Responsible Tech University Ambassadors

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Technical University of Munich

Anastasiia Gaidashenko
Major: Master’s in Responsibility in Science, Engineering and Technology

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: AI Ethicist: Ethical AI & Positively shaping the development of artificial intelligence - 80,000 Hours

Tufts University

Nayun Eom
Major: BA in Sociology & Economics

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? I believe advanced technological innovation has as much potential impact that fire had to changing our civilization, meaning the rewards and risks have incredibly high stakes. Currently, the way of thinking in the tech world is not diverse enough for the vast psychological and social territory that it has entered, so the question of socially responsible innovation demands dialogue across disciplines, especially the social sciences.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Books for problem-sourcing: How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy (Jenny Odell) and The Age of Surveillance Capitalism (Shoshana Zuboff).

Nitya Nadgir

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Universidad Nacional Autônoma de Mexico

Daniela Durán Diaz

University College London

Daniel Torquato Fortes
Major: MSc in Heritage Evidence, Foresight and Policy

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? In Brazil, I used to work as a digital transformation strategist for Petrobras, our national O&G company. As a digital professional, I started to realize that there's a myth regarding our technological future: there will be wealth, abundance and prosperity. But we are not really moving this way...so I decided to study Foresight to think critically about the long-term futures and allow us to make better decisions today when it comes to digital technologies. This is completely intertwined with the Responsible Tech community, which has being a joy to discover and join.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Envisioning’s Tech Detector and Futures Literacy Seminars

University of Bristol

Tiberiu Aurelian Toca

University of California, Berkeley

Hamsavardhini Thirunarayanan
Major: BA Data Science, B.S. Conservation & Resource Studies

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? Regardless of how technically skilled our tech force is, all tools are political depending on how they’re created and how they’re wielded. If we are to make data decisions, we need to create & wield our technical tools responsibly.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens by Danah Boyd

Sophia Skowronski

University of California, Davis

Cami Harris
Major: MBA, specializing in Marketing and Strategy

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? I sit at the intersection of digital nativity and immigration; my early years were spent with paper and pen, and my first Internet experience occurred at age 13. I’m concerned with implications [of tech] for our future, and want to continue educating myself and others on our rapidly evolving technological environment.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Cyber podcast [Vice]

University of Cambridge

Fran Baker

University of Central Florida

Allison Macey Banzon
Major: I am currently pursuing my PhD in Education within the learning sciences track.

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? After working in and around public secondary and post-secondary education, it became clear to me that a digital ethics curriculum was needed at all levels. My hope is to democratize foundational tech concepts (AI/ML/data practices) through accessible programming, ensuring teachers, students, and parents have the tools to advocate for themselves and think critically about tech they encounter in their day to day lives and within educational settings.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: One of my favorite resources is Finland’s open-access course designed to teach the basics of AI to their general population (now open to anyone interested).

University of Chicago

Ibrahim Rasheed
Education: Master of Public Policy

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? The behaviors we reinforce now will shape the relationship of millions with technology.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Harsh Deep
Major: BS in Statistics and Computer Science

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? I think technology is a game changer for lowering barriers and creating more access for everyone in the world. However it's often an afterthought for many and I think I want to push it to the forefront.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Freecodecamp Accessibility challenges

University of Luxembourg

Marietjie Botes
Major: I completed a PhD in Biotechnology Law and am currently doing postdoctoral research in the field of data science with a special interest in health technologies.

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? My research at the intersection between law, technology and science started off with a focus on genomic therapies and quickly evolved to concentrate more on the data science parts thereof. During these developments I realised that the legal-ethical training of data scientists is often lacking and critical to the design of responsible innovations, in the absence of which digital manipulation, being one example, may threaten privacy, human dignity and autonomy if not addressed.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: George Orwell’s “1984” for its accurate predictions - it seems that the more technologies change, the more human nature stays the same.

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Graham Klemme
Major: MBA/MPPA
Work experience: airbnb, fiverr, Engine advocacy, politics

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? I’ve worked at the intersection of tech, policy and politics for the past seven or so years at various levels of government. I feel a slight obligation to continue with the momentum and expertise I’ve collected in the field to pursue social good and personal reward.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: The Information 

University of Michigan

Ceciel Zhong
Major: Undergraduate Dual Degree in UX Design and Women’s & Gender Studies

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? Having seen, experienced, and learning the history of how technology enabled systemic injustice, I think it’s urgent to imagine, experiment and implement alternative ways that tech could be for and with the needs of underserved communities. I hope that we can all do something together and place value in care and caring for one another in these times and in the future.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Automating Inequality (book); Detroit Community Tech Project - Data Justice; and Design Justice Network

University of Ottawa

Aisha Rob

University of Oxford

Cassidy Bereskin
Major: MSc and DPhil student, Oxford Internet Institute 

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? I study the prevalence of, and factors associated with belief in, online harms such as misinformation. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-vaccine misinformation has surged on social media platforms, creating pressing and multi-layered challenges for society and democracy. As a social scientific researcher, I believe that building a better tech future requires developing multi-disciplinary, nuanced, and evidence-based frameworks and approaches for tackling online harms.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: I often find myself coming back to Political Turbulence by Helen Margetts et al. (2016)

University of Pennsylvania

Sarah Fingerhood

University of Surrey

Ubongabasi Obot
Major: LLM- LegalTech, Swansea University. PhD- Law and Technology, University of Surrey (at now).

Why you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? Having worked in human/gender/child rights litigation, advocacy, and research for about eight years. I was totally frightened by the disruptive spate at which innovation is developed and the human rights violations occasioned by the use of technology and on the internet. As such, I discovered a gap between the intersection of human rights and technology. This motivated me to get into Digital Rights, AI/Technology Policy and Ethics to contribute to filling that gap and ensuring that human rights are protected where technology is in use, whether online or offline.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Algorithmic Justice League

University of Sussex

Adebisi Adewusi

David Karunda
Major: MSc Sustainable Development (Digital Development | Sustainable Transformation Policy | Innovation & Economic Development)

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? Despite my background in technology, I am personally growing quite averse to new and emerging tech due to the design and impact it has on our individual/ personal lives. Despite the tremendous positive impact of tech, its adoption is slowly evolving societies and eroding some of the best behaviors and attitudes, prying on privacy and of course, without forgetting the adverse effect on the younger generation. I want to be a part  of a movement to influence appropriate approaches to ensure that technology is inclusive and less erosive in the long run.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Podcast: Me, Myself and AI, Pulse on the Principles.

University of Toronto

Jasmine Zhang
Major: BASc in Engineering Science (Major in Machine Intelligence)

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? Efforts must be made to align technology with public interest as technology is not apolitical and affects everyone. I am focused on developing Ethical AI to reduce the harms of algorithms, particularly towards vulnerable communities.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Weapons of Math Destruction

Poe Han Thar Kyaw
Master of Global Affairs (Specializing in Responsible Innovation and Tech Policy)

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? In 2018, Facebook was implicated by UN Human Rights Investigators for enabling the Rohingya Genocide. As a Burmese national, I believe precautions should be taken and assessments should have been done before entering countries with a strong history of conflict because technology can cause irreparable damage. As a result, I hope to contribute my policy experience and knowledge to create responsible and ethical products that are aligned with society’s goals.  

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Trust and Safety Professional Association (https://www.tspa.info/explore/resource-library/), World Wide Web Foundation Tech Policy Lab

University of Vermont

Sean P. Rogers
Major: PhD, Complex Systems and Data Science

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? I want to be part of the creation of usable and actionable technology to better the lives of all sentient beings. Technology is our future and present, and multidisciplinary research combining technology with domain knowledge is imperative to understanding the world we’ve created.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: I’m going to shamelessly plug my colleagues at the Vermont Complex Systems Center - vermontcomplexsystems.org. Keep an eye on the diverse and interesting research projects we have going on!

University of Washington

Madison Snider
Major: PhD Candidate, Department of Communication

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? Tech innovations impact all of us, despite being funded, designed, and championed by a small cohort of primarily white, cis, men, with a disproportionate control of wealth. Building a better tech future means engaging a broader public in policy, design, and practice decision-making.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Our Data Bodies: Digital Defense Playbook

University of Waterloo

Monica Tsang
Major: Psychology

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? In the startup arena, I have been seeing people designing ML and AI products recklessly, though not intentionally. These creators did not have a large diverse audience in mind when designing these systems. As a result, their products are unusable to a portion of the population or the results generated by their systems are discriminatory and cause loss of opportunities for minority groups (not initially represented in the dataset). 

Also, I hope to gather AI ethics resources for fellow students to discuss as “food for thought” and make ethics an open dialogue, not strict directives from leadership. Currently, there are modules of AI Ethics at school that are prescriptive to students. They are forced to answer a certain way or they will lose marks with creative rebuttals. This discourages potentially interested students from exploring the topic of ethics, or worse, these bright minds will develop a negative connotation to ethics because it was something that got in their way of progress. 

Many students want to explore ethics, but current processes are bureaucratic and discouraging. I hope to gather resources for students at my school to make AI Ethics an open-ended interesting conversation.

University of York

Josh Grogan

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Warsaw University

Marta Brewer
Major: Political Science, MA

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? My focus is on how decentralizing the Internet can bring about a fairer, more inclusive and robust tech ecosystem and how to make this an intuitive process. I think it’s vital to protect people from the negative implications of tech and I’m what I’d call a pragmatic pessimist in this sense: I try to keep the frame of mind in which we assume the worst in order to strive for the best.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Are You a Robot? Podcast https://www.areyouarobot.co.uk/

Washington University in St. Louis

Helen Webley-Brown
Major: Political Science

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? Ethical leadership is crucial to ensure emerging technologies promote the public good and drive positive global change. I hope to promote humane technology policy and reduce societal harms caused by algorithmic injustice.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Dr. Shobita Parthasarathy’s “The Received Wisdom” podcast

Wesleyan University

Shoko Narasaki
Major: Science in Society Program (STS)

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? I often feel that there is so much room for the tech we have today to be better / more consciously designed to be more inclusive of all the people they serve. I am seeking to find a way for me, a tech outsider, to contribute to this movement to build a better tech future.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Coded Bias documentary by Joy Buolamwini, Your Undivided Attention podcast, The Technically Human podcast.

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Yale School of Management (MBA)

Vivian Chong
Major: MBA, with intention to transition to a product-facing role post-MBA

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? As someone with a diverse upbringing, I’ve always been interested in the way individuals worldwide connect to form communities of belonging. Social media has really transformed the way communities are being built, and I’d like to be a part of the team that ensures these online spaces are safe for everyone involved while these products are being developed.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Coded Bias documentary, Sway and Pivot podcasts with Kara Swisher

Yale University

Chloe Jensen

Eva Sachar
Major: MS in Statistics & Data Science

Why are you are interested in the movement to build a better tech future? Algorithms are undeniably consequential to individuals and society as a whole, but are often unfair, biased, and at times, malevolent, especially towards already vulnerable communities. Motivated by my experiences in healthtech and federal consulting, I am passionate about developing machine learning which is both accountable and equitable, and I hope to collaborate across disciplines to develop Ethical AI which addresses societal inequities and furthers humanity.

Favorite Responsible Tech resource: Data & Society; Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor by Virginia Eubanks.

Pranav Senthilvel

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