Tess Posner
{{Short description|American social entrepreneur & AI diversity advocate}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox academic
|name=Tess Posner
|known_for=Artificial Intelligence
AI Ethics
Diversity in Technology
|alma_mater=Columbia University (M.A.)
Saint John's College (B.A.)
|workplaces=AI4ALL
|image=Tess Posner.jpg
|website=
}}
Tess Posner is an American social entrepreneur and musician known for her work in artificial intelligence advocacy and ethics, focusing on increasing equity and inclusion in technology.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=April 4, 2018|title=AI Isn't Good for Women — But We Can Fix It|url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/artificial-intelligence-isnt-good-for-women-but-we-can-fix-it|access-date=January 21, 2022|website=Teen Vogue|language=en-US}}
Posner has headed multiple initiatives to promote diversity in technology before being hired as the CEO of the non-profit organization AI4ALL, a position from which she stepped down in 2021 to concentrate on her music career.{{Cite web|last=Wong|first=Ashley|title=Artificial intelligence has a racial bias problem. Google is funding summer camps to try to change that|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/08/10/google-gives-1-million-help-more-young-blacks-latinos-and-women-create-artificial-intelligence/915627002/|access-date=September 22, 2021|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Smiley|first=Lauren|date=May 23, 2018|title=The Future of AI Depends on High-School Girls|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/05/ai-future-women/560618/|quote=They hired Tess Posner, who had led initiatives aimed at getting more diversity into the digital economy, to be the CEO. |access-date=January 19, 2022|website=The Atlantic|language=en}} Her work has earned recognition including her selection as one of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics in 2020.{{Cite web|title=Hall of Fame|url=https://100brilliantwomeninaiethics.com/the-list/hall-of-fame/|access-date=July 22, 2021|website=100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™|language=en-US}}
Early years and education
Posner grew up near Boston, Massachusetts. In high school, she traveled to El Salvador to build houses with Habitat for Humanity following an earthquake. Posner holds a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy and Mathematics from Saint John's College and a Master's degree from Columbia University in Social Enterprise Administration.{{Cite web|title=Tess Posner inspires and trains diverse AI talent|url=https://accelerate.withgoogle.com/stories/tess-posner-inspires-and-trains-diverse-ai-talent|access-date=January 19, 2022|website=Accelerate with Google|language=en}}
Career
= Social entrepreneurship =
Early in her career, Posner built and ran Samsa School, a non-profit organization providing low-income people worldwide with tools and education to find work in the digital economy. Then, she became the managing director of TechHire at Opportunity@Work, a White House initiative that sought to increase diversity in the technology industry.{{Cite web|title=AI in Medicine: Inclusion & Equity|url=https://aemstage.med.stanford.edu/presence/initiatives/rwj/rwj-2018/tessposner.html|access-date=January 19, 2022|website=Stanford University|language=}} In 2016, Posner was selected as a fellow at the Institute for the Future.{{Cite web|title=IFTF: Tess Posner|url=https://www.iftf.org/tessposner/|access-date=September 17, 2021|website=www.iftf.org}}
Posner then joined non-profit organization AI4ALL as their CEO and executive director.{{Cite news|last=Castellanos|first=Sara|date=August 10, 2020|title=The Changes AI Will Bring|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-changes-ai-will-bring-11597072070|access-date=January 19, 2022|issn=0099-9660}}{{Cite web|title=A Rare Tech Company Where Women Dominate|url=https://fortune.com/2019/08/21/thirdlove-tech-diversity-women/|access-date=September 22, 2021|website=Fortune|language=en}} AI4ALL provides AI education and mentorship particularly towards historically underrepresented talent.{{Cite web|last=Walch|first=Kathleen|title=Concerns Of AI And Bias Insights from AI4ALL's Tess Posner|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/2019/10/27/concerns-of-ai-and-bias-insights-from-ai4alls-tess-posner/|access-date=September 22, 2021|website=Forbes|language=en}} In the years she served as CEO, AI4ALL saw over 15,000 young people participate in the organization's AI education and mentorship programs.{{Cite web|title=Miami Dade College Partners with AI4ALL College Pathways Initiative to Prepare Students for Careers in Artificial Intelligence|url=https://news.mdc.edu/press_release/miami-dade-college-partners-with-ai4all-college-pathways-initiative-to-prepare-students-for-careers-in-artificial-intelligence/|access-date=January 19, 2022|website=MDC News|language=en-US}} Posner has spoken at SXSW, Grace Hopper Celebration, Nvidia GPU Technology Conference, and further conferences about artificial intelligence and technology diversity and outreach.{{Cite web|title=Understanding the Human Side of Automation|url=http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/74340|access-date=January 19, 2022|website=SXSW}}{{Cite web|last=Lindeman|first=Laura|date=September 26, 2019|title=10 Talks We Can't Wait to Hear at the 2019 Grace Hopper Celebration|url=https://engineering.salesforce.com/10-talks-we-cant-wait-to-hear-at-the-2019-grace-hopper-celebration-4ae87d6d4aa7|access-date=January 19, 2022|website=Medium|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Stewart|first=Louis|date=October 15, 2020|title=At GTC, Leaders Focus on Equity in AI, Developer Diversity {{!}} NVIDIA Blog|url=https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2020/10/14/gtc-ai-equity-developer-diversity/|access-date=January 19, 2022|website=The Official NVIDIA Blog|language=en-US}}
She is listed as a coauthor in Vint Cerf and David Nordfors's 2018 book The People Centered Economy: The New Ecosystem for Work.{{Cite book|last1=Cerf|first1=Vint|title=The People Centered Economy: The New Ecosystem for Work|last2=Nordfors|first2=David|year=2018|publisher=Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US |isbn=978-1729145920|url=https://archive.org/stream/ThePeopleCenteredEconomyTheNewEcosyVintCerf/The%20People%20Centered%20Economy_%20The%20New%20Ecosy%20-%20Vint%20Cerf_djvu.txt}}
In an online statement published in October 2021, Posner announced that she would step out of the role as CEO of AI4ALL into an advisory role to pursue her music career full-time.{{Cite web|first=Tess|last=Posner|date=November 3, 2021|title=Singing A New Song|url=https://medium.com/ai4allorg/singing-a-new-song-23dbfe79f054|access-date=January 19, 2022|website=AI4ALL|language=en}} Emily Reid took over her role at the start of 2022 as interim CEO.{{Cite web|last=Team|first=AI4ALL|date=December 14, 2021|title=Emily Reid Named Interim CEO of AI4ALL|url=https://medium.com/ai4allorg/emily-reid-named-interim-ceo-of-ai4all-8da8849061df|access-date=January 21, 2022|website=AI4ALL|language=en}}
= Music =
Posner is also an alt-pop music artist. She released her first EP in 2018 and released new singles in 2020.{{Cite web|title=Interview: Tess Posner|url=https://www.tonguetiedmag.com/interviews/interview-tess-posner|access-date=September 19, 2021|website=Tongue Tied Magazine|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=FeaturesMusic·|date=February 21, 2020|title=Tess Posner Shines On Catchy New Single "Ocean"|url=https://www.discovernu.co/tess-posner-shines-on-catchy-new-single-ocean/|access-date=January 19, 2022|website=DNü|language=en-GB}}
Selected awards and recognition
- 2019 – VentureBeat Women in AI Award: Responsibility and Ethics Winner{{Cite web|date=July 12, 2019|title=Winners of VentureBeat's first Women in AI Awards announced at Transform 2019|url=https://venturebeat.com/2019/07/12/winners-of-venturebeats-first-women-in-ai-awards-announced-at-transform-2019/|access-date=September 17, 2021|website=VentureBeat|language=en-US}}
- 2019 – Alconics Awards AI Innovator of the Year Finalist{{Cite web|title=AIconics Awards San Francisco 2019: Shortlist announced|url=https://www.aibusiness.com/document.asp?doc_id=761052|access-date=September 17, 2021|website=AI Business|language=en}}
- 2020 – 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics Hall of Fame Honoree
References
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Category:Columbia University alumni
Category:St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) alumni
Category:Artificial intelligence ethicists
Category:American social entrepreneurs
Category:Nonprofit chief executives
Category:American pop musicians