insights on inclusion

insights on inclusion

RESPEC T LOVE

HUMANITY JUSTICE

CODE

BIAS Joy Buolamwini Coded Bias

Re:think Change with Cheryl Swanier

Tommy Orange Reclaiming Identity Ruha Benjamin Discriminatory Design

INAUGURAL ISSUE CO NT EN TS

4WELCOME LETTER - LUCY SANDERS 6RE:THINK CHANGE - CHERYL SWANIER 10 DISCRIMINATORY DESIGN - RUHA BENJAMIN 16 CODED BIAS - JOY BUOLAMWINI 22INCLUSIVENESS WHILE WORKING AT HOME - BRAD MCLAIN AND CATHERINE ASHCRAFT 26 RECLAIMING IDENTITY - TOMMY ORANGE 32EDITORIAL - BRAD FELD 34PIONEER IN TECH AWARD - RUZENA BAJCSY

CONTRIBUTORS Adriane Bradberry Wendy DuBow Tim Faiella Malia Fredrickson Angela Galik Brendan Hemp Terry Hogan Cierra Kelley Lucy Sanders 26% of the computing workforce A special thank you to Brad Feld and Amy were women in 2019 Batchelor for funding re:think and for their support of the work we do at NCWIT.

Designed and produced by Heavylifting.design

Learn more at ncwit.org/bythenumbers

re:think magazine I ncwit.org 3 Welcome to the first issue of re:think magazine, created by NCWIT

We invite you to re:imagine who innovates, educates, Here’s the common thread: it’s imperative that we and inspires the technologists of the future. Today’s examine the human values, assumptions, desires, and climate of isolation coupled with amplified demands worldviews that shape and its creators. for racial justice gives us the opportunity to re:think We have a responsibility to ensure diversity because technical cultures both inside and outside our otherwise, many people are forced to live inside organizations. Re:imagine what it means to be a someone else’s vision of the future. change leader, and the part we can play in creating a better future. By confronting some hard truths, we can create a world that is more just, more inclusive — a world that Drawing on NCWIT Conversations for Change: an online enriches our hearts and minds. Let’s use the spirit of thought leadership series for this first issue, we invite inquiry to become more informed and re:think what you to not just think, but re:think and delve deeper we believe about technology, inclusion, and culture. into the world of biased bots and altruistic algorithms, REWORK the role of technology as both a conservative and revolutionary force, Native American experiences and — LUCY SANDERS, NCWIT CEO AND CO-FOUNDER RECONSIDER re:claiming narratives, and more.

RECALIBRATE

REINVENT

REBUILD

REALIGN NCWIT’s mission is to increase the influential and meaningful participation of girls and women — at the intersections of race/ethnicity, class, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, and other historically marginalized identities — in the field of computing. We do so by working REIMAGINE with more than 1,400 organizations nationwide across the entire computing ecosystem (K-12 though career), helping them make systemic changes within their own organizations. REMAKE

REFOCUS

RELEARN

re:think magazine I ncwit.org 5 REINSPECT CH AN And so the key thing GE is having that support

WITH DR. CHERYL SWANIER system to help you push Dr. Cheryl Swanier knew she had a I worked in the tech industry for about passion for leadership, and she was 13 to 15 years as a computer committed to pursuing her dreams, programmer, first at IBM and then at despite the obstacles she faced as a a well-known credit card processing Black woman in the computing field. company, Total System Services (TSYS). through those barriers, the In this piece, excerpted from her While I was working in the tech industry, presentation at NCWIT Conversations it was always my desire to become a for Change: an online thought CEO. I wanted to be the CEO of a big tech leadership series, Dr. Swanier shares company. But as I worked in different the strategies that helped her to keep places, my dreams began to fade, and going, and some of the rewards she it just didn’t seem like my dream was barriers of isolation, the discovered along the way. attainable. So I decided, “I think I want to be a college president.” I started to I was born in a country town in inquire about what I would need to do southwest Georgia, and I grew up in a to become a college president, and home of educators. My dad was a math someone advised me that I needed and teacher, and my mom to get my doctorate in Education and barriers of not feeling was a first-grade teacher, so it was focus on higher ed administration. understood that we would go to college. After I received my Bachelor of Science And then I decided, I’ve reached in Computer Science, I went on to The this glass ceiling. I’m not going Ohio State University (OSU) for graduate any further than I am. So I school, and I completed my Master’s good enough, like you transitioned, I reinvented myself, in Computer Science at the State and I became a high school University of New York (SUNY). math teacher. > can’t do this.Because 6 re:think magazine I ncwit.org you can. So there I was in K-12, teaching State offered me the opportunity So I learned how to strategize. high school math. I’ve always had to do a lot of outreach, and it I learned how to navigate grad I never gave up. I didn’t quit. I kept going. a love for mathematics, science, helped me to work with students school. And I learned how to be I was always taught to respect early days of the space program. and computer science. But I said from underrepresented groups and successful. I learned how to walk my elders, and I was never the And I was sitting in the audience to myself, “Now how am I going to with the local high school students. up to my classmates and say contributions that these Black type of student that would talk thinking she needs to do a book become a college president sitting “Hi, I’m Cheryl. Can I be a part of women PhDs in computing have back or say anything. I just sat about me, and women like me. on the South Side of Columbus After leaving Fort Valley State your study group?” Or I’d initiate made to computer science, both there and took my tongue-lashing, She needs to do a book about teaching at-risk kids?” University, I applied for a position conversations about a homework in academia and in industry. And if I could call it that. And from that Black . at Claflin University and was hired assignment, just to discuss it so we also discuss the need for moment forward it set the tone for Then one day I was at a reception as Chair of the Computer Science that I could get a better conceptual changing the face of technology, the rest of my journey at The Ohio I never got a chance to have a and saw this guy I went to college Department. And so, in a nutshell, idea of the problem that we and increasing the number of State University. one-on-one conversation with her with, and I asked him what he was that’s been my journey. were trying to solve. It’s good to underrepresented groups in at the actual Summit, but it just so doing. He said, “Oh, I’m the Provost have support systems in place, computing. Because no one can But I persevered, I got through it. I happened that we were flying out of such-and-such university.” And I will say this: the journey to the so that you don’t have to deal tell these stories better than we, never gave up. I didn’t quit. I kept on the same day, and I saw her in I was like, wow. If he’s the provost, PhD was not an easy one. I clearly with the barriers of isolation and ourselves, can. going. And I am where I am today the airport terminal. Bold person I’m doing something wrong. I recall when I was working on my impostor syndrome. because I didn’t quit. that I am, I walked over to her, should have been president a long and I said, “Hi Margot, I’m Cheryl time ago. the key thing is having that support And I must say this, and I have Swanier from Claflin University, to give NCWIT kudos for this, and I really love your book, but can And so he asked me to give him system to help you push through those because it was at NCWIT that I you write a book about me and my my resume, and the next week I met a Vice President from OSU. colleagues, about Black women was interviewing for a job at Fort barriers, the barriers of isolation I was able to share with this Vice in computing?” And she said, Valley State University. And after , PhD, EdD, is currently President my struggles at OSU, “No, Cheryl, you write your own Cheryl A. Swanier the interview, they hired me on as Master’s at OSU that I was the only When I was at OSU, the first day an Associate Professor of Computer and she was floored when I shared narrative. You tell your narrative. an Associate Professor. From there, [Black woman], and I remember I met my adviser, who happened Science, as well as the former Chair of my story with her. A few years No one can tell your narrative my career just took off. suffering from imposter syndrome, to be a white male, the first words the Department of Mathematics and later, The Ohio State University better than you can.” both at SUNY and at OSU — just out of his mouth were — and I will Computer Science and Henry N. and brought me back to the campus The students at Fort Valley State not feeling like you’re good enough, never forget this, and I will carry Alice Carson Tisdale Endowed Professor as a distinguished speaker in the Some months later, the in the Claflin University School of Natural had not been involved in any type and believing that others perceive this to my grave — “People of College of Engineering, and I had inspiration came for HERstory: and Mathematics. Dr. Swanier of organization that relates to their that you’re not good enough, that your color come into our program a meeting and luncheon with Untold Stories of Black Women is also the founder and CEO of Swanier discipline, Computer Science. I you can’t quite make the mark. and you don’t succeed. You are the president of the university. PhDs in Computing. And I began Consulting, LLC and the non-profit re-established the Association deficient in this, and you are So I believe that was their way of to share the idea with my close organization The SIS Foundation, Inc. for Computing Machinery (ACM) But the truth of the matter is, deficient in that.” saying to me, “I’m sorry.” computer science colleagues. I She is an NCWIT Academic Alliance chapter there, and we started you know we are good enough. said, “We have to do this. We have Core/Member Representative and a going to conferences. We started Because if we were not good I felt like the scum of the earth. participant in the NCWIT Pacesetters One project that I’m working on to tell our stories.” And we are presenting research and posters enough, we would not have made I’m just this 21-year-old country program. In 2013, she received the NCWIT right now, one that is very close to here today. The book includes at conferences. I had one student it there. And so the key thing is girl coming from South Georgia, Undergraduate Research Mentoring my heart, got its start at another research, but it also focuses on who had never flown on an having that support system to help and I flew by myself on a little crop Award, and she is a recipient of the 2017 NCWIT Summit. Margot Shetterly the personal stories of Black airplane, whose first conference you push through those barriers, duster to Atlanta and from Atlanta NCWIT $10,000 Seed Fund Award. was one of the keynote speakers, women PhDs in computer science. Writewas at Microsoft in Redmond, the barriers of isolation,your the to Columbus, Ohio, to be omet with wn narrative and I was just so inspired by her They tell their stories about their Washington. Today, that particular barriers of not feeling good enough, that type of opposition. book, Hidden Figures, about the path to the PhD and some of the student is a senior computer like you can’t do this. Because the Black women mathematicians struggles that they actually face. programmer. Working at Fort Valley reality is, you can do it. You are just who worked at NASA during the We talk about some of the as smart as your classmate that is sitting next to you.

8 re:think magazine I ncwit.org re:think magazine I ncwit.org 9 FEATURE

H istorically, pandemics have Lorem ipsum dolor risus, sed dictum lectus Pellentesque tincidunt nulla magna. Curabitur forced humans to break with the past sit amet, consectetur sagittis a. diam at suscipit pharetra interdum est and imagine their world anew. This one adipiscing elit. lobortis. Phasellus nec sagittis. Duis vel est is no different. It is a portal, a gateway Pellentesque rutrum Praesent in eros vulputate dictum sed est tincidunt varius diam ut felis lobortis pulvinar, maximus ipsum, eu consequat sodales ac turpis. between one world and the next. We can porta. Quisque tellus scelerisque, sapien faucibus at. choose to walk through it, dragging the consectetur lacus blandit neque. Integer Mauris porta lacus eget Lorem ipsum dolor carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, imperdiet viverra vulputate dictum purus accumsan consectetur. sit amet, consectetur our avarice, our data banks and dead varius. Sed tincidunt eget aliquet. Duis sit Pellentesque habitant adipiscing elit. scelerisque luctus. amet diam vitae erat morbi tristique senectus Pellentesque rutrum ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies Phasellus eget mattis vestibulum finibus in et netus et malesuada diam ut felis lobortis behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, ligula. Cras volutpat in at elit. Pellentesque at fames ac turpis egestas. porta. Quisque with little luggage, ready to imagine nisi sit amet interdum. elit consequat, efficitur Integer eu mi ut est consectetur lacus another world. And ready to fight for it. Vivamus vehicula nunc non, malesuada tristique elementum sit imperdiet viverra mauris risus, nec elit. Mauris sem lorem, amet ut augue. Donec varius. Sed tincidunt - Excerpt from Arundhati Roy’s essay “The Pandemic as a Portal” ultricies ex dapibus tincidunt et varius id, lectus ante, fringilla sit scelerisque luctus. quis. Donec congue finibus id purus. Etiam amet ex vel, porttitor Phasellus eget mattis laoreet lacus sit amet elit urna, consequat blandit nunc. Integer ligula. Cras volutpat in dignissim. Suspendisse et tortor eu, ultricies ultrices eleifend mollis. nisi sit amet interdum. massa neque, vulputate faucibus tellus. Donec convallis enim Vivamus vehicula vitae ullamcorper vel, ut auctor malesuada. mauris risus, nec sagittis vitae mi. Morbi Donec eget tortor Vestibulum ut interdum ultricies ex dapibus elementum auctor ac mauris vehicula justo, vitae fermentum quis. Donec congue rhoncus. Sed dictum malesuada. Aliquam turpis. Nulla commodo laoreet lacus sit amet condimentum dui sed accumsan orci nec felis non metus sit amet dignissim. Suspendisse pretium. consectetur vestibulum. bibendum. Ut vel viverra massa neque, vulputate Class aptent taciti ex, in commodo tellus. vitae ullamcorper vel, Morbi pellentesque sociosqu ad litora Ut dapibus nisi quis sagittis vitae mi. Morbi sodales nisi ac pharetra. torquent per conubia laoreet iaculis. Nunc et elementum auctor Aenean imperdiet nostra, per inceptos ultricies velit. Aliquam rhoncus. Sed dictum a libero a aliquet. himenaeos. In nec quis enim tincidunt, condimentum dui sed Aliquam sodales finibus lectus urna. Ut hendrerit auctor justo eget, pretium. est, vitae ultrices metusThis id quam image in particular—dragginglobortis orci. the carcasses of tellus fermentum a. elementumour prejudice consectetur. and avarice, our data banks and deadMorbi pellentesque Suspendisse urna Sed sodalesideas—resonates. vulputate Cras ut aliquet enim, sodales nisi ac pharetra. sapien, condimentum placerat. aliquet lacinia neque. Aenean imperdiet nec vestibulum finibus, We must move throughDonec this portal nec nisias individuals, ipsum. a libero a aliquet. convallis in nibh. Nullam Pellentesquecommunities, pretium and institutions;Sed mattis and feugiat at all levels est we Aliquam sodales finibus sodales mi in aliquam risus nibh,have thisac rutrum opportunity toid eitherfeugiat. drag Maecenas outmoded waysest, vitae ultrices commodo. Quisque elit pharetraof thinking ut. Aeneanand doing thingspretium with nisl us, et or justo we can begintellus fermentum a. quis dolor iaculis dui turpisto nunc, imagine accumsan and craft a efficiturworld that isrhoncus. more habitable, In Suspendisse urna tincidunt lobortis. et commodomore just non, and joyful. interdum> vitae felis sapien, condimentum Integer auctor nisi ornare quis lorem. at pretium. Aenean at nec vestibulum finibus,

re:think magazine I ncwit.org 11 No technology is preordained, but rather grows out It’s important to think about the ways that race and and learning to navigate the contradictions and of the broader context that makes some inventions technology shape one another because more and more complexities of organizing in tech today, which includes

appear inevitable and desirable. The imagined user is A people are accustomed to thinking and talking about building solidarity across race and class. human values, gendered, raced, and classed without gender, race, or the social and ethical impacts of technology, but that’s class ever being mentioned. Code words in this sense only half of the story. Until very recently, I think a lot of people wanted to assumptions, desires, encode the interlocking systems of inequality as part of believe that technology was neutral. When you say, the design process. Precisely by ignoring social reality, Social norms, values, and structures all exist prior to “No, it’s situated. Technology grows out of a particular and world views that tech designers will almost certainly reproduce it. any given tech development. worldview, desires, aspirations,” that brings it down to earth and may seem to pollute it or corrupt it. shape technology are From everyday apps to complex algorithms, technology So, it’s not simply the impacts of technology often left unexplored has the potential to hide, speed, and deepen that we need to be concerned about, but the social But just because something is situated in the social discrimination, while appearing neutral and even input that makes some inventions appear inevitable world, doesn’t mean it can’t be a very good thing. benevolent when compared to racist practices of a and desirable. Especially when you create technology out of an ethic previous era. of love and care for the people that are going to be Which leads to another provocation that imagination engaging with it, that makes you much more deliberate is a contested field of action, not an ephemeral and conscious about what you are creating. afterthought that we have the luxury to dismiss or romanticize, but a resource. A battle ground, an input For that reason, we also need a slower approach to H and output of technology and social order. In fact, we technology, because one of the reasons we have should acknowledge that many people are forced to live discriminatory design is due to the market logic of Because if we are not careful, what will likely happen is inside someone else’s imagination. “faster, better, cheaper” to beat competitors. > that many dead ideas will be repackaged as new and So how do we contend with a innovative tech solutions for the problems we face. system whose principal players One of the things we have to come to grips with is how have a vested interest in the nightmares that many people are forced to endure But we can avoid this. perpetuating the status quo? are the underside of elite fantasies about efficiency, profit, security, and social control. Racism among other First by recognizing that there are two popular stories axes of domination, including sexism, ableism, classism we currently tell about technology—that tech is either What I would like us to consider is what it means for helps to produce this fragmented imagination where we going to save us or slay us. That it will take all of the more people to participate in imagining and building have misery for some, monopoly for others. jobs and make everything more efficient, or precipitate the digital and physical world we all inhabit, and what our undoing. Silicon Valley loves the utopian vision is the responsibility of those in leadership positions to because they evoke it to sell gadgets. Hollywood lovesU broaden participation? the dystopian version because it helps sell tickets. This means that for those of us who want to construct Both are flawed. Racism is productive. Not in the sense of being good, a different social reality, one that’s grounded in justice but in the literal capacity of racism to produce things. A and joy, we can’t only critique the underside—who’s These versions may seem like opposites on the surface, value to some even as it wreaks havoc on others. Many harmed or left out by the current structures—but we but they share an underlying logic that technology is in of us are still taught to think of racism as an aberration, must also wrestle with the deep investments, the desire discriminatory design the driver’s seat, harming or helping us. a glitch, an accident, an isolated incident, a bad apple in even that many people have for social domination. the back woods and outdated rather than as innovative, is directly tied to the But the humans behind the computer are too systemic, diffuse, an attached incident. The entire So how do we contend with a system whose principal pace and the market often missing from this view. The human values, orchard in the ivory tower, in the tech industry, forward players have a vested interest in perpetuating the assumptions, desires, and world views that shape looking, productive. status quo? logic of faster, technology are often left unexplored. In race is understood to be socially The current tech workers’ movement, which includes better, quicker At the moment only a narrow slice of humanity is constructed, but we often fail to state the corollary— students and workers across many disciplines and N doing the shaping. that racism constructs. institutions, can draw from past organizers’ experiences 12 re:think magazine I ncwit.org M re:think magazine I ncwit.org 13 If those are the animating forces—speed, competition, and profitability—that doesn’t allow time to consider all of these questions about equity and discrimination. That requires time. So moving forward, we need to slow down if we really care about how these things are going to circulate in the world.

So one way, perhaps, to practice love when we Lthink about tech, design, and imagination is that love should allow us to slow down out of a sense of caring for how these things are going to circulate in the world.

practice love when we think about tech, design, andO imagination So here is a final proposition. If it is the case that inequity and injustice is woven into the very fabric of our society, then that means each twist, coil, and code is a chance for us to weave new patterns, practices, and politics. The vastness of these problems will be their undoing. If this pandemic is a portal, my hope is that we use this 3% of the computing workforce were time to imagine and craft a world in which we

can all thrive. African American women in 2019 Ruha Benjamin is a Professor of African American StudiesE at and author of People’s Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier ( Press). She has studied the social dimensions of science, technology, and for over fifteen years and speaks widely on issues of innovation, equity, health, and justice in the U.S. and globally.

Playback Ruha Benjamin’s presentation from NCWIT Conversations for Change: an online thought leadership series at ncwit.org/RaceFutureVideo Learn more at ncwit.org/bythenumbers

14 re:think magazine I ncwit.org V CODED BIAS IS A FILM BY SHALINI KANTAYYA IN THEATERS NOVEMBER 2020

JOY BUOLAMWINI THE POWER OF STORYTELLING FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly interwoven The Algorithmic Justice League (AJL) is an into the technology that shapes our daily lives. organization dedicated to “leading a cultural Its proponents argue that involving AI in a wide range movement towards equitable and accountable AI.” of situations can lead to increased safety, improved Through research and advocacy, they are working to efficiency, and more neutral decisions. However, a ensure that AI is developed and used in transparent growing body of research shows that because AI relies ways, and that the uses of AI are subject to oversight in on machine learning processes that are programmed order to prevent civil rights violations, discrimination, by humans, often ends up and other forms of harm. The organization also replicating—and even amplifying—biases around race, advocates for equitable AI based on affirmative gender, and other dimensions of identity. consent, meaning that people should be made aware when they are interacting with AI, and have the opportunity to give or withhold permission for the use of their personal data. >

Photo credit: Steve Acevedo re:think magazine I ncwit.org 17 In her TED Talk, she noted, “Law stop developing facial recognition “Why isn’t my face enforcement is also starting to use technology due to its potential machine learning for predictive uses for “mass surveillance, racial policing. Some judges use profiling, [and] violations of basic being detected?” machine-generated risk scores to human rights and freedoms.” determine how long an individual Joy Buolamwini, AI researcher “Why isn’t my face being is going to spend in prison.” While there is much work to be and founder of the Algorithmic detected?” Buolamwini asked done to eliminate bias in AI and Justice League, describes herself in her viral 2016 TED Talk. “Well, After listing numerous cases where ensure its responsible, ethical use, as a poet of code. As the AJL’s we have to look at how we give biased AI has been shown to have Buolamwini and her colleagues website explains, “We believe machines sight,” she explained. a discriminatory effect, the AJL have hope. “For some time the in the power of storytelling for “Computer vision uses machine website concludes, “The examples Algorithmic Justice League has social change. We tell stories learning techniques to do facial are endless.” been me, a mask, and a shield,” that galvanize action with both recognition. So how this works Buolamwini said. “I am so glad we research and art. We follow is, you create a training set with Fortunately, there are many people now have resources to start a scientific approach to our examples of faces… And over working on solutions. The AJL says, building a team and creating a research, experiments, and time, you can teach a computer policy recommendations. We how to recognize other faces. rely on art, freedom, and However, if the training sets creativity to spread the word, aren’t really that diverse, any face generate awareness about the that deviates too much from the harms in AI, and amplify the voice established norm will be harder of marginalized communities in to detect.” The good news, she Who codes matters. How we code matters. today’s AI ecosystem.” went on, is that human input is needed to create the training And, we can code for a better future. As a graduate student, sets, “so there is an opportunity Buolamwini worked on a project to create full-spectrum training at the MIT Media Lab called the sets that reflect a richer portrait Aspire Mirror, which incorporated of humanity.” generic face detection software “We know making change is a world with more equitable and as part of an application that Identifying and correcting the team effort. Fighting for algorithmic accountable AI.” In the words of the projected digital masks with bias built into AI is of critical Joy Buolamwini is a member of the NCWIT justice takes all of us.” When a Algorithmic Justice League, “We positive messages onto a user’s importance. Indeed, it is a matter Aspirations in Computing Community. major vendor of facial recognition want the world to remember that reflection. However, Buolamwini of life or death. As Buolamwini She received the NCWIT Collegiate Award software for law enforcement who codes matters, how we code ran into a problem when testing wrote in a 2019 article for TIME in 2016. Learn more about her work with attempted to discredit matters, and that we can code a the program: the software would Magazine, “There’s no shortage the Algorithmic Justice League in the film Buolamwini’s work in 2019, a better future.” not detect the presence of her of headlines highlighting tales of Coded Bias, released in January, 2020. group of more than 70 “Concerned face unless she wore a white failed machine learning systems Researchers” from universities mask. This was far from the first that amplify, rather than rectify, The Aspirations in Computing Community around the world banded together time she had encountered similar sexist hiring practices, racist is vibrant and dynamic. With nearly 20,000 to affirm her results. In June issues with AI and with facial criminal justice procedures, technical high school, college, and early 2020, an article in Quartz cited career women, it is the largest of its kind. recognition software in particular. predatory advertising, and the Buolamwini’s work on the Gender As an undergraduate, her work on spread of false information.” Shades Project, in collaboration Support and learn more about Aspirations in a robot that could play “peek-a- with the MIT Media Lab and Google Computing at ncwit.org/aspirations boo” stalled when the robot could Research Scientist Timnit Gebru, see her roommate, but not her. as central to IBM’s decision to

18 re:think magazine I ncwit.org re:think magazine I ncwit.org 19 2% of the computing workforce were Hispanic women in 2019

7% of the computing workforce were Asian women in 2019

Learn more at ncwit.org/bythenumbers

20 re:think magazine I ncwit.org BUILDING

By now, you may have noticed it: an apparent “we’re in this together” vibe. On the street, in the neighborhood, on TV, and yes — even on conference Brad McLain, PhD Catherine Ashcraft, PhD calls — people are often friendlier, waving, and taking a moment. Many conversations these days begin MOREWritten by with or are dominated by COVID-19 class, language, ability, and other concerns — a sharing and comparing Brad McLain, Ph.D. marginalized identities. Structural of our journeys through this. On Catherine Ashcraft, Ph.D. and environmental biases, racism, one hand, in a most ironic way, this and income inequality make it social isolation is increasing our disproportionately difficult for these awareness of our shared culture and groups to work remotely, and to our need for connection. Amidst navigate and benefit from health and all the challenges and fears we are financial systems, putting them at experiencing, we miss each other! greater risk for both exposure to the INCLUSIVE Could it be that herein lies a hidden virus and to its economic and social opportunity to build more inclusive ripple effects. this can be an future cultures at work — while we opportunity for our are all at home? Now, as we hunker down in social distancing, it is important to cultural norms and On the other hand, the “we’re in recognize that the norms associated this together” vibe may not be all with both our workplace cultures values to respond that it seems. While it can create an and society at large are changing. for the better important sense of camaraderie, In our research at NCWIT, we define WORK CULTURES it also glosses over important culture as a shared set of norms and differences. As this crisis unfolds, values. Culture is, if nothing else, it is increasingly true that “we” are dynamic. Our experience of culture experiencing this pandemic in many is a conversation between ourselves different and often hidden ways. and the larger communities we Many people are losing their jobs, belong to. > with or without savings to sustain them. Many people have loved ones whose health is more vulnerable or WHILE WE’RE already in jeopardy. Many people have loving homes in which to shelter in place, but many do not. Many people have access to the internet and that make remote work possible, while many do not. What’s more, this type of crisis tends to amplify existing inequities, AT especially those related to race,

HOME re:think magazine I ncwit.org 23 What Individuals Can Do: Seek to understand the experience of our colleagues and their families. That means What Individuals Can Do: This this crisis is over. Likewise, the employing a “spirit of inquiry,” exposure of multiple identities work done to see each other with taking the time to ask and requires that we appreciate and a “spirit of inquiry” can help us to listen. This could be in the 2. learn about each other in new establish new norms that enable first few minutes of team And, that conversation is rapidly ways. We need to see each other us to bring more of ourselves to meetings or planned informal evolving. If we are alert and attend with compassion and empathy, work and to remain more curious virtual get togethers. It also Going remote requires to the differences noted above, and establish norms that come and caring about each other’s means intentionally seeking this can be an opportunity for us to see each other with to view such vulnerability not as lives. There is no predicting where out information about various our cultural norms and values to new eyes. a weakness — but as a faculty this conversation will go, but groups’ experiences (for respond for the better towards that invites us to a deeper wherever it goes, it signals to your example, communities of color; creating more inclusive cultures, In tech, many of us are used to understanding of our teams and team that we are in this together socioeconomic status/income while also acknowledging our now and in the future. Here are working remotely, but now more perhaps of ourselves in the process. 3. inequality; LGBTQ+ communities; three suggestions for doing so: of us than ever are doing so. On differences and that by entering people with disabilities— to start). video calls we are now seeing more What Organizations/Leaders Recreate your the conversation together, we can of each other’s lives. Whether it’s Can Do: This alternate view of navigate the stormy seas ahead. What Organizations/Leaders culture by design rather as simple as catching surprising vulnerability becomes especially And that, friends, could be a Can Do: Personally check in glimpses of someone’s home in powerful when exhibited by than default. pretty good start towards a more with direct reports and open a 1. the background or children coming leaders. It also has the power to inclusive culture for here and now conversation about particular to sit on your lap in the middle establish a new norm when we As we said earlier, our experience — as well as long into the future. needs during this time. Some of Recognize we’re in this of the meeting, we are seeing all return to work — that is, to of culture is a conversation these might include: 1) ensuring many more of our intersecting continue to value the blurring of between ourselves and the larger together, but it’s NOT the adequate access to paid sick identities and blurring traditional the personal and the professional. communities we belong to. Given leave policies, 2) letting people Catherine Ashcraft is a Senior Research same for everyone. boundaries between our Doing so can be a significant step this crisis, that conversation is Scientist with the National Center for Women take time off without penalty, 3) personal and professional selves. toward building more inclusive rapidly evolving and will ultimately & Information Technology (NCWIT) at the providing translation services University of Colorado Boulder. Her research At NCWIT, we talk a lot about the Understandably, this introduces cultures given that artificial reshape our cultures, whether we where needed, 4) providing focuses on issues related to gender, diversity, importance of attending to and risk and vulnerability — especially distinctions between these two attend to this process or not. So, and technology; organizational change and financial and emotional support to interrupting everyday biases. for populations marginalized by arenas have long been a workplace now is the time to be intentional curriculum reform; and popular culture, media Being attentive to different and the employees and their families representations, and youth identity (especially race, gender expression, sexual barrier for women and other about how that happens. as it relates to race-ethnicity, gender, most hard hit, and 5) ensuring all nuanced ways these biases are orientation, or anyone who may underrepresented groups (e.g., class, sexuality). employees have access to remote playing out now is all the more not have been able to bring as having to downplay conversations What We All Can Do: Enter the work technologies. In addition, Brad McLain is a social scientist and researcher important. We can start by much of their full selves to work in about family events or concerns). conversation. Leaders who start it is likely that social distancing with NCWIT. He also co-directs the Experiential recognizing and interrupting the the past, but who now suddenly the conversation by forefronting Science Education Research Collaborative (XSci) orders will be eased before the subtle biases that lie behind a find themselves in this reality. This, their own vulnerability can make at the University of Colorado Boulder. Brad’s simple interpretation of being “in threat is really under control, research focuses on identity development, however, also brings opportunity. this happen. What does this diversity and inclusion in relation to STEM this together.” which may be even more stressful look like? It begins, as noted learning and career pathways, including the and dangerous for those with above, with sharing our mutual nature and impacts of extraordinary experiences vulnerable health status and/or and how such experiences may change our sense experiences, but then evolves into of self and life trajectories at different ages. vulnerable family members. Be an on-point discussion about what flexible and conscientious about our changing norms and values Check out Episode 2 of the Tech Culture ongoing risk rather than expecting are — and what we want them to Interrupted podcast at: ncwit.org/TechCulturePodcast a hasty return to normal. be. For example, the adjustments being made now to improve remote work can be preserved to support your workforce after

24 re:think magazine I ncwit.org re:think magazine I ncwit.org 25 The process that brings anything to its current form, chemicals, synthetic, technological or otherwise, doesn’t make the product not a product of the living Earth. Buildings, freeways, cars, are these not of the Earth? Were they shipped in from Mars, the moon? Is it because the process where they were manufactured? Are we so different? Were we not, at one time, something else? Tommy Orange INSIGHTS on his book THERE THERE and the reclamation of identity.

Native people have been stereotyped and depicted in a very singular way, which is often historical and sad and digestible. I didn’t want the narrative to continue to be a sad, gone people, so I decided that having a lot of characters is one way of speaking against that stereotypical narrative.

Having their identities be complex was a way to introduce something that I didn’t see depicted in books or in movies when I was a kid. There’s still a lot of historical stuff being pushed, and I grew up in Oakland, which was a very mixed community, a lot of interracial marriages producing a lot of kids like me, and I grew up on a street that everyone was half of one thing and half of another. >

26 re:think magazine I ncwit.org In the Native community, there A lot of the book is from my own in the past. You are already gone. are so many different complexities experience and from experiences I How can you develop as a human? to think about—having to do have had in the Native community How can you develop an identity if with blood quantum, having to in Oakland. When I started you feel like the only depiction of do with tribal proximity. Did you working on the book, I was a you is somebody already gone? It grow up on the reservation? brand new father, working full makes you feel like a ghost. Did you grow up in the city? So time, and I would wake up every I wanted to explore the range day and just write as much as I So I wanted to have them interface of what it means almost to could before having to go to work. with technology purposefully so humanize something that’s been In that first year, four or five of the they could feel as contemporary dehumanized. central characters emerged, and as possible. I wanted to explore I ended up reading parts of that how different people have Native people have been depicted I had a passion for it because I work to a group of Native youth, relationships with technology now. saw it so much in the community, under a Native youth suicide I was trying to find interesting and exclusively historically, and it does a lot and I had lived it so much myself, prevention grant, and that was human and emotional ways that and I wanted to try to render probably the scariest reading I people use technology. of damage if you only see yourself in it for the book because it was ever did. Because Native youth, interesting to me, and ultimately, or any youth, are scary to read to, All of the Native people in my the past. You are already gone. How can it ended up resonating with a and I didn’t think they would care. life have completely embraced lot of people that aren’t Native But they had a really emotional technology, but it’s not the way you develop as a human? How can you because identity is a core aspect reaction to the reading and a lot that we have often been seen of our humanity. Identity is a of questions, and that was really and depicted, so it was a kind of develop an identity if you feel like the social phenomenon, but it’s social important for me at the beginning resistance to the way we have in two different ways. It’s how of the book, to really feel like I was been defined from the outside only depiction of you is somebody already the world sees you and how you doing something that mattered. as being old and gone and not see yourself. And there’s tension If it could reach the Native youth, interfacing ever with technology. gone? It makes you feel like a between those two things. then that was a really important point for me to continue. How can tech help people ghost. For Native people, we have often reclaim their narratives? been defined by the outside, so I grew up pretty immersed in we especially have that conflict technology. I grew up playing We started a digital storytelling within us. How much do we video games. I experienced having lab at the Native American Health believe in what we are? And how no phones or only video games Center, called Story Center. much is it believed from the and TV as technology, and then I There’s a lot of language and outside? There are even other was becoming an adult when the history and storytelling around different tribes, and the way we think of ourselves as storytellers I was becoming an adult when the is already something the internet was first born, and so I have community self-identifies with. always been fascinated by technology. We also knew these stories were not out there, the Oakland Native people that will tear each internet was first born, and so Native story. > other down and say it’s not I have always been fascinated enough or you don’t qualify. It also by technology. comes with a history of people who shouldn’t be identifying and I purposefully wanted it in the sort of stealing the romanticized novel because Native people version of our culture to feed their have been depicted exclusively own vanity. historically, and it does a lot of damage if you only see yourself

re:think magazine I ncwit.org 29 At some point, I realized that to and having the experience, while told us, the stories that happened teach people these skills with it was a powerful experience, it to us and how we integrate them a mobile lab with expensive was more powerful to teach them into our own identities. It’s an equipment was the equivalent of something that they could then interconnected relationship that’s give a man fish, teach a man to access later. We were trying to unending, and I think the ways fish, that whole parable. It was the give voices to people that didn’t it can play out in fiction is really equivalent of telling them that, always have voices. fascinating to me. and then all the places to fish are in rich people’s backyards. A really powerful part of doing digital storytelling is helping Technology, race, and class have nonwriters learn how to write and always been in a conversation express something, some truth together. People have access that they have in them. A lot of to things when you have more times we are natural storytellers, money or are in certain families or when we don’t think anyone is The beauty of this storytelling model is not that you’re making short videos, interviewing people about their lives, and then cutting Technology, race, and class have always it to whatever B roll you decide. been in a conversation together. You actually teach them skills— how to write a script, and then certain classes. It’s just part of a necessarily listening, the way that you gather in a circle, you tell their fact, and that ends up translating we tell narratives about ourselves story, and then you teach them to jobs, and a lot of different comes out like stories, when we digital video editing with software. aspects of life and accessibility. are talking to our friends, when we And by the end of a three day And I don’t think it’s always been are talking to our family. I think process, they come out with a put in those terms. I think we everything is run on narrative. We powerful, short video that they think of technology as innovation have a national narrative, and we themselves put together. and it’s its own thing, and it’s not have individual narratives, and we We think of technology related to equanimity, but it is. have community narratives, and We worked with all sorts of it’s a battle for which story is the and innovation as its marginalized groups all over the We started using a free cloud- best, which are we convinced by, country, and it became clear to based video editing software so and which do we run with. is the author of the New own thing, and that me how important it was to teach if the person wanted to continue Tommy Orange people production skills, because York Times bestselling novel There There, editing after learning the skills, they And we take narrative threads a multi-generational, relentlessly paced of YouTube and TikTok and how it’s not related to could — using the free version. from the bigger narratives, and story about a side of America few of us much people produce and upload They could go to the library and we wrap them around our own, have ever seen: the lives of urban Native equanimity, but it is. their own videos. continue to use those skills and and some of us are more invested Americans. There There was one of The continue to produce video. in the national narrative and less New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year, and won the Center for in our own, and on the spectrum Fiction’s First Novel Prize and the Pen/ And that pivot from having an everywhere between, the way we Hemingway Award. There There was also expensive lab and teaching think of the stories that we hear, longlisted for the National Book Award and people in a three day workshop the stories that our family always was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

equanimity re:think magazine I ncwit.org 31 Brad Feld And, more importantly, when men — who at the NCWIT, Chair Emeritus time were primarily white men — engaged in the Foundry Group, Partner Techstars, Co-founder conversation, they either accidentally, or often purposely, did things that stopped everyone, and any semblance of progress, in their tracks.

Lucy helped me learn what it meant to be a male The path to advocate (ally), and within the first year, I shifted my efforts to play this role in NCWIT and the broad domain of gender equity in tech. Fifteen years later, equitable tech I’m comfortable in my role as a male ally and see rapidly increasing engagement of women and girls across the entire CS and tech landscape.

My focus on gender equity in technology and entrepreneurship began in 2005 when I met Lucy Sanders. We were introduced by a mutual friend who New technologies have often been weaponized thought I might be helpful to Lucy. We met on one against Black people and other marginalized groups, of my random days, where I spend 15 minutes with and so we at NCWIT have a particular responsibility about a dozen people during the day. to support the creation of bias-free technology products and services. More diversity at the Lucy sat down at my conference table and said, “I’ve corporate design table can accelerate innovation, started a non-profit company to get more girls and embolden ideas, and positively impact bottom lines. women involved in computer science. It’s not for Discover what happens when you build a bigger table reasons of gender parity, but that’s the outcome. with the help of NCWIT. If we want to stay innovative and competitive as a country, we need to get many more people involved NCWIT has the research, data, toolkits, and a in computer science. The ideas of half the population systematic approach that can help companies of all sizes thrive—­­ whether they be large corporations or are not being heard. We will invent things differently, Shortly after the murder of George Floyd, I flashed small and growing companies, when innovation is and we will invent different things when the people back to my first year with NCWIT. While Amy and I critical, executive teams form, and core values who make our products are as diverse as the people have long been supporters of social justice issues, are established. who use them.” including around racial equity, I realized that most of the things I thought I knew were likely wrong, or at The NCWIT Workforce Alliance (WA) focuses on I responded, “You had me best neutral. I quickly adopted an approach of being making company cultures more inclusive, where when you said innovation.” an ally to BIPOC members of the tech community, especially around the issues of getting more diverse every voice is heard and anything is possible.

Lucy asked me to be the founding chair of NCWIT. I people involved in tech and computer science. Join today: ncwit.org/wa agreed, thinking I knew a little about gender equity issues in tech. My parents are equal partners in As a co-founder and board member for NCWIT, their relationship, and my wife Amy Batchelor and I’m heartened to know that the organization is I are equal partners in our relationship, so I felt committed in its work to addressing equity in comfortable as a peer to strong women in my world. tech at the intersections of gender, race and other historically marginalized groups. Amy and I funded Within six months, I learned that almost everything re:think to amplify the conversation, since the I thought about gender equity issues in tech was at moment is now for our community and nation to best neutral, and often wrong or hurtful. As I listened come together and take action. We view re:think and learned, I realized most men had no idea what to as a launching point for getting the word out and do that was helpful around getting more women and encouraging you to engage directly with NCWIT to girls involved in computer science (CS). improve gender and racial equity in tech.

re:think magazine I ncwit.org 33 REIMAGINE RE SO UR CE

Whether you’re in a classroom or a boardroom, NCWIT can help you kick-start or deepen your inclusive culture. Take advantage of hundreds of free and easy-to-use resources for K–12, higher education, and corporations that support your efforts to raise awareness, increase knowledge, and empower action to make sure every voice is heard.

Get started with hand-picked titles that best correspond with articles from this inaugural issue of re:think: ncwit.org/rethink-resources

Interrupting Bias in Tech Culture Interrupted Modern Figures Podcast Industry Settings Tune in to ground-breaking research This podcast guest stars Black In the hall, a colleague mentions and ground-truth stories about how women in computing who share their Ramira has potential, if only she to build more inclusive and more stories and perspectives on technical, could learn to tone it down a bit and innovative workplace cultures through societal, and personal topics. Tune not be so abrasive. What (if anything) new perspectives on leadership, in as they describe interestingly 2020 NCWIT Pioneer in Tech Award Recipient would you do or say? Use this community, and engagement. relatable, pivotal moments along resource to explore ways in which to ncwit.org/TechCulturePodcast their journey in computing with other react to this real-life situation. women of color in STEM. RUZENA BAJCSY ncwit.org/biasindustry ncwit.org/modernfigures Ruzena Bajcsy has spent much of her career at the surgery, allowing much greater accuracy and saving intersection of human and machine ways of interpreting millions of lives. Bajcsy began her technical studies in the world. She pioneered a new area of study within the , where she was born, receiving her PhD field of , Active Perception, and was the first to in electrical engineering from Slovak Technical University argue that robots should be able to autonomously control in 1967 before coming to the United States to pursue a the movements of their own sensors and other apparatus second PhD in Computer Science at Stanford University. for interacting with their environment. Currently, Bajcsy is the Director Emeritus of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Science In 1978, she founded the General Robotics, Automation, (CITRIS) at the University of California - Berkeley. Sensing, and Perception (GRASP) Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, a center for interdisciplinary robotics In a 2009 interview, Bajcsy noted, “My goal in my life has Ruzena Bajcsy and 2020 Collegiate Award Winner research that would produce many cutting-edge been to make technology useful. If we understand each Eshika Saxena discuss their unique pathways, developments in robotics and computer vision. Bajcsy also other and respect each other, and this technology can help interests, and accomplishments in this NCWIT Conversations for Change interview: led a team that developed the first 3D computer atlas of do that, then I think I have done my job.” ncwit.org/ConnectingGenerationsVideo the human brain, a tool that revolutionized brain re:think magazine I ncwit.org 35 twitter.com/ncwit .com/ncwit linkedin.com/company/ncwit instagram.com/ncwit