2016 NCWIT Summit on Women and IT
There is still work to do in order to increase the meaningful participation of girls and women in computing, and the NCWIT Summit is designed to make the hard work ahead more feasible.
The 2016 NCWIT Summit convened hundreds of change leaders from our community of educators, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and social scientists to discuss research, ideas, and action items for narrowing the gap. Creating change for women in tech is not a job for one individual or one organization. Each year, the NCWIT Summit offers an environment for peers to learn, strategize, and celebrate as they work on this very important mission.
“The NCWIT Summit really is the best networking opportunity I have each year. The opportunities to brainstorm, collaborate and connect with peers are just fantastic.” ~ NCWIT Summit Attendee
We brought the NCWIT Flash Tank back! It’s NCWIT FlashTalks … in the Shark Tank.

We gave six change leaders from the NCWIT community five minutes each to give a FlashTalk on something NCWIT should prioritize in the areas of diversity, education, image, innovation, social movements, and more. This is your opportunity to tell us about that item on your wishlist -- “I really wish NCWIT had research on this,” or “It’d be awesome if NCWIT ran a campaign focused on this.”
2016 NCWIT Summit Supporters

We would like to give a huge thanks to 2016 NCWIT Summit Reception Sponsors USAA, Brad Feld and Amy Batchelor, as well as Link Technologies.

Looking for the 2015 NCWIT Summit on Women and IT site? You can view it here. Or, visit our archive to view all past NCWIT Summits.
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Catherine Ashcraft, Ph.D.
NCWIT Director of ResearchUniversity of Colorado BoulderCatherine Ashcraft is a Senior Research Scientist with the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focuses on issues related to gender, diversity, and technology; organizational change and curriculum reform; and popular culture, media representations, and youth identity (especially as it relates to race-ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality).
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Lecia Barker, Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorUniversity of Colorado BoulderLecia Barker is an NCWIT Senior Research Scientist and is an Associate Professor of Information Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In this role, she helps to build and apply a broad and strong knowledge base to NCWIT capacity building and advocacy efforts; ensures NCWIT products are research-based, actionable, and appropriate for their intended audiences; and supports NCWIT members and others in choosing, setting, and realizing their goals for increasing women’s participation.
Research Area: Communication, Education, IT Workforce Research & Evaluation
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Wendy DuBow, Ph.D.
NCWIT Director of Evaluation, Senior Research ScientistUniversity of Colorado Boulder -
Tim Faiella
NCWIT Social Science Program ManagerUniversity of Colorado BoulderTim Faiella is NCWIT’s Social Science Program Manager. He works with staff social scientists and the design team to ensure that electronic and print resources adhere to NCWIT’s rigorous research and quality standards. He also works with the Social Science Advisory Board to facilitate consultation services.
Prior to joining NCWIT, Tim's background spanned both research and publishing. He holds a BS in psychology from Bridgewater State College, an MA in sociology from Humboldt State University, and an MFA in creative writing from Portland State University.
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Jane Krauss
Community Manager, NCWIT Counselors for Computing (C4C)ConsultantJane Krauss is a Curriculum and Program Development consultant for NCWIT. She guides the Counselors for Computing program, as well as the development of “Programs-in-a-Box” and other turnkey resources. In addition to her work with NCWIT, Jane has co-authored two books on the topic of project-based learning and consults with K-12 organizations in support of curriculum reform. In her free time, she enjoys dabbling in glasswork and mosaics and keeps fit running and hiking on woodland trails just outside her door in Eugene, Oregon.
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Brad McLain, Ph.D.
Research ScientistUniversity of Colorado BoulderBrad McLain is a social scientist who serves as a researcher with NCWIT. He also co-directs the Experiential Science Education Research Collaborative (XSci) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Brad's research focuses on identity development, diversity and inclusion in relation to STEM learning and career pathways, including the nature and impacts of extraordinary experiences and how such experiences may change our sense of self and life trajectories at different ages.
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Beth Quinn, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist and DirectorUniversity of Colorado BoulderDr. Beth Quinn serves as a Senior Research Scientist and Director at the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. At NCWIT, Beth’s work focuses on post-secondary initiatives to broaden the participation of women in computing, including serving as Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Academic Alliance and as founding director of EngageCSEdu.
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Sherri L. Sanders, Ph.D.
Director of Extension Services, Research Scientist, and Faculty Research AssociateUniversity of Colorado BoulderSherri Sanders serves as the Director of Extension Services and a Research Scientist with the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focuses on issues within higher education related to gender equity and inclusion; strategic recruitment and retention of underrepresented communities in computing; and sustainable and systemic organizational culture change.
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Lyn Swackhamer, Ph.D.
Research ScientistUniversity of Colorado BoulderLyn Swackhamer is the Director of Aspirations Evaluation with the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focuses on STEM education and issues related to gender, diversity, and technology. Over the past 14 years, she has taught a variety of graduate level Research and Evaluation coursework, including Intermediate Statistics and Action Research for Teachers. -
Stephanie Weber
Director of Regional InitiativesUniversity of Colorado BoulderStephanie Weber is the NCWIT Director for Regional Initiatives where she brings together programs powered by NCWIT and NCWIT Alliance members focused on increasing the influence and meaningful participation of girls and women from every community. Through this approach, change-leading representatives from NCWIT and local partner organizations are united across the tech ecosystem, forming regional, action-oriented coalitions.
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Melissa Harris-Perry
Presidential Endowed Chair in Politics and International AffairsWake Forest UniversityMelissa Harris-Perry is the Maya Angelou Presidential Chair at Wake Forest University.
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Moritz Hardt
Senior Research ScientistGoogle ResearchMoritz Hardt is a senior research scientist at Google Research. After obtaining a PhD in computer science from Princeton University in 2011, he worked at IBM Research Almaden on algorithmic principles of machine learning. Then he moved to Google to join the Foundations of Applied Machine Learning group where his mission is to build guiding theory and scalable algorithms that make the practice of machine learning more reliable, transparent, and effective.
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Benjamin F. Jones
Kellogg School of ManagementProfessor of Strategy, Gund Family Professor of EntrepreneurshipBenjamin F. Jones is a Professor of Strategy and the Gund Family Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management, where he also directs the Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative. An economist by training, his research focuses largely on innovation and creativity, with recent work investigating the role of teamwork and the relationship between age and invention. Ben also studies global economic development, including the roles of education, climate, and national leadership in explaining the wealth and poverty of nations.
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Madeline Di Nonno
Chief Executive OfficerGeena Davis Institute on Gender in MediaMadeline Di Nonno is the CEO of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, the only research based non-profit working with the entertainment and media community to improve gender diversity in children's entertainment through research based programs. Madeline leads the Institute's strategic direction and brings over 30 years experience in media, marketing, and business development in the entertainment, non-profit, digital media and consumer packaged goods industries.
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Patricia Russo
ChairmanHewlett Packard EnterprisePat Russo is a technology-industry veteran who has spent her career helping to lead numerous telecommunications and technology stalwarts, including Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, IBM and AT&T, among others. She is Chairman of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a $52 billion global industry leader in providing information management solutions to businesses around the world. She has been recognized multiple times for her business achievements as one of Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women” and as one of TIME's “100 Most Influential People".
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Alicia A. Lebrija Hirschfeld
Executive PresidentFundación Televisa A.C.1Alicia A. Lebrija Hirschfeld is Executive President of Fundación Televisa A.C.1 and member of the Board of Directors of Televisa Foundation. Her professional career began in the academic sector as a Professor of Economics and later as Dean of the School of International Relations at ITAM, one of Mexico’s leading private universities.
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Cynthia Solomon
2016 NCWIT Pioneer Award WinnerCynthia Solomon’s focus has been on creating fun-filled, thoughtful, personally expressive, and aesthetically pleasing learning environments for children. Her work has spanned over several important collaborations, and has taken place in academic and corporate research environments and in elementary and secondary schools. In addition, she has contributed to research in human-computer interaction and children as designers.
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Susan M. Armstrong
Senior Vice President, EngineeringQualcomm, Inc.Susan M. Armstrong started at Qualcomm working on Globalstar and then early CDMA base station projects. She was a pioneer in bringing internet protocols to the cellular industry, resulting in the first web surfing on a cellular phone in 1997 and Qualcomm’s commercialization of packet data in 1998. Since then, she has held various leadership positions, first as the Head of Software Engineering in Qualcomm’s mobile chipset division, and then as the Head of Worldwide Customer Engineering, the group who integrates and commercializes the company’s products in phones and other wireless devices.
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Karen Ashcraft
Professor of Organizational CommunicationUniversity of Colorado BoulderKaren Lee Ashcraft is a Professor of Organizational Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder, as well as the Director of its Communication & Society Residential Program, a living-learning community for early college students broadly interested in communication, media, journalism, and related themes. Her research examines organizational and occupational formations, such as identity, culture, and mode of governance, and is guided by an interest in relations of power and difference, particularly gender, race, sexuality, and class.
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Cheryl Calhoun, Ph.D.
Dean of Educational Centers and Director, Blount CenterSanta Fe CollegeCheryl Calhoun currently serves as Dean of Educational Centers and Director of the Blount Center for Santa Fe College. Her experience includes 20 years as a professor of Information Technology education and Coordinator of the Networking Services Technology program at Santa Fe College. She has worked as a systems analyst and network administrator and holds numerous industry certifications in networking technologies and cybersecurity.
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Lesley Chilcott
Director, CODEGIRLLesley Chilcott is an award winning filmmaker, documentarian, and producer. In addition to award winning documentary features and shorts, she is Chair of the West Coast Producers Guild of America (PGA) Non-Fiction documentary committee while also hosting a popular screening series for them, The Doc Club.
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Carol Fishman Cohen
CEOiRelaunchCarol Fishman Cohen, CEO of iRelaunch, consults to some of the world's largest corporations on career reentry strategy and programming. Her seminal Harvard Business Review article, "The 40 Year Old Intern," and TED talk, 'How to get back to work after a career break," focus on the use of the internship as a vehicle for employers to engage with experienced professionals returning from career break.
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Jane Condon
ComedianJane Condon, both a mom and comedian, lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, but she’s still a nice person. She has two boys. Otherwise, everything’s fine. The Associated Press has dubbed her “an uppercrust Roseanne” and the New York Times says, “Condon had the audience cackling, guffawing, and in hysterics as she sliced through marriage, husband, kids, politics, and other topics.” She loves to tell stories about her adventures (mostly survival tales) with her husband and kids.
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Jill Denner, Ph.D.
Senior Research ScientistETRJill Denner, PhD, is a senior research scientist at Education, Training, Research, a non-profit organization in California. She does applied research and evaluation with a focus on increasing the number of women, girls, and Latino/a students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Dr. Denner has also led the development of several after-school programs designed to increase diversity in computing fields.
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Ruha Devanesan
Manager, Global Diversity and InclusionSymantecRuha Devanesan specializes in creating access for the disenfranchised through law, technology, and diversity initiatives. As a part of Symantec’s diversity & inclusion team, she develops and implements strategies, policies, and programs that support Symantec’s goal of being a great place to work for employees from a rich variety of backgrounds.
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Dave Filoni
Executive Producer / Supervising Director, Star Wars RebelsA diehard Star Wars fan, Dave Filoni realized a lifelong dream when he was selected by George Lucas to helm Lucasfilm Animation’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars as Supervising Director. Exploring the many wartime tales and stories that take place between Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, the series surpassed the rare industry milestone of 100 episodes and has won four Emmy® Awards — including winning the category of Outstanding Special Class Animated Program for two years in a row (2013/2014).
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Luz M. Gonzalez
Senior Vice President of Solutions DeliveryAT&TLuz M. Gonzalez is Senior Vice President of Solutions Delivery for AT&T Technology Development Entertainment Group (Tech Dev EG). In this role she is responsible for all program management of technical solutions supporting U-Verse and DIRECTV products; the business analysis, design, development and support of legacy DIRECTV platforms and applications; and the planning, development and support of merger conversions and IT Legacy Transformation programs.
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Cathy Hawley
Sr. Director of People DevelopmentReturn Path, Inc.Cathy Hawley is a Sr. Director of People Development at Return Path, Inc., and has 20 years of global human resources and coaching experience. Currently, Cathy is working on building effective teams across the organization and is responsible for management coaching and development, culture, employee coaching, and development. She also runs Return Path’s partnership with NCWIT. Cathy loves spending time with her kids, snowboarding, cycling, and traveling.
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Mizuko Ito
University of California, IrvineProfessor in Residence and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Chair in Digital Media and LearningMizuko Ito is a Cultural Anthropologist of Technology Use, examining children and youth’s changing relationships to media and communications. She is a Professor in Residence and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Chair in Digital Media and Learning at the University of California Irvine, with appointments in the University of California Humanities Research Institute, the Department of Anthropology, the Department of Informatics, and the School of Education.
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Maggie Johnson
Director of Education and University RelationsGoogleMaggie Johnson is Director of Education and University Relations for Google. She manages all technical education, content development, and information management programs for Google engineers and operations staff, as well as Google’s K12 educational programs in STEM and computer science (CS). Maggie has worked to provide engaging, high-quality CS content to K12 students through CS First; accessible professional development to teachers through CS4HS; and she works closely with key partners in the community to make CS available to all K12 students.
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Zeba Khan
Writer and CommentatorZeba Khan is a writer, commentator, and senior facilitator with The Op-Ed Project, a social venture that identifies, trains, and mentors women and other historically underrepresented communities on how to own their expertise and have a public voice. Through her role, Zeba has directly trained thousands of women and men across the country and internationally from a diverse range of backgrounds. Currently, she leads The Op-Ed Project's Public Voices Fellowship at Yale University, training and mentoring Yale faculty in developing their public voice.
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Jeffrey Forbes
Program Director, Education and WorkforceNational Science FoundationJeff Forbes is a Program Director for the Education and Workforce program in the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (NSF CISE), managing programs that address the critical and complex issues of education and broadening participation in computing. Jeff is currently on leave from Duke University, where he is an Associate Professor of the Practice of Computer Science. He received his BS and PhD in computer science from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively.
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Richard Ladner
Professor, Computer Science and EngineeringUniversity of WashingtonRichard E. Ladner is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. His current research is in the area of accessible computing, which is an important subarea of human-computer interaction (HCI). His MobileAccessibility project is exploring mobile applications to improve the lives of blind, low-vision, and deaf-blind people. He has mentored 26 PhD students and is currently mentoring five more.
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Dr. Celine Latulipe
Associate Professor in the Department of Software and Information SystemsUniversity of North Carolina at CharlotteDr. Celine Latulipe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Software and Information Systems in the College of Computing and Informatics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her recent research has focused on CS Education innovation, particularly focusing on social and active learning, and scaling up adoption of flipped classroom methodologies.
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Daniela Marghitu
Professor, Computer Science and Software EngineeringAuburn UniversityDr. Daniela Marghitu is a professor in the Computer Science and Software Engineering Department at Auburn University, where she has worked since 1996. She has published six Information Technology textbooks, over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers, and she gave numerous presentations at national and international professional events.
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Sylvia Martinez
PresidentConstructing Modern Knowledge PressSylvia Martinez is a maker, mom, engineer, and co-author of the book, Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, which is considered to be “the bible of the classroom maker movement". Sylvia speaks, writes, and works with schools around the world evangelizing authentic, inclusive use of technology across the curriculum. She is President of Constructing Modern Knowledge Press, creating books and professional development advocating the use of modern technology for learning.
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Alvaro Monge
Professor, Computer Engineering and Computer ScienceCalifornia State University - Long BeachDr. Alvaro Monge has earned BS (UC Riverside, 1991), MS, and PhD (UC San Diego, 1993 and 1997) degrees in computer science. In 1997, he joined the Computer Science Department at the University of Dayton Ohio. In 1999, he joined the Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department at the California State University Long Beach (CSULB) where he is now a tenured full professor.
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Mo Fong
Director, CS EducationGoogleMo has been at Google for over 10 years and is the Director of Google's CS Education Initiatives with the mission of increasing the number girls and underrepresented minorities pursuing studies and careers in computer science and other STEM fields. Prior to this role, she was a finance director and Chief Compliance Officer for Google Wallet and worked at PayPal.
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Sarah Provencal
Adjunct Professor of Theatre and Box Office ManagerWinthrop UniversitySarah Provencal is a director, teacher, and actor. She earned her MFA in theatre pedagogy (directing emphasis) at Virginia Commonwealth University, where some of her favorite projects includef directing Karen Hartman’s Troy Women and playing Rona Lisa Peretti in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. After earning her MFA, she worked and trained abroad in London, England.
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Matthew R. Rantanen
Director of TechnologySouthern California Tribal Chairmen's Association (SCTCA)As the Director of Technology for the Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association (SCTCA), Matthew Rantanen assists tribes with technology development ranging from radio station applications to tribal administration technologies to technology policy development. Matthew serves on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Native Nations Broadband Task Force, and is Co-chair of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), Technology and Telecommunications Subcommittee, and the Technology Task Force at NCAI.
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Rayne Roberts
Creative ExecutiveLucasfilmRayne Roberts is a Development Executive at Lucasfilm and a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group. She was a development executive on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the upcoming films Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Star Wars: Episode VIII. Her film background includes several years as a development executive at Gold Circle Films, a role as an Associate Producer on the award-winning documentary The Fair Trade, and time spent as a contributing story analyst for the Kennedy/Marshall Company, as well as Alcon Entertainment.
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Daron Green
Self EmployedDr. Daron Green is responsible for strategic oversight and operational delivery across all of Facebook’s external research engagements and collaborations. He works with all of the Facebook research leads to ensure that their strategic goals can be realized and that Facebook actively partners with the academic research community in open, collaborative and mutually beneficial research engagements.
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Alberto I. Roca, PhD
FounderDiverseScholarDr. Alberto I. Roca is Founder and Executive Director of DiverseScholar, a non-profit that seeks to diversify the workforce in the STEM disciplines, the science communication profession, and the tech industry. Dr. Roca is a first-generation Peruvian-American from Houston, Texas, who received his PhD in molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His training is in biochemistry, and his current research is in visual bioinformatics to analyze protein families. While conducting postdoctoral research, Dr.
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Emmanuel Schanzer
FounderBootstrapEmmanuel Schanzer is a CS-expat, having spent several years as a program manager and developer before becoming a high school teacher and middle school academic coach. He is the Founder and creator of Bootstrap, which he first designed as a curriculum for his own students in Boston. He has long been involved in connecting educators and technology, connecting parties at the Computer Science Teachers Association, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and at universities across the country.
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Matt Wallaert
Microsoft VenturesEast Coast Lead and Behavioral ScientistMatt Wallaert is a Behavioral Scientist working at the intersection of technology and human behavior. After several years in academia and two successful startup exits, he joined Microsoft, where he works across a variety of products and projects to design technology that helps people live happier, healthier lives. He is also the East Coast lead for Microsoft Ventures, managing the company's relationships with prominent VCs and startups. Matt maintains an active research lab and is a frequent speaker on the science of behavior change.
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Gregory M. Walton
Associate Professor of PsychologyStanford UniversityGreg Walton is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Much of his research investigates psychological processes that contribute to major social problems and how “wise” interventions that target these processes can help address such problems. These psychological interventions can be minor in scope and duration, but generate long-lasting effects.
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Jill Wetzler
Director of EngineeringLyftJill is Director of Engineering at Lyft, leading their Core Services and Infrastructure orgs. Jill’s teams are responsible for many of the foundational backend services of Lyft, as well as the infrastructure necessary to keep engineers productive and ensure that their technology scales and evolves. Prior to Lyft, Jill was a senior engineering manager at Twitter. Her teams consisted of software engineers and data scientists in Twitter’s Data Products organization, providing streaming and REST APIs to external partners who use Twitter data to make insights into their business.
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Dr. Chris Wood
Associate Professor, Educational & Clinical Studies DeptThe University of Nevada – Las VegasDr. Chris Wood is an Associate Professor in the Educational & Clinical Studies Department at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. In addition to being a counselor educator, Dr. Wood has experience as a high school counselor, a counseling department chair, a counselor/group leader at a residential youth facility for adjudicated youth/troubled teens, and a career counselor/career assessment coordinator at an alternative school serving grades 7-12.
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Yunfei Xu
Global Head of Engineering, Portfolio Risk Analytics and Index ProductsBloomberg LPYunfei Xu is the Global Head of Engineering for Portfolio Risk Analytics and Index products at Bloomberg LP, where she oversees 150 software engineers across multiple continents and leads the research and development effort of Bloomberg PORT, one of the most advanced and cutting edge financial portfolio and risk analytics platforms in the world. Yunfei has worked at Bloomberg for the past 18 years with increasing responsibilities in the software engineering business area.
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Avis Yates Rivers
President and CEOTechnology Concepts Group International, LLCAvis Yates Rivers is the President and CEO of Technology Concepts Group International, LLC. (TCGi), a global asset, expense and procurement management firm. She possesses more than 35 years of general management experience in the information technology industry and has been a successful tech entrepreneur for over 30 years.
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Kortney Ziegler
FounderTrans*H4CKKortney Ziegler, PhD, is the Founder of Trans*H4CK, an organization focused on creating tech for transgender sustainability and visibility.
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Janice Zdankus
Vice President, QualityHewlett Packard EnterpriseJanice Zdankus is Vice President of Quality in Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Customer Experience and Quality team. In this role, Janice and her team are transforming the experiences customers have with HPE’s product, solutions, and support information to foster positive customer business outcomes.
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Lucy Sanders
NCWIT CEO and Co-founderUniversity of Colorado BoulderLucy Sanders is CEO and Co-founder of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT).
Lucy has an extensive industry background, having worked in R&D and executive (VP) positions at AT&T Bell Labs, Lucent Bell Labs, and Avaya Labs for over 20 years, where she specialized in systems-level software and solutions (multimedia communication, and customer relationship management). Lucy was awarded the Bell Labs Fellow Award, the highest technical accomplishment bestowed at the company, and she has six patents in the communications technology area.