These days I've been thinking a lot about the ethics and environmental impact of AI and how I want to use these tools in ways that are values aligned for me. This is another place where it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Perhaps you're also experimenting out where to put the slider.

I'm speaking on this topic at an event in Vancouver at the end of the month. If you skip to the end of this newsletter, I also share some of the people I follow on AI.

Queer Tech event in Vancouver

I'll be one of the speakers on the Leveraging Tech and AI for Inclusive Design to Reduce Inequality panel put on by Queer Tech on July 31. We will delve into how inclusive design and AI can break down digital barriers, particularly for the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and examine the broader social and economic benefits.

Skip to the end of this newsletter for my recommendations on important voices in AI to follow!

Pride month(s)

Now, more than ever, we need to step up for queer and trans people. Educating ourselves and our colleagues is one way we can make a more LGBTQ+ inclusive workplace and society.

This year I'm offering three workshops for corporate audiences:

• Unapologetic Inclusion: Allyship in Action​
• Queer Superheros!
• Queer and Trans Inclusive Design

Vancouver folks - I'm booking for late July (Pride weekend is BC Day long weekend). I can offer these in person or virtually for your organization!

IDI (Intercultural Development Inventory)

I recently got certified as a qualified administrator for the IDI. It's an assessment that's used in corporate, educaiton and non-profit spaces around the world. It is an effective cross-culturally valid assessment for building cultural competence. The assessment is 50 questions and takes about 15-30 minutes and can be used for individuals or groups.

The IDI needs to be debriefed by an qualified administrator. We would go over your report so that you understand the model and your results. I'd also walk you through your individualized development plan that you'd complete after our debrief session.

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I like the Intercultural Development Continuum model as it helps you understand where you need to focus your development.

Until September I'm offering 45 min debrief sessions for $475. You'll need to spend 15-30 min ahead of time completing the 50 question assessment tool. In the debrief session I'll share more about the model, debrief your report with you and you'll leave with an self-guided individualized development plan. This includes the $33 assessment fee.

Coaching

​Alexandra Samuel called me a "courage librarian".
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I love this. Courage is about doing the hard thing when you're scared. Also: I was an academic librarian for 12 years.
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But it's not accurate. ​
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See, I don't lend you my courage. I help you find yours. Maybe you forgot where you put it. Maybe we need to walk into the stacks and look together. Maybe it's the first time you've really accessed it. But it's there, and it's yours. It's not mine.

Alex created this image using Ideogram. I highly recommend following her if you're interested in AI and business productivity and self coaching.

Other ways I can help you

I ask good questions that help organizations, teams and individuals see what's really going on below the surface. I then help them get clear on where they want to go. I'm here to make equitable futures irresistible.

Here's some of the work I've been doing with organizations recently:

• Delivered my Unapologetic Inclusion: Allyship in Action workshop to a global publisher.
• Facilitated a session with a non-profit leadership team around how they want to lead around DEI. I used the IDI to do a group assessment and met individually with each leader to debrief their individual results.
• Facilitated a couple of sessions for a large foundation to gather honest feedback about how people were feeling and what they were thinking after Year 1 of a new program.

A Permission Slip for letting go of a project you won't finish

So, it's July. For most of us that means we're starting Q3 and the second half of the year. It's a great time to step back and take stock of the things you're doing, and identify some things you need to let go of.

I love April Soetarman's Unfinished Projects Release Form. Her work was the inspiration behind my Google form for you to Let It Go.

Recommended Resources on AI

Here are some of the leaders I follow around AI:

​Dr. Safiya Noble ​

She is the author of the best-selling book on racist and sexist algorithmic harm in commercial search engines, titled Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. In addition to being a professor at UCLA, she's also the Director of the Center on Race & Digital Justice and Co-Director of the Minderoo Initiative on Tech & Power at the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2).

​Dr. Timnit Gebru​

Timnit Gebru is the founder and executive director of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR). Prior to that she was fired by Google in December 2020 for raising issues of discrimination in the workplace, where she was serving as co-lead of the Ethical AI research team.

​Dr. Alex Hanna​

Dr. Alex Hanna is Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR). A sociologist by training, her work centers on the data used in new computational technologies, and the ways in which these data exacerbate racial, gender, and class inequality.

​Dr. Joy Buolamwini​

Dr. Joy Buolamwini is the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, an AI bias expert, and an artist. She is the author of Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines and advises world leaders on preventing AI harms.

She is the subject of the documentary Coded Bias.

Watch her talk at SXSW from this spring:

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​Bunny McKensie Mack​

Bunny McKensie Mack is the Chief Purpose Officer at MMG EARTH. They published the AI x Racial Justice Toolkit in collaboration with Mozilla.

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Your recommendations?

Who are you learning from around AI? Which resources have you found useful? Hit reply and let me know.