MANSFIELD — Sebastian Holt never envisioned he would be able to travel the world when he was growing up in Mansfield.
“I knew that I wanted to travel the world, but I didn’t have the vision,” he said. “ I didn’t know it was possible. Once I saw more, I wanted more and I worked toward that.
“You can’t see yourself somewhere if you don’t have an example to look to. When young people look at me, or people who come from their background, they see themselves. That’s really important.”
Holt’s father highlighted him and six of his colleagues in the technology field during the month of February.
Tim Holt, who runs Titus 6 Media and The Daily Praise Report, decided to highlight the seven young men based on their mentorship abilities.
“I can hear in their voices the possibilities open to them,” he said. “With the mentorship group, that really struck me as a great opportunity they’re giving other young people. They’re able to generate a living for themselves and they’re duplicating that for others.
“There’s so much good going on in the city and I wanted to highlight that. If we can bring that to the forefront, it will help everyone to higher success.”
Holt said Titus 6 Media hasn’t highlighted emerging tech professionals before this year.
“I think people are really talking about changing technology lately,” Holt said. “A lot of these young men are experts in their field, and they’re dedicated to understanding how technology can address challenges and improve our lives.”
Did You Know?
According to Tech Report, about 62% of employees in the technology sector are white. Black employees make up about 7% of the tech workforce but more than 13% of the American population.
Women are also underrepresented in the tech field, comprising 27% of the tech employment base. Black and Hispanic women make the least amount of money in the tech field on average.
Sebastian Holt, Tim Holt’s youngest son, said his dad gave him a heads up of who he was highlighting as Mansfield’s emerging tech professionals.
“The majority of them I went to school with, and Trent Cain I met a little later,” the younger Holt said. “Trent’s from Nashville, but he helped to build up our mentorship program.”
Mentorship program aims to answer questions & offer encouragement
Holt has worked in information technology for about 13 years, the last three of which he focused on software engineering and machine learning.
“Chat GPT is a piece of machine learning, but AI can also be robotics, it can be with cars or healthcare predictions,” Holt said. “There’s a lot of opportunities for it — it’s multi-faceted.
“Growing up in Mansfield, I don’t think many kids are exposed to advanced technology just because we’re not a huge city.”
Inspired by his own mentorship experience with Cain, Holt said he and a group of colleagues founded a mentorship program for young adults in the technology sector.
The network now has more than 100 mentees around the country and some international members.
The program is open to anyone, but Holt said many mentees come to them after completing technology boot camps.
“We started a small cohort of people around the country, and some international folks as well, just meeting weekly to talk about different questions,” Holt said.
“A lot of people know they’re interested in a topic, but they might not have the network or guidance to get their questions answered.”
Holt said he personally realized he was interested in the tech field through interactive media classes at Mansfield Senior High School.
“The earlier you expose someone to a topic, I think the easier it is for them to picture themselves in that role,” Holt said. “You still have to want to do that and work toward it, but if you need a little encouragement or guidance in addition to that, we have your back.”
Tim Holt said he has sat in on some mentorship calls with his son and colleagues.
“They have so much passion to help others create a better life for themselves,” Tim Holt said. “Finding success in your own path and then opening opportunities for empowerment and financial independence is really going to resonate. I think it will impact generations.”
Sebastian Holt said people interested in becoming a mentee or learning more about the program can reach him at info@grindlegit.com.