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2024 SIDGE Symposium
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Description
This dynamic all-day event serves as a nexus where data science, ethics, and social impact intersect.
The morning panel, Technology and Climate Impacts, includes an expert panel of leading voices from diverse fields in the climate justice movement, ethics, technology, and policy to engage in insightful discourse. The panel is a thoughtful call to action aimed at inspiring attendees to address the ethical considerations in climate action planning and community-driven design, ensuring that innovation aligns with human values and respects the rights and dignity of all individuals.
The panelists include:
- Amali Tower, founder & executive director, Climate Refugees. Amali (she/her) has extensive global experience in refugee protection, resettlement, forced migration and displacement contexts, having worked for NGOs, the UN Refugee Agency and the US Refugee Admissions Program. Years of interviewing refugees fleeing conflict allowed her the chance to hear their stories of also fleeing climate change. Through this, Climate Refugees was born. She has conducted research in climate displacement contexts, including in urban and camp settings. Her case study on climate, conflict and displacement in Africa’s Lake Chad Basin was presented as evidence of loss and damage at COP26. She is a member of the World Economic Forum Expert Network in Migration, Human Rights & Humanitarian Response and the UC Berkeley climate refugees working group. She sits on the advisory board of The Center for Climate and Security in Washington D.C. (courtesy Climate Refugees)
- Afua Bruce, is a leading public interest technologist who works at the intersection of technology, policy, and society. Bruce began her career as a software engineer at IBM. She then joined the FBI where she served in various strategy and program management roles. In 2015, she was appointed to the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the White House as the Executive Director of the National Science and Technology Council where she led over 100 different Federal inter-agency working groups across topics that included: environment, and sustainability, homeland and national security, science, technology, and STEM education. Bruce then became the first Director of Engineering and a Fellow in the newly formed Public Interest Technology program at New America. In this program, Bruce oversaw the Public Interest Technology University Network, and worked with technologists working with state and local government, and NGOs, to develop technology and policy. In February 2020, it was announced that Bruce would be the new Chief Program Officer at DataKind. Bruce also holds a faculty position at Carnegie Mellon University. Bruce was among 29 people named to Joseph R. Biden, Jr.'s agency review team for the Department of Justice in November 2020. Bruce is the co-author of the 2022 book, The Tech That Comes Next, a non-fiction analysis of how technology can play a role in an equitable world. (courtesy Wikipedia)
- Carlton Waterhouse is an international expert on environmental law and environmental justice, as well as reparations and redress for historic injustices. In 2021, he was appointed by President Joe Biden in the role of Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Land and Emergency Management at the Environmental Protection Agency and nominated to the United States Senate to serve as the Assistant Administrator for the office. He is a Fulbright research scholar and is a board member of the Environmental Law Institute and the National Academy of Sciences Climate Crossroads Advisory Committee. He actively participates in national and local organizations protecting civil rights and advancing environmental protection and justice. Using an interdisciplinary approach, Professor Waterhouse examines critical social issues facing the country and the world in his scholarship. His forthcoming book with Cambridge University Press explores the historic and contemporary role of the United States Supreme Court in maintaining and dismantling racial dominance. Carlton is a Professor of Law and the founding director of the Environmental and Climate Justice Center at the Howard University School of Law School.
- Theodora Dryer, PhD., Research lead for Climate + Water at the AI Now Institute and professor at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering. Dryer is the co-author of the second edition publication of AI Now Institute’s Water Justice and Technology Report, Relief Remix, which highlighted the historical function that artificial intelligence and algorithms have on water and natural resource management.
- Maria João Sousa, Ph.D. is a PiTech Startup Postdoc at Cornell Tech and Executive Director at Climate Change AI, which is a global non-profit that catalyzes impactful work at the intersection of climate change and machine learning. She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa. Her doctoral thesis focused on cooperative aerial robotics and artificial intelligence for wildfire detection and monitoring systems and was developed as a research fellow at both IDMEC in the Center of Intelligent Systems and at ADAI in the Forest Fire Research Center. Her research interests are in the areas of computational intelligence, robotics, and networked systems. She was nominated for the UN Environment Young Champions of the Earth 2018 Prize for her project on decentralized intelligent sensor networks for fire detection and monitoring.
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The afternoon panel, Connecting Public Interest Technology to Civic Engagement, delves into innovative strategies and discusses how technology can empower communities, enhance access to civic resources, and promote active participation in democracy. This dynamic discussion will explore the transformative potential of digital tools and inclusive approaches, forging a path towards a more engaged and equitable society. Join us for insights that bridge technology and civic responsibility, fostering a stronger, more inclusive future for all.
The panelists include:
- Lili Gangas is the chief technology community officer at the Kapor Center, an operating foundation at the intersection of technology and racial justice, providing research and thought leadership, operating programs, supporting strategic partnerships and investments to increase diversity across the tech ecosystem--from K-12 education through entrepreneurship and venture capital. She co-leads the Kapor Center’s Equitable Tech Policy Initiative with a focus on inclusive technology policy with special interests in closing digital divide, scaling new tech workforce models, advocating for responsible emerging technology as well as providing foundational support across civic engagement issues and tech enablement of civic organizations.
- Dr. Kevin Harris’ decades long year career encompasses diverse experiences both in information technology and academia, protecting organizations infrastructure and data in positions ranging from Systems Analyst to Chief Information Officer. During this time, he developed cross functional teams implementing solutions to effectively address business challenges through innovation and security. He continues to make system improvements to support student success and learning as a Technology Strategist. Dr. Harris has delivered instruction in several disciplines including business, cybersecurity, computer science, networking and computer forensics to both undergraduate and graduate students of diverse backgrounds. The positive impact of technology inspired a mission of ensuring benefits of education and technology advancements can be embraced by all. For Dr. Kevin Harris, inclusivity in the tech sector is both a moral and business imperative as it ensures we have a workforce pipeline that reflects the needs and values of the global public.
- Amy Yeboah Quarkume, Ph.D., affectionately known as Dr. A, is a daughter of Africa, a scholar, filmmaker, data scientist, and Associate Professor of Africana Studies in the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University. She holds a Ph.D. in African American Studies, two Master's degrees in Sociology and African American Studies, and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Data Analytics and Computational Social Science from the University of Massachusetts, along with a Certificate of Data Science from Harvard Extension School and MIT. Dr. Quarkume is an Andrew Mellon New Direction Fellow, a Mellon Just Futures Initiative invited Social Justice Consortium partner, a Brown University Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing scholar, a National Center for Atmospheric Research Innovator Fellow, and a White House Initiative HBCU All-Star Campus Mentor. Her work as a data scientist centers around AI Bias, data inequality, and environmental justice. Currently, she employs an Africana Studies framework to examine the intersections of race and technology. Dr. A is presently the Director of Graduate Studies for the Master's Program in Applied Data Science and Analytics, advancing Howard University's first major effort in becoming a hub for data science social justice research and training for the next generation of data scientists. Furthermore, she is the PI of the CORE futures lab and Co-PI for the Race and Tech lab. (courtesy Howard University)
- [Moderator] Autumn McDonald is a senior fellow, head of New America CA, and a member of New America’s leadership team. Her work focuses on issues of economic equity, community engagement, resident voice, policy influence, and narrative change. McDonald has more than two decades of experience working with foundations, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies on strategy, advocacy, civic innovation, and social impact. Before joining New America, McDonald served as a senior advisor to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee through the FUSE Corps executive fellowship. During her tenure, McDonald led the women's economic empowerment agenda, shaping policies and public-private initiatives to improve economic opportunity for women and families throughout the Bay Area. Prior to that, McDonald worked with FSG, a social impact consulting firm serving large, small, community, and family foundations. McDonald’s writing has been published by numerous media outlets, including Slate, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Project Syndicate, Pacific Standard, CalMatters, and Britannica Parents.
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The keynote presentation features, Fallon S. Wilson, Ph.D., lead principal investigator and co-founder, #BlackTechFutures, Through her work with non-profits, academia, and government partnerships, Dr. Fallon S. Wilson strives to make visible the work of historic and modern-day Black crises solvers. As theLead Principal Investigator for #BlackTechFutures Research Institute, which she co-founded with Melissa Brown-Sims, M.A., Fallon engages in community action that creates changing community and across the US. The Institute's Work, funded in part by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's 2020 Open Knowledge grant, builds a national network of city-based researchers and practitioners conducting research on sustainable local Black tech ecosystems,especially within underrepresented communities. Fallon serves as the Vice President of Policy for the Multicultural Media and Telecommunication Internet Council (MMTC) through which she launched a national campaign, “BlackChurches4DigitalEquity,” to support digital access in Black communities. The campaign was so successful that she launched a national faith based civic tech fellowship, “BlackChurchesfor DigitalEquity.” Additionally, Fallon’s research on first-generation Black college students alternative tech Pathways and Black tech ecosystems has garnered notable research grants from the Kapor Center, the Kauffman Foundation, and the Ford Foundation, among others. Her TEDx–Nashville presentation of Stop Ignoring Black Women and Hear of Our Tech Prophecies eloquently addresses the intersection of historical reality for Black women, spirituality, and technology. Fallon holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Spelman College and a Master of Arts in Political Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago.
