The Black Female Mark Zuckerberg

Famu’s Tishauna Wilson is developing Drone and AI Technology

- Selena Hill

Tishauna Wilson was one of the youngest and brightest stars in a room filled with notable community leaders, celebrities, and black excellence. At just 20-years-old, Wilson was recognized among a group of distinguished black women at the McDonald’s 365Black Awards, and presented with a $10,000 McDonald’s HBCU Forward Scholarship, facilitated by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, for developing technology-based programs at Florida A&M University.

But that’s just the start of the many accolades ahead for the promising computer science major. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science, become a distinguished engineer and researcher, launch an autonomous automotive manufacturing company, and run a Fortune 500 tech company. As if that wasn’t ambitious enough, ultimately, she aspires to be “the next black female Mark Zuckerberg.”

Wilson discovered an affinity for STEM early on in her childhood. She was first introduced to computers around the age of 5 by a relative. She then fell in love with CPUs in ninth grade when she was placed in a four-year computer information system and engineering program in high school. “We had the chance to repair computers. I remember we developed a lie detector and that’s where I first got exposed to computer programing,” she says. Not only did she learn how to code, but she also graduated high school at the top of her class.

Yet, despite her aptitude for technology, she initially considered pursuing a collegiate and professional career in entertainment. “I wanted to be a singer at first,” she laughs. She also considered majoring in recording engineering and film. “My goal [at the time] was to become a music producer and a film director.” But when that didn’t work out, she decided to pursue computer science, realizing that a career in STEM comes with lucrative rewards.