“My name is Jessica Rosenworcel,” the chairwoman said, introducing herself to an appreciative audience at GHC. “I am the first woman confirmed to lead the Federal Communications Commission in our nation’s history. It took 87 years to do it. So I am going to make up for lost time.”
Rosenworcel’s job is more important than ever. She helps oversee broadband, wireless and satellite networks, which together represent one-sixth of the country’s economy. Making up for “the homework gap” (7 in 10 teachers assign homework requiring the internet, but 1 in 3 households doesn’t have fast access) became a personal passion, culminating in the $7 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund during the pandemic.
“If the FCC does its job, we can help make sure everyone, everywhere has a fair shot at success in the digital age,” she said. “I think a lot about that phrase ‘everyone, everywhere,’ because it is so important. Not all of us have access to the tools of technology.”
FCC Chairwoman Fights To Close The ‘Homework Gap’
CEO & Founder, insitro
It’s on every one of us to pick a place where we feel we can truly make the world a better place.”
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DAPHNE KOLLER, PH.D.
Winner of this year’s Technical Leadership Abie Award from GHC, serial entrepreneur Daphne Koller was recognized for her work in computer science and artificial intelligence, her efforts in building the Coursera online learning system and her current company, insitro, which uses AI to improve healthcare and accelerate drug development.
“One thread that ties my career together is the ever-increasing sense of urgency to make an impact in the world, an impact that is direct and
visceral, versus writing papers and hoping that someone reads them and does something with them,” the former Stanford professor said in a fireside chat with Dan Pitt, chair of the award’s selection committee.
Koller spoke about the need for data-based insights into health and how difficult data and innovation can be in the healthcare space, a very traditional industry, particularly in the United States. Her advice to young women: Focus on your core strengths and pay people to do the rest.
Daphne Koller On Applying Artificial Intelligence To Human Health
Speaking on biases that are built into technology, Tracy Chou knows what she’s talking about. The founder and CEO of Block Party, a company that combats harassment and abuse online, Chou rose to prominence in 2014, when she urged tech companies to disclose the numbers of women they had in technical roles. She went on to cofound diversity consulting group Project Include.
In the years since, tech bias has become a known problem, with algorithms used in everything from social media to employment and law enforcement reflecting the perspectives of the people who built them. This isn’t necessarily intentional, Chou explained. “When you’re first starting to learn to write code, you’re so zoomed in that it can feel quite neutral,” she said. “We don’t think about, what does it really encourage; is this really a good thing?”
Motivation is also important. Only 2% of venture capital goes to female founders, she said. Diversity among the founders building tech can help resolve these issues.
Fighting Technological Bias With Awareness And Motivation
When the U.S. Women’s National Team won the World Cup in 2019, the crowd didn’t chant any player’s name. Instead, they called out, “Equal pay! Equal pay!” The team and its co-captain Megan Rapinoe had famously filed a pay discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, pointing out that the women’s team had won more titles than their male counterparts
but earned less. Earlier this year, the Federation anted up $22 million in back pay and promised to pay men and women equally moving forward.
Rapinoe, speaking during closing ceremonies, offered advice to others seeking to close the pay gap. First up: Remember that you are not lesser just because you’re female. Organizations should be putting in effort and setting practices to make sure pay equity is part of the process.
Rapinoe also didn’t shy away from discussing race. When white males compliment her on her leadership in pay-equity efforts for women’s soccer, she said she tells them that she’s more likely to be listened to because she’s white.
Women’s Soccer And Pay-Equity Champion Megan Rapinoe Gives Some Advice
Soccer World Champion
& Activist
Be relentless. … We can’t keep doing what we have been just because that’s how it’s been done in
the past.”
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MEGAN RAPINOE
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