AI4ALL Announces Emily Reid As CEO
Following a thorough, national search, the AI4ALL Board of Directors has named Emily Reid as the second CEO of AI4ALL. Emily, who has served as interim CEO since January 1, is now poised to lead the organization during our next, important phase of growth and impact.
“Emily is the right leader for the next stage of AI4ALL’s evolution,” said Dr. Fei-Fei Li of Stanford University, who co-founded AI4ALL and chairs AI4ALL’s Board of Directors. “She brings a comprehensive understanding of the mission and how to fulfill it, a strong and clear vision for where the organization needs to head for scale, and the passion for education as the way to position new leaders who will change the very face of AI.”
AI4ALL has accomplished a tremendous amount during our first five years. We have directly impacted more than 7,500 high school and college students — emerging AI leaders — and their teachers in that time. Now, the organization is accelerating and expanding our work.
“AI4ALL is creating a radical course correction needed to make AI work for humanity,” Emily said. “This is not just about teaching kids how to code AI. We are here to build supportive ecosystems around these students so they can go on to serve humanity with compassion and tremendous skill.”
The organization has grown remarkably since its inception five years back, and there is a tremendous opportunity to take everything learned and focus on a new strategy, said Naveen Agarwal, Chief Market Development Officer at Prudential and member of the AI4ALL Advisory Board.
“Emily will provide the strong leadership needed to leverage positive partnerships, excellent curriculum, and strong program models already in place–and make AI4ALL’s efforts more strategic, relevant and aligned,” he said. “With her at the helm, I have full confidence AI4ALL will manage any waves of change and navigate the next five years and beyond with clear eyes toward the horizon.”
Leaders Poised to Enter The Workforce
More than 500 Changemakers in AI are poised to enter the workforce by 2025. These students have been trained with the unique and valuable combination of technical skills, leadership development, and awareness of ethical AI issues.
“Being part of AI4ALL has been a very big influence on me because it introduced me to AI ethics, gave me more of a direction of what it is that I want to do, and has helped connect me to some amazing, amazing people,” said Maya De Los Santos, an AI4ALL Changemaker who spoke at the organization’s 5th anniversary celebration. Maya is a member of Hues of Changemakers, an affinity group for collegiate women of color who have participated in AI4ALL’s programs.
“It’s a community full of diversity and inclusivity promoting more of a sense of belonging,” Maya said. “Being able to speak with other people who look like me and who have gone through the same experiences gives me not only a community, but a place where I can go to and turn to for resources and also to help others and to share my experiences, which I think is equally valuable.”
AI4ALL is partnering with the South Carolina Department of Education to develop in-person and virtual summer camps to enable students from all backgrounds to gain a better understanding of AI and computer science. Dominick Sanders, the South Carolina Department of Education’s Computer Science State Supervisor, expressed his enthusiasm for fostering a community that provides students with more opportunities.
“Technology is here to stay–it’s not going anywhere,” he said. “We want to provide our students a meaningful, practical experience that helps them grasp how AI will play a part in their field of study, regardless of what they want to major in.”
Education As a Tool to Solve Problems
Emily joined AI4ALL in 2018. Under her leadership, AI4ALL’s Open Learning program launched in 2019 and has impacted more than 4,000 students in more than 850 classrooms in 48 states and the District of Columbia. After students complete the curriculum, 80 percent report they have achieved AI literacy and want to continue studying the discipline.
“AI4ALL is creating a radical course correction needed to make AI work for humanity,” Emily said. “This is not just about teaching kids how to code AI. We are here to build supportive ecosystems around these students so they can go on to serve humanity with compassion and tremendous skill.”
Before coming to AI4ALL, Emily was the founding Director of Education at Girls Who Code, where she was responsible for ensuring GWC programs were unrivaled in delivering quality computer science education.
“I grew up in a family of educators,” said Emily, whose father was an anthropology and sociology professor, and whose mother has been a public school teacher for many years. “I always saw education as a way to solve problems.”
She began her career as a cybersecurity professional, and that experience in computer science showed her how unwelcoming and challenging the field could be. It sparked her passion to change the industry for others. AI, she said, is the most influential and fast-moving of the technologies currently shaping society, and that’s why she made it her highest priority to address.
“Computer scientists are, at their core, problem solvers,” Emily said. “Changing who can be a leader in AI requires unique solutions to complex systemic problems. As a computer scientist myself, this is the problem I want to solve.”
