top of page
!
  + 
Use tab to navigate through the menu items.2019\_CohortMembers!!
## 2019 Assembly Fellowship
## Cohort Members
#### YEWANDE ALADE
Engineering Program Manager at Google AI
As an industry standards advocate, Yewande also serves as a delegate on the Artificial Intelligence subcommittee of the International Organization of Standardization (ISO). She is passionate about scaling AI product strategies and operations in a thoughtful, inclusive manner. Prior to joining Google, Yewande worked on financial policy implementation in the wake of the Great Recession. In addition to catalyzing tech transfer, she enjoys writing comedy and exploring the intersection of art and science. Drawing on her entrepreneurial interests, Yewande also serves as a Product Excellence Advisor at Alphabet’s Interop + Prototyping Lab and as a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.
#### ANIA CALDERON
Executive Director of the Open Data Charter
Ania is a leading open government expert who supports government reformers around the world in implementing open data policies. She currently works at the Open Data Charter, a collaboration between governments and partner organisations working to open up data based on a shared set of global principles. From 2012-2016, she delivered a key presidential mandate for open data in Mexico as General Director for the National Digital Strategy. She established data literacy and capacity building programs across more than 200 public institutions, developed tools and platforms to enable the access and use of standardised data, built channels to increase the ability of citizens to inform data release and started a national open data network of over 40 cities working to improve service delivery. Ania holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Columbia University, is part of the Technical Advisory Group of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data and sits on the Advisory Board of Global Integrity, a non-profit organisation that supports progress toward open, accountable and effective governance in countries and communities around the world.
#### B CAVELLO
Program Lead at the Partnership on AI
B leads projects and activities associated with PAI's Thematic Pillars, working closely with PAI Partner organizations. Previously, they served as Senior Engagement Lead for IBM's AI division, the Watson Group, where they led strategic conversations with world leaders about implementing Artificial Intelligence in the real world. In June of 2017, B was recognized as an IBM LGBT+ 'Out Role Model' for championing diversity and inclusion in and beyond IBM. Prior to IBM, B was both Product Development and Community Director at Exploding Kittens, a record-breaking crowdfunded card game startup. B also led Phenomenon Media 501c3, an arts and education nonprofit, developing an educational tool for teaching code without the need for computers. B's personal projects focus on social good and range from textile art to computer education and security and even a game to help NASA researchers study climate change.
#### CHRISTINE KAESER-CHEN
Software Engineer & Manager at Google Research NYC
Christine's background is in computer vision and machine learning, and her passion is to create magic moments for users with these technologies. She currently works on a project to connect users with expert knowledge with the help of machine learning. Prior to this, she has also worked on applying machine learning in human-computer interaction for VR/AR, and in personal photo and video curation. She received an MS in Computer Science from ETH Zurich, and a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Christine gets a lot of her inspiration from experiences of living in and traveling to different cultures. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, spending time in nature, and exploring the world with her husband.
#### ELIZABETH DUBOIS
Assistant Professor at University of Ottawa, Department of Communication
Dr. Elizabeth Dubois (PhD, University of Oxford) writes, speaks, and teaches at the intersection of technology and politics. Technology critic meets advocate meets academic, she is not only a professor, but also a member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa. Her work examines political uses of digital media including media manipulation, citizen engagement, and artificial intelligence. Elizabeth leads a multi-disciplinary team which includes political scientists, computer scientists, and communication students. From running an online survey that doubled as a voter information tool in the 2015 Canadian federal election to writing op-eds, she endeavors to make her work accessible and valuable in a public forum. She has appeared before House of Commons committees and regularly briefs policy makers. Her public writing has appeared in Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Policy Options, The Conversation, Salon and has been featured in many others.
#### WALTER FRICK
Deputy Editor at Harvard Business Review
As Deputy Editor at Harvard Business Review, Walter covers matters across business, technology, and economics. He was a 2016 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and has written previously for The Atlantic, MIT Technology Review, the BBC, and The Boston Globe, among other publications.
#### IASON GABRIEL
Senior Research Scientist at DeepMind London
Iason is an applied ethicist and political theorist who works as a senior research scientist at DeepMind in London. Based in the Ethics and Society team, his research focuses upon the ethics of new technologies, efforts to ensure that AI works for the benefit of all, and the challenge of aligning AI with human values. Before joining DeepMind, Iason taught politics at Oxford University for a number of years, and worked with the United Nations in Lebanon and Sudan on projects connected to extreme poverty.
#### CARL GOVERNALE
Operations Officer for Naval Special Warfare Command’s Future Concepts and Innovation Directorate
Best described as the happiest guy you know, Carl is the husband of an amazing woman and the father of an obstinate one year old. He knows neither sadness nor sleep. Both writer and futurist, Carl is keenly interested in ethical and techno-social issues. He is also a seasoned Navy SEAL officer with a decade of experience leading high-performance teams in ambiguous and asymmetric environments.
#### BERNEASE HERMAN
Data Scientist & Researcher at the University of Washington eScience Institute
Bernease's research focuses on human-centered model evaluation and explainable machine learning. She also collaborates with researchers, startups, and non-profits by applying machine learning to innovation across domains. Bernease has worked on problems from data collection and analysis strategies in autonomous marine vehicles to creating synthetic data for medical applications to predicting inequity in Seattle urban data. Before joining UW eScience, Bernease was a Software Development Engineer at Amazon, where she collaborated with operations research scientists and statisticians to optimize statistical inventory models for Amazon’s Inventory Planning and Control system. Earlier, she worked on derivatives pricing and predictive modeling at the research arm of Morgan Stanley. Bernease earned her BS in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Michigan. She spends her time Olympic weightlifting, rowing, designing games as well as hunting down simplified explanations and analogies for new concepts.
#### PETE KRAFFT
Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Washington
Pete is a researcher currently focused on studying public understanding of AI, the social science of algorithmic regulation, and ethical social data science practices. He also works in other various areas related to knowledge production in social contexts, including cognitive science, collective intelligence, cryptocurrencies, rumors, and disinformation. He will be joining the faculty of the Oxford Internet Institute in June this year.
#### ERICH LUDWIG
Senior Product Manager at Indigo Ag
Erich creates digital solutions to improve farmer profitability, environmental sustainability, and consumer health across global markets. Prior to Indigo, Erich worked in the intersection of music + tech (most recently on the Product team at Spotify), and previous to that in training, building and organizing communities. His work at Spotify included foundational metadata and content moderation projects. His work in labor organizing took him to variety of locations including Boston, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Seattle. As a mashup of these worlds, Erich approaches product management by examining product outcomes. He digs into questions of who benefits (and who is excluded) in the customer bases of products, and how those products can assist in creating inclusive, equitable and culturally relevant outcomes. When he’s not trying to change the world one line of code at a time, Erich is a father to two amazing children, and enjoys actively experiencing the world with them.
#### CHINTAN PALMAR
Postdoctoral Fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Department of Radiation Oncology
Chintan is an experienced researcher with an extensive and worldwide experience in biomedical research. He holds a Master of Technology degree in Information and Communication Technology with a specialization in Machine Intelligence from DA-IICT, Gandhinagar, India, and a PhD from Maastricht University in machine learning applications for Radiomics. He is skilled in artificial intelligence, data science, biomedical informatics, radiomics, computer vision and computer science.
#### HONG QU
Program Director for Technology at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard Kennedy School
Hong was a designer on YouTube’s startup team. He also worked as the VP of product at Upworthy and chief technology officer at Fusion Media. He was a visiting Nieman fellow in 2013. Hong is a graduate of Wesleyan University and UC Berkeley’s School of Information.
#### FRIEDERIKE SCHURR
Director of Machine Learning and Research at CityBlock
Friederike puts data (and machine learning) at the service of people with complex healthcare needs. Prior to CityBlock, Friederike was a member of Fast Forward Labs (FFL), acquired by Cloudera, where she worked on emerging machine learning algorithms to develop new capabilities for industry. To help companies identify and realize novel opportunity, she built and led FFL’s Data Strategy Consulting practice. Friederike is a member of the data advisory board of USA for UNHCR (UN Refugees) and a long-standing Data Science for Social Good volunteer with DataKind. She earned a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from University College London, an MA in Philosophy, and an MS in Psychology.
#### DAN TABER
Product Scientist at Indeed
Dan, PhD, is a long-time advocate of using data for social change. For 15 years, he has worked in academic, non-profit, and technology sectors to study topics ranging from food policy to employment to complex systems modeling. Turning data into action has been the common thread throughout his career. His dissertation in Epidemiology at UNC-Chapel Hill guided federal policy change, and as a Vice President of Research, he fostered collaborations between academic, city, and business leaders to address public health issues. Currently at Indeed, he combines machine learning and causal inference methods to help people find jobs. Also a passionate public speaker, he loves geeking out about data science to diverse audiences. Dan considers Seattle home but has lived and traveled all over the world. An adventure traveler at heart, he has backpacked through dozens of countries and has a knack for stumbling into bizarre travel stories.
#### JEFF WEN
Data Science Team Lead at Pixability
Jeff is a data scientist and tinkerer who is interested in developing products and utilizing technologies to improve decision making under uncertainty. He is passionate about applying computational methods to address sustainable development and environmental challenges in resource poor communities. Most recently as a team lead at Pixability, an advertisement technology startup based in Boston, and formerly as a data scientist at Tesla, Jeff has collaborated with peers to design, prototype, and deploy software solutions to business questions. Projects have ranged from geospatial mapping applications that enable real estate planning and mobile service allocation to fully-automated systems for advertisement optimization. Previously, Jeff was a consultant at ZS Associates working with pharmaceutical companies on sales and marketing strategy. Jeff holds a Bachelors in Economics from Wharton and a Masters in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. In his free time, you can find him running outdoors, climbing at the local gym, or exploring new music from modern jazz to hip-hop.
#### JOSEPH WILLIAMS
ICT Sector Lead for Washington Governor Jay Inslee
A Seattle resident, Dr. Joseph Williams is part public policy advisor and part economic development director. A former professor, tech executive, and startup veteran, Joseph’s passion is addressing the public policy impacts of automation, machine learning, and AI. An alumnus of Cal-Berkeley, Wisconsin-Madison, and UT-Austin, Dr. Williams has authored 3 books and many dozens of academic and trade articles. Prior to his current role, Joseph was the Dean of the School of Business, Government and Economics at Seattle Pacific University. A passionate baseball fan, Joseph begins every April with high hopes for his Seattle Mariners.
!!
## 2019 Advisory Board
* Jonathan Zittrain, Berkman Klein Center, Harvard Law School
* Joi Ito, MIT Media Lab
* Kade Crockford, ACLU
* Andy Ellis, Akamai
* Nathan Freitas, The Guardian Project
* Mary Gray, Microsoft Research
* Josh Joseph, MIT Quest for Intelligence
* Rachel Kalmar, Tableau
* Rosemary Leith, World Wide Web Foundation
* James Mickens, Harvard School for Engineering and Applied Sciences
* Martha Minow, Harvard Law School
* Neha Narula, MIT Digital Currency Initiative
* Jordi Weinstock, Harvard Law School
## 2019 Assembly Team
# Jonathan Zittrain
Principal Investigator,
Berkman Klein Center
# Joi Ito
MIT Media Lab
# Kendra Albert
Clinical Instructional Fellow,
Cyberlaw Clinic
# Samantha Bates
Project Coordinator,
Ethics & Governance of AI Initiative
# John Bowers
Research Associate,
# Rachel Kalmar
Facilitator
# Sarah Newman
# Hilary Ross
Project Manager,
Assembly
# Natalie Saltiel
Program Manager,
# Jordi Weinstock
Advisor,
© 2019 by Assembly.
bottom of page
Use tab to navigate through the menu items.!!
## 2019-2020 Assembly Student Projects
THE 2020 ASSEMBLY STUDENT FELLOWSHIP COHORT came together to study and explore disinformation on online platforms from a cybersecurity perspective. Over the course of the academic year, student fellows learned from experts in the field, participated in team building activities, and scoped project prototypes, sketches, and provocations to specific aspects of the spread and consumption of disinformation. Assembly Student Fellows conducted their work independently, with light advisory guidance from faculty advisors and staff. Read more below about the four student projects developed during Assembly 2019-2020.
​
 is an interactive tool about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA 230), one of the most influential laws that shaped the Internet as we know it today. Developed by students at Harvard College, the Graduate School of Design, the Kennedy School, and the Law School, the explainer provides a history of the law’s genesis and judicial interpretations, and gives users the opportunity to engage with important issues related to platform moderation efforts, particularly focusing on mis- and disinformation, by posing a series of questions around hypothetical situations involving controversial content on social media. The answers reveal how different approaches to content moderation in each instance reflect different policy values. The project also directs readers to more authoritative, in-depth resources examining the history, interpretation, and challenges of 230. This independent student project is in beta, and the team is actively gathering feedback to improve the tool.
Read the team's  and visit their .
Kaleidoscope
 focused on the experiences of underrepresented minority politicians and candidates online. Developed by students studying at the Business School, the Law School, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the group explored the intersection of disinformation and harassment in political campaigns and its disproportionate impact on minority candidates. Disinformation that targets these candidates often mobilizes racial stereotypes and gendered language, alongside false information. Over the course of its research, the group learned that while social media is critical to running a successful grassroots campaign, platform content policies often fail to adequately protect minority candidates, many of whom feel unprepared to campaign online and are uncertain about what protections are afforded to them.
Read the team’s .
!SurveillanceStateUnion!
 conducted research for an infographic to improve media literacy among first time voters in the 2020 US elections. The project, which was developed by students at the College, the Kennedy School, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, focused on four major topics: why disinformation is created, how disinformation is spread, real-world examples of inauthentic online content, and how to identify false information online. The team hopes their infographic can help increase students’ awareness of false content on the internet and encourage further conversation.
Read the team's .
Watch Your Words
!AI Blindspot