In order to foster equitable communities, my life has been about focusing on the voices of those who have been historically marginalized. Growing up in a small suburban area just outside Cleveland, Ohio, I had the opportunity to attend Laurel School, an all girl's school that encourages young women to solve difficult problems and think critically. My school experience was very different than that of other children who lived on the same street. I was watching my family go through an economic recession and losing their financial security. I felt helpless. Although engineering and African American literature were my favourite courses, I was encouraged by my professors to study economics.
Princeton University was a great place to continue my education. I started in the economics department. I found it difficult to connect what I was learning with the problems my community faced during the economic crisis. It was in an art and social justice movements class at the School of Architecture, that I found my niche. Each day, I worked to find creative solutions for difficult community problems using qualitative research. I received feedback and iterated daily. My passion was working with local researchers and organizations to bring their voices to solving complex large-scale problems. I discovered this as I delved deeper into my studies. This work led me to Google and human-centered design. My undergraduate studies led to the creation of a social startup that provided fresh produce to central New Jersey's food deserts. Our team interviewed more than 100 community leaders and obtained a $16,000 grant. Local residents received pounds of fresh produce for free.
Brandeis University already had a Ph.D. program for Social Policy. I turned my passion for solving complex problems and social enterprise into learning research skills. My friends and I joked that the job I wanted was not available yet but that it might by the time that I graduate. Although I knew my heart was equally divided between understanding technology and closing equity gaps, I didn't know how I would do it both.
Brandeis provided me with language and methods to understand the experiences of my family members and friends who lost their financial stability during the Great Recession. Angela Glover Blackwell, the founder of PolicyLink, spoke for the first-time in this setting. Her discussion about community-based equitable practices made me realize that I needed to support her work. I was able bridge the gap between application and research through their Oakland graduate internship program. I even discovered a topic for my dissertation! Mike Brown was then shot.
Mike, like me, was from the Midwest. His story reminded me of my childhood friends, my cousins. It was more personal than the Great Recession experience, watching Mike Brown's story unfold so publicly. Brandeis was the site of a town hall that I conducted with Julian Bond, a Civil Rights activist and politician. I remember his advice to me to move from talk to action and to establish clear priorities and values to guide equity. To supplement my doctoral grant, I was a graduate teaching assistant and graded papers.
My summer after that I was able to work at Prosperity Now, a think tank supporting local practitioners and highlighting the findings at the national level. My husband met my aunt and uncles' church. My work and personal experience in DC by the end of the summer had been so significant that I decided to stay. After finishing my Brandeis coursework, I began my dissertation in the evenings while I moved to a permanent position at Center for Global Policy Solutions under Dr. Maya Rockeymoore. I was responsible for national research projects, and then presented the results to policymakers for consideration to support equitable policies such as closing the racial inequality. I learned the value of sharing language and translating research into tangible change by knocking on Capitol buildings' doors.
I was tired of my hill job and felt ready to move to Los Angeles. I was able to hone my technical skills by becoming a Program Manager at 9 Dots, an LA-based non-profit edtech non profit. My days were spent partnering with principals, teachers fellows, and software developers in order to provide CS education for historically underserved students. It was an honor to be part of a group that created a space for parents and children. Shortly after that, I received a call by a recruiter from Google.
Google's AI Principles hadn't been released publicly for almost a year and they needed candidates who had deep knowledge of program management and socio-technical research to implement the Principles. My dream job was a Senior Strategist. This role is based on empowering marginalized and historically underrepresented communities through machine learning research and collaboration.
I have had the chance to create an internal workshop on inclusive and equitable language practices during my time at Google. This collaboration led to a collaboration between UC Berkeleys Center for Equity, Gender and Leadership. I also launched the Equitable AI Roundtable with Jamila Smith Loud and other experts on equitable cross-disciplinary research (including PolicyLink). I also presented on Google's Responsible AI work at industry-wide conferences such as MozFest. Despite all the knowledge I have gained, I am determined to bring more voices into the discussion. Responsible AI is what I have done. It has allowed me to create globally-focused resources for machine intelligence analysts, machine learning engineers, and product decision makers. All else will be influenced by the experiences of our users, the people who have faced economic hardship with resilience and grit, the ones who sought out insights from Civil Rights leaders and created shared language to encourage inclusion. It is an honor to be part of the Google team that will drive responsible and equitable AI for all.
