Event occurred on
June 6, 20248:30am ET
Location

Norton’s Woods Conference Center
136 Irving Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 USA

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Accelerate: Data for Social Impact Conference

June 6, 2024 8:30am ET

Tech, AI, and data science are at the center of conversations around evidence-based policy, economic opportunity, and global equity. In board rooms, in legislative chambers, and at kitchen tables, there is a growing understanding of the importance of data and how it can be leveraged to tackle some of society’s most urgent challenges, such as persistent economic disparities, the spread of infectious diseases, and the climate crisis. This presents the field of data for social impact with an important opportunity. We must seize this moment and bring together the world’s most visionary voices to develop community-designed, evidence-informed solutions that will accelerate the strategic growth of our sector.

Accelerate: Data for Social Impact Conference will convene academic institutions, social impact organizations, philanthropy, and industry partners around the globe. This inaugural event will focus on the potential of leveraging data and AI to mitigate and adapt to climate change through an intersectional lens that spans public health, financial inclusion, and data privacy.

Speakers

Satchit Balsari, Ph.D.

Associate Professor in Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; and in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Harvard University

Dr. Balsari’s research and teaching are focused on complex humanitarian emergencies and digital health implementation science in resource-poor settings. He has worked with populations affected by disaster, war, and the COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq, South Sudan, Jordan, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and across South Asia.

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Symone Campbell, Ph.D.

Race & Tech Postdoctoral Fellow

Howard University

Dr. Symone Campbell, a native of Syracuse, New York, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Buffalo State University, a Master of Arts degree in Africana Studies from the University at Albany, and a Ph.D. in Communication, Culture, and Media Studies from The Howard University.

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Mercè Crosas, Ph.D.

Director, Computational Socials Sciences, Barcelona Supercomputing Center and President, CODATA

Dr. Mercè Crosas currently leads the Computational Social Sciences program at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, a new program to facilitate the use of data and supercomputing in social science and humanities, foster collaboration between social and computer scientists, and conduct cutting-edge research in these areas.

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Shanna Crumley

Director, Impact Data Science

Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

Shanna leads the Center’s mission to build the field of impact data science, engaging data scientists, academia, nonprofits and other relevant organizations to accelerate progress.

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Francesca Dominici, Ph.D.

Faculty Director, Harvard Data Science Initiative & the Clarence James Gamble Professor of Biostatistics, Population, and Data Science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Harvard University

Francesca Dominici, Ph.D. is the Faculty Director of the Harvard Data Science Initiative and the Clarence James Gamble Professor of Biostatistics, Population, and Data Science at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and of the International Society of Mathematical Statistics.

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Danielle Getsinger is the co-founder and CEO of Community Lattice, a consulting firm specialized in using data science to overcome environmental barriers to community revitalization. Danielle is a licensed Professional Geologist with about 15 years of experience working on complex environmental issues ranging from technical assessment and cleanup of brownfields to community-wide strategies for addressing environmental injustice, climate adaptation, and resiliency.

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Nelson González

Global Head of Impact Computing

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

For more than 25 years, Nelson Gonzalez has worked to leverage technology, entrepreneurship, public policy, research, and capital markets to drive social and environmental impact at a systemic scale.

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Alicia R. Karspeck, Ph.D.

Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer

[C]Worthy

Dr. Alicia Karspeck is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at [C]Worthy, a non-profit research organization developing open-source software for the quantification of ocean-based carbon dioxide removal. 

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Elizabeth Langdon-Gray

Executive Director, Harvard Data Science Initiative

Harvard University

Liz Langdon-Gray is the inaugural Executive Director of the Harvard Data Science Initiative (DSI). In this role, she is responsible for implementing the academic vision of the Initiative, engaging closely with Harvard schools and the Office of the President and Provost.

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Bree McEwan, Ph.D

Associate Director, Data Sciences Institute

University of Toronto

Bree McEwan is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information, and Technology at the University Toronto – Mississauaga, the UTM Associate Director of the Data Sciences Institute and holds an affiliation with the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society.

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Daniel Newton Obaka, Ph.D.

President and Co-Founder

Global Integrated Education Volunteers Association (GIEVA)

Daniel Newton Obaka has been working for over 20 years in the nonprofit sector and over 25 years in the public sector.  He is the President/Co-Founder of the Global Integrated Education Volunteers Association (GIEVA) and served as Executive Director (2010-2022) with three offices in Nigeria.  

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David Parkes, Ph.D.

John A. Paulson Dean of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and George F. Colony Professor of Computer Science

Harvard University

David C. Parkes assumed the deanship of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) on October 15, 2023. He is also the George F. Colony Professor of Computer Science.  

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Stefaan G. Verhulst, Ph.D.

Co-Founder

Governance Laboratory (GovLab)

Dr. Stefaan G. Verhulst is Co-Founder of the Governance Laboratory (The GovLab), an action research center focused on transforming decision making using advances in science and technology – including data and collective intelligence.

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Sophie Woodward 

Ph.D. Student in Biostatistics

Harvard University

Sophie Woodward is a second-year Ph.D. student in Biostatistics at Harvard University investigating the intersection of spatial statistics and causal inference to inform data-driven decision-making.

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