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.
PANELS
CS for Good
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.
Ada 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.
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.
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.