The OpEd Project

🎉 Today is the day! We open nominations for our very first Women Shaping the Future of Responsible AI (WSFR.AI) Awards, and I couldn't be more excited. Nominate the female trailblazers that inspire you here: https://lnkd.in/eS3bH7T4 Our #awards highlight and celebrate inspiring women from across the globe who lead the way in responsibly and ethically developing and utilizing AI for #socialimpact. We want to change the narrative around #AI and show what it possible when AI is done well. We accept nominations and self-nominations across 5 categories: ➡ AI and Democracy 🏛 ➡ AI and Peace 🕊 ➡ AI and Learning 🎓 ➡ AI and Nature 🌍 ➡ AI and Media 🎬 Nominations are open between 1 October and 15 November. The category winners will be selected by our fabulous Global Award Council members Galit Ariel Maria Luciana A. Sheena Bhalla Claudia May Del Pozo Ivana Feldfeber Shikoh Gitau Susan McPherson Madhumita Murgia Nnenna Nwakanma and Gina Romero. The Awards will be presented during our in-person award ceremony and conference in London in early March. Get ready to help shape the future of AI done well and to showcase the pioneering and inspiring work of women around the globe in showing us that it can be done and how. Visit our website for more information: https://wsfr.ai/

I’m excited to share my new op-ed on “Why We Need to Let Southern Social Justice Advocates Lead,” in Rewire News. While not a Southern native, I called the region home for most of my 20s, working with and learning from fierce, technically expert, and visionary Southerners. Along the way, I interacted with national advocates who were intentional and supportive partners who got that the people closest to the problems are often closest to the solutions. I also worked with those whose actions reflected the problematic and all-too-common view that national groups must “save the South from itself.” Since leaving Mississippi to join the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), I have continued to witness those same harmful power dynamics and hear disparaging comments about the South—particularly in Dobbs’ aftermath. To be sure, the South is a locus of many social injustices, from reproductive and gender oppression to voter suppression. But these injustices persist not because Southern social justice advocates are incapable or need redirection—inadequate resources to support Southern legal, policy, and political advocacy and organizing play a major part. When national advocates undercut, fail to truly listen to, or otherwise disempower our Southern partners, we make matters worse. Any national advocates working with Southern partners will likely make missteps, including me. That said, some of us recognize that we have much to learn from our Southern colleagues and are committed to upending damaging power dynamics. Here’s what I’ve learned: being a good national partner means asking our Southern peers how we can best leverage our resources and power to advance their vision instead of making assumptions about what they need, listening deeply, and following through. I’m especially grateful to some of my friends across the South (Danielle Lampton, Linda Dixon, Kelsea McLain, Amelia Steadman McGowan, Megan Bennett) who (in addition to NHeLP colleagues) encouraged me to write this piece last fall and/or reviewed an early draft this Spring. Thank you for trusting me as a messenger on this issue. cc: National Health Law Program, The OpEd Project #SocialJustice #Advocacy #Partnership