Emily is a dynamic leader in AI education and responsible AI, dedicated to promoting diversity and responsible AI frameworks in the tech industry. As the CEO of AI4ALL, she is democratizing pathways to AI careers and creating opportunities for historically excluded AI Changemakers. Emily is passionate about making AI work for humans, and believes that AI should be created by an ethics-informed, representative workforce. With a fresh perspective and a focus on impact and responsible AI, she is leading the charge to cultivate a new generation of AI Changemakers who will steer AI in the right direction.
Previously, Emily was the VP of Open Learning at AI4ALL, a program that brought AI education to more than 4,000 students in over 850 classrooms in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Emily was also the founding Director of Education at Girls Who Code, leading a team that taught over 30,000 girls to code and trained over 2,000 computer science educators. Before Girls Who Code, Emily was a Senior Cyber Security Engineer at the MITRE Corporation and has published research in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
Emily holds an M.S. in Computer Science from Columbia University and a B.S. in Mathematics from Tufts University.
Company: AI4ALL
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company
Emily Reid: As CEO of AI4ALL, I’m dedicated to promoting diversity and responsible AI frameworks in the tech industry. As an organization, we are democratizing pathways to AI careers and creating opportunities for historically excluded AI Changemakers. I am passionate about making AI work for humans, and believe that AI should be created by an ethics-informed, representative workforce.
Previously, I was the VP of Open Learning at AI4ALL, a program that brought AI education to more than 4,000 students in over 850 classrooms in 48 states and the District of Columbia. I was also the founding Director of Education at Girls Who Code, leading a team that taught over 30,000 girls to code and trained over 2,000 computer science educators. Before Girls Who Code, I was a Senior Cyber Security Engineer at the MITRE Corporation.
How has the significance of networking evolved over the past decades?
Emily Reid: We have seen a significant evolution in networking in the last five years alone. For a fairly long time, professional networking followed a standard path: cold outreach, event attendance, warm referrals, etc. Then we all had to suddenly stop networking due to the pandemic and the complete uncertainty about what was to follow.
Human beings are social creatures and we crave connection – most often, face-to-face interaction is what is most impactful. I don’t see that changing any time soon. That said, technological innovation and a cultural shift in the value of our time have contributed to changes in how we meet new people, land deals, secure funding, find new job roles and more.
Networking hasn’t lost any of its significance. The old adage about “it’s who you know” still very much rings true. What has changed is how we network. We were all driven into isolation during the pandemic and that ultimately made us think more creatively and strategically about networking.
What we saw post-pandemic was that people were eager to get back to big events and meetings. They missed the big conferences that enabled the possibility of meeting a lot of people in a short period of time. Then perhaps we had a period of re-evalutation and realization that perhaps we didn’t want to attend such massive gatherings for whatever reason – crowd anxiety, overwhelm, exhaustion, cost. I’m finding now people want to network in more intimate settings like salon dinners. In fact, we recently hosted one with about 25 industry leaders in the tech space to discuss the opportunities in AI. The quality of the conversation was outstanding and outcomes from the event were fruitful for all involved. There’s more opportunity for meaningful conversations in smaller, more intimate settings versus larger gatherings.
A large part of our organization and the benefit that we offer to our student participants – Changemakers, as we call them – is networking skills training, and access to a large network of program alumni and influential people who are hiring the future AI workforce. We strive to democratize access to AI jobs for those often excluded from the tech space, and one of the most powerful ways to do that is through making connections between professionals and job seekers. It is our responsibility to support their career trajectory, introduce them to established peers and program alum. Importantly, we are making connections between many People of Color and nonbinary individuals – those who often do not see themselves represented in the ranks of most tech companies. For our Changemakers, it is imperative that they network with experienced professionals with similar lived experiences.
Can you share a personal story where one networking interaction led to unexpected doors opening, and how it highlights the ripple effect of networking?
Emily Reid: It is hard to choose one. Outside of possibly one job that came from a cold application, when I look back at my career, nearly every new internship, job, or role I had came from networking in some form. Yet what I notice about all these connections was that it was networking in a very organic sense: there were always connections through either 1) people with whom I had worked with directly and built up trust and respect, or 2) people with whom I had a common “extracurricular” interest, activity, or service project we were involved in together, such as my Women in Computer Science group in college, STEM outreach groups I participated in as an engineer, and or my Chief Core group.
My first internship in college came through a connection from my mentor, whom I met through a work-study research fellowship, to someone who was also active in our college’s Women in Computer Science group. My first job came through another 2nd-degree connection from that same mentor. My first job in a new field came after doing an excellent job teaching for a summer for the same organization, and building the respect and admiration of folks already on the team. When I started my consulting business, most of my clients came through connections with partners I had worked with previously or from folks who had been in the audience at one of my talks. My connection to AI4ALL came through a mutual connection to Dr. Olga Russakovsky, a friend I met in my machine learning lab in graduate school; we had bonded over being two of the few women there. Of course, you need to have a killer application when you get referred to that new opportunity, but this chain of connections should show that a solid reputation combined with authentic connections can create powerful networks.
When I was younger I thought about “networking” as trying to hand out your card to as many people as possible at a conference. That’s not really networking! Networking is recognizing the mutual value and opportunity in relationships that you have built over time, or relationships connected by a common, active interest. For me, those common interests have usually revolved around women in tech, women in leadership and education.
What are some common networking mistakes people make, and how can they pivot to turn potential missteps into learning experiences?
Emily Reid: The most common networking mistake I see people make is asking for something without first establishing a relationship or offering the chance to foster a mutually beneficial relationship. People inherently want to know “what’s in it for me” even if the ask is of a rather altruistic nature.
One of the most challenging aspects of a nonprofit CEO’s job is fundraising. I am constantly seeking ways to ensure the longevity and success of AI4ALL, and that requires monetary support from donations. My team and I are committed to ensuring all of our partners see benefits in their work with us. For some, that means a pipeline of talent that they can tap for new roles. For others, a partnership with us supports their corporate social responsibility goals. Across the board, all of our partners believe in our mission and support us because they believe in the promise and opportunity of AI and the talent base of the future.
If you haven’t yet approached networking with a focus on establishing mutually beneficial relationships, it’s never too late. Find exactly what it is you can offer someone or their organization, and lead with that benefit before ever asking for a thing. You might be surprised at how well people react to that approach. Even better, personalize the benefit. Find out through relationship building what someone’s passion or pain points are, and specifically speak to how you can play a role in their passion or alleviating pain points.
Tactically speaking, be sure to stay in touch with people on a regular basis. Take a genuine interest in people and their wellbeing. Similar to much of what I’ve stated, don’t have every bit of outreach be self-serving. Oftentimes, you need to send an email to someone asking for absolutely nothing.
Ultimately, relationships and trust are everything in networking and in the professional world. Solid relationships take time to build, and rewards are infrequently immediate, but making an investment at the very start will pay off in droves.
How do you see the future of networking evolving with the rise of AI, VR, and other technologies?
Emily Reid: There are now a number of companies that use AI as a tool for finding and making connections. Sales professionals, marketers and donation coordinators can use platforms like these to identify qualified prospects and make a warm introduction through identified mutual connections. Finding and connecting with target donors, mentors for our Changemakers and other parties who can support our mission takes considerable time and effort. AI powered platforms can significantly diminish the time and costs associated with such networking.
We’ve seen some instances where industry award programs have taken fancy, high-lift dinners to the metaverse by using VR technology. This kind of effort certainly drives down the cost of events since there’s no need for a meeting space, food and refreshments or accommodations. However, I think there’s still much to be done to make these kinds of events a bit less awkward and more impactful.
We’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to AI, VR and similar technologies as a whole, let alone how they will be able to support networking. I’m excited to see how these technologies evolve. Perhaps one of our Changemakers will develop something entirely different that will change how we network for decades to come!