Retired VP of Open Systems
Margaret Chiosi received her Bachelor (S’77) and Master’s (S’78) of Science in Computer Science from Purdue University. Over her 40-year career as an industry leader in data networking, she spearheaded the virtualization platform for hardware network functions and Software Defined Networks across rigid network and cellular infrastructures as a distinguished network architect at AT&T.
Her expertise spans a vast array of data services - IP/VPNs and Ethernet to Frame Relay/ATM and Optical services - allowing her to lead teams of over 150 professionals in the development and deployment of groundbreaking network technologies and strategic directions for data services and products as well as generating multi-billion-dollar global revenues. Margaret also has a solid technical foundation in developing data products on both real-time operating systems and UNIX-based systems.
As a respected voice in the industry, Margaret was a founding member and President of the Open Platform for Network Function Virtualization (OPNFV) under the Linux Foundation, as well as a founding member of the European standards forum, ETSI ISG, for Network Function Virtualization and a former board member of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF). She has been a frequent keynote speaker and lead presenter at global conferences, discussing various facets of networking, including architecture, operations, and services. Later in her career she became Vice President of Open Ecosystem at Futurewei, tasked with developing open source and standards into the fixed network product line. Currently retired, Margaret volunteers her time at the United Way providing low- and moderate-income families with assistance in filing federal tax returns, and she also assists her husband, Joseph Chiosi (A’75, DVM’79), in managing his veterinary practice.

Product Manager, Microsoft
Nancy Wang believes that when we work together, we can accomplish anything. She currently serves as a product manager for Microsoft, where she defines new ways of managing tasks for Office users worldwide, and advises Breaktime, a nonprofit focused on ending young adult homelessness through transitional employment. She received her Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Economics from Johns Hopkins University. In her free time, Nancy writes at Metamorphosis of the Soul (metamorphosisofthesoul.substack.com) and thinks about ways to build climate resilient systems for marginalized communities.

Digital Strategy Analyst | Adobe
Jaiden Price is a Digital Strategy Analyst at Adobe, where she partners with Fortune 500 High Tech, Manufacturing, and Automotive companies to lead digital transformations. She recently graduated from Binghamton University and Copenhagen Business School. Jaiden has interned at Adobe, Accenture, OUR SHIFT (a Danish sustainable fashion brand), and a local digital marketing agency. During her time in undergrad, she was a Tech Fellow at Harvard WECode for all four years, a program that remains close to her heart. She’s excited to return as a panelist to the conference that inspired her so much!

Professor | MIT
Nancy Lynch has been a Professor in the EECS Department at MIT since 1982. She heads the Theory of Distributed Systems research group in MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL).
Lynch received her B.S. from Brooklyn College in 1968 and her PhD from MIT in 1972, both in Math. Prior to joining MIT, she served on the Math faculties at Tufts and the University of Southern California, and on the CS faculty at Georgia Tech.
Lynch has written and co-written hundreds of research articles about distributed algorithms and impossibility results, and about formal modeling and verification of distributed systems. Her best-known contribution is the 1982 ``FLP'' impossibility result for distributed consensus in the presence of process failures, with Fischer and Paterson, followed by a paper with Dwork and Stockmeyer on algorithms for reaching consensus under restricted failure assumptions. Other contributions include the I/O automata system modeling frameworks, as well as recent results on wireless network algorithms and biological distributed algorithms.
Lynch is the author of the textbook ``Distributed Algorithms'' and co-author of ``Atomic Transactions'' and ``The Theory of Timed I/O Automata''. She is an ACM Fellow, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of both the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. She has been awarded many prestigious prizes for her research contributions. She has supervised over 100 graduate students and postdocs, many of whom have themselves become leading researchers.

Principal Architect | Salesforce
Lead Architect for the Hyperforce Infrastructure Platform built on public cloud that enables rapid and reliable delivery of Salesforce products worldwide.

Co-Founder & CEO | ScaleGrowth AI
Anna is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and co-founder of ScaleGrowth AI, world’s first AI Data Analyst that proactively delivers personalized actionable insights in real-time, at scale. With expertise in applying / scaling AI solutions to drive engagement and revenue, Anna is focused on bridging AI technology with real-world business applications. Holding two US patents, she’s passionate about transforming how companies harness AI to boost productivity and deliver personalized experiences and outcomes at scale. In her spare time, Anna is committed to elevating women founders in tech and is dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion within the industry.

Product Executive & Women in Product Board Member
Nisha is product executive with 20+ years of experience leading digital transformation at companies like Bolt, Upwork, Intuit, Yahoo and eBay. As a Board Member of Women in Product, she has helped build a community of 30,000+ members across 27 chapters. Known for crafting product strategies that deeply resonate with customers by understanding their needs and translating them into impactful products, and by transforming teams into high-achieving organizations she has consistently delivered exceptional business results. Her expertise in e-commerce, AI/ML product development, and digital marketplace optimization has made her a recognized leader in product management and digital transformation.

Women In Product Board Member
Nisha is product executive with 15+ years of experience leading digital transformation at companies like Bolt, Upwork, Intuit, Yahoo and eBay. As a Board Member of Women in Product, she has helped build a community of 30,000+ members across 27 chapters. Known for crafting product strategies that deeply resonate with customers by understanding their needs and translating them into impactful products, and by transforming teams into high-achieving organizations she has consistently delivered exceptional business results. Her expertise in e-commerce, AI/ML product development, and digital marketplace optimization has made her a recognized leader in product management and digital transformation.

Senior Software Engineer | Yelp
Fatima is a Senior Software Engineer at Yelp with a deep passion for mentoring early-career tech professionals. She has successfully guided many individuals through their first steps in the tech industry, helping them overcome challenges and achieve their career goals. In addition to her mentorship, Fatima is a prominent voice in the tech community, with a substantial following on LinkedIn, where she shares actionable insights on career development and growth.
An experienced speaker, Fatima has presented at leading conferences including Developer Week 2024, the Southern California Linux Expo (Scale) 2023 and 2024, NDC Copenhagen Developer Festival 2023, Women of Silicon Roundabout 2022, cdCon+GitOpsCon 2023 (as a keynote speaker), Momentum 2024, and the Black is Tech Conference in 2022 and 2023. She has also spoken at over 80 hackathons across North America. Her sessions are renowned for their practical, hands-on advice, making her a sought-after speaker on topics related to career progression and professional growth in the tech industry.
Fatima holds a master's degree in Data Science from HEC Montreal and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Head of AI Governance | Alaska Airlines
I’m Shelby Tallent, an AI Product and Governance leader with over 15 years of experience driving innovation, operational excellence, and ethical AI practices across industries. Currently, I serve as AI Governance Manager at Alaska Airlines, leading initiatives that prioritize compliance, security, and trust in the aviation sector. Additionally, as an Advisory Board Member for Humma.AI, I help develop inclusive, human-centered AI solutions.
Previously, I led AI innovation as Sr. Director, Head of AI Product & Research at Reorg, launching products like CreditAI and customer support chatbots while embedding AI as a core organizational ethos. My earlier roles at TeleSign, Amazon, and Nordstrom honed my expertise in scaling AI strategies to address complex challenges and deliver impactful results.
I’m passionate about fostering ethical AI innovation and have shared my insights at events like Harvard’s WeCode Conference, AWS Re:Invent and the Lesbians Who Tech Summit. I believe in the transformative potential of AI and am dedicated to ensuring its growth benefits both organizations and society.

CEO & Founder | Science to People
Brinleigh Murphy-Reuter is a science communicator and leader, driven by a mission to make evidence-based information accessible and culturally relevant for all. Drawing on her experience at Google, YouTube, and Disney—and inspired by her role as a parent—she focuses on addressing information disorder, equipping everyday audiences with practical tools to navigate an ever-shifting media landscape. As the founder of Science to People—incubated during her graduate studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education—Brinleigh is pioneering VeriSci, an AI-powered communications tool that helps content creators produce credible, culturally attuned messages. Through collaborative research, community engagement, and innovative technology solutions, she aims to reshape how science is shared, ensuring individuals and organizations are empowered with knowledge that resonates, motivates action, and fosters informed decision-making in our complex world.

VP, Transformation | Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Lily Gassner is the Chief of Staff to the Executive Vice President and GM of HPE’s Aruba Networking. Lily leads Aruba’s Transformation and Program Office, driving large-scale operational transformation to accelerate business growth. Lily leads Aruba’s Data & Systems Office, acquisition integrations, business continuity and enterprise risk management, sustainability PMO, and other shorter-term transformational initiatives.
Lily joined Hewlett Packard (now HPE) in 2005 and held variety of roles spanning across business analytics, strategy, operations, and customer experience. In 2012, Lily shifted her career into Human Resources, where she spent nearly 10 years, leading HR for global business units and functions. Before joining HPE Aruba Networking, Lily was the Head of HR for HPE’s Communications Technology Group.

Mission Ops
Dr. Lauren Goodwin, has held various C-Level roles including Chief Information Security Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Information Officer for NASA’s Johnson Space Center. With over 20 years of experience leading technology, data, and cybersecurity organizations in space and energy, she was named a 2023 Top 100 Technology Executive. She has modernized Operations Technology and Information Technology infrastructure for multi-billion Programs on a global scale. She was accountable for standing up the SpaceX Cybersecurity Assurance Program at SpaceX with a critical project for certifying the Crew Dragon Space Vehicle to send humans back into space from U.S. soil. She streamlined a $3.4 Trillion organization’s 60,000 engineers to improve their product delivery on time and on budget from 48 weeks to 2 weeks. She is certified in Lean Six Sigma where she streamlined operations for $130 Billion of global energy assets. She is a professor at Columbia University where she teaches Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence courses. She performed groundbreaking research leveraging artificial intelligence to map the neural patterns of the brain’s learning process to improve access to education in STEM fields. She founded Mission Ops to be able to serve her country best by offering objective, expert based technology modernization and differentiation to the U.S. Federal Government with the same speed, agility, adaptability, and cost-effective models she has deployed in industry. She is mission-driven in all she does, which led to the launch of her company, Mission Ops which delivers data, technology and cybersecurity solutions in the space, healthcare, and intelligence sectors. She is a non-profit board member of CanCare, which provides emotional support for those affected by cancer.

CEO & Founder, Dyania Health
Eirini Schlosser, MSc is a serial entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in building NLP applications. She is the Founder and CEO of Dyania Health, a fast-growing healthcare AI company focused on training their medically specialized Large Language Model to automatically and accurately read, understand, and deduce clinical conclusions from electronic medical records for use in clinical research, quality, and reporting. Eirini's mission has been to replace manual bottlenecks in healthcare and life sciences with an automated solution through Dyania's medically specialized Synapsis AI.
Eirini seized the opportunity in 2019 to establish Dyania Health, her 3rd start-up focused on applying natural language processing technologies. The company's multidisciplinary team, including experts from prestigious institutions like Memorial Sloan Kettering, UCLA Health, Amazon, BloombergAI, Flatiron Health, and Morgan Stanley, is bridging the gap between medicine and applied AI research.

Eirini’s impressive career spans over a decade as a serial tech entrepreneur, drawing on her machine learning expertise from MIT coursework and largely self-taught python programming skills, as well as her years in M&A at Morgan Stanley and early foundation in biochemistry. This unique blend of experiences has driven Dyania Health’s mission to revolutionize healthcare and life sciences industries. Eirini also holds degrees from the Ohio State University and London Business School. She’s lived in and built businesses across 4 countries which has helped her develop her defining ethos: that connecting teams with multidisciplinary skills and diverse thought is not only the optimal path but likely the only path to innovate truly new solutions to complex problems.

Non-Profit Founder and Board Member, MyH2O Water Information Network
Charlene Ren is a social entrepreneur and long-time environmental advocate. She’s currently working as a business strategy consultant in an international company, mainly serving consumer industries and NGOs. She graduated from MIT with dual masters in Environmental Engineering and Technology & Policy.
In 2015, she founded MyH2O, a nonprofit organization that connects resources for clean water solutions for rural areas in need. MyH2O has mobilized thousands of youths to raise water and sanitation awareness across rural China, and delivered clean water facilitaties and solutions to hundreds of villages so far. Her work earned her the 2020 UN Young Champion of the Earth award. She was also an Echoing Green Fellow in 2016, Homeward Bound Antarctica Female leadership journey member, and was named one of Forbes "30 Under 30" Social Entrepreneurs in 2019.

Software Engineer | Geico Tech
Toluwalope Bashua (she/her) is a Software Engineer at GEICO and a proud first-generation Nigerian college graduate. She earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science and Information Science, with a minor in Technology Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation, graduating as a Senior Marshall and top of her class from the University of Maryland. At UMD, she demonstrated a passion for leadership and community, contributing as an SGA representative, student employee, and active member of organizations like CODE:Black and ALD Honor Society.
Professionally, Toluwalope has held multiple roles at different tech companies and collaborated on impactful projects, including NGO digital transformations. A proud member of RTC and MLT, she is dedicated to fostering diversity in tech. At WeCode 2025, Toluwalope will share her journey from academia to industry and her insights on thriving as a software engineer in today’s dynamic tech landscape.

Senior Software Engineer | Mastercard
Lola Roberts is a software engineer with over 4 years of experience. She has worked at Mastercard in the Crypto and Digital Assets department since 2020. Lola has expertise in Solidity, JavaScript, and Java. Outside of coding, she is a co-lead of the NYC YoPros (Young Professional) employee resource group and leads The Belle Block whose mission is to create a safe and inclusive space where members can support each other and share knowledge about web3.

CEO | Elonroad
Karin Ebbinghaus, CEO of Elonroad, leads a pioneering deep-tech e-mobility company. With a background in law and investing, her journey from the prominent law firm Vinge to Elonroad unveiled her passion for technology's potential in combating the climate crisis. Elonroad's groundbreaking charging infrastructure is at the forefront of the electrification revolution, driven by Karin's resolute belief in innovative solutions. Her diverse experience at Vinge, Linklaters, Vestas, and Almi Invest equips her with a unique blend of legal, industry, and investment expertise, positioning her as a visionary leader in the deep tech e-mobility sector.

Executive Director | Lemelson-MIT Program
Dr. Stephanie Couch is the Executive Director of the Lemelson-MIT Program administered by the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research explores ways inventors find and develop technological solutions to problems. She also examines factors that support or constrain the development of creative and inventive problem-solving capabilities among people at different age ranges and stages of development, with an emphasis on discovering ways of remedying historic inequities in the U.S. with respect to who develops and protects their intellectual property. Insights into these subjects are informed by her Interactional Ethnographic approach to examining opportunities for learning. Prior to joining the Lemelson-MIT Program, Stephanie worked in California in numerous roles focused on K-12 and higher education policy. During her time as a lobbyist in Sacramento and then as a consultant for two Speakers of the California State Assembly. She specialized in school finance, categorical programs, and technology in teaching and learning. She was an early leader in the work to establish multi-stakeholder STEM education networks across the U.S., including formation of the statewide California STEM Learning Network, and the Gateways East Bay STEM Network in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds an A.A. from Modesto Junior College, a B.A. in Political Science from UC Davis, and a M.A./Ph.D in education from UC Santa Barbara.

CEO & Founder @ ChatBlackGPT
Brianna is the Founder and CEO of Verbatim, a hybrid influencer agency and content studio that helps startups and SMBs craft scroll-stopping content and scalable marketing programs. With over a decade of experience in demand generation, social and content strategy, and influencer marketing, she brings a sharp, multifaceted perspective to every project. Beyond Verbatim, Brianna is a LinkedIn creator, writer, and keynote speaker, whose insights have been featured by Fast Company, CNBC, the American Marketing Association, HubSpot, and more.

Founder, Verbatim
As the Founder and CEO of Verbatim, a boutique marketing agency, Brianna helps ambitious startups & lean marketing teams build successful, scalable marketing programs. Outside of her 9-5, she's a LinkedIn content creator, writer, and keynote speaker. Her work and thought leadership have been featured by Fast Company, CNBC, American Marketing Association, HubSpot, and more.

Senior Product Manager | Cisco
Huma Hamid is a Senior Product Manager at Cisco U., leading efforts in user acquisition, retention, and revenue growth while driving AI Digital Transformation and Product Experiences within Cisco Learning. With over 17 years of experience in global tech, she has contributed to scalable platforms and digital solutions across industries. Passionate about fostering diversity and inclusion, she co-founded Pakistani Women in Computing (PWiC), a global nonprofit elevating women in STEM, earning her accolades like the Women in STEM Groundbreakers Award by Global Women Asia. Recognized by organizations such as AnitaB.org and Wonder Women in Tech, Huma also advises Global Women Asia’s STEM fellowship and the Cisco-WISE Social Justice initiative while serving on the Women of Cisco Americas Board.

Fellow and CVP, Technical Diversity & Development, AMD
Suzanne Plummer is a Fellow and Corporate Vice President, Technical Diversity and Development at AMD. In this role, she is responsible for developing the technical talent pipeline for female engineers within AMD.
Prior to this role, she spent 33 years as a technical individual contributor and leadership roles in CPU cores (leading the development of the Zen microprocessor), working with Microsoft in the semi-custom business unit, and driving the development of all of the SOCs for discrete and data center graphics products.
Prior to AMD, Suzanne worked at Motorola and Alchemy semiconductor.

Executive Director, National Academy Of Inventors
Jamie Renee serves as the Executive Director for the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Before assuming the role as Executive Director, she served for two years as the Senior Advisor to the Academy's Founder and President, Dr. Paul Sanberg, overseeing strategic partnerships, board engagement, and team development. As Executive Director, she is committed to growing the impact of NAI through strategic partnerships and intentional member engagement and making strides in reaching and involving underrepresented populations in the innovation and invention ecosystem.
Jamie has a heart for humanity and a mind for business. Korn Ferry ranked her business acumen in the top 2.5% of executive leaders worldwide. She has more than 25 years of corporate and nonprofit experience, having served in leadership roles within Home Depot, OAI, The Children's Home, United Way, and Habitat for Humanity. An alumna of the University of North Florida, Jamie is certified in Strength-based Professional Coaching from Gallup, Social Responsibility Planning from Yale, and Culture Creation from Harvard.
Before her appointment at the Academy, Jamie founded Good Day Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning and culture alignment. Her firm worked with organizations and leaders committed to leveraging best practices that put people first and build a culture of inclusivity, trust, and cohesion. She has extensive experience developing and implementing strategic plans, leadership and team coaching, and project implementation. Having overseen multiple mergers and acquisitions, her passion for building cohesive teams and inspiring positive change helps take teams and operations to new levels.
Jamie is an avid life-long learner and loves to teach what she learns. As part of her commitment to "be the good in the world," she founded Engage364, a nonprofit focused on mobilizing business leaders to engage with at-risk youth to help them discover and make a plan for their purpose.

Chief of Staff and White House Liaison (through Jan 2025), National Endowment for the Arts
Jenn Chang (she/her) joined the Biden Administration in January 2021, serving as the White House Liaison and Senior Advisor to the Chair, and subsequently Chief of Staff, at the National Endowment for the Arts. At the NEA, she helped advance equity and inclusion, health and well-being, social cohesion, and civic engagement through the arts. She was instrumental in designing the NEA’s American Rescue Plan grant program, which distributed $135 million to organizations nationwide; she recruited and onboarded 11 new members of the National Council on the Arts; she laid the groundwork for ArtsHERE, the NEA’s first equity-focused grant program; and she served as the primary partner to the White House from the NEA, including advising the Domestic Policy Council on all-of-government arts and culture integration.
A graduate of Harvard College with a degree in Social Studies, Jenn joined the NEA after working on the appointments team with the Biden-Harris Transition. Prior to that, she worked as an associated consultant at WolfBrown with a portfolio of arts and education clients. She spent over a decade at Google, where she worked in Strategy and Operations across Google Fiber, AdWords, and Grow With Google. At Google, her roles included designing Fiber’s expansion strategy and approach to working at scale with municipalities, oversight of a Learning and Development program, building consensus and buy-in for standard operating procedures across 12 offices, and serving on Google Fiber’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion task force. In 2016, she took a sabbatical to serve as the Expansion States Operations Director at Hillary for America.
Jenn received her Master's degree in viola performance from The Juilliard School while working part-time at Google. Venue highlights include the MoMA sculpture garden, Dizzy’s Jazz Club and Carnegie Hall in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, and Cafe Revolution in San Francisco.

Software Engineer at Microsoft
Xue is a software engineer that works in Microsoft on the UX team. She is passionate about connecting and supporting students of all backgrounds.

Service Design Analyst at PepsiCo
Zanele Mureverwi is a Service Design Analyst at PepsiCo, where she serves as a creative technology liaison for the Global Design Team, supporting over 100 associates across 17 locations worldwide. With a focus on rendering, AI, CGI, video editing, compositing, and VR, Zanele drives technical innovation and efficiency. She has spearheaded workshops in collaboration with Adobe, leveraging tools like Adobe Creative Cloud, Express, and Firefly to enhance workflows across Global Design, D3, PepsiCo's In-House Advertising Agency, and other departments. Passionate about blending creativity and technology, Zanele thrives in roles that allow her to innovate and empower teams.

Head of US Education Strategy at T-Mobile
Dr. Kiesha King is a passionate advocate for bridging the digital divide and serves as T-Mobile’s Head of U.S. Education Strategy, leading a $10.7 billion initiative to expand access to technology for students. With over 20 years of experience driving transformation in education, she is a five-time Forbes-published author with a global readership of more than three million. Her work highlights the critical intersection of technology and education while leading strategies for K-12 and Higher Education.

Recognized by the FCC for her contributions to advancing student access, Dr. King has impacted over 6 million students by providing connectivity and devices. Beyond her professional success, she actively advocates for children’s needs through board service, ensuring that their voices shape the future of education and technology. Dr. Kiesha King’s dedication and leadership have helped create equitable opportunities for millions of students, shaping a brighter future for learners across the country.

Co-Founder and CEO of Coding it Forward
Ariana Soto (she/her) is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Coding it Forward (CIF), a 501(c)3 nonprofit empowering the next generation of mission-driven technologists by creating new pathways into public interest technology. In her previous capacity as Deputy Director of CIF, she oversaw the strategy and operations of CIF’s Fellowship program. Ariana led CIF’s expansion into state and local government in 2021. To date, nearly 700 early-career Fellows have made an impact as technologists working at all levels of government in over 80 local, state, and federal offices across the country.

Prior to Coding it Forward, Ariana worked with the Los Angeles Mayor’s Data Team and the NYC Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics. She also has experience in public safety consulting through her prior position as a Research Assistant at Justice & Security Strategies, Inc., a nationally recognized leader in public safety research. Ariana holds a BA in Government and Computer Science, with a certificate in Technology Science from Harvard University.

Advisor: Former Chief Digital Officer and CIO, Dell
Experienced Chief Digital Officer, CIO, and Business Transformation leader with a proven track record in driving transformation, building high performing teams, and managing risk in a large, complex global environment. Her career started in engineering and product management with fast growing start-ups and grew to leading Dell's digital / IT organization as the company grew to over $100B in revenue. She is passionate about the use of technology (including AI) to deliver great experiences, be more competitive and eliminate waste. Jen is an alum of the Leaders for Global Operations program at MIT, where she earned an MBA along with a Masters in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She also has both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

Product Manager at Rightway
With a unique blend of expertise in healthcare, business, and the arts, Saba is a dynamic leader passionate about driving innovation in the health tech space. Saba holds dual degrees—an MPH and an MBA—from Columbia Business School, complemented by vocal arts training from Juilliard, underscoring a lifelong commitment to both analytical and creative excellence.

Over the course of her career, Saba has worked with well-established healthcare organizations, including NewYork-Presbyterian, Cleveland Clinic, and Stanford Healthcare, where she honed her skills in operations, management, and strategy. This foundation provided the perfect springboard to transition into the health tech industry, where she continues to make an impact.

Currently, as a Product Manager at Rightway, Saba supports the development and design for the pharmacy benefits member app and has spearheaded the development of a new product for clients from the ground up, delivering innovative solutions to meet client needs.

Guided by a passion for improving healthcare accessibility and outcomes through technology, Saba brings a distinctive perspective to every challenge she tackles.

Jill Szuchmacher has spent her career as an entrepreneur both inside and outside large corporations, building and leading teams to effectively commercialize innovation. She started her professional life in media and the arts including starting her first company at 19, with early career stints at MTV and Scholastic, pivoting to tech and infrastructure to have broader impact. She spent 13 years at Google, including 8 years building Google Fiber, and has deep experience working with communities, distributed teams, investors, and stakeholders at all levels of government to build and operate digital infrastructure at scale. Throughout her career, she has led with a people-first mentality, building high-performing teams that can turn ambitious visions into reality.

Global Head of Go to Market at Google Cloud Learning Services
Natalie Van Kleef is the global head of the Go-to-Market organization for Google Cloud Learning Services. Most recently, she served as a Sr. Labor Innovation Fellow for the Biden-Harris Administration. Natalie founded the Grow with Google IT Support Career Certificates and Google's Department of Labor-registered apprenticeship program. Prior to this, Natalie ran the IT Residency Program that staffed Google’s internal IT support function globally. Natalie holds a B.A. from Boston College and an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has appeared on CNN, in several podcasts, including Harvard Business School’s Managing the Future of Work, and in publications like Fortune, Forbes, Wired, Axios, and Wired.

Found/CEO CreativeMornings
Tina Roth Eisenberg is a Swiss born, raised and trained graphic designer, gone NYC. Over the past 18 years Tina started numerous side projects that have organically turned into businesses: a creative co-working community called FRIENDS, a global lecture series called CreativeMornings, a simple to-do app called TeuxDeux and Tattly, a high-end temporary tattoo shop. Tina believes living your life is inherently a creative act: You write your play, as you direct and act it.

Software Engineer II at Microsoft
Jessica Walton is a Software Engineer II at Microsoft, working on the M365 Core Enterprise and Cloud team to automate deployments of M365 services in sovereign clouds. She graduated from Harvard in 2021 with a degree in Computer Science and Education. During her time at Harvard, she played a leading role in advocacy and outreach as a leader in WiCS and as the WECode Director of Programming in 2019. Jessica lives in Cambridge, MA with her husband, Josh, and their havapoo, Ivy. She is eager to connect about navigating CS in college, industry or government tech careers, wellness, faith, public service, education, plays or musicals, or anything else!

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal & Corporate Responsibility Officer at Lenovo

Professor at George Mason University
Professor Mary (Missy) Cummings received her BS in Mathematics from the US Naval Academy in 1988, MS in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994, and Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2004. A naval pilot from 1988-1999, she was one of the U.S. Navy's first female fighter pilots. She is a Professor in the George Mason University College of Engineering and Computing, and directs the Mason Responsible AI program as well as the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center. She is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Her research interests include artificial intelligence in safety-critical systems, assured autonomy, human-systems engineering, and the ethical and social impact of technology.

Talent Acquisition Consultant at Southwest Airlines
Sarah Steinmann attended Texas A&M University and graduated with a degree in Business Management, a minor in Psychology, and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management. After graduation, she began working in a corporate role and is now a Consultant within Talent Acquisition supporting Pipelines, Programs, and Sourcing Initiatives. She is excited to discuss building an integrated life of social impact - both within a corporate job and outside of work as a young professional.
A few elements she will share include her experience building the business case to remove a barrier to employment at her company that opened up opportunities for 8.9 million people, using her company’s flight benefits to fly refugees to their new homes, and creating a Dallas Good Neighbor Guide focused on empowering individuals to know and love their neighbors.
This session will enable students to re-imagine the life they can live post-grad in whatever sector they step into next.

Research Engineer at Google Deepmind
Christine is a Research Engineer at Google DeepMind, multiple-time hackathon winner, and recent graduate from Princeton University. Her work on agents and human-AI collaboration interfaces was awarded Princeton's Outstanding Computer Science Senior Thesis prize.

CEO at Beaver Health

Sr. Director, Information Security GRC at PepsiCo, Inc
Carrie McKee is a cybersecurity professional with 10 years of experience in the field and 25 years of overall IT experience. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in supply chain management and began her career in PepsiCo IT supporting the Frito Lay business unit. After several years building and deploying various systems, Carrie moved into PepsiCo’s Global Cybersecurity function in 2015 to help build out the policy and standards, data classification, and awareness and training programs. She spent two years leading security architecture before returning to GRC as Senior Director where her team is responsible for identifying, assessing, and reporting on cyber risk at PepsiCo to all levels of the organization.
Carrie and her husband, Chris, have two teenaged sons and, when she isn’t attending one of their many functions, she loves to read, try out new cookie recipes, and travel the world.

Data Engineer at Physis Investment
Physis leverages AI to deliver quantifiable and actionable extra-financial insights, offering a deeper understanding of investment performance while uncovering critical risks and opportunities. With our cutting-edge technology, Physis empowers smarter decision-making and a competitive advantage for investors.
The Physis Platform provides users with detailed extra-financial metrics for 14,000 companies and 335,000 funds, such as emissions produced, corruption, resource efficiency metrics, revenue distributions, employee/board diversity, services and products, and more, from the day of the first investment.
ImpactChat.AI , utilizes generative AI and our 176 million data points to provide real-time, actionable insights, making extra-financial analysis easy and addressing the need for transparency.

Senior Research Engineer at Google DeepMind
Konstantina Christakopoulou is the founder and tech lead of the Project ALLY Google Brain Moonshot, aimed at the next-generation of assistive recommendation helping users throughout their lifelong journey.

As a senior research engineer in Google DeepMind, she has led multiple cross-PA efforts on aligning industrial recommendation platforms with human values, publishing in top-tier conferences and delivering 20+ launches, working closely with senior leadership at Google.

Prior to Google, she received her PhD from the University of Minnesota, during which she completed research internships in Google Research and Microsoft Research, and first-authored influential works on conversational recommendation.

CEO at Samay
Maria Artunduaga is a physician-scientist and inventor with 60+ prizes including becoming the first woman to lead a US-Latam company to win MedTech Innovator, the world's most competitive accelerator for medical technologies surpassing over 1300 global companies. A top 1% student in Colombia, her country of birth, she relocated to the US to pursue plastic surgery training but abandoned it to dedicate herself to solve the problem that killed her grandmother, a lack of home technologies that can detect COPD exacerbations early. Maria has raised $5.2M, almost 60% in non-dilutive capital from NSF and NIH, to build Sylvee, an AI wearable sensor that can provide COPD patients with continuous data on pulmonary function similar to what continuous glucose monitoring sensors do for diabetic patients. Her invention has been featured by and 100+ media outlets including Forbes, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, FierceHealthcare and more. Before Samay, Maria completed postdoctoral studies in Human Genetics at Harvard Medical School, started a plastic surgery residency at The University of Chicago, and completed two master's degrees, one in Global Public Health at the University of Washington and another in Translational Medicine at the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco. She lives in Mountain View, CA, with her husband, two-year-old daughter, and four pets. In her free time, she enjoys flamenco dancing, bolero singing, traveling the world, and fostering diversity in and outside the workplace by mentoring underrepresented scientists and entrepreneurs.

Senior Director of Product at GoDaddy
Christine Lee has worked in product management at a variety of software companies in the SF Bay Area, including GoDaddy, Twitter, Hired, Intuit, and two companies acquired by Oracle. She earned her BA from Duke University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a cofounder and board director for Women In Product, a non-profit organization that equips women to advance their careers. She is currently a Senior Director at GoDaddy, where she has led product teams across domains, websites, and online commerce. Christine and her husband spend most weekends at volleyball tournaments to cheer for their daughter and her team.

Venture Partner at defy VC
Amy is a Venture Partner at defy VC, a seed+ fund based in Woodside, CA. Her connection to defy runs deep - defy backed as as the solo founder of OfficeTogether, which was successfully acquired in 2022 by Envoy, a billion-dollar workplace management company. Her technical journey spans a decade, with engineering roles at Facebook’s Internet.org and at Coinbase, where she served as an Engineering Manager for Coinbase.com during the company’s hypergrowth.

Amy holds a BA in Computer Science from Harvard and is passionate about supporting female tech entrepreneurs, having co-founded the Harvard Women in Computer Science and instructing multiple Girls Who Code classes.

VP of Animation Production, LucasFilms
Athena Portillo has been producing Star Wars animation for almost two decades – first as Line Producer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, residing in both the San Francisco and Singapore offices, then as Producer for Star Wars Rebels and Executive Producer for Star Wars Resistance, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Tales of the Jedi and Tales of the Empire. She is currently overseeing multiple shows in development.
A veteran of the entertainment industry for 30 years, Portillo joined Lucasfilm Ltd. in 1996 as an intern in the Licensing division. During that time, she became a freelance writer for the Star Wars Insider publication which garnered her a cover story for one of her articles. She then became the Product Development Coordinator for the Star Wars Special Editions and The Phantom Menace.
Portillo moved to Lucasfilm’s VFX division, Industrial Light & Magic, in 2000 to pursue her interest in visual effects. She then went onto Tippett Studio where she continued her production experience on films including Blade II, Matrix Revolutions and Constantine, eventually leading to her role as a VFX Producer for the company. Portillo joined Lucasfilm Animation in 2006.
Portillo has won two Emmy Awards for Star Wars: The Clone Wars and received a combined six Emmy nominations for Star Wars Rebels & Star Wars Resistance. She and her team have also garnered seven Saturn Awards for Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Resistance, and The Bad Batch, as well as the prestigious Lumiere Award for Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi. Portillo was also recognized as one of The Hollywood Reporter’s “Women in Entertainment Power 100.”

Pipeline Supervisor, LucasFilms LAL
I grew up in India, where I earned a Bachelor's in Computer Science & Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi. I then pursued a second Bachelor's degree in Computer Arts & Animation at the Academy of Art Institute, San Francisco, CA. My career began at Electronic Arts as a Technical Artist Intern, where I later transitioned into a full-time role. In 2007, I joined Lucasfilm Animation as a Production Engineer. I am currently a Pipeline Supervisor at Lucasfilm Animation, leading a team of software professionals who support all our animation shows. My team collaborates with supervisors, leads, and creatives across departments to design, develop, integrate, and support software that streamlines creative workflows.

Concept Design Artist, LucasFilms, LAL
Dawn Carlos (she/they) is a queer, filipino-american concept designer at Lucasfilm Animation in San Francisco. With almost 15 years of experience working in games and various industries as a concept artist and illustrator, she has spent the last 5 years at LAL working on projects such as The Bad Batch,Tales of The Jedi and Tales of the Empire. They are trained in concept art for the entertainment industry and also have an extensive background in traditional representational fine art atelier training, using lessons and methods borne from 19th century masters. When not designing characters, creatures and much more in a galaxy far far away, she enjoys painting in oil, gouache,drawing in ink, pencil and digitally for fun. Dawn loves to blend their curiosity and excitement about the natural world, sciences, hobbies, varied interests, and life experiences to inspire their work and designs and is often found biking, hiking, climbing, sketching, team captaining a queer recreational dodgeball league and doing plein air paintings outside.

Asst. Asset Technical Director, LAL LucasFilms
Caitlin Cheek is an Asset Assistant Technical Director at Lucasfilm Animation in San Francisco. She has a Bachelor in Science and a Master of Fine Arts in Visualization from Texas A&M University. She works with the Asset team to oversee models and textures of all the characters, props, sets, and vehicles in Lucasfilm Animated shows including Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, and Star Wars: Tales of the Empire.
A veteran of the entertainment industry for 30 years, Portillo joined Lucasfilm Ltd. in 1996 as an intern in the Licensing division. During that time, she became a freelance writer for the Star Wars Insider publication which garnered her a cover story for one of her articles. She then became the Product Development Coordinator for the Star Wars Special Editions and The Phantom Menace.
Portillo moved to Lucasfilm’s VFX division, Industrial Light & Magic, in 2000 to pursue her interest in visual effects. She then went onto Tippett Studio where she continued her production experience on films including Blade II, Matrix Revolutions and Constantine, eventually leading to her role as a VFX Producer for the company. Portillo joined Lucasfilm Animation in 2006.

Sr. Story Artist, LucasFilm, LAL
Tatyana Drewry Carvin is a seasoned animation professional with a diverse international background. After studying 2D animation in France, Tatyana honed her craft across multiple roles, including Director, Animation Director, 2D Animator, Character Designer, and Storyboard Artist. She has worked in prominent creative hubs like France, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Montreal, where she contributed to both animated projects and video games. For over five years, Tatyana has been a Senior Storyboard Artist at Lucasfilm Animation, bringing her vast expertise to help shape innovative storytelling on high-profile projects such as The Clone Wars (Season 7), The Bad Batch, Tales of the Jedi and Tales of the Empire

Sr. Tecnical Director, LucasFilms LAL
I'm a 2019 graduate from Ringling College of Art and Design with a major in computer animation and minor in art history. I'm one of the co-directors/makers of the short film Breaking Ground. I started as a lighting and FX intern right after graduation working on the last season of the Clone Wars and moved on to be a temp lighting artist at Lucasfilm Animation. I worked a brief stint at Striking Distance on the Callisto Protocol video game and then came back to Lucasfilm to work as a junior technical director. I'm still working there today as the senior technical director. I've worked on the Clone Wars, Star Wars Resistance, Tales of the Jedi, Tales of the Empire, The Bad Batch, and have consulted on Star Wars lego projects. I'm a big nerd and you'll often find me in a park reading about dragons with my corgi, Indiana Jones. Yes I named the dog Indiana.

Diimatte Artist, LucasFilm LAL
Kyra Kabler is a digimatte artist at Lucasfilm Animation, primarily working on matte paintings and 3d environments while collaborating with lighting and FX artists. Her day-to-day tasks range from painting backgrounds to finding technical solutions to complicated scenes with tricky camera moves, all while keeping the Star Wars design language in mind. She primarily works in Maya, Nuke, and Photoshop. Outside of work Kyra enjoys oil and gouache painting which is the perfect practice for maintaining a sense of classic artistry when working digitally.

Director of Post Production, LucasFilm LAL
Simply put - I am a proud post-production nerd. I have had the pleasure of working in post in diverse film and television environments - including post houses, media arts facilities, creative agencies, film studios, and public media organizations. For 25 years, I have worked alongside filmmakers helping them finish independent narrative and documentary films, visual effects for movies and commercials, home video bonus features, PBS documentary series and animated streaming shows. I equally love being a part of the creative process and engaging with broadcast technologies.

Sound Engineer, Skywalker Sound
Bonnie Wild is a British born Sound Designer and Re-recording Mixer. As a second generation audio artist, she remembers little of life before the dub stage. Bonnie graduated from Leeds College of Music in 2003 and was soon working in the Post Production Sound Department at the ITV Leeds Studios, sound editing and mixing primetime UK drama. Bonnie moved to San Francisco with the dream of working at Skywalker Sound and since 2012, she has been working on projects ranging from streaming and commercials to documentaries and features. Through her work, Bonnie strives to connect with audiences and create authentic, emotional experiences through the art of sound.

Kathy is a computer scientist and product leader with experience across industry, academia, non-profits, venture capital, and government. Kathy was appointed the inaugural Executive Director of the National AI Advisory Committee, led as the Deputy Chief Technologist at the Federal Trade Commission, and was a founding Engineering and Product member of the U.S. Digital Service at the White House where she helped build digital services in government across three presidential administrations.She is a Senior Advisor at Mozilla where she co-founded the Mozilla Builders Incubator and Mozilla Responsible Computing. She is on Faculty at Harvard where she created and teaches Product Management and Society and co-founded the Ethical Tech Working Group. She was a Fellow at the MIT Media Lab and Harvard Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Initiative. She leads as Vice-President of AI at Workday. She serves on various tech and non-profit boards, and has a love for coaching grade school soccer. Kathy has spent over a decade building large scale systems in industry and healthcare at Google (Search, Health, People Operations), IBM (lots of ETL, data warehouses, and analytics), and Harris Healthcare.In 2024, Kathy was named the 2024 ABIE Technical Award Recipient, the highest honor at Anita.org , alongside previous awardees Drs. Fei Fei Li, Daphne Koller, Lisa Su, Margarett Burnett, and Nuria Olivier. Kathy completed her undergraduate and graduate studies in Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia) and Supelec in (Metz, France).

Meet WECode 2025’s Speakers

Esther Wojcicki

Ellen Pao

Claire Williams

Margaret Chiosi

Nancy Wang

Jaiden Price

Nancy Lynch

Pratima Nambiar

Anna Yuan

Nisha Victor

Nisha Victor

Fatima Taj

Shelby Tallent

Brinleigh Murphy-Reuter

Lily Gassner

Dr. Lauren Goodwin

Eirini Schlosser

Charlene Ren

Toluwalope Bashua

Lola Roberts

Karin Ebbinghaus

Dr. Stephanie Couch

Erin Reddick

Brianna Doe

Huma Hamid

Suzanne Plummer

Jamie Renee

Jenn Chang

Xue Hua

Zanele Mureverwi

Dr. Kiesha King

Ariana Soto

Jen Felch

Saba Rawjani

Jill Szuchmacher

Natalie Van Kleef

Tina Roth Eisenberg

Jessica Walton

Laura Quatela

Missy Cummings

Sarah Steinmann

Christine Sun

Emily Wang

Carrie McKee

Rachana Keshav

Konstantina Christakopoulou

Maria Artunduaga

Christine Lee

Amy Yin

Athena Portillo

Akanksha Sahu

Dawn Carlos

Caitlin Cheek

Tatyana Drewry Carvin

Alex Shaulis

Kyra Kabler

Joanna Goldfarb

Bonnie Wild

Kathy Pham