AT&T nominated more than thirty trailblazers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers for the 2021 Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA). In addition to their Modern Day Technology Leader award winners, Israel Smallwood, a senior business manager at AT&T, received the Entrepreneurial Fellow Award, and managing director David C. Williams earned the Rodney C. Adkins Legacy Award.

“Israel’s ability to translate basic science into inventions and David’s technical and professional ability to solve some of the most challenging problems puts AT&T Business on the forefront of innovation for our customers,” said Anne Chow, CEO of AT&T Business. “We’re fortunate to have team members whose drive and dedication is truly shaping the future of engineering, science, and technology.”

The Rodney C. Adkins Legacy Award for Business Transformation carries on the legacy of the 2007 Black Engineer of the Year.

AT&T has sponsored the BEYA STEM Conference for decades and offered initiatives to mentor employee groups. This includes AT&T’s Technology Development Program (TDP), which targets external and internal STEM undergraduates and graduate students who are interested in software engineering.

“Inside AT&T, we celebrated our own employee future makers, as 36 of AT&T’s brightest were recognized at the 2021 BEYA (Black Engineer of the Year Award) STEM Conference in multiple categories,” wrote Corey Anthony, chief diversity and development officer in his “Making History Today: Black Futures Month” blog. “In addition to these honorees, AT&T’s Israel Smallwood, senior project program manager of AT&T Business, was awarded the Entrepreneurial Fellow Award. And David C. Williams, director, project program management of AT&T Business, was recognized with the Rodney Adkins Legacy Award. Congratulations to these impressive honorees!”