Building a galaxy of possibility: Nadiyah Johnson

Nadiyah Johnson dreamed of being a CNN correspondent. Instead, she became one of the go to figures in Wisconsin's technology landscape.

In this episode of Rising Forward: Stories of Change, host Shannon Sims sits down with the founder and CEO of Jet Constellations and its social-impact arm, the Milky Way Tech Hub. What starts as a story about frustration — walking into a Milwaukee tech room where no one looked like her — becomes a blueprint for how one person builds an entire ecosystem.

Nadiyah opens up about the moment her pastor told her that anger can reveal purpose, the 26% calc exam that nearly ended her computer science career, and the decision to persevere instead of pivot. She explains why she built a software company instead of a nonprofit, how the Milky Way Tech Hub connects "the puzzle pieces" for

founders who can't code, and one of the most impactful programs of her life: going inside a correctional facility to teach justice-involved individuals to build AI-assisted

business plans weeks before their release.

This is a conversation about taking up space, closing the wealth gap, and why — when you drill all the way down — this isn't just a Wisconsin story. It's a Sherman Park story.

"Lean less into fear, and lean more into possibility." - Nadiyah Johnson