[TechWeek] Designing for Inclusion Panel

How might we ensure that the products we build are designed with inclusion in mind? How can we become tech leaders that prioritize equitable solutions, especially for those who have been historically relegated as edge cases?

There are plenty of examples of what not to do when it comes to design inclusion. Whether it’s racial discrimination in facial recogntiion technology, or excluding women’s health issues in self-tracking apps—bias has always crept into technology. 

This panel, as part of KTech's Tech Week programming and co-hosted with IDEA, WBA, BMA, and HMA, will highlight 4 experts who have made their careers by designing for inclusion. It will take place via Zoom on Friday, April 16th from 12:15-1:15 pm CT.

Submit your questions in advance via Slido: https://app.sli.do/event/ecvntoad or with code #574474.

This event will be recorded for all those who cannot attend.

NATASHA AARONS 
Director of Marketing @ Caviar, formerly Multicultural Marketing @ Google
KSM '12 
Panelist
Natasha Aarons is an award winning marketer and AdAge 40 Under 40 class of 2020 honoree, with a deep expertise in crafting marketing strategies and campaigns at the intersection of culture, entertainment and technology. She recently joined DoorDash as the Director of Marketing for Caviar. Most recently,  she led US Multicultural Marketing for Google Devices & Services, overseeing marketing strategies targeted underrepresented consumers and prior, led Influencer & Experiential Marketing for Google Mobile Hardware, where she cultivated marketing partnerships with celebrities, mid-tier and micro-influencers and manages brand experiences that amplify consumer engagement. Previously, Natasha was the Music Industry Marketing Manager at YouTube, where she lived out her passion of empowering artists careers' with technology and led YouTube’s marquee activations at SXSW, Grammys, Latin Grammys and BET Awards. Prior to joining YouTube/Google, she worked at Verizon Wireless where she developed advertising marketing strategies and led multicultural social media and digital strategy. Natasha started her career in the music industry, aiding the development of artists' careers, at Bad Boy Records in Marketing and then Jive Records/Sony Music as a Manager of Video Promotions. She is a native New Yorker and proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Natasha received her BSBA from Georgetown University and MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

LAKSHMAN SOMASUNDARAM 
Group Product Manager @ LinkedIn
Panelist
Laksh is a Group Product Manager at LinkedIn. He is passionate about using technology to improve the lives of people who can benefit from it the most. Laksh currently leads LinkedIn’s Venture Segments team, which is responsible for audiences that have traditionally been underserved by the LinkedIn platform, but are core to the company’s vision of creating economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. Audiences his team currently focuses on include firstline workers and underconnected youth. He has been with LinkedIn for over 5 years and lives in San Francisco, California. Originally from the East Coast, Laksh completed his undergrad studies at Yale University before joining LinkedIn.

TANIA ANAISSIE
Founder and CEO @ Beytna Design 
Panelist
Tania Anaissie is the Founder and CEO of Beytna Design, an equity-design firm that supports social sector leaders to actualize their commitment to equity. She is a Founding Creator of Liberatory Design, a new practice of human-centered design that incorporates complexity theory and equity practice to drive innovation for equity by addressing root causes. Tania is a Founding Member of the Equity Design Collaborative, a group of leaders building the emerging Equity Design field. Tania is Faculty at The National Equity Project and a Lecturer at the Stanford University d.school. As the Course Production Lead at the d.school, Tania was on the team that built the Stanford 2025 project, managed 3 faculty and student programs, and served on the Teaching and Learning team, evolving the d.school's renowned pedagogy. Tania is an expert workshop designer and facilitator with over 9 years of experience leading workshops and classes in 12 countries for over 30 different clients and over 1000 learners. Tania is a graduate of Stanford University's Product Design program and a StartingBloc fellow.

NJIDEKA HARRY 
Founder, Youth for Technology Foundation (YTF)
Leadership Group Member, Ashoka 
KSM '12 
Moderator 
Njideka Harry is the Founder of Youth for Technology Foundation (YTF), an international citizen sector organization founded in 2001. YTF's programs leverage appropriate technology as inspiration in the corridors of education and entrepreneurship, replacing economic disparity with economic opportunity. YTF prepares youth and women living in low-income and developing world communities to enter a workforce that is more global, more digital, and more entrepreneurially focused. YTF is inspiring the next generation of technology leaders equipped for the future of work. In 2017, Njideka founded 3D Printing Academy for Girls, an education technology startup, that inspires middle-school age girls to deepen their interest in STEM education using emerging technologies.

Njideka is a Leadership Group Member at Ashoka where she is leading "Entrepreneur-to-Entrepreneur", an exclusive network of high-impact entrepreneurs who partner with Ashoka's social entrepreneurs in an effort to change the way people harness their social capital enabling equity, access and create lasting systemic change. 

An Ashoka Fellow and a Fellow of the World Economic Forum, Njideka began her corporate career at first at General Electric and then at Microsoft. At both companies, she discovered the power of technology; as an inhibitor and a solution to many of the world's problems. She is on the Kellogg Advisory Council / Pete Henderson Society, Advisory Board of the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), and is an expert contributor, Education and Prosperity, at the Legatum Institute in the U.K. 

Njideka holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BBA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She completed post-graduate studies at Stanford University where she was a Reuters Digital Vision Fellow. 

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Co-hosted with: Women's Business Association, Black Management Association, Asian Management Association, Innovation and Design Association (IDEA), Hispanic Management Association (HMA), Hispanic Management Association - Evening & Weekend