SPEAKERS

KEYNOTES

Ursula Burns is the chairman of the board of Xerox Corporation, having served in this position since 2010. From 2009 – 2016, she was also chief executive officer. She joined Xerox as an intern in 1980 and during her career she has held leadership posts spanning corporate services, manufacturing and product development. She was named president in 2007. She regularly appears on Fortune’s and Forbes’ list of the world’s most powerful women, is a board director of the American Express Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation and the Ford Foundation. U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Ursula to help lead the White House national program on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) from 2009-2016, and she served as chair of the President’s Export Council from 2015-2016 after service as vice chair 2010-2015. Ursula holds a master’s in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York University.

Ayah Bdeir is the founder and CEO of littleBits, an award-winning platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks that is empowering everyone to create inventions, large and small. Bdeir’s career and education have centered on making STEM/STEAM, 21st century learning and invention with technology more accessible to people around the world. As an electrical engineer and alumna of the MIT Media Lab, Bdeir founded littleBits in 2011 to democratize hardware and allow everyone, regardless of age, gender, technical ability or discipline, to be creative with electronics and reinvent their world. littleBits has won more than 25 tech and education awards including an acquisition into the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) permanent collection, a Modern Library Gold Award and Parents’ Choice Gold Award. Ayah Bdeir has been named one of Business Insider’s "26 Most Powerful Women Engineers," one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business,” one of the CNBC Next List and one of Popular Mechanics’ “25 Makers Who Are Reinventing the American Dream.” Originally from Lebanon, Ayah now lives in New York City. ​
Ruthe Farmer has focused her efforts on diversity and inclusion in technology and engineering since 2001. She most recently served as Senior Policy Advisor for Tech Inclusion at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy where she led implementation of President Obama’s call to action for Computer Science for All (CSforAll) American students, and advised on national tech inclusion policy. While at the White House, Ms. Farmer launched Summit on Computer Science for All and engaged over 500 community partners in making public commitments to advance and support CSforAll. ​

PANELS

CS for Good

Dr. Annie Feighery is a behavioral health and technology specialist living in New York City. In 2011, Annie co-founded mWater, a technology startup that creates mobile data solutions for water, sanitation, and health. The mWater app has users in 130 countries, providing free and open access platforms for mapping and monitoring infrastructure, deploying mobile surveys, managing data, and displaying real time visualizations of health data. Annie has been recognized by UN Dispatch and the One Campaign as a leading global expert in social media for maternal and child health. ​
Olga is a Deployments Engineer at Mark43 - a tech startup that builds essential software for First Responders. Mark43's suite of products includes a Records Management System, Computer Aided Dispatch, and an Evidence Management System for police departments. In her daily work, Olga focuses on state and national compliance requirements for data submissions to the Department of Justice and the FBI. Olga previously worked as an Analytics Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and majored in Statistics and Economics at Carnegie Mellon University. ​
Before joining the New York County Defenders as a Data Scientist, where she works to improve legal defense through the use of data, Ackerman worked at Case Commons as a Data Analyst, building software for child welfare agencies. ​

Mariya is a junior software engineer at Crisis Text Line. She double majored in American Studies and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies (FGSS) in Cornell, but had a change of heart after graduation. She decided to pursue her coding hobby professionally and enrolled in the Grace Hopper Academy, a software engineering bootcamp in NYC.

Ad​a taught various social studies courses with a graduate degree in education for over a decade. When she moved to New York in 2012, she became a sponsor for the school’s Girls Who Code club. When the school joined forces with TEALS, Ada became the partner teacher. TEALS industry volunteers helped her grow in her programming knowledge and helped her be able to build and grow the CS program at her last school from one class of 6 students to multiple filled-to-capacity Intro and AP Comp Sci A classes. Ada sought to join TEALS because she really enjoys computer science, believes all students – especially girls and underrepresented minorities – should have access to computer science in their high schools, and wants to help facilitate more and more students gaining access to CS. She believes that while there are potential economic benefits to students who pursue computer science, the biggest benefits are the skills and confidence students gain that will help them throughout their lives.

Engineering

Angie Ruan (Vice President, Global Mobile, Web and Platform Engineering) is a seasoned industry leader of digital innovation. She serves as the head of global mobile, web and platform engineering. In this role, she leads the technology organization, responsible for the digital strategy and delivery for all customer experiences and for digital acquisition. Previously, she held the Unit CIO role for American Express US Consumer and OPEN businesses.
Angie has experience across many industries, including enterprise application, e-commerce and mobile commerce. Prior to joining American Express, Angie spent 11 years in eBay and PayPal, most recently she was Head of Engineering for PayPal Retail, overseeing PayPal’s newest product lines including PayPalHere Mobile, Mobile Check-in and PayPal POS. She also led the eBay transformation of engineering systems where she steered the company’s DevOps strategy and mobile strategy. She served as the President of eWIT (2012~2014), eBay-Women-in-Tech, a grassroots organization that promotes the interest of women in technology with 2000 members globally.
She was recognized as Women of Influence 2014 Silicon Valley Business Journal.
She owns more than four technical patents and many innovation awards. She holds MS Computer Science from UCSB and studies Computer Science in Tsinghua University, Beijing. 

Barbara serves as a Senior Director of Engineering at PlaceIQ. PlaceIQ is a leading data and technology company that helps businesses leverage location based insights to connect with and understand audiences. As one of the early members of the engineering team, Barbara has worked on and led teams in the building of the core PlaceIQ technology, including Place Visit Rate and location based audiences. Prior to joining PlaceIQ, Barbara was a Technical Manager at Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide where she worked and managed a team on the CRM (Central Reservation Management System). Barbara has also served as a member of the engineering organizations at Goldman Sachs and Anheuser Busch. Barbara received her MS in Computer Science from Stony Brook University, and prior to that her BA in Computer Science from Seton Hall University. While in school, Barbara completed research on Lambda Lifting and has publications on it as well. Barbara first attended Seton Hall University to live out her dream of becoming a teacher in mathematics, but her now mentor Professor Morazon led her to change majors and become a computer science major. In that vein, Barbara enjoys mentoring other young students to help them find their niche and mentors some of Professor Morazon’s current students. ​
Becky is the VP of Engineering, overseeing global technology at Birchbox, a leading beauty and grooming retailer best known for its monthly subscription of personalized samples. She is a musician-turned-computer-scientist who specializes in architecting large-scale systems in the e-commerce space. Prior to joining Birchbox in January 2012, she worked at a variety of early-stage startups, including Bonobos and OpenSky, as well as the multi-million­-dollar­-per-­day Zappos.com (and has a shoe collection that proves it!). ​
Lindsay Verola is a Engineering Manager at Square in the NYC office. She leads a full stack team working on Square Capital, Square's product that offers small business loans for merchants to run and grow their business. Lindsay has been working at Square NYC for 3 years, and was previously at Microsoft in Seattle. ​
Regina Chan is a Vice President at Goldman Sachs in the Data Architecture team building solutions to service the firm’s growing demand for data. She loves being an engineer in the Big Data space and is currently working on the next iteration of the Data Lake to reduce the overall time it takes to process data. She has a passion for technology and for life in general. She likes to geek out in everything she does, whether it is cooking, rock climbing, or coding or anything else she’s currently learning. At work, she currently is a co-COO of the Firmwide Women’s Network and is also involved in planning and organizing programs for Girls Who Code. Regina earned a MS and BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2010. ​

Entrepreneurship

Caylee Betts is a product design manager at BuzzFeed, and runs her company, Swipies, by night and weekend. She's worked in startups, product companies, design firms, on plenty of side projects like her app Scout, and ran her own businesses. She actively mentors junior designers and girls interested in tech.

Cindy McLaughlin is CEO of Envelope, a software company helping real estate professionals visualize and run scenarios on development potential under zoning constraints. Previously, she was President, Content and Consumer for American Prison Data Systems, creating full-stack Android tablet solutions for prison and jail inmates. From 2008-2013, was Co-founder and CEO of Style for Hire, a venture-backed national network of independent personal stylists. Cindy co-founded and was CEO of Abaete, a critically-acclaimed and celebrity-followed NYC fashion company; and held various roles in the technology industry prior to that. Cindy has an MBA from MIT/Sloan, a BA from Mount Holyoke College, and spent 2 years in Congo as a Water/Sanitation volunteer for the US Peace Corps.

Jennifer is Associate Director of Entrepreneurial Programs and a Lecturer in the Practice of Entrepreneurship at the Yale School of Management. She serves as an advisor to the Yale Landscape Lab on Yale’s West Campus. In addition to her work at Yale, Jennifer is founder of SmartyJanes, a website that connects female students with mentors who can help them launch new projects and ventures. Prior to joining Yale, Jennifer was an adjunct professor at the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the CUNY, where she conducted research at the intersection of media, tech, and entrepreneurship. Jennifer is a 2008 graduate of Yale SOM, where she helped co-found the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute. She is a co-founder and advisor at Skillcrush, an online education company that focuses on teaching women technical skills. Jennifer graduated cum laude with a B.A. in economics from The University of Cincinnati, where she was a Hewett-Kautz Fellow.

Tinia is the founder and CEO of an agriculture technology/social enterprise startup called Re-Nuble, INC. She has worn many hats in her career--startup executive, staff accountant, financial analyst, and business developer.

CS in College

Aarti is currently a senior at New York University (NYU), majoring in computer science and computer engineering. She is the president of two computer science clubs at NYU - Women in Computing (WinC) and ACM at NYU. She is also an organizer for the ACM NY meetup group. She worked as a research assistant at NYU on the applications of machine learning to clinical medicine and spent a summer as a research intern at Microsoft.

Amy Gottsegen is a computer science major with a political science minor at Drexel University in Philadelphia. A passionate researcher, she is interested in applications of computing in socially beneficial capacities, specifically those that advance democracy and sustainability. Outside of the lab, you can find her searching for new music and good coffee.

Cherie is a senior at Barnard College majoring in computer science and environmental science. She is passionate about empowering women in tech and is President of Columbia Women in Computer Science. Cherie is excited to join LinkedIn full-time next year as an Associate Product Manager!

Rina Schiller is a senior at Macaulay Honors at Hunter College majoring in Digital Media and minoring in Computer Science and Women & Gender Studies. She is currently interning at an investment firm called The Seelig Group and has previously interned at AOL, Princeton SciTech, and the Financial Women's Association. Rina is also involved in an organization called Women in Technology in New York (WiTNY) and is very passionate about inspiring more women to be involved in technology.

Ashley Gavin is a nationally touring stand up comedian who's work has been featured on FOX, AXS TV, SiriusXM Comedy, and SeeSo. She recently headlined Caroline's on Broadway in a sold out performance. Prior to deciding to become a comedian, Ashley studied computer science at Bryn Mawr College, worked as a software engineer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and then went on to serve as the founding curriculum director of Girls Who Code. Ashley enjoys taking lessons learned from start up life and computer science and applying them to comedy; like when she raised over 20,000 dollars on her first Kickstarter project. Ashley is best known for her hard-hitting, intelligent, and sometimes absurd social commentary, particularly about her experiences as a gay woman and feminist.

CS and Art & Design

Chelsea Garber is a Product Design Lead at Inamoto & Co. where she works on strategic projects like Uniqlo IQ and Toyota Kirobo and develops consumer products for I&Co’s in house Design, Data, and Technology studio. In the past, she has worked as an experience designer at R/GA on the Nike Digital Sport team, designing the Nike+ Running App and Nike+ web platform.

Kat Sullivan lives somewhere in the intersection between movement and technology. After double majoring in Computer Science and Dance, she worked for several years as a software engineer and freelanced as a dancer. Not wanting to compartmentalize her life, she went to the Interactive Telecommunications Program and began creating work involving creative coding, live performance, machine learning, and more. Her work has been shown at Lincoln Center, National Sawdust, Flux Factory, South by Southwest, and the Liberty Science Center. Currently, she is a research resident at NYU and is reworking her piece, Aether, as part of a tech art residency at Pioneer Works. ​

Yuchen Zhang is a fashion tech designer, entrepreneur, and a lecturer at Parsons School of Art and Design. After Yuchen received her master’s degree from Parsons in Design and Technology. She has been working as a fashion technology specialist with companies such as Zac Posen, Google, and Loomia. She was recently a fashion technology research fellow at the MIT Open Style Lab and the Brooklyn Fashion Design Accelerator. Yuchen is currently the CEO of Wearable Media Studio, a New York-based fashion technology design service provider.

An Education Technologist at The Dalton School, Ellen Nickles collaborates with administrators and faculty to create, coordinate, and teach innovative, interdisciplinary curricula for over 550 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. As a photographer, she explores how pictures are seen and read. In both her education projects and in her photography, she is driven by curiosity, passions for learning and problem solving, sharing those, and creating opportunities for others to delight in asking questions and telling their stories.