Inclusive Algorithms: Achieving racial justice in AI
Join industry experts and pioneers as they explore how inclusive algorithms can advance racial justice in AI. This panel will discuss strategies to ensure equitable AI development and deployment, addressing biases and promoting fairness in technology.
Speakers
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Dr Abeba BirhaneSenior Advisor in AI Accountability, Mozilla Foundation and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Trinity College DublinDr Abeba Birhane
Counsellor
Senior Advisor in AI Accountability, Mozilla Foundation and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Trinity College Dublin
Mozilla Foundation / Trinity College DublinAbeba Birhane (PhD) is a cognitive scientist, currently a Senior Advisor in AI Accountability at Mozilla Foundation and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the School of Computer Science and Statistics at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Her research focuses on AI accountability, particularly on audits of AI models and training datasets – work for which she was featured in Wired UK and TIME on the TIME100 Most Influential People in AI list. Birhane also serves on the United Nations Secretary-General’s AI Advisory Body and the newly-convened AI Advisory Council in Ireland.
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Angela F. WilliamsPresident and CEO, United Way WorldwideAngela F. Williams
Counsellor
President and CEO, United Way Worldwide
United Way WorldwideAngela F. Williams is the President and CEO of United Way Worldwide, where she leads a global network that impacts the lives of 48 million people in 1,100 communities across 37 countries each year. With over 30 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit and corporate sectors, Angela focuses on building equitable solutions from the ground up, emphasizing the power of local communities and long-term investment.
Williams previously served as president and CEO of Easterseals; general counsel, and chief administration officer at YMCA of the USA, inter-faith liaison for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund; special counsel on criminal law for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff and as U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG). Williams vision for United Way Worldwide is to create equitable solutions in communities and ensure that people experiencing problems have a voice in solving them. -
Dr Fay Cobb PaytonProfessor Emerita, Researcher, Entrepreneur and International SpeakerDr Fay Cobb Payton
Counsellor
Professor Emerita, Researcher, Entrepreneur and International Speaker
North Carolina State UniversityDr. Fay Cobb Payton is an award-winning researcher, international speaker and entrepreneur. She is a Professor Emerita and was a Full Professor (with Tenure) of Information Technology/Analytics at North Carolina State University. She is currently a Visiting Scholar of Inclusive Innovation at Rutgers University - Newark. She completed a rotation as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation where she initiated the CISE Minority Serving Institution Research Expansion Program, and worked on several initiatives, such as Smart Health and Biomedical Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Data Science; AI Fairness, Equity, Accountability & Transparency; and Research Expansion and Cloud Computing with partnerships with Amazon, Google and Microsoft. She received the NSF Director’s Award during her rotation at the agency. Dr. Payton worked in industry as an engineer, developer and consultant prior to earning her doctoral degree. She serves on advisory boards of the ACM and ASEE, and is a Forbes AI Contributor. She is the author of Leveraging Intersectionality: Seeing and Not Seeing, and a board member, consultant, public and keynote speaker who has appeared on or cited in Scientific American, MIT Tech Review, Essence Magazine, Forbes, IEEE Spectrum, Aspen Institute, CBS Radio Network, Sunrise America, Financial Review, NPR and others.
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Kimberly BryantFounder and CEO, The Black Innovation Lab, Ascend VenturesKimberly Bryant
Counsellor
Founder and CEO, The Black Innovation Lab, Ascend Ventures
Ascend VenturesKimberly is a renowned technology industry leader, visionary and founder and CEO of The Black Innovation Lab by Ascend Ventures. As the CEO of ASCEND Ventures, Kimberly is committed to creating opportunities for marginalized founders building impact-driven companies. With her flagship Black Innovation Lab, she cultivates and invests in a pipeline of leaders who use technology to make a societal impact while creating pathways to equity and generational wealth through entrepreneurship and ownership. Before ASCEND Ventures, Kimberly founded Black Girls CODE, a social-change organization aimed at introducing girls of color aged 6-18 to technology and computer science, with a focus on entrepreneurship. Under her leadership, Black Girls CODE grew from a grassroots initiative to an international organization with chapters across the U.S. and South Africa and more than 100,000 students. Kimberly is dedicated to changing the face of technology by investing in opportunities for women, girls and all, using technology as a lever for progress.
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Kate KallotFounder and CEO of AminiKate Kallot
Founder and CEO of Amini
Kate is a technologist who has received global acclaim in tech for her impact work, most notably for advancing technology access across Africa. She was named TIME 100 Most Influential People in AI in 2023. Kate is the Founder & CEO of Amini, an African startup building the data infrastructure for Africa and the Global South to regenerate natural capital at scale. Before Amini, her career spanned leading positions at leading tech companies including NVIDIA, where she led global developer relations and expansion into emerging markets, and Arm, where she was a pivotal figure in the Tiny Machine Learning (TinyML) movement. At Intel, she led the development of the world’s first AI development kit in a USB form factor, the Neural Compute Stick bringing computer vision and Al to IoT and edge devices to millions for the first time. Kate's efforts have been mainly focused on bridging the digital divide, including significant collaborations with the UN. She aims to train one million African developers to impact a billion lives over five years. Kate regularly advises IGOs on the power of tech to drive social impact. She has won multiple accolades including: Business Insider Top100, VentureBeat Women in AI Rising Star.