The Power of Connection in Professional and Creative Spaces

About this episode

In this episode of Black-Liberation.Tech, Dr. Renee Jordan continues the Digital Literacies lesson series by focusing on one essential skill: Connection. Building on a live session originally shared on social media, Dr. Jordan reflects on how she connects with colleagues, scholars, and collaborators across digital platforms — and how those connections have opened real doors for research, workshops, academic collaborations, and professional growth.

Drawing from personal examples, including reaching out to colleagues on LinkedIn after conferences, strengthening relationships through digital follow-up, and navigating collaborative opportunities that emerged unexpectedly, Dr. Jordan illustrates how intentional connection functions as both a digital literacy and a long-term professional strategy.

She also discusses the challenges of networking digitally — from remembering where you met someone, to creating sustainable follow-up systems, to filtering out bots and maintaining safe boundaries. Finally, Dr. Jordan highlights examples of Latinas, Afro-Latinas, and Black women in tech whose digital presence and community-building practices offer powerful models of how to nurture networks with impact, authenticity, and care.

Listeners are encouraged to choose a digital literacy for their own project, reflect on how they connect with others online, and consider how digital tools can support their personal, academic, and professional journeys.

Episode Highlights

• A deep dive into the digital literacy Connect and why it matters.
• Personal examples of meaningful digital networking that led to:
  • a successful workshop proposal,
  • collaboration across institutions,
  • extended partnerships and paid opportunities.
• Practical strategies for remembering where and how you met people online.
• Discussions on expanding your network through:
  • livestreaming,
  • LinkedIn,
  • conferences,
  • academic spaces,
  • and careful vetting of followers to avoid bots.
• A reminder about digital safety: Never share personal identifiable information with generative AI or strangers online.
• A guided example search featuring Latinas, Afro-Latinas, and Black women leaders in tech whose online networks thrive because of:
  • authentic storytelling,
  • safe digital community-building,
  • targeted engagement,
  • mentorship and sponsorship,
  • platform diversity,
  • and sharing resources generously.
• An invitation for listeners to reflect and choose a digital literacy for their upcoming personal, academic, or professional project.

Reflective Questions for Listeners

1. How do you currently connect with others online, whether professionally or socially? What platforms feel most natural to you — and why?
2. Think back to a time when an online connection opened a door for you. What made that connection meaningful or effective?
3. What challenges do you experience when trying to build or maintain digital connections? How can you create systems that help you follow up intentionally?
4. Which digital tools (LinkedIn, livestreaming, messaging apps, academic platforms) could help you expand your network in a way that aligns with your goals?
5. Looking at the example women highlighted in this lesson, what practices do you want to adopt or adapt for your own digital presence?