About Etoulia
Etoulia Salas-Burnett is a speaker, educator and systems thinker who works to remove the barriers that make technology feel difficult or out of reach, turning it into a tool for growth and leadership.
As founding director of the Howard University Center for Digital Business, she designs programs that connect students with digital skills, industry partnerships, and real-world experiences in AI, entrepreneurship and tech leadership. A proud Howard alumna, she also holds a Master’s in Education from the University of Pennsylvania.
“The smartest way to use AI isn’t glamorous. It’s practical, reliable, and designed to protect your time.”
— Etouiia, on Unsexy but Smart AI
Etoulia’s philosophy is simple: everyone is a technologist. The question is never whether we use technology, but how we shape it to serve our vision and values.
For Etoulia, AI is not a gimmick or passing trend; it’s a tool for clarity, reclaiming time, and building capacity in the people who carry the most.
That belief has taken shape in her work at Howard University, where she has built initiatives that now define the Center for Digital Business. She leads The Yard @ Afrotech, a national platform for HBCU innovation; MeccaTech, an on-campus tech conference, and The Digital Literacy Project, a certificate-based program designed to help students build fluency in AI and digital skills.
Beyond the University, her vision extends into Etoulia Talks Tech. There she distills the same systems-based approach into practical tools for professionals - from the Unsexy but Smart AI Playbook, which equips people with habits and prompts they can trust, to Black Box, her newsletter on tech, systems, and capacity.
Outside of titles and programs, Etoulia is most at home teaching and building systems that make life feel more possible. She is deeply committed to empowering communities of color to not just keep pace with technology, but to shape it - creating pathways for leadership, innovation and generational success.
Curious to go deeper? You can subscribe to Black Box, grab the Playbook, or reach out about speaking and consulting.