Joy Buolamwini visited the Honors College on January 31, 2017 where she met with different groups of students throughout the day and later gave a special lecture about her work to fight bias in machine learning, develop social impact technology, and write inclusive coding–called incoding. Ms. Buolamwini is a graduate researcher with the Civic Media group at the MIT Media Lab. She was the inaugural speaker for the Navesink Wealth Management Endowed Honors College Annual Lecture Series.
Ms. Buolamwini shared her experiences developing leading edge technology, launching businesses, and investing deeply in social purpose. She inspired students to pursue projects–like her own–that demand imagination and creative thinking, explore unconventional opportunities in cross-disciplinary knowledge and experiences, and dedicate themselves to addressing real world needs. In short, she exemplified the Honors College motto: Curiosity. Knowledge. Purpose.
Ms. Buolamwini piloted the inaugural Rhodes Scholar Service Year to launch Code4Rights, which supports youth in creating meaningful technology for their communities in partnership with local organizations. She has given talks at TEDx, the White House, and the Vatican. As an entrepreneur, she co-founded Techturized Inc, a hair-care technology company, and advises Bloomer Tech, a smart clothing startup transforming women’s health. She leads the Algorithmic Justice League on its mission to expose and correct hidden biases in machine learning. She is a Rhodes Scholar, a Fulbright Fellow, an Astronaut Scholar, a Google Anita Borg Scholar, a Carter Center technical consultant recognized as a distinguished volunteer, and the Grand Prize Winner of The Search for Hidden Figures competition.