Black History Month Interview Silicon Valley Godfather Roy L. Clay Sr. on Asian Americans Network @ Clubhouse

Black History Month Interview Silicon Valley Godfather Roy L. Clay Sr. on Asian Americans Network @ Clubhouse

Silicon Valley Community Media Ding Ding TV and Mentoring Club organized a culture dialog on Clubhouse on Feb. 15th.

By Hong Nguyen-Phuong

Roy L. Clay Sr. has long been celebrated as the “Godfather of Silicon Valley”. Growing up in a home without electricity and attending a segregated school in Missouri, Roy Sr. received a scholarship to St. Louis University and graduated with a Bachelor in Mathematics in 1951. Self-taught, he was among the very first computer programmers, starting at Lawrence Livermore Labs. Noticed by David Packard, he moved to Palo Alto to join the Hewlett-Packard Company, and helped launch and lead its Computer Division in 1965. At the time, his team created the Company’s first minicomputer, the HP 2116.

As a Consultant to top-tier venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins in1971, Roy Sr. helped identified and nurture technology startups, including Tandem, Compaq, and Intel. In 1973 he served as the first non-Caucasian Council Member of the City of Palo Alto, and in 1976 served as the City’s first African American Vice Mayor. Then in 1977, Roy Sr. founded his own company ROD-L Electronics. In 2003 the Silicon Valley Engineering Council inducted Roy L. Clay Sr. into its Hall of Fame, alongside Bill Hewlett, Dave Packard, and Robert Noyce.

Besides science and technology, Roy Sr. has also been recognized in the sports and nonprofit worlds.

On February 15, 2022, Asian Americans Network @ Clubhouse celebrated Black History Month by proudly featuring the notable “Godfather of Silicon Valley” Roy L. Clay Sr. and his three sons: Roy Jr., Rodney, and Chris. In this open inclusive forum dedicated to storytelling and sharing, they generously drew on over six decades of deep engagement and insight to contrast past, present, and future. The intimate audience of 68 in that Clubhouse room left with a renewed sense of hope and optimism:

• Despite challenges, uncertainties, and skepticism, technology is indeed advancing at an accelerated pace, bringing along promises of new solutions to world problems.
• Recent technological developments are powerful and bring fresh promises. Web3 and the metaverse, artificial intelligence, decentralization, among others.
• Competition will keep pressuring businesses to hire the best talents, which will mean more diversity and inclusion. Chris remembered the day when he looked around a meeting room at ROD-L, and noticed for the first time that it was roughly half African Americans, half Asian Americans.
• The more experienced generations of today ought to guide youths to learn to collaborate, to finish what has been started, to respect schedules, and to uphold values and life experience.

The audience also learned of the impending book:

“Unstoppable: The Unlikely Story of a Silicon Valley Godfather,” by Roy L. Clay Sr. and M. H. Jackson

See: https://unstoppableroyclay.com

Asian Americans Network @ Clubhouse is sponsored by:

• Ding Ding TV (http://www.dingdingtv.com)
• Silicon Valley Community Media
• The Mentoring Club (https://thementoringclub.org)

About Ding Ding TV – Silicon Valley Community Media

Founded in 2009, has been the Voice of Silicon Valley Asian Americans, the bridge for National AAPI communities, the hub for global entrepreneurs through media and events. Ding Ding TV is the organizer of the quarterly Civic Leadership Forum Silicon Valley, Annually Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs Festival since 2016. Ding Ding TV has created millions of internet contents Promoting Cultural Interconnectivity through appreciation of similarities and understanding differences and Encouraging Awareness of civic responsibilities and engaged citizens. Ding Ding TV Studio is a production Center and small event venue located in Santa Clara that opens to multicultural community events and production needs. www.DingDingTV.com