What we’re about
WiMLDS's mission is to support and promote people whose perspectives are underrepresented in the larger data science & tech community, seeking to express themselves through quantitative, computational modalities. We create opportunities for members to engage in technical and professional conversations in a positive, supportive environment by hosting events for & by demographically underrepresented minorities with an emphasis on gender minorities (if you couldn't tell by the name of the organization).
If that was an eye-ful, here's the TL;DR - PDX WiMLDS is here to decolonize AI! The best way to mitigate bias is to introduce more diversity in your training set!!
“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” Quote taken from Dear Professor Einstein: Albert Einstein’s Letters to and from Children, Alice Calaprice (Ed.), Princeton University Press, 2002.
Due to the high demand of Data Science & AI in the industry today, membership for PDX WiMLDS requires organizer approval. This is to ensure that the people who would most benefit from this group have priority access & to maintain a safe space. There is no demographic restriction on membership; anyone whose needs are otherwise underrepresented by other Meetup groups in this space & feels this group would benefit them is welcome to participate.
PDX WiMLDS is a chapter of a larger international organization. You can find out more via these links:
• Our Code of Conduct ( https://github.com/WiMLDS/starter-kit/wiki/Code-of-conduct ) is available online and applies to all our spaces, both online and off.
• Follow @wimlds ( https://twitter.com/wimlds ) on Twitter for general WiMLDS news or visit http://wimlds.org ( http://wimlds.org/ ) to learn about our chapters in other cities.
• Women & gender minorities are invited to join the global WiMLDS Slack group by sending an email to slack@wimlds.org.
