Speakers

  Session: The Ultimate Unicorns – Research on Black Women in STEM Dr. Fay Cobb Payton is a Program Director at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the Division of Computer and Network Systems which is in the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE).  At the NSF, she is working with a group of leaders on programs involving Computer Science for All, Research Practice Partnerships, Computer Science Education, Broadening Participation and others.  She is also a Full Professor (with Tenure) […]

Session Speaker Daphne Rackley is the Interim CIO of Atlanta Information Management (AIM).  In this position, she is responsible for information technology that spans over 25 departments including Public Safety, Justice, Operations, Administration and Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.  She also provides leadership for the ongoing development of an innovative, robust and secure information technology environment. The primary responsibilities for this office encompass a wide variety of strategic technology issues such as governance and policy, resource allocation, information technology protocols and […]

Session: I AM NOT Supposed To Be Here (anti-imposter syndrome talk) Yolanda Davis is a Senior/Lead Software Engineer with 20 years of experience at all phases of systems development. In addition to her analytical abilities and experience in both traditional and agile environments, Ms. Davis brings extensive knowledge of a broad range of tools, frameworks and platforms in order to deliver successful products and applications to her clients.  She is the co-founder of Technologists of Color ATL.  

Birds of a Feather (BoF) Session Lead: Master’s? Ph.D.?  Is Graduate School Even for Me?: Debunking Common Myths of Graduate School Dr. Brewer does research at the intersection of social computing and accessibility.  As an Assistant Professor and Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in University of Michigan’s School of Information (UMSI), she investigates how to create more meaningful and accessible online communities for aging populations and voice-based interfaces for people with vision impairments.   Her dissertation work focused on developing voice-based online communities for older […]

Session: How to Manage Stress for Career Women Chidinma Uzoagu is an intern in the black women wellness program at feminist women health center.  She grew up in Nigeria West Africa, in the family of five.  After graduating from high school, she moved to the United States to further her education.  Chidinma is a Public Health senior at Georgia College and State University.  She is passionate about diversity and loves to represent her culture, society and believes in creating resources […]

Session: Digital Media Strategy  Shelly Jones Jennings is Vice President, Director of Digital for Earl G. Graves, Ltd., overseeing digital properties for BLACK ENTERPRISE, the leading business, finance and careers media outlet for African Americans. A proven leader within the digital space, Jones Jennings’s core objectives are to bolster the brand’s digital strategy, while cultivating more competitive, engaging platform experiences to attract a broader, ever-growing audience. Jones Jennings is a strategic digital communications adviser and systems manager who combines real […]

Session: HCI & Robotics Gloria Washington is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Howard University, where she runs the Affective Biometrics Lab.  She has more than fifteen years in Government service and has broadly presented on her research throughout industry. Dr. Washington holds a BS in Computer Information Systems from Lincoln University of Missouri, and MS and PhD degrees in CS from The George Washington University.

Session: The Ultimate Unicorns – Research on Black Women in STEM Dr. Allison Scott is the Chief Research Officer for the Kapor Center for Social Impact (KCSI), where she leads a research agenda which explores barriers to participation in computing among underrepresented groups and informs the design and implementation of strategies, practices and policies to diversify the technology ecosystem. Her current areas of focus include: (a) examining equity in computer science education, (b) exploring interventions to increase computing participation, degree completion, workforce participation and entrepreneurship […]

Session: The Ultimate Unicorns – Research on Black Women in STEM Peta Clarke is a well-rounded professional with broad experience as a Business, Information Technology and Community leader coupled with a passion for providing STEM education to underserved youth. She is currently a Community Manager for Code Next at Google. Code Next is a new Google initiative to build social capital in Black and Latino neighborhoods by developing culturally engaging and community-centric tech innovation experiences. Previously, she was the Deputy […]

Session: Technology and Social Behavior Shawndra Hill is a Senior Researcher in the Computational Social Science Group at Microsoft Research NYC. Prior to joining Microsoft, she was on the faculty of the Operations and Information Management Department at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she was an Annenberg Public Policy Center Distinguished Research Fellow, a Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative Senior Fellow, and a core member of the Penn Social Media and Health Innovation Lab and the Warren […]

Session: Big Data Modeling Sheila Isbell has fifteen years of software development and project management experience with research interests in health informatics, global health, and educational technologies. For the last seven years, she has focused on the research, design, implementation, and deployment of solutions that aggregate disparate data for vulnerable, high-risk, and transient populations, making these data accessible to the both the populations themselves and those who support them. As a Computing Research Scientist in health informatics she has contributed […]

Session: HCI & Robotics Dr. Adriane B. Randolph is the Founder and Executive Director of the BrainLab and an Associate Professor of Information Systems in the Michael J. Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University. She earned a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the Department of Computer Information Systems at Georgia State University and a B.S. in Systems Engineering with Distinction from the University of Virginia. Dr. Randolph’s research focuses on brain-computer interface systems which allow for non-muscularly controlled […]

Session: HCI & Robotics Dr. Ayanna Howard is an educator, researcher, and innovator.  Her academic career is highlighted by her focus on technology development for intelligent agents that must interact with and in a human-centered world, as well as on the education and mentoring of students in the engineering and computing fields. Dr. Howard has made significant contributions in the technology areas of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and robotics.  She has over 20 years of R&D experience covering a number of projects […]

Panel: Big Data Modeling Dr. Brandeis Marshall is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Chair of the Computer and Information Sciences Department at Spelman College.  In research, Dr. Marshall is interested in discovering effective ways of handling text-based data and information. The three main focuses are: (1) labelled data analysis, (2) unlabeled data analysis and (3) fixed-length data analysis resulting in 25+ scholarly refereed publications including journal articles, conference and extended abstracts. Dr Marshall is currently serving as the PI […]

Session: 10 Years in Development – What Got Harder, and What Sucked Rakia is the CEO of Surge Assembly, a consulting firm designed to improve the growth of businesses and nonprofits by utilizing technology. Her work includes consulting on the use of software systems to achieve the corporate mission, information technology planning and the strategic use of technology. Rakia also resides as the Co-Founder and CIO of FIN Digital a full-service digital development firm building beautiful innovation applications, AI platforms, […]

Session: Big Data Modeling   Dr. Renata Rawlings-Goss is the Co-Executive Director of the South Big Data Regional Innovation Hub, who works with industry, universities, and government in creating productive partnerships around Big Data, Data Science and the “Internet of Things”. One of only four federally funded Big Data Hubs for the nation, the South Hub services 16 states, Delaware through Texas including Washington DC, in forming multi-state, multi-sector collaborations in priority areas such as Health, Energy, Smart Cities, Policy, […]

Session: Personal Health and Mental Wellness Since December 2016, Leigh Bond serves as the Vuley Fellows Coordinator at Feminist Women’s Health Center. She’s responsible for coordinating the Errin J. Vuley Fellows Program’s calendar of activities, including bringing together community partners as facilitators and creating curriculum materials. Leigh’s commitment to pathways that address her dual passions in education and justice led to her current position. In the past, Leigh has worked for legal nonprofits that serve low-income populations, including Atlanta Legal […]