Sheena Erete

associate professor in the College of Information at the University of Maryland, College Park, where I am the founder and director of the Community Research and Design Collective. Currently, I'm a visiting researcher at Google Research. In my research, I explore and design technologies used by geographically-bound communities to address social issues by considering social, cultural, and economic contexts as well as socio-technical infrastructures. The goal of my work is to co-design sustainable technologies, practices, and policies with community organizations that aim to counter structural oppression using equity-centered, justice-oriented, assets-based approaches to research and design. My current projects focus on issues such as equity in AI/ML tools, community safety, education, political efficacy, and economic development in communities that have been historically oppressed and resourced-constrained due to unfair policies and State violence. Most of my work has been situated in Chicago, where I have had the pleasure of partnering with several amazing community organizations. I received my Ph.D. from the Technology and Social Behavior program at Northwestern University, which is a joint degree in Computer Science and Communication. I received my Masters in Computer Science focusing on Human Computer Interaction from the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. Before attending Georgia Tech, I received two Bachelors of Science degrees from Spelman College in Computer Science and Mathematics. Prior to returning for my Ph.D., I was an User Experience Engineer at IBM.