A Fireside Chat with Clarence Wardell
ABOUT CLARENCE WARDELL
Dr. Clarence Wardell III is a changemaker committed to harnessing the power of technology, data, and evidence to create positive social impact and achieve more equitable societal outcomes. He is currently a Senior Program Officer on the Economic Mobility and Opportunity team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he leads the team's efforts to foster innovation to improve economic outcomes for individuals in the U.S. with low incomes. Before joining the foundation, Clarence served in several senior roles in the Biden-Harris Administration and on the transition team focused on policy implementation and advancing equity through the federal government. As a Senior Advisor for Policy Implementation and Delivery on the Domestic Policy Council, he played a key role in establishing and leading the President's Equitable Data Working Group as well as working across agencies to develop the Administration’s perspective on the fair and equitable use of artificial intelligence, resulting in the release of the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights. Clarence also served as the Chief Data and Equity Officer for the White House American Rescue Plan Team, where he worked to ensure that historic federal funding reached underserved communities and families in a fair and equitable manner, including documenting these efforts in the Administration’s report on Advancing Equity Through the American Rescue Plan.
Clarence has also previously served in roles at Results for America, CNA Corporation, and in the Obama Administration working to scale evidence-based solutions to address various challenges at the local, state, and federal levels of government. Clarence’s work in the Obama Administration, where he co-led the White House Police Data Initiative as a Presidential Innovation Fellow and member of the U.S. Digital Service, earned him recognition as one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business in 2017. In 2012, Clarence co-founded and later sold tinyGive, a social media-based charitable giving platform, where he also conducted research that has appeared in the Journal of Public Economics and Wall Street Journal.
Throughout his career, Clarence has been actively involved in various organizations focused on economic opportunity and criminal justice reform as a board member and advisor. He holds a B.S.E. in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
A Fireside Chat with Jessica Cole
ABOUT JESSICA COLE
Jessica Cole, Director, Aspen Institute Tech Policy Hub: Jessica is the interim Director of the Aspen Institute’s Tech Policy Hub, which trains the next generation of policy entrepreneurs by teaching the policy process to experts in STEM, climate, and nonprofits. Jessica is an urbanist and repeat executive in the public interest tech space whose expertise is in bringing civic communities together and building organizations at the intersection of government and technology.
Before joining the Aspen Institute, Jessica co-founded and served as CEO at U.S. Digital Response, a tech nonprofit that enables governments to keep up with their communities’ most critical needs, as the team scaled to serve more than 200 governments and nonprofits across the country. Prior to that, she served as a Fellow with Code for America and in local government as the Head of Innovation and Economic Development for the City of Walnut Creek, CA. She also served as a Tech Policy Fellow at the Aspen Institute in 2020, where she worked on increasing access to civil court representation via the use of automated advocacy tools.
How Business Model Innovation and Technology Can Power Social Change: A Fireside Chat with Karen Bhatia
ABOUT KAREN BHATIA
Karen Bhatia is a lawyer, policymaker and entrepreneur helping businesses and economies grow. She is currently on the faculty of Stanford University teaching about the role of business model innovation and technology for economic development. She previously led tech at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, overseeing a $200+ Million portfolio of approximately 30 tech and entrepreneurship projects. This includes developing NYC's blockchain strategy, launching the first publicly-funded Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Lab in the US, leading New York City's strategy to develop a Center for Responsible Artificial Intelligence, and expanding affordable broadband access to poor neighborhoods in NYC. During her tenure leading tech, NYC rose to be the #2 city for tech entrepreneurship in the world.
Karen is also an attorney, entrepreneur, and startup advisor. She worked in the Capital Markets practice group of a Wall Street law firm, helping companies raise financing through debt offerings and IPOs. She was also the principal of her own law firm advising tech startups on corporate issues, financing, and overall business strategy. As an entrepreneur, Karen founded ActionCam, an educational platform explaining public policy issues and providing resources for people to take action. Karen also founded Stanford Startups NY, a business network of over 800 Stanford entrepreneurs and investors in the region. She is an advisor to several tech organizations and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Mott Hall, a public middle school in the South Bronx, NYC. Karen has a Bachelor's degree from Stanford University, a Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and a Juris Doctorate from the George Washington University Law School.
How Technology and Data Inform Decision-making in Cities and Advance Social Mobility: A Fireside Chat with Jennifer Park
ABOUT JENNIFER PARK
Jennifer Park is the Executive Director of the Opportunity Accelerator at Results for America. The Opportunity Accelerator partners with the government to promote economic mobility and reduce racial disparities, ultimately strengthening the well-being of individuals and fostering thriving communities. Since 2015, Jenn has developed and led signature programs supporting local government in leveraging data and evidence to accelerate resident outcomes. She served as a founding member of Bloomberg Philanthropies What Works Cities (WWC) initiative, one of the largest-ever philanthropic efforts to enhance cities’ use of data. She created and scaled WWC Certification, the first-ever national standard of excellence for well-managed, data-driven local government. Under her leadership, the program recognized and celebrated 50 local governments for their exceptional use of data to inform policy decisions, allocate funding to improve services, evaluate the effectiveness of programs, and engage residents.
Previously, Jenn managed the expansion of Echoing Green’s Work on Purpose program, an award-winning curriculum designed to help young professionals identify their purpose and put it into action by creating a career with impact. She also supported the Global Fellowship program, providing early seed funding and strategic support to social entrepreneurs to accelerate ideas into impactful social enterprises. Jenn is a member of the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance on Technology Governance Task Force and a panellist for the National Science Foundation’s Civic Innovation Challenge. She attended Villanova University and the University of Southern California and has a life-long commitment to systems transformation, innovation, and social justice.
Fireside Chat With Reuben Ogbonna
Join PiTech Studio's course lecture featuring special guest speaker Reuben Ogbonna, co-founder of the Marcy Lab School, in conversation with course instructor Lyel Resner.
ABOUT REUBEN OGBONNA
Reuben Ogbonna is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Marcy Lab School. Born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, his family is split between Imo State, Nigeria and Shreveport, Louisiana. Prior to founding the Marcy Lab School, Reuben coached teachers across New York City as a Director at Teach For America.
He recently had his first child but one could argue that he has been a dad on the inside for several years already. When he is not trying to dismantle the higher education system, he is smoking briskets on his Big Green Egg while playing afrobeats and Black cookout music. He is currently listening to African Giant by Burna Boy.
Fireside Chat With Dr. Kimberly Osagie
Join PiTech Studio's course lecture featuring special guest speaker Dr. Kimberly Osagie, Vice President of Programs at Echoing Green, in conversation with course instructor Lyel Resner.
(Zoom Online Meeting)
ABOUT DR. KIMBERLY OSAGIE
Osagie joined Echoing Green this December with more than 15 years of senior leadership experience in education, nonprofits, and philanthropy. She most recently served as founding Partner for Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable Talent Strategy at Promise54, a national talent consulting firm for mission-driven organizations, where she supported a $1M portfolio of client organizations, coached over 100 senior executives, and co-authored the three-part interactive series DEI in Action: A Radically Human Approach to Case Studies.
In this position, Osagie will lead the strategy and design of Echoing Green’s programs to select and support hundreds of breakthrough social innovators around the world. With her expertise in global pedagogy, equitable systems design, and inclusive talent strategy, she will manage the teams disbursing grants and providing leadership and strategic support to innovative social change leaders working in more than 85 countries.
Read Kimberly's full bio at https://www.kimberlyosagie.com/bio
Fireside Chat With Michelle Shevin
Join PiTech Studio's course lecture featuring special guest speaker Michelle Shevin from Ford Foundation, in conversation with course instructor Lyel Resner.
ABOUT MICHELLE SHEVIN
Michelle Shevin is a Senior Program Manager with the Technology and Society team at the Ford Foundation.
She is a technologist and researcher obsessed with shifting systems and the interplay of technological, regulatory, and cultural change. Prior to joining Ford, she worked in technology futurism, open innovation, and strategy consulting, helping organizations and institutions across sectors adapt and thrive.
At Ford, she helps to inform both strategy and tactics, with a perspective honed from systems thinking and human-centric technology analysis. She manages the Public Interest Technology Catalyst Fund, a historic investment in cross-sector infrastructure to center public interest values in the design, development, deployment and maintenance of technology systems across sectors.
She writes on Medium @michebox on ethics, long-term thinking, and the big picture. She holds an MA in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School and a BA in Anthropology: Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology from Barnard College, Columbia University.
Fireside Chat With Jim Shelton
Join PiTech Studio's first class lecture of Spring 2022, featuring special guest speaker Jim Shelton in conversation with course instructor Lyel Resner.
ABOUT JIM SHELTON
Jim Shelton is the current Chief Impact Officer at Blue Meridian.
Prior to joining Blue Meridian, he founded Amandla Enterprises, an impact investment and advisory firm, and was President of Education for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, President and Chief Impact Officer at 2U, and Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Education.
ViP - Urban Innovation Pilots: How to partner with government
Learn about the challenges that entrepreneurs encounter when working with government.
About this event
Governments from across the world are improving procurement to open opportunities for startups to thrive, and to secure public contracts. Pilot projects are common among municipalities, however working with government agencies come with multiple challenges especially for resource starved emerging ventures.
Join us to learn about:
Challenges that startups encounter when engaging with governments.
Government strategies to incentivize social entrepreneurship
Moderator:
Shanna Crumley, Sr. Innovation Advisor, NYC Mayor’s Office of the CTO
Speakers:
Sandy Tung, Principal Policy Officer, Innovation and Technology, Greater London Authority
Oscar Romero, Director of Inclusive Innovation & International Cooperation of the NYC Mayor’s Office of the CTO
Sam Warach, Founder & CEO, Nextstep HealthTech
Power to the Public: The Promise of Public Interest Tech - Book Release
Book Release, hosted by The Public Interest Tech Initiative (PiTech) at Cornell Tech
Power to the Public: The Promise of Public Interest Technology
As governments and nonprofits around the world faced the dual crises of the Covid-19 epidemic and the economic fallout of the disease, many found themselves overwhelmed and unable to rapidly meet the needs of their citizens and members. In Power to the Public: the Promise of Public Interest Technology, Hana Schank and Tara McGuinness share how governments and nonprofits around the world are solving hard problems through a new practice of problem-solving using approaches like data, design, delivery to help governments become faster and more connected to those citizens they serve.
About the Authors
Hana Schank was one of the early members of the US Digital Service, and a founding member of the Public Interest Technology program at New America. Tara McGuinness was part of the Healthcare.gov team in the White House, she recently ran the domestic policy team for the Biden Transition, she founded the New Practice Lab.
Their new book, Power to the Public, is a blueprint for how governments and nonprofits can harness the power of digital technology to solve public problems.