2019 Tech Intersections Ally Skills Workshop

The Tech Intersections Ally Skills Workshop is designed to help people of any gender and ethnicity become better advocates for women and nonbinary people of color. It will be co-located with the Tech Intersections conference.

• 8 AM: Registration and breakfast
• 9 AM: Opening session (joint with main conference) featuring keynote by the CyberCode Twins, America and Penelope Lopez. The twins have competed from Beijing to Barcelona and received various awards in tech competitions and hackathons, such as the NASA International SpaceApps Challenge, AT&T Developer Summit, NEM Global Challenge, IBM Global Innovators Challenge, Intel’s US-China Maker Competition, and Money2020, and they also have showcased VR demos at the White House. In addition to hackathons, one of the CyberCode Twins was selected among the 25 scholars across the nation by MIT Digital Currency Initiative to attend an intensive program on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies at the MIT Media Lab. They continue to be community involved leaders and are currently part of the Intel Software Innovators Program.
  
• 10 AM: Interactive ally skills training led by Kim Tran and Willie Jackson of ReadySet Consulting. Sometimes it can be hard to know how to react when we observe bias taking place, particularly when we may not be from the group affected. An ally is someone who uses their position in society to actively support members of marginalized groups when discrimination occurs. This workshop is designed as an introduction to ally skills, teaching participants how to use their privilege and influence to support others. We will cover the characteristics of healthy ally relationship, techniques for supporting those from marginalized groups in the workplace, and ways to leverage power to create positive change.
• 1 PM: Lunch and discussion
• 2:30 PM: Continued ally skills training
• 4 PM: Closing session (joint with main conference) featuring keynote by Sarah Echohawk, CEO of the American Indian Science & Engineering Society. Sarah, a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, previously worked for First Nations Development Institute and the American Indian College Fund. Currently, she serves as Vice Chair for Native Americans in Philanthropy, Chair for the Native Ways Federation, and Chair for Red Feather Development Group. She also serves on the Champions Board for the National Girls Collaborative, and the Collaborative Advisory Board for Women of Color in Computing Research. She is Co-PI on three National Science Foundation grant projects and served as an Ambassador for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Minorities in Energy Initiative. Ms. EchoHawk has a Master of Nonprofit Management (MNM) degree from Regis University and an undergraduate degree in Political Science and Native American Studies from Metro State University of Denver.