durham; the other is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate.

Talib Graves-Manns runs “RainbowMe” in Durham.

And Riana Lynn is the founder of FoodTrace in Chicago. By the way, she taught herself to write code.

CODE2040 bases its name on the fact that projections say the U.S. population will be “minority majority” by the year 2040.

However, the number of black and Hispanic tech workers as well as entrepreneurs remains a very low percentage as recent internal surveys by Apple, Google and other companies has clearly shown.

The American Underground, which operates in Durham and Raleigh, is one of only three sites selected for the fellowship program.

CODE2040 backers include Google, Google for Entrepreneurs, and the Knight Foundation.

The winners will receive a variety of benefits for the entrepreneur-in-residence program, not the least of which is $40,000 in seed funding.

Perhaps best of all, however, is getting face time with investors and a trip to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

The third winner is Joel Rojo from Austin, Texas.

“The CODE2040 Residency, powered by Google for Entrepreneurs, is designed to empower Black and Latino/a entrepreneurs to take their companies to the next level while taking their communities to the next level as well,” organizers say.

The American Underground in Durham is one of three tech hubs that also are part of the program. The others are Capital factory in Austin and “1871” in Chicago.

Here are bios of the first three “EIRs:”

  • Riana Lynn – chicago (1871)

Riana is a young leader in food and health entrepreneurship with a passion for technology, access, and bringing people together. From her grandmother’s garden to the White House South Lawn she was inspired to create FoodTrace, a next level sourcing platform that connects consumers, restaurants, distributors and farms.

Riana has been featured in Inc, Wired, Entrepreneur Magazine, and other local and national publications. She graduated with a B.S. in Biology and African American Studies and a minor in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she taught herself how to code and was a top-ranked performer in Discus and Javelin before pursuing a Masters at Northwestern University. While getting her hands dirty in the White House Kitchen Garden, her work included major policy initiatives such as Small Business and Jobs, STEM, and Public Health. A native of the Chicago area, Riana is a young politico, a restaurant enthusiast, a world traveler, and an innovative fruit connoisseur.

  • Talib Graves-Manns – durham (American Underground)

With over 10 years experience in sales, marketing, and digital technology, Talib has a track record of success from Madison Ave to New Orleans. He believes in a customer centric model in all his endeavors where the voice of the customer is the driving force behind the development of experiences, products, and solutions.

Talib’s passion for diversity and education technology have culminated in his co-founding RainbowMe, an online platform for original content designed to educate and entertain children of color across the world. The RainbowMe team believes that through a culturally relevant exchange of ideas, customs, and lifestyles, children will be better equipped members of an increasingly diverse world.

  • Joel Rojo – austin (Capital Factory)

Joel is a product designer, developer, and entrepreneur with a wide array of experiences in the tech industry. He is passionate about technology’s ability to connect people and provide value at massive scale. A graduate of Harvard, where he studied Sociology and Computer Science, Joel’s experiences range from starting an online real estate agency at the age of 18, to working at Google’s Creative Lab and New Business Development group, to building product at Indeed, the top job search engine in the world, where he was a product hacker on their Labs team. Currently he is the co-founder of TicketKarma, an online ticket marketplace that aims to bring simplicity, trust, and community to the secondary ticket market.