Our Board of Directors

Dr. Sheena Erete is a researcher, educator, designer, and community advocate, whose research focuses on co-designing socio-cultural technologies, practices, and policies with community residents to amplify their local efforts. Her work has addressed topics such as community safety, education, civic engagement, and health. She publishes in top academic and practitioner venues and her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and numerous other state and philanthropic organizations. Dr. Erete is a Professor in the College of Information at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Associate Director of Research for the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland (AIM), and the founding director of the Community Research, Equity, and Design (CREED) Collective.

Sandra K. Johnson is the CEO, SKJ Visioneering, LLC, a technology consulting company. She is also a Senior Executive Fellow at The Digital Economist. In addition, she is an Independent Director at Regional Management Corporation and Pan-American Life Insurance Company. Dr. Johnson is the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer engineering. Her 26-year IBM career included serving as the CTO, IBM Central, East and West Africa, and CTO, IBM Global Small and Medium Businesses. She has a background in high performance computing and is a Master Inventor with over 45 pending and issued patents and over 80 technical publications. She has authored five books, including her memoir, Soft Power for the Journey: The Life of a STEM Trailblazer. Dr. Johnson earned B.S. (summa cum laude) and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering, from Southern University and Stanford University, respectively, and a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Rice University. She is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Dr. Yolanda A. Rankin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Emory University. A recipient of the NSF Early Career Award, Dr. Rankin’s research interests include applying Black feminist epistemologies as critical frameworks for designing technology with marginalized populations and developing intersectional methods for broadening participation in K-16 computing education. In addition, she is a McKnight Fellow and a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, having published more than 40 peer-reviewed publications, including journal articles and conference papers presented at top tier ACM and IEEE conferences. Prior to academia, she accumulated more than fifteen years of industry experience while employed at IBM Research Lab – Almaden in San Jose, CA and Lucent Technologies Bell Labs in Naperville, IL. Dr. Rankin completed her Ph.D. in Computer Science at Northwestern University, her M.A. in Computer Science at Kent State University, and her B.S. in Mathematics at Tougaloo College, a historically Black liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi.

Aisha J. Robinson, Ed.S. is an accomplished education and nonprofit leader with more than 20 years of experience designing, implementing, and leading programs that expand access, opportunity, and achievement for diverse learners and communities. Her expertise spans K–12 education, STEM and computer science education, special education leadership, program management, strategic planning, and workforce development. Aisha currently serves in leadership roles supporting educational and nonprofit initiatives focused on empowering underrepresented populations in technology and education. Throughout her career, she has successfully managed large-scale programs, developed strategic partnerships, secured and administered grant-funded initiatives, and led cross-functional teams to achieve measurable outcomes. She is particularly passionate about creating pathways for Black women and girls to thrive in computing, technology, and leadership.

Dr. Kelly Mack is a nationally recognized leader in STEM higher education reform and a dedicated advocate for advancing excellence and equity across the academic enterprise. As Vice President for Undergraduate STEM Education and Executive Director of Project Kaleidoscope at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), she leads a transformative portfolio of initiatives designed to enhance the quality of academic life for our nation’s STEM faculty and administrators—and, by extension, improve the educational experiences of undergraduate STEM students. Before joining AAC&U, Dr. Mack served as Senior Program Director for the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE Program while on loan from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where she was a Professor of Biology, teaching courses in physiology and endocrinology.

Jamika D. Burge, PhD is a computer scientist, entrepreneur, and executive leader who drives business impact by solving problems at the intersection of design, technology, and research. With over 20 years of strategic research and program leadership experience across academic, corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors, she brings a rare combination of technical depth, organizational scale, and human-centered design expertise to every engagement. Dr. Burge has managed programs and research portfolios at budgets exceeding $70M, led cross-functional teams of 200+ across Fortune 100 and federal government environments, and raised over $2M in grants and philanthropic capital for mission-driven initiatives. She is a nationally recognized authority on AI/ML experience design, HCI, and inclusive computing, and serves as an advisor to federal agencies, universities, and technology companies. She currently serves as AI Research & Cyber Scholar at Spelman College, as CEO of blackcomputeHER.org (nonprofit), and as Founder and Principal of consultancy Design & Technology Concepts, LLC.

​Asmau is a transformative technology, data, and AI product executive, known for driving commercial growth through responsible innovation across enterprise and consumer markets. She is the CEO of Rinnce, the Responsible Innovation Center, an AI firm that designs innovation engines inside large organizations, advises boards and executive teams on AI products, strategy and governance. Her latest engagement was serving as Chief AI & Data Officer at Varo Bank, which she joined to establish the AI, machine learning, and data foundation of a nationally chartered digital bank and build responsible AI practices across product, engineering, risk, and compliance.

Earlier, as part of the executive leadership at GoogleX, Asmau co-led a team of 600 engineers, data scientists, and researchers in developing next-generation AI and ML-driven enterprise and consumer products. She has also worked with CEOs and CTOs of eight global banks, driving innovation in payments, data security, cloud, and fraud prevention, integrating technology development with strategic M&A while navigating complex regulatory landscapes.

Jakita O. Thomas is a Philpott Westpoint Stevens Associate Professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Auburn University. Thomas is one of the co-founders of Pharaoh's Conclave, an organization helping engage and prepare youth for careers and opportunities related to eSports. Thomas is also a founder of blackcomputeHER.org, INC.