Innovation For All - Diversity in Tech and Business

Cassie Betts is the founder of District2.Co, a technology company that connects brands/designers with factories to streamline the manufacturing process, and Made In South LA (MISLA),

a DevShop Academy. Hear how Cassie went from being homeless to being called “The Woman Turning South LA into Startup Land” by Forbes.

You'll hear

How she went from coding her first computer game at 9 to being homeless at 19, and how she turned that all around.

How do you help protect the poor from being displaced through gentrification?

Why more money should be spent on technology bootcamps instead of other diversity initiatives.

Note: This episode uses includes explicit language and includes some difficult topics about Cassie’s past that may be uncomfortable for some listeners. Please use your discretion.

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Note: This conversation was recorded before the COVID-19 Pandemic and the death of James Floyd.

Paul Tasner, Co-founder and CEO of PulpWorks and more recently, Co-founder of Sort, has more than 40 years of operations experience. He has held leadership positions in ventures ranging from start-up to Fortune 100. For the past decade, his focus has been on sustainability. Paul’s corporate affiliations include The Clorox Company, Clif Bar, Method Products, and Hepagen Vaccines. He has authored numerous papers and presentations on supply chain sustainability and currently lectures on this subject in the MBA Programs at San Francisco State University and Golden Gate University as well as the Packaging Engineering Department at San Jose State University. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Boston University.

In this episode you will learn:

How PulpWorks manufactures packaging for consumer goods using fiber waste

The story of Paul Tasner starting his first business at age 66

The perks of being your own boss as an entrepreneur

The specific challenges PulpWorks faces in securing new customers

How to pursue investors in the competitive city of San Francisco

Critical questions to consider for people nearing retirement that want to start a business

How recycling is an answer but not the answer

Why Paul is envious of the millennial mindset

How rejecting plastic can make a difference

What Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is and how EPR regulations could impact society

Paul’s new tech-based recycling business

Note: This conversation was recorded before the COVID-19 Pandemic and the death of James Floyd.

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

Original air date: 8/21/19

Note: This conversation was recorded before the COVID-19 Pandemic and the death of James Floyd.

Dr. Marcia Chatelain, author of Franchise: The Golden Arches In Black America discusses the complex history of McDonald’s in black America with Sheana. She explains how the civil rights movement impacted black business ownership and how franchises, like McDonald’s, can be both an economic win and financially limiting for low-income communities.

Note: This was recorded during the early days of the COVID pandemic.

Amplio Recruiting is a company that helps companies hire people from the refugee and immigrant communities. How does the CEO help refute and calm the fears of potential employers? How does he ensure that vulnerable people aren’t being taken advantage of? And what has made his business so successful? Find out with Sheana in this episode of Innovation for All Podcast.

Note: This episode was recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Can AI really change the world? Or are its developing algorithms formalizing social injustice? When these highly-technical systems derive patterns from existing datasets, their models can perpetuate past mistakes.

In this episode of the Innovation For All Podcast, Sheana Ahlqvist discusses with David Robinson the threats of social bias and discrimination becoming embedded in Artificial Intelligence.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

What is the role of technological advances in shaping society?

What is the difference between Machine Learning vs. Artificial Intelligence?

Social Justice Implications of Technology

What are the limitations of finding patterns in previous data?

How does should government regulate new, highly technical systems?

The need for more resources and more thoughtfulness in regulating data

Examples of data-driven issues in the private sector.

Removing skepticism of regulatory agencies in examining data models.

Authorities should remember that there are limits to what AI models can do.

David is the co-founder of Upturn and currently a Visiting Scientist at the AI Policy and Practice Initiative in Cornell’s College of Computing and Information Science. David touches on how government regulatory agencies should examine new AI models and systems, especially as the technology continues to creep its way into our day-to-day lives. David discusses the importance of “ground truthing.” David emphasizes looking at a technology’s capabilities and limits before deciding on whether decision makers should implement it.

Get shownotes for this an every episode at innovationforallcast.com or find us on Twitter @inforallpodcast.

Original air date: 12/26/18

Note: This conversation was recorded before the COVID-19 Pandemic and the death of James Floyd.

Two years after her revenge porn nightmare began, Darieth Chisolm won the case against her ex-boyfriend. Should tech companies make it harder to weaponize their platforms against women? Note: This was recorded before the COVID pandemic.

"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 the 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.

Note: This was recorded before the COVID pandemic.

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?

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 underrepresented workers

Do you know someone who is concerned about the rise of the gig economy? Text them a link to this episode. You are the reason our movement is growing.

Get shownotes for this an every episode at innovationforallcast.com or find us on Twitter @inforallpodcast.

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Mary Gray, Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and co-author of Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass, discusses the work of the often invisible contract employees who bring an essential human element to tec. The COVID-19 pandemic is bringing their undeniable value to light.

Note: This was originally recorded in early 2020.

Host Sheana Ahlqvist speaks with Hans Jørgen Wiberg, founder of Be My Eyes, a free mobile app that connects blind and visually impaired individuals with sighted volunteers through live video calls. Wiberg explains how Be My Eyes works, how he monetized an app while keeping it free for both sides of the marketplace, and how important it is to consider how blind people interact with the world around them when designing products and services.

You’ll learn:

What is microvolunteering?

What is Be My Eyes and how does it work?

How can we design products so that they are more accessible to the blind?

How can one monetize and keep sustainable a product or service, especially one that is designed for a low-income population, without charging users?

What are some challenges facing Be My Eyes and similar apps in their efforts to support specific populations worldwide?

Did you enjoy this episode? Let us know on Twitter @inforallpodcast.