Presentation Recap | Tech & Culture Series featuring Dakir Thompson

Meet Dakir Thompson, a local tech professional who attributes his current success as a Software Engineer to the grit, wits and resolve he garnered from growing up in Syracuse’s inner city. He has used those qualities to graduate from Morrisville State College with an Associates in Applied Science and Lemoyne College with a B.A in General Science.  

It was not until he took a Computer Science course three years into his college career that he knew he found his passion and decided right then that computer programming was his path. After graduating Dakir found that not having a degree in computer science was a barrier to many entry level software engineering jobs but after some research, he figured out that some jobs will look past that if you could prove your skills. Therefore, Dakir studied and practiced computer programming using online resources and old textbooks and eventually landed his first computer programming job at Lockheed Martin in 2019. 

Hosted by Generation Next, the Tech and Culture Speaker Series promotes diversity, inclusion and belonging in tech-related fields through diverse speakers who are leading in the tech industry. The series invites speakers to share their personal stories to inspire, motivate and transform the mindset of the diverse audiences. 

Sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co.