How data bias is making being a woman more dangerous with Caroline Criado Perez

Image credit: Rachel Louise Brown

“A lot of these tech solutions are driven by algorithms that have been trained on data that is hopelessly male biased and is severely lacking when it comes to female data. And the result of that is that a whole load of tech solutions for all sorts of things just don’t work very well for women.”
– Caroline Criado Perez, Author of Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

Caroline Criado Perez is a writer, journalist and feminist campaigner. She has written two books: Do It Like A Woman and Invisible Women. In her most recent book Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men she describes how very old data bias can affect women today. In this episode, Sheana learns about the different ways data bias is affecting women today, from trivial things such as phone size to not so trivial things such as seat belt safety. Caroline tells all this and more in this episode of Innovation For All Podcast. 

In this episode you will learn:

  • What is male default thinking?
  • What are the consequences of male default thinking?
  • What are the consequences in tech?
  • Why the market is so bad at providing for women?
  • What is low hanging fruit for those of us who want to make money?
  • A stove example of male default thinking.
  • What can entrepreneurs and consumers do about these issues?

Links and mentions:

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Start fresh. How Propel and the Fresh EBT app is battling poverty.

We are interested in building software that fights poverty somehow. We know that poverty is complex and has many different components and can’t be solved with a single app, and that’s ok.” – Jimmy Chen, Founder and CEO of Propel

Jimmy Chen is the Founder and CEO of Propel, a software company that aims to fight poverty through technology. They are the creators of the Fresh EBT mobile app, which enables EBT cardholders to manage their benefits, save money through grocery coupons, and find jobs. Fresh EBT is used by over 2 million low-income Americans across the country. In this episode of Innovation For All Podcast, Sheana learns why Jimmy decided to start Propel and use the tools of Silicon Valley to address social issues around poverty.   

In this episode you will learn: 

  • Why Jimmy Chen decided to focus on building tech for low income families
  • What is Propel and Fresh EBT 
  • Why start with the food stamp program to battle poverty
  • How does Propel get the experience and empathy to solve problems they might not understand
  • What is the process for getting usable information from users
  • What are the logistical and general obstacles faced by Propel and how are they overcome
  • What are some misconceptions about the food stamp program
  • Where else can the private sector make a difference and what are the challenges

Links and Mentions:

Take a seat: Helping women of color advance their careers with Minda Harts

“The statistics show that women of color are the most educated group in the United States right now, but yet we are not reflected in senior roles in Fortune 500 companies or some of the top nonprofit organizations.”
– Minda Harts, Founder of The Memo LLC

Minda Harts is the author of The Memo: What Women Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table. In this episode of the Innovation For All podcast, Minda describes why “Lean In” didn’t resonate with her workplace experience. Learn how women of color can break through workplace barriers and have a more active voice in their careers.

In this episode you’ll learn

  • What career growth for women of color means
  • Minda’s take on the book Lean In
  • Things that women of color need to be doing to advance their careers
  • Should women of color practice self-advocacy more? 
  • How to obtain and secure a seat at the table
  • What the experience for women of color is in the workplace 
  • Leading Diverse Talent course: Talent Development
  • Networking and career advice from Minda

Links and Mentions

More about Minda

Minda Harts, the founder of The Memo LLC, a digital career education platform dedicated helping women of color climb the corporate ladder. She  is also an assistant professor at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Minda was also chosen by the General Assembly to serve as one of their Dream Mentors, alongside women like Cindy Gallop. Secure The Seat is her weekly career podcast for women of color.  

Is “intuition” a dirty word at work? with Kara Dake

“I remember being super uncomfortable with anything ‘mindfulness’ related.” – Kara Drake, Awareness Activator with The Feminine Intelligence

Kara Dake is a social impact innovator who is using a combination of wellness practices, community, media and exponential technologies. Her goal is to bring emotional and collective intelligence to the forefront of business and society. In this episode of Innovation for All Podcast, Sheana learns what this feminine energy is and how it can look in our society. Kara takes us through the value of feminine intelligence and intuition in the workplace and explains how it fits in with our technology and advances.

In This Episode You Will Learn:

  • What would it look like to have “female energy” in traditional workspaces?
  • How Kara brought her MBA finance experience into bringing intuition and emotional intelligence to the workplace.
  • Is there value in having more emotion in our workspaces?
  • Why Kara decided to pursue an MBA?
  • How Kara ended up in the tech space.
  • Kara’s current projects: FI and FeelTankTV and how you can use them.
  • Skills that can be learned at FeelTankTV.
  • What is Co-Creation and why is it important?
  • What are some of the assumptions we make in business everyday?
  • What could a middle manager do to bring these practices into a company or system today?

Links and Mentions:

Great thinkers pictures mentioned by Kara. Source

More About Kara

Kara is also a seed catalyst of accelerator feminine intelligence or FI and a modern conscience media company, FeelTankTV. Kara regularly speaks on artificial intelligence, AI, and conscious growth topics at conferences such as SXSW, Ascent and the Chief Digital Officers Forum and has an MBA from NYU.

It’s illegal for Uber workers to strike. Marshall Steinbaum explains why.

“You can get employer monopsony power without the out-and-out control of an entire labor market by a single employer.” – Marshall Steinbaum, Assistant Professor of Economics at University of Utah

“Set the market and work when and how you like. You have complete control.” At least that is what gig economy companies like Uber would have you believe. In this episode of Innovation For All Podcast, Sheana speaks with Marshall Steinbaum, Assistant Professor of Economics at University of Utah, to talk about the pitfalls of the gig economy. Find out how employers can have control over the workforce without being a monopoly and how gig workers may be getting the short end of the stick. 

You’ll learn: 

  • Why did Uber driver’s strike?
  • What makes the gig economy examples more complex?
  • What is the difference between the gig economy labor and employment relationships? 
  • What should an independent contractor relationship look like?
  • Who is an independent contractor?
  • What are the markers of employer and employee relationships as opposed to independent contractor relationship.
  • How does antitrust factor in to these issues?
  • Proposed solutions to the gig economy and labor laws
  • How these companies exercise control over their workers
  • Good news about the gig economy

Mentions and Links:

More About Marshall

Marshall Steinbaum is a Research Director and a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute where he researches market power and inequality. He has worked for the Center for Equitable Growth and had a Ph.D from the University of Chicago. He has written an SSRN anti-trust gig economy and labor article and appears the book The President’s House is Empty: Losing and Gaining Public Goods.

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