Congratulations to three inspiring women at Airbnb being recognized by the Women of Color in STEM Conference
At Airbnb, we value the diversity of our workforce, our guests, our hosts, and the world around us. Today, we’d like to congratulate three inspiring women who will be recognized as rising stars in their fields at the upcoming Women of Color in STEM Conference. This conference is the forum of choice for recognizing the significant contributions by women in STEM fields. Every year, they recognize women who truly excel in their field and inspire their peers with dedication and passion for their work.
We couldn’t be prouder of our team members who are being awarded this year.
Let’s meet them below!
Theresa Johnson
Theresa Johnson is a data scientist who leads a team building analytics products at Airbnb. Theresa is also the co-founder of StandardDeviation, an employee resource group for under-represented minorities in technical roles. Her early fascination with technology for social good led her to earn undergraduate degrees in Science, Technology and Society and Computer Science from Stanford University. Dr. Johnson came to data science after earning a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University. She spent her graduate school summers pointing radar at the Greenland morning sky, searching for elusive meteoroids. When she wasn’t examining shooting stars, she mentored rising star students on entrepreneurship and innovation. She is a now a founding board member of StreetCode Academy, a non-profit dedicated to high touch technical training for inner city youth. She has been featured in TechCrunch and USAToday as a mentor to others seeking careers in tech.
Fun fact: Theresa enjoys doing yoga with with her dog and 1 year old daughter, usually at the same time.
Diane Ko
Diane is a front end software engineer, leading web accessibility at Airbnb. At Airbnb, Diane has been passionate about building the foundation for accessibility and teaching others about the impact of their work on individuals with disabilities. She is also the President of Nerdettes, an employee resource group for those who identify as a woman in tech. After graduating from UC Berkeley in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Diane went on to work at Intuit, where she was first exposed to the importance of accessibility. She then went on to work at SurveyMonkey, where she was a member of their Technical Leadership Council, a group that guides technical decision making across the company.
Fun fact: Outside of work Diane loves to rock climb and play ice hockey.
Cuky Perez
Cuky Perez is a data science manager at Airbnb. She currently leads two teams of data scientists. One of her teams, People Analytics, applies data science methodologies to support Airbnb’s HR department, which includes an emphasis on improving opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities at Airbnb. The other team she leads is currently enabling the creation of a new product line on our site that you will see soon. Before Airbnb, Cuky was an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington where she taught graduate students advanced quantitative methodologies. Cuky completed her Ph.D. in the Economics of Education program and MA in Economics at Stanford University prior to that. Before grad school, she worked at the American Institute for Research where she participated in evaluation projects related to immigrant and Latino students, low performing schools, and students with disabilities.
Fun fact: Besides data, her passions include boxing and painting. The only practical use of boxing (so far) has been for fundraising campaigns while at UW — students would basically pay to box Cuky. The fundraising campaign was a smashing success.
