Women Leadership in AI

Join Women Who Code Vancouver for our virtual Women Leadership in AI Panel! We are featuring AI Leaders and Speakers from academia and local companies in conversations on accessibility, diversity, AI ethics, education, and representation of women in technology at all levels.

SPEAKER BIOS

• CRISTINA CONATI, DFP Role: Seminar Steering Committee
  Professor, Computer Science, University of British Columbia

Dr. Conati is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. She received a M.Sc. in Computer Science at the University of Milan, as well as a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Intelligent Systems at the University of Pittsburgh. Conati’s research is at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Cognitive Science, with the goal to create intelligent interactive systems that can capture relevant user’s properties (states, skills, needs) and personalize the interaction accordingly.

Dr. Conati is an associate editor for UMUAI, ACM TiiS, IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing, and the Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education. She served as President of AAAC, (Association for the Advancement of Affective Computing), as well as Program or Conference Chair for several international conferences including UMAP, ACM IUI, and AI in Education.
dfp.ubc.ca/people/team/cristina-conati

• MARGERY MOORE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ehsAI
  Margery is always at the forefront of breakthrough technologies that can solve the most critical challenges in the environmental, health and safety (EHS) industry. She is CEO of ehsAI, an AI company that automates EHS compliance. Before starting ehsAI Margery led other EHS start-ups as well as designed and developed multiple EHS commercial products during her 16 year tenure at Bloomberg.

She has a BSc. and Masters in Environmental Data Management, is an active participant in the National Association of Environmental Managers (NAEM), on the Board of National Observer, and in her spare time mentors women in tech and is President of the Salt Spring Institute for Sustainability Education & Action (I-SEA), an environmental charity in her hometown, founded 18 years ago.
www.ehsai.ca

BETHANY EDMUNDS, PHD, Director of Computer Science and Teaching Professor at Northeastern University

Dr. Bethany Edmunds is recognized leader in Computer Science and STEM education within North America. She holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science, with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence, and is currently Director of Computer Science and Teaching Professor at Northeastern University’s newly opened Vancouver campus.
Bethany is passionate about breaking down barriers to create greater diversity, access and inclusivity within the technology community. She brings together expertise in software development, machine learning, and educational innovation to create STEM opportunities for people of all backgrounds and abilities.
bethanyedmunds.ca

HOLLY PECK, Director, Creative Services @ Soul Machines, AI/ML Advisor @ FoodX/SPUD, Founder @ Women Who Code Vancouver

Holly Peck is a creative technologist and AI engineer director, with a BA from Princeton University and a background in AI/robotics and cognitive computing. Currently, Holly is Director of Creative Services at Soul Machines, an AGI company, where she leads a global team of NLP/NLU engineers and conversational designers pioneering the future of conversational AI for embodied machine agents.
Previously, Holly was Director of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) at a humanoid robotics company, where she built cognitive architecture – the software minds – of humanoid robots and created IP around the future of ethical human-robot interaction. Holly is founder and director of Women Who Code Vancouver, is a 2018 BC Business 30 Under 30, a 3x Microsoft MVP in AI and a recipient of the Udacity x Intel scholarship in Edge AI.
www.holly-peck.com