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Xbox is driving its efforts to diversify the gaming industry forward. The brand has unveiled an initiative to empower the next generation of Black innovators who will transform the space.

Dubbed Project Amplify, the effort was designed to inspire Black youth to chart career paths in technology. The digital series elevates the voices and stories of fourteen Black employees at Xbox.

Each individual featured provides a candid lens into their distinctive path. Among the topics discussed is the essentiality of building confidence to step into spaces where you don’t often see yourself reflected and the myriad of career avenues in tech.

“Growing up, I didn’t have much of a vision for what my career would be,” shared Q Muhaimin, who serves as a Product Manager at Xbox. “I decided to go to college because I thought it was a way to ‘get a good job’ and escape poverty, but even as a freshman Computer Science major, I still had a very shallow knowledge of the opportunities that the tech industry presented me.”

The launch of the series coincides with the 2022 Revolt Summit, where students will be able to build connections with the “Black Communities at Xbox” collective.

Initiatives like Project Amplify underscore the importance of representation. Research shows a mere two percent of professionals in the video game industry are Black. News about the project comes months after Xbox teamed up with NBA player Dwight Howard to create a gaming lab for youth in San Fernando Valley.

“Throughout my college experience and with internships, I learned more about how big the world is–how many companies, careers, and pathways exist for you to find or create a job that you love,” Muhaimin continued. “I want more people to know that they have options; nothing is impossible or out of reach for them and encourage those to start chasing their passions early.”

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