Center for Civil Rights and Technology Convening » Speaker Bios
Panel: The AI Regulatory Roundtable: What Does Ethical AI Look Like, and How Can We Regulate It?
Moderator: Frank Torres, Civil Rights and Technology Fellow | The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Frank Torres is a Civil Rights Technology Fellow at the Center for Civil Rights and Technology of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, working on issues related to privacy, data, and emerging technologies, like AI, focusing on measures needed to avoid discriminatory impact.
In 2020, Frank retired from Microsoft after nearly 20 years at the company, where he was the Director of Public Policy in Microsoft’s Office of Responsible AI, the team leading the company’s responsible development and deployment of AI. Previously, he was Director of Consumer Affairs and Sr. Policy Counsel on the company’s Government Affairs team, where he led work on privacy and AI policy. Frank was also responsible for engaging with privacy, consumer, and other civil society advocates. Frank served on the Board of Public Knowledge.
Prior to joining Microsoft Frank was Sr. Policy Counsel at Consumers Union, where he led public policy work on financial services and privacy. He was a member of the Federal Reserve Board’s Consumer Advisory Council. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and The George Washington Law School.
Panelists:
Alondra Nelson, Senior Advisor to The Leadership Conference’s President & CEO; Harold F. Linder Professor | Institute for Advanced Study
Alondra Nelson is the Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and senior advisor to Maya Wiley, the President & CEO of the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights, on issues connected to civil rights and technology. A former deputy assistant to President Joe Biden, she served as acting director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and is a member of the United Nations High-Level Advisory Board on Artificial Intelligence.
Jenn Taylor Hodges, Director of US Public Policy and Government Relations | Mozilla
Jenn Taylor Hodges is the Director of US Public Policy and Government Relations at Mozilla. She served as a former president of the British-American Business Association, a Vice-Chair of the ISPs and Connectivity Providers Constituency for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Vice President of US Government Affairs for BT Group. Ms. Hodges was also a Senior Policy Analyst for Google and a Senior Policy Advisor for the British Embassy in Washington, DC.
Andrea Dehlendorf, Co-founder | United for Respect and Athena
Andrea Dehlendorf is the Co-Founder for United for Respect and Athena. Dehlendorf served as the former Executive Director of United for Respect, a national organization that centers the voices, experiences, and solutions of people working in low-wage jobs in the national movement to fight for the future of work, the economy, and corporate regulation. She has won major victories with people working in low-wage service jobs and has used these advances to develop new models of leveraging technology and internet-based activation to support working people. Dehlendorf was also a part of the Athena Coalition which focuses on Amazon’s hold over the economy and democracy. She has over 20 years of experience as a labor advocate. Prior to United for Respect, Dehelendorf was the Assistant Director of the Making Change at Walmart Campaign and was the Acting Director of the SEIU’s Property Service Division and the Executive Vice President and Organizing Director of SEIU United Services Workers West.
Lisa Rice, President and CEO | National Fair Housing Alliance
Lisa Rice is the President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), the nation’s only national civil rights agency solely dedicated to eliminating all forms of housing discrimination and ensuring equitable housing opportunities for all people and communities. Lisa has led her team in using civil rights principles to bring fairness and equity into the housing, lending, and technology sectors. Ms. Rice is a member of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Board of Directors, Center for Responsible Lending Board of Directors, FinRegLab Board of Directors, JPMorgan Chase Consumer Advisory Council, Mortgage Bankers Association Consumer Advisory Council, Freddie Mac Affordable Housing Advisory Council, Fannie Mae Affordable Housing Advisory Council, Quicken Loans Advisory Forum, Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Advisory Council, and Berkeley’s The Terner Center Advisory Council. She has received numerous awards including the National Housing Conference’s Housing Visionary Award and was selected as one of TIME Magazine’s 2024 ‘Closers.’
Congressional Keynote:
Representative Yvette Clarke (NY-9) | U.S. House of Representatives
Rep. Yvette Clarke is the Congresswoman for the 9th District of New York. She is the Co-Chair for the Congressional Caribbean Caucus and is a Senior Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Committee on Homeland Security. Representative Clarke has been a member of the Congressional Black Caucus since 2007 and chairs its Immigration Task Force. She is also a Co-Chair of the Smart Cities Caucus and the Multicultural Media Caucus. She formed the Multicultural Media Caucus to address diversity and inclusion issues in media, telecom, and tech industries. Prior to being elected to Congress, Representative Clarke served on New York’s City Council, representing the 40th district.
EEOC Keynote:
Chair Charlotte Burrows | Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Charlotte Burrows, Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). President Biden designated Ms. Burrows as Chair of EEOC on Jan. 20, 2021. She was confirmed for her third term on Nov. 8, 2023. Chair Burrows is interested in the impact of technology and big data on civil rights and employee privacy. Prior to her appointment as Chair of EEOC, Chair Burrows served as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the DOJ. She also served as General Counsel for Civil and Constitutional Rights to Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Chair Burrows also served as Deputy Chief of the Employment Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division at the DOJ.
FTC Keynote:
Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya | Federal Trade Commission
Alvaro Bedoya was sworn in on May 16, 2022 as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. Bedoya was the founding director of the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown University Law Center, where he was also a visiting professor of law. He has been influential in research and policy at the intersection of privacy and civil rights, and co-authored a 2016 report on the use of facial recognition by law enforcement and the risks that it poses to privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights. He previously served as the first Chief Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law after its founding in 2011, and Chief Counsel to former Senator Al Franken, of Minnesota. A naturalized immigrant born in Peru and raised in upstate New York, Bedoya previously co-founded the Esperanza Education Fund, a college scholarship for immigrant students in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia.
PANEL: Safeguarding Democracy: AI, Voting, and the Future of our Elections
Moderator: Dave Toomey, Voting Rights and Technology Fellow | Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Dave is the Voting Rights and Technology Fellow at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Dave has extensive experience as an attorney, a legislative/political advocate, and a tech business development executive. He was the Policy Director at the DeepTrust Alliance, which focuses on solutions to address online disinformation and deepfakes and was Director of Federal Policy and Government Affairs at a leading tech and innovation economy trade association.
Dave has worked for several members of Congress, including Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), where he was the tech and Commerce Committee Counsel, and was Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs at the Federal Communications Commission. He was also Vice President at Gerson Lehrman Group, a tech international research and expert network platform in New York and San Francisco. Dave also has extensive campaign experience on several presidential and congressional races, including Native American voter protection and get-out-the-vote operations on the Rosebud Reservation during the successful re-election of Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) in 2002.
Panelists:
Robert Weissman, President | Public Citizen
Robert Weissman is president of Public Citizen and a staunch public interest advocate and activist. He worked as director of the corporate accountability organization Essential Action from 1995 to 2009. In a previous position, Weissman helped make HIV drugs available to the developing world and has provided assistance to numerous governments on intellectual property and access to medicine issues. He also worked as a public interest attorney at the Center for Study of Responsive Law.
Eric Rodriguez, Senior Vice President | UnidosUS
Eric Rodriguez, UnidosUS Senior Vice President, oversees the Office of Policy and Advocacy which directs the organization’s congressional and political affairs, public policy, and state policy efforts. Headquartered in Washington, DC, UnidosUS is the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. Through its network of nearly 300 affiliated community-based organizations, UnidosUS reaches millions of Hispanics each year in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.
Mr. Rodriguez has three decades of experience in public policy working to advance political, economic, and social equality for the Hispanic community. His background also includes work on economic, workforce development, retirement savings, financial inclusion, as well as health care and education reforms. He has authored, coauthored, and supervised the preparation of countless policy and research reports, journal articles, and opinion pieces. He has also frequently testified at congressional hearings and has represented UnidosUS at research and policy conferences, and symposia. His work has been widely cited in the press, and in policy and academic literature.
Mr. Rodriguez also currently serves on the boards of the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy (ITEP), Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), Education Trust, and the UnidosUS Action Fund. Prior to UnidosUS, Mr. Rodriguez was a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Fellow and served in U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez’s (D–NY) office. Mr. Rodriguez holds a master’s degree in public administration from American University and a bachelor’s degree in history from Siena College. Mr. Rodriguez is originally from Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Tona Boyd, President and Director-Counsel | NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Tona Boyd joined the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) in January 2023 as the Associate Director-Counsel, where she will work in partnership with LDF’s eighth President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson and LDF’s senior leadership team to set and execute the strategic direction of the organization’s legal programs, operations, and administration.
Tona most recently served as Special Counsel and Special Assistant to the President in the White House Counsel’s Office in the Biden-Harris Administration, where she worked to advance President Biden’s agenda related to racial justice, equity, and judicial nominations. As a member of the White House Counsel’s Office, she provided legal advice to the President and executive agencies and led policy development on criminal justice reform, including policing, sentencing, clemency, drug policy, and community violence intervention, as well as civil rights – including hate crimes and domestic terrorism.
Tona has been profiled in national and local publications, including Essence where she was featured for her role in assisting the confirmation of the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Tona’s longstanding commitment to advancing racial justice, exemplary history of public service, and extensive experience in policy, advocacy, and litigation will expand LDF’s capacity to fulfill its mission and serve its clients with excellence.
Spencer Overton, Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law | The George Washington Law School
Spencer Overton is the Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law at the George Washington University and has researched, published, and taught extensively on democracy and race. He also directs the GW Equity Institute’s Multiracial Democracy Project, which serves as a bridge between scholars, policymakers, civil rights organizations, and democracy groups to tackle challenges like racialized disinformation, gerrymandering, and voter suppression. He is currently working on research projects related to the regulation of AI to facilitate a well-functioning multiracial democracy and the implications of alternative voting systems for multiracial democracy.
Professor Overton held several senior leadership roles during the Obama campaign, transition, and Administration. During the 2008 presidential campaign, he led over 140 experts as chair of the campaign’s Government Reform Policy committee. On the transition, he chaired the Election Assistance Commission Agency Review Team, served on the Federal Election Commission Agency Review Team, and helped write the Administration’s ethics guidelines while serving in the office of the General Counsel. During the Administration, he was appointed as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice, and partnered with other senior officials in leading the Administration’s democracy policy efforts related to the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, the National Voter Registration Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Administration’s response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow unlimited corporate spending in federal elections. Professor Overton currently serves on the board of the Leadership Conference Education Fund.
PANEL: AI and the Workforce: Championing Workers’ Rights in the Era of AI
Moderator: Maya Wiley, President & CEO | The Leadership Conference Education Fund & Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Panelists:
Fred Redmond, Secretary-Treasurer | AFL-CIO
Fredrick D. Redmond is the secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO. On June 13, 2022, he was unanimously elected to the position as the highest ranking African American officer in the history of America’s labor movement.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond was first elected to this position by the AFL-CIO Executive Council on Aug. 20, 2021. He filled the vacancy of the executive vice president position from March to June 2022. He had previously served on the federation’s Executive Council since 2008.
Redmond’s path to the federation’s second-highest office began in 1973, when he went to work at Reynolds Metals Co. in Chicago and became a member of the United Steelworkers (USW). He was active in his local union almost immediately, serving as shop steward and eventually vice president. He served three terms as local president.
In 1996, Redmond joined the USW staff, working with local unions in the Chicago area before accepting a position at the international union’s headquarters in Pittsburgh in 1998. For decades, Redmond served the USW in various staff and leadership roles, assisting local unions, developing and conducting training programs, and bargaining contracts.
As international vice president for human affairs, a position to which he was first elected to in 2006, Redmond oversaw the union’s Civil and Human Rights Department and worked with USW allies across the country in responding to attacks on voting rights and in combating economic inequality.
Redmond has spent his entire life fighting for racial justice in the workplace and throughout our communities. In 2016, he was appointed to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s Advisory Commission on African American Affairs, and in 2020, Redmond was tapped to chair the AFL-CIO Task Force on Racial Justice, a body focused on taking concrete action to address America’s long history of racism and police violence against Black people.
Redmond has served on the board of directors of Working America, the TransAfrica Forum, the Workers Defense League, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Interfaith Worker Justice and, since 2007, has served as chair of the board of directors of the A. Philip Randolph Institute. In 2021, Redmond was elected president of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, a prestigious international post.
Maria Town, President and CEO | American Association of People with Disabilities
Maria Town is the President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities. Town previously served as Director of the City of Houston Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, advocating for citizens with disabilities. Town also was the Senior Associate Director in the Obama White House Office of Public Engagement, managing disability community engagement and coordinating federal engagement. Town has expertise in areas of youth development, leadership, and promoting college and career readiness.
PANEL: Democracy at an Inflection Point: Addressing Urgent AI Challenges in 2024
Moderator: Koustubh “K.J.” Bagchi, Vice President, Center for Civil Rights & Technology | The Leadership Conference Education Fund & Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Before joining The Leadership Conference, K.J. served as vice president of technology policy at the Chamber of Progress. He is a veteran of Capitol Hill and public interest organizations, which includes his role as senior policy counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute. Bagchi has more than 10 years of experience in public policy and legislative strategy at the local, state, and federal levels and led the re-establishment of the technology, telecommunications, and media program during his tenure as senior counsel for our coalition partner Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. In addition to advising members of the Washington State Senate, Bagchi worked as legislative counsel for a D.C. city council member and former Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), a member of Congress who served on the influential House Appropriations Committee.
Bagchi graduated from the University of California Davis and received his law degree from Seattle University School of Law.
Panelists:
Maya Wiley, President & CEO | The Leadership Conference Education Fund & Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Maya Wiley is a nationally respected civil rights attorney and activist who has dedicated her life to the fights for justice, equality, and fairness.
Wiley’s father was a leader in the civil rights and economic justice movements, and she has been a leader inside and outside government. Serving as the first Black woman counsel to the mayor of New York City, she helped deliver on civil and immigrant rights. During her tenure, the city also saw an expansion of minority/women-owned business enterprises contracts. Following her time at City Hall, Wiley moved to academia as a faculty member and senior vice president for social justice at the New School University. While there, she chaired the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB). As chair, she led the release of the “hold” on proceedings against Daniel Pantaleo whose illegal chokehold killed Eric Garner. That move led to the CCRB’s successful administrative prosecution of Pantaleo that resulted in his firing. Wiley’s tenure at the CCRB was marked by increased case closure rates, increased transparency, and an intense focus on public outreach so that potential victims of police abuse were aware of ways to seek the board’s assistance. In 2021, Wiley was a candidate for New York City mayor.
As a Henry Cohen professor of public and urban policy at the New School, Wiley founded the Digital Equity Laboratory on universal and inclusive broadband. She also served as a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.
Early in her career, Wiley worked at the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., where she focused on multiple racial justice issues. She also worked in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Following the September 11 attacks, Wiley co-founded the nonprofit Center for Social Inclusion, an organization that focused on transforming structural racism into fair opportunity at the intersection of race and poverty as it relates to education, the digital divide, land use planning, the green economy, and more. Wiley was also a senior advisor on race and poverty at the Open Society Foundations.
Wiley earned her B.A. from Dartmouth College and her J.D. from Columbia Law School. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner, Harlan, and their two daughters and cats.
John C. Yang, President and Executive Director | Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
John C. Yang is the president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. Prior to his tenure at AAJC, John co-founded the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the direct service legal needs of Asian Pacific Americans in the D.C. metropolitan area. He was also the president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) from 2003 to 2004, and since 1998, he has served as Co-Chair of NAPABA’s Judiciary and Executive Nominations & Appointments Committee, where he worked extensively with the White House and the U.S. Senate in securing the nomination and confirmation of over 20 Asian American and Pacific Islander federal judges and numerous other Senate-confirmed Presidential appointments.
Damon Hewitt, President and Executive Director | Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Damon Hewitt is the President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Prior to joining the national Lawyers’ Committee, Hewitt was the executive director of the Executives’ Alliance for Boys and Men of Color. Through his leadership, the Alliance helped incubate, coordinate, and launch more than $200 million in collaborative grantmaking efforts on issues ranging from police accountability to college completion. Hewitt has also previously worked at the Open Society Foundations and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He is co‐author of a book, The School‐to‐Prison Pipeline: Structuring Legal Reform, and has published numerous articles in law journals and popular media on issues ranging from affirmative action, school discipline, and progressive education reform to voting rights, police accountability, and juvenile justice policy.
Julietta Lopez, VP for Federal Policy and Network Mobilization | Hispanic Federation
As vice president of federal affairs, Julietta builds and leads coalitions and campaigns that advance Hispanic Federation’s federal policy priorities. Specifically, Julietta engages and mobilizes Hispanic Federation’s network of more than 600 nonprofit members and partners to develop and advocate for federal policies that empower Latino communities across the country. She will also serve as a liaison between Hispanic Federation, community members, advocates, and federal lawmakers.
She began her 11-year tenure with Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer as a constituent liaison. During that time, she had the great privilege of helping New Yorkers get back into their homes after Superstorm Sandy. When Senator Schumer became Senate minority leader, Julietta was appointed deputy director of engagement and began a new department dedicated to having meaningful and constant communications with stakeholders. Her most defining time in that position was the successful protection of healthcare in 2017. In preparation for Schumer’s 2022 re-election campaign, Julietta joined his campaign as a senior advisor. She most recently served as Majority Leader Schumer’s director of community and external affairs where she created a new outreach department and changed the Senator’s methodology for stakeholder engagement.
Julietta Lopez is the daughter of Colombian immigrants raised in Queens. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Marymount Manhattan College and her Master’s in International Affairs from The New School.
Deborah Raji, Phd Candidate | UC Berkeley
Deb Raji is a CS PhD student at University of California, Berkeley. Her work broadly addresses algorithmic bias, AI accountability, and algorithmic auditing. She is the incoming inaugural Fellow with the Leadership Conference’s Center for Civil Rights and Technology. She has previously worked with the Algorithmic Justice League, where she contributed to their initiative highlighting bias in deployed AI products. She has also worked with Googleʼs Ethical AI team and held fellowship positions with the Partnership on AI and AI Now Institute at New York University. She was recently named to Forbes 30 Under 30, MIT Tech Review 35 Under 35 Innovators, and Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in AI.
Center for Civil Rights and Technology Convening » Speaker Bios
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