Big data, algorithms, and blockchain have begun to shape our daily lives: from how we get our news, to what we buy, to our likelihood of getting arrested. These invisible forces personalize our experiences and create conveniences. But as this data crunching and mining wield greater power in our lives, we must consider who designs these tools, who benefits from them, and who is left out of the equation altogether. Meet the leaders asking these questions and finding answers in the power of data for the greater good.
Associate Professor and Director, UC Digital Cultures Lab, University of California, Los Angeles
Ramesh Srinivasan studies the connections between new technologies, politics, and societies across our world. He has been a faculty member at UCLA since 2005 in the Information Studies and Design|Media Arts departments. He is the founder of the UC-wide Digital Cultures Lab, exploring the meaning of technology worldwide as it spreads to the far reaches of our world. He is also the author of the books: “Whose Global Village? Rethinking How Technology Impacts Our World” with NYU Press, and “After the Internet” (with Adam Fish) on Polity Press released in December of 2017. He is currently working on a third journalistic book discussing flashpoints of global innovation in relation to new technology, pushing us to consider realities and visions outside of our mainstream conversations about 'big tech'.
Srinivasan earned his Ph.D. in design studies at Harvard; his master’s degree in media arts and science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering at Stanford. He has served fellowships in MIT’s Media Laboratory in Cambridge and the MIT Media Lab Asia. He has also been a teaching fellow at the Graduate School of Design and Department of Visual and Environmental Design at Harvard.
Srinivasan is a regular speaker for TEDx Talks, and makes media appearances on MSNBC, NPR, Al Jazeera, “The Young Turks,” National Geographic, and Public Radio International. His writings have been widely published by Al Jazeera English, CNN, Wired, The Washington Post, Forbes, and The Huffington Post.
Mbwana Alliy is the founder and managing partner at Savannah Fund, an Africa focused Technology Venture Capital fund that runs both an accelerator and seedinvestments in e-commerce, gaming, education technology and social networking.
He is passionate about product development and launching new ventures in technology. He is an experienced Product Manager within consumer web, enterprise Software & SaaS. He is originally from Tanzania and has lived and worked in 3 continents (USA, Europe and Africa). He has a Bachelor's Engineering degree from Bristol University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate school of Business.
As of 2017, he has overseen 26 investments in Africa in 6 countries (Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe Nigeria and Ghana). These companies, most less than 2 years old have generated over 200 full time jobs and raised over $50 Million in venture financing. Savannah Fund is headquartered in Mauritius with Offices in Tanzania and Kenya and satellite offices in Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, Cape Town, Kigali and Lagos.
Emily Courey Pryor is a social impact executive and gender equality advocate. She is the founding Executive Director of Data2X, a civil society organization that works to eliminate gender bias from the world’s major data sources and drive use of that data to improve the lives of women and girls. Data2X works with partners – UN agencies, governments, civil society, academia, and the private sector – to improve gender data and its use for better, smarter decision making.
In addition to a focus on gender equality, she has a passion for and experience working in global health, international disaster response, and peace and security. Emily took a running start in her career at the American Red Cross, managed Gilead Sciences’ corporate philanthropy, and has built and led a variety of start-ups, including the UN Foundation’s initiative on Women’s Economic Empowerment and the Girl Up campaign. She was also a founding investor in a utility-scale solar energy company.
Emily received her MPH from the University of Michigan and BA from the University of Florida. She lives in Nashville with her husband and children.
Brett Gaylor is a documentary filmmaker and the Commissioning Editor for Advocacy Media at the Mozilla Foundation. His most recent project, Do Not Track, is a co-production of Upian, the National Film Board of Canada, Arte France and Bayerischer Rundfunk, in association with Radio-Canada, Radio Télévision Suisse and Al Jazeera’s AJ+ network. It is the recipient of the International Documentary Association award for best nonfiction series, the Prix Gemaux for Best Interactive Series, the International Association of Broadcasters Online Factual Prize, the Deutscher Prize for online communications, and the 2016 Peabody award.
His 2008 feature documentary Rip! A Remix Manifesto is an official honoree of the Webby Awards, was the recipient of Audience Choice prizes at festivals from Amsterdam to South Africa, was broadcast in 20 countries, and seen by millions of people worldwide.
Doug Galen is the co-founder and CEO of Rippleworks, a nonprofit foundation that delivers the practical support social ventures need to scale faster and improve lives. Through Rippleworks’ customized high-impact projects, expert-led learning programs, and access to capital, social ventures gain the knowledge, training, and funding necessary for them to tackle operational challenges and meet the needs of the communities they serve. Since launching in 2015, Rippleworks has managed 200+ projects with 150 social ventures across 59 countries, partnered with experts to train 300+ ventures, and dispenses scaling capital loans and grants worldwide.
Doug has been an At-Large Director for Heifer International since 2014. He also teaches Startup Garage at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. When Doug isn’t working or teaching then you can usually find him cycling up some hill somewhere in the world or losing to his wife in dominos.
