Presentations

TRACK 1: Algorithmic Bias
TRACK 2: Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility
TRACK 3: Customer Experience
TRACK 4: Wellness for Your Career
 

8 – 8:15 a.m.
Opening Remarks

Christina Aguilera, President, WiTH Foundation
Guy Finley, President, MESA and Executive Director, WiTH
Nina Skorus-Neely, Secretary, WiTH Foundation
 

8:15 – 9 a.m.
OPENING KEYNOTE: State of the Union – Women in the Workplace

For the past 10 years, Mount Saint Mary’s University has produced The Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California™ to provide a clearer picture on whether they are thriving or merely surviving and what obstacles remain. Kimberly Kenny will provide highlights from their research on how the pandemic specifically affects women and girls, as well as recommendations to consider for your own diversity programs. We close with a fireside chat to learn from a major organization’s evolving diversity journey.
Kimberly Kenny, Associate Vice President, External Relations, Institutional Advancement, Mount St. Mary’s University
Fireside Chat:
Angela Cooper, General Manager Customer Success & Media & Entertainment, West Region, Microsoft
Jeanne-Marie Ryan, Head of People & Culture, Fair Trade USA
Introduction: Nina Skorus-Neely, Secretary, WiTH Foundation
Click here to download presentation
2021 Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California
 

9 – 9:30 a.m.
AI & Algorithmic Bias: Information Technology Ethics

Join Tobias Baer, author and technologist, as he arms you to build artificial intelligence applications that reimagine the future of our diverse world, rather than just mirror the norms of the past and perpetuate diversity related challenges in applying AI algorithms to business problems. We’ll explore Social, Cultural & Ethical Challenges in the application of AI as well as the opportunity of using algorithms as agents of change, review examples of where some have gone wrong, and offer practical advice to avoid these challenges, covering technical, managerial, as well as social aspects that you may want to consider in addressing algorithmic bias.
Tobias Baer, Senior Advisor, Coach, Scholar (Psychology, Risk Management, Data Science)
Click here to download presentation
Understand, Manage and Prevent Algorithmic Bias – Book w/ Q&A Model Documentation
Click here to buy the book!
 

9:30 – 10 a.m.
Beyond Customer Experience: Embracing the Business of Experience

World events in 2020-21 have had a profound effect on us all, leading to massive changes in consumer mindsets and behaviors. Everything we do—how and what we buy, how and where we work, how we interact with others—has been thrown into question. People are searching for more, including brands that embody the purpose and meaning that they seek in their lives. In this context, UX and even CX are no longer enough; a brand’s vision and purpose play a critical role in its growth. Brands must organize their whole business around the delivery of exceptional experiences—the experience becomes THE business. Ms. Yury will discuss this broader view of Experience, why it is important to business and outline new frameworks that will enable organizations to frame the needs of customers, employees and partners to deliver exceptional value.
Carrie Yury, Group Design Director & Research Practice Lead, Fjord
Introduction: Nina Skorus-Neely, WiTH Foundation
White-paper: An Experience Renaissance to Reignite Growth
White-paper: Make the Leap, Take the Lead
 

10 – 10:30 a.m.
Who are we Designing for?

Is experience research like a camera that reflects the truth, capturing the needs and desires of all the different people who use technology? Or is it like an engine that reproduces a fixed idea of who the people who use technology really are? And when we include everyone, what will we learn? What does more inclusive technology offer all of us? Through a series of vignettes from the field, we examine how exclusion can become embedded in practice optimized for tight release schedules and wary of risk – and what practitioners, strategists and leaders in the experience industry can do about it.
Kellie Hodge, Principle Design Researcher, Sutherland Labs
Introduction: Susana Sheil, Vice President, CM&E, Technology, Sutherland
 

10:30 – 10:35 a.m.
Celebrate Our Stories Video
 

10:35 – 10:45 a.m.
Gemi Bertran Workshop Teaser

The brain is the software and the body is the hardware. When the brain doesn’t get what it needs, the hardware/body operates like an “empty box”. Gemi Bertran coaches some of the highest performing brains in the country, transitioning special operations officers. They are the living testimonial of brain capacity for recovery. Learn more about her wellness breakout on Nourishing the Brain.
Gemi Bertran, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Nourish the Brain Institute
Introduction: Nadya Ichinomiya, WiTH
For more information please click here
 

10:45 – 10:50 a.m.
Celebrate Our Stories Video
 

TRACK 1: Algorithmic Bias

11 – 11:30 a.m.
New Abilities/New Responsibilities: The Social Implications of Emerging Technologies
As we become increasingly aware of the social implications of emerging technologies, AI development offers both new abilities and new responsibilities to the designer. In this talk, we imagine an alternative process and user experience for designing AI/ML products and emerging technologies that includes and credits more voices. By pairing the social and technical at the beginning, the design tool and methodology Poieto™ acknowledges bias in every step of development. Additionally, Poieto™ challenges technical allowances to provide for priorities like privacy and consent, a nuanced data-sharing model, and attribution. Join us as we highlight and explore these new approaches and processes.
Christine Meinders, Founder, Feminist.AI, Poieto
Carey Crooks, Product, Writing & Building, Poieto
Presentation coming soon!