Tess Posner is an American social entrepreneur and musician known for her work in artificial intelligence advocacy and ethics, focusing on increasing equity and inclusion in technology.[1]
Tess Posner | |
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Known for | Artificial Intelligence AI Ethics Diversity in Technology |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Columbia University (M.A.) Saint John's College (B.A.) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | AI4ALL |
Posner has headed multiple initiatives to promote diversity in technology before being hired as the CEO of the non-profit organization AI4ALL, a position from which she stepped down in 2021 to concentrate on her music career.[2][3][4] Her work has earned recognition including her selection as one of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics in 2020.[5]
Early years and education
editPosner grew up near Boston, Massachusetts. In high school, she traveled to El Salvador to build houses with Habitat for Humanity following an earthquake. Posner holds a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Mathematics from Saint John's College and a Master's degree from Columbia University in Social Enterprise Administration.[6]
Career
editSocial entrepreneurship
editEarly in her career, Posner built and ran Samsa School, a non-profit organization providing low-income people worldwide with tools and education to find work in the digital economy. Then, she became the managing director of TechHire at Opportunity@Work, a White House initiative that sought to increase diversity in the technology industry.[7] In 2016, Posner was selected as a fellow at the Institute for the Future.[8]
Posner then joined non-profit organization AI4ALL as their CEO and executive director.[9][10] AI4ALL provides AI education and mentorship particularly towards historically underrepresented talent.[2][11][4] In the years she served as CEO, AI4ALL saw over 15,000 young people participate in the organization's AI education and mentorship programs.[12] Posner has spoken at SXSW, Grace Hopper Celebration, Nvidia GPU Technology Conference, and further conferences about artificial intelligence and technology diversity and outreach.[13][14][15]
She is listed as a coauthor in Vint Cerf and David Nordfors's 2018 book The People Centered Economy: The New Ecosystem for Work.[16]
In an online statement published in October 2021, Posner announced that she would step out of the role as CEO of AI4ALL into an advisory role to pursue her music career full-time.[3] Emily Reid took over her role at the start of 2022 as interim CEO.[17]
Music
editPosner is also an alt-pop music artist. She released her first EP in 2018 and released new singles in 2020.[18][19]
Selected awards and recognition
edit- 2019 – VentureBeat Women in AI Award: Responsibility and Ethics Winner[20]
- 2019 – Alconics Awards AI Innovator of the Year Finalist[21]
- 2020 – 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics Hall of Fame Honoree[5]
References
edit- ^ "AI Isn't Good for Women — But We Can Fix It". Teen Vogue. April 4, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
- ^ a b Wong, Ashley. "Artificial intelligence has a racial bias problem. Google is funding summer camps to try to change that". USA TODAY. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
- ^ a b Posner, Tess (November 3, 2021). "Singing A New Song". AI4ALL. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ a b Smiley, Lauren (May 23, 2018). "The Future of AI Depends on High-School Girls". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
They hired Tess Posner, who had led initiatives aimed at getting more diversity into the digital economy, to be the CEO.
- ^ a b "Hall of Fame". 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
- ^ "Tess Posner inspires and trains diverse AI talent". Accelerate with Google. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ "AI in Medicine: Inclusion & Equity". Stanford University. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ "IFTF: Tess Posner". www.iftf.org. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ Castellanos, Sara (August 10, 2020). "The Changes AI Will Bring". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ "A Rare Tech Company Where Women Dominate". Fortune. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
- ^ Walch, Kathleen. "Concerns Of AI And Bias Insights from AI4ALL's Tess Posner". Forbes. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
- ^ "Miami Dade College Partners with AI4ALL College Pathways Initiative to Prepare Students for Careers in Artificial Intelligence". MDC News. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ "Understanding the Human Side of Automation". SXSW. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ Lindeman, Laura (September 26, 2019). "10 Talks We Can't Wait to Hear at the 2019 Grace Hopper Celebration". Medium. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ Stewart, Louis (October 15, 2020). "At GTC, Leaders Focus on Equity in AI, Developer Diversity | NVIDIA Blog". The Official NVIDIA Blog. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ Cerf, Vint; Nordfors, David (2018). The People Centered Economy: The New Ecosystem for Work. ISBN 978-1729145920.
- ^ Team, AI4ALL (December 14, 2021). "Emily Reid Named Interim CEO of AI4ALL". AI4ALL. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Interview: Tess Posner". Tongue Tied Magazine. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
- ^ FeaturesMusic· (February 21, 2020). "Tess Posner Shines On Catchy New Single "Ocean"". DNü. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ "Winners of VentureBeat's first Women in AI Awards announced at Transform 2019". VentureBeat. July 12, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ "AIconics Awards San Francisco 2019: Shortlist announced". AI Business. Retrieved September 17, 2021.