UMass Boston

Black Lives Matter Day 2023 Program PDF

9 am: Doors open

9:05 am: Opening Remarks

9:15 am: Panel by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Boston Chapter entitled: "Promoting Tech Equity for Our Community Now and Beyond"

Panelists: Adedire Adesiji, Michelle Barnes, Clifton Orcel, Robyn Gibson

Moderator: Louvere Walker-Hannon

Michelle Barnes is a first-generation Ghanaian-American and math graduate with a passion for all things STEM! She loves to learn, grow, and climb the data science ladder while proving to the naysayers that we really do use "this stuff"! She attributes her insatiable curiosity about the nature of our world, and an equally strong desire to do as much good for as many people as possible as her two driving forces.  

I'm a first-generation Ghanaian-American and math graduate with a passion for all things STEM! I'm here to learn, grow, and climb the data science ladder while proving to the naysayers that we really do use "this stuff"! Two things that have always pushed me forward through life: my insatiable curiosity about the nature of our world, and an equally strong desire to do as much good for as many people as I can. The latter desire doesn’t necessarily need to come from my career (though it wouldn’t hurt!), but through leaving a little bit of knowledge and good vibes with every person I meet. 

Adedire Adesiji is currently a PhD Candidate in the Mechanical Engineering department at Boston University. His research revolves around accelerating material discovery using autonomous systems and artificial intelligence tools; his contributions were recently highlighted when he and his research group discovered the most mechanical energy-absorbing structure using an autonomous lab. Adedire holds a Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, where he graduated with a first-class honors. His excellence in academics was recognized through scholarships from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Chevron, and TotalEnergies. He also made a significant impact in the field with a notable publication on 3D printing technologies. Adedire is a passionate advocate for excellence in the Black community. 

Moderator: Louvere Walker-Hannon is a MathWorks application engineering senior team lead who provides technical guidance and strategic direction on the implementation of AI and data science workflows for various applications. She has a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and a master’s degree in geographic information technology with a specialization in remote sensing. Louvere has presented and continues to present at several STEM-related conferences on various topics and is an active STEM advocate. She has presented her work on natural language processing and presented AI workshops at various conferences. Louvere has presented her AI work at the Grace Hopper Celebration (2018–2020, 2022), Women in Data Science (WiDS), and other conferences. Louvere was a keynote speaker as a part of the Black in AI workshop for NeurIPS 2021. Louvere frequently and currently volunteers with Black Girls CODE, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) African American and Latinos Affinity Groups, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and Women in Data Science (WiDS). Specifically in her volunteer leadership roles she was elected as a SWE Senator for FY23-FY25 and the Programs Chair of NSBE Boston Professionals 23-25. 

10:20 am: Two Concurrent Sessions Available

Philosophical and Sociological Perspectives on African American Recruitment, Retention, and Employment in the STEM fields

https://umassboston.zoom.us/j/98702435632 

Panelists: Joseph E. Cooper, PhD, Alfred Noël (he/him), and Artis Street

Joseph E. Cooper, PhD

Alfred Noël, PhD (he/him)

Alfred Noël received a PhD in Mathematics from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts USA, in 1997. He is, currently, Professor and Chair in the department of Mathematics at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Before starting his academic career at UmassBoston in 1998, he worked in Industry, as a software engineer, from 1987 to 1994. He was also a lecturer in Mathematics, Biostatistics, and Computer Science at Northeastern University from 1984 to 1998. His main research contributions are in Representation Theory of Lie Groups. He was a Martin Luther King visiting Assistant-Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and spent a semester as an invited researcher at Harvard University in 2006. In 1996, he and other colleagues in the Boston area founded the Haitian Scientific Society (HSS). Since 2016, he has been collaborating with the faculty of Le Centre de recherches mathématiques de L'Institut des Sciences, des Technologies et des Études Avancées d'Haïti.

Artis Street

Artis C. Street is the Assistant Head of School at the Madison Park Technical Vocational HighSchool in Boston Public Schools. In addition, he is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Regis College. Artis worked in Boston Public Schools since November 2007 as a teacher, instructional team leader, instructional transformational coach, and assistant head of school. Artis transitioned from the high-tech industry to education in July 2010. Once pursuing a math education major in college before switching to engineering, he kept his desire to become an educator in mathematics. Both inside and outside the classroom, he has motivated students to pursue STEM related college programs and careers. Artis is passionate about working with students using relevant and engaging lessons. Using education to break generational cycles of poverty, Artis builds strategic relationships with universities, STEM organizations and companies to provide opportunities for students to explore, learn, and apply academic and social skills to succeed. With over 14 years of technical industry experience, Artis worked for Pollak-Stoneridge Company in Canton, MA as a Business Development Manager in the Driveline and Safety Business Unit from 2004 to 2007. Prior to Pollak, he worked for Motorola in Phoenix, AZ and Austin, TX as a Technical and Strategic Marketing Manager in the sensors and Digital Signal Processing (DSPs) business units from 1999 to 2003. Before joining Motorola, Artis spent five years at Texas Instruments as a product marketing engineer for Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), microcontrollers, DSPs, and system software solution products for the computer and wireless communications segments. Currently, Artis is enrolled in the Urban Education, Leadership and Policy doctoral program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston as part of the Boston Teacher Residency Program with a Master of Science degree in Education. He graduated from Texas State University with a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 2004, and the University of South Florida with a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1993. Artis received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Florida State University in 1991.

The View From Their Lens: Elevating Black Women's Voices and Lived Experiences in STEM through Photo-Elicitation and Conversation with Kerrie Wilkins-Yel, PhD (she/her)

Kerrie Wilkins-Yel, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her research broadly focuses on equity, justice, and access both at work and in pursuit of work. Specifically, she takes an intersectional approach to understanding the influence of oppression and marginalization on the career development and mental health of women from minoritized racial/ethnic backgrounds, particularly within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Her work has been published in scholarly outlets such as the Journal of Engineering Education, Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Sex Roles, and Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering. In addition to her scholarship, Dr. Wilkins-Yel addresses race- and gender-based inequities in STEM by developing culturally sustaining interventions through interdisciplinary research-practice-partnerships. Most notably, Dr. Wilkins-Yel founded and co-directs the multi-institutional I CAN PERSIST STEM Initiative, a liberatory multigenerational counterspace designed to advance STEM persistence among women and girls of color in a manner centered on thriving.

11:20 am: Keynote

Human-First AI: In Praise of Friction 

Renee Gosline, PhD, MIT (she/her)

Dr. Renée Richardson Gosline is a Senior Lecturer and Research Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the head of the Human-First AI group at MIT's Initiative on The Digital Economy. She is an expert on the intersection of behavioral science and technology, and the implications of AI for cognitive bias in human decision-making. Renée is a leading thinker on how AI affects human judgment and the interplay of human and AI bias. Her forthcoming book, In Praise of Friction (MIT Press, 2024), examines how AI affects our experiences, and the importance of auditing our decision-making processes to minimize “bad friction” and leverage “beneficial friction.” Her experiments have examined: the persuasiveness of generative AI and human co-authorship; the impact of adding friction to generative AI to improve quality; when people are likely to exhibit algorithmic aversion or appreciation; how cognitive style predicts preference for AI versus human input; how technology affects performance via placebo effects; how consumers determine “real” from “fake” products; and the effects of storytelling in social media on trust and persuasion. Renée has been named a Digital Fellow at Stanford’s Digital Economy Lab, an honoree on the Thinkers50 Radar List of thinkers who are “putting a dent in the universe,” and one of the World’s Top 40 Professors under 40 by Poets and Quants. She has presented her research to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as a featured speaker at SXSW, and to the OECD. Her work has been published in academic journals and books and been featured in international media outlets including PBS, The BBC, The Wall Street Journal, The BBC, The Economist, Fast Company, NPR, Yahoo Finance, Forbes, and Psychology Today. Renée enjoys teaching MBA and Executive Education classes, and specializes in advising on CX strategy, creating a culture of experimentation, and Responsible AI. She has collaborated with and given keynotes for a variety of organizations on CX and Leadership, including Goldman Sachs, Salesforce, IBM, Procter and Gamble, Accenture, Johnson & Johnson, Analog Devices Incorporated, TD Ameritrade, and Capgemini. Prior to academia, Renée was a marketing practitioner at LVMH Moet Hennessy and Leo Burnett. Renée serves on the Board of Directors of the National Kidney Foundation, the Executive Board of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) CX Council, the advisory board of Sloan Management Review, the Scientific Affiliate Board of the Behavioral Economics group Ideas42, and the the Board of Directors of Richard Parson's Equity Alliance investment fund. She received her Undergraduate, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees at Harvard University. 

12:15 pm: Lunch, Networking, and Information Fair 

12:45 pm: Final Thoughts

1:00 pm: Coded Bias Documentary