MKAI Inclusive Forum September 2022: Beyond Smart Cities; The Future of Digital Citizenship
Dr. Naeema Pasha
Professional interests: As the research lead at MKAI, Naeema plays a pivotal role in advancing the field of ethical and inclusive AI leadership through her extensive expertise in behavioural science. Previously, she served as the director of the Institute for the World of Work at Henley Business School, where she conducted ground-breaking research on the effects of AI and other mega-trends on individuals and workplaces. Naeema’s profound insights have positioned her as a prolific writer, captivating speaker, and trusted coach on various aspects of AI adoption, ethics, and skills. Her co-authored book, “Futureproof Your Career: How to Lead and Succeed in a Changing World,” has garnered widespread acclaim. Recognised as one of the top global influencers in AI ethics and regarded as a thought leader in inclusive leadership within the HR community, Naeema is also honoured as a Principal Practitioner by the Association of Business Psychologists.
Causes Naeema cares about: Naeema is driven to create equity, responsibility and wellness in the workplace and how an ethical AI and purpose driven business strategy can support that. She works to enable people to be their best selves at work and for organisations to get the best out of their people. Her work demonstrates that when a variety of people from different backgrounds, identities, and perspectives come together they create a more creative, productive and future-focused organisation.
Personal interests: Naeema is a foodie and loves cooking with fresh ingredients for her family and friends. She also has an interest in sustainability and diversity in fashion and beauty trends. She’s recently started swimming at the local pool – but finds getting out of bed early in the morning is always a big challenge.
Favourite quote or motto: “We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something” – Marie Curie, the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize.
Naeema particularly loves this quote as it is pretty much summarises the core finding on her work on building human resilience – positive self-reflection can help us thrive in this changing world.
Jaisal Surana
Professional interests: Jaisal Surana is passionate about emerging technologies, data strategies that can help drive better data sets, ethical artificial intelligence, climate change and women empowerment, along with upskilling in STEM. She believes that understanding risks and safeguarding of AI systems can come with education, digital literacy, reduction in the digital divide, more inclusion and diversity, design thinking and a human-centric approach to the design and development of ecosystems. Jaisal is the XR Safety lead and Head of Advocacy at MKAI.org, focusing on emerging technologies like AR, VR, and XR and the evaluation of risks and how to create a utopian society while we bring about the right safeguards around it. She loves to mentor more Women in the world of STEM with ‘Women In Tech’ Initiatives along with mentoring for data architecture principles.
Causes Jaisal cares about: Jaisal is focused on empowering the education systems with the knowledge of tools and technologies to reduce the digital divide and build a youth ready for the future emerging technologies for societal benefit. Jaisal is an enterprise advisor for Careers Enterprise in the Midlands for creating digital upskilling in the education curriculum. She is involved in contributing to the XR Safety Initiative, Cyber XR Coalition by XRSI as an XR safety lead from MKAI, focusing on the evaluation of personas, risks of the emerging tech, working on how privacy, security, and ethics can be brought to immersive environments. She is contributing to the UN compact report on ‘Digital Literacy the Great Divide Consultation Report’ with experts around the world as an MKAI representative.
Personal interests: Jaisal is passionate about painting and loves to share this passion by teaching art to young kids in the UK. She is passionate about her spiritual practices on a daily routine. She likes to attend cultural events and is passionate about music, with a complete love for Bollywood dance, music, and movies.
Favourite quote or motto: “The future depends on what we do in the present” and ‘If we want to reach real peace in this world, we should start educating children” Mahatma Gandhi
Richard Foster-Fletcher
Professional interests: Richard Foster-Fletcher is passionate about ethical artificial intelligence, blockchain, and climate change. He is driven by the vision of a kinder, fairer, and more sustainable world and seeks to develop a digital future that works for everyone. Richard is the Executive Chair at MKAI.org, focusing on bridging the digital divide, leveraging diverse perspectives to reduce AI harms, and building agricultural resilience in the face of climate change. As a lecturer, advisor, and author, he enthusiastically discusses topics like AI ethics, AI for good, and promoting diversity in the AI community.
Causes Richard cares about: Richard is deeply involved in various environmental and social initiatives. As a member of the United Nations’ Resilience Frontiers Initiative Impact Advisory Group, he advises on communication strategies to support a global transition towards permanent resilience. He is also a working group member of the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Extended Reality and a Blockchain and AI Advisor for the XR Safety Initiative, focusing on promoting privacy, security, and ethics in immersive environments.
Personal interests: Richard has recently discovered Yoga and commits to a daily ritual. He is passionate about music, particularly electronic music and enjoys travelling to experience new cultures and different ways of life. He swears by his 20-ingredient morning smoothie!
Favourite quote: ‘No future without forgiveness” Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Karen Beraldo
Professional interests: Karen is a communications professional that cares about people above all and has a strong interest in environmentally conscious practices and initiatives. Her top interests are diversity, inclusion, and sustainability; developing strategies for cross-cultural, inclusive and interpersonal communication is her devotion. Steering MKAI comms, Karen’s motivation is to empower people, especially women, to stand up and raise their voices to build a more equitable, ethical and fairer world.
Causes Karen cares about: Karen volunteered with several nonprofit organizations, including mentoring a young apprentice program as a Public Relations professional, coordinating a women’s empowerment program and fundraising for the Red Cross. In addition, helping people how to cope with their physical and mental health is something she does in her free time.
Personal interests: Karen relies on a daily yoga practice to strengthen her body, mind and soul, ceramics to bring ideas to life and outdoor activities with her family, especially her baby, her son-shine.
Favourite quote or motto: “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”. African Proverb
Gerry Copitch
Professional interests: Gerry is MKAI’s Development Director. He is a vastly experienced cross-sector Business Leader, an AI, Data and Technology Evangelist, Global Sustainability Advocate, Ethicist, Philosopher of Science and olympic networker. He is passionate about diversity, inclusion, equality, parity and helping to save humanity by leveraging technology and minimising deployment risks. He sits on The British Standards Institute’s “ART1” National Advisory Committee for Artificial Intelligence.
Causes Gerry cares about: Gerry advises on and speaks about technological advances, AI governance and ethics. He volunteers with several organisations which promote ethics in technology. His passions include mental and physical self-improvement (still lots of scope here), adding commercial value, helping others grow, minimising suffering, caring, generating happiness and selectively loving.
Personal interests: Gerry is an accomplished musician, adores technical jazz-rock fusion, loves learning… especially from renowned scientists and philosophers, also literature, football, martial arts, “critters”, the beauty and wonders of nature, socialising and making people happy. Gerry finds almost everyone fascinating. He is devoted to Terry’s chocolate oranges and honey. He loves hugs.
Favourite quote or motto: “Necessity is the mother of invention”. (Frank Zappa, 1964). ”In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”. (Albert Einstein).
Tim Teece
Professional interests: Tim is an accomplished senior data architect and trusted advisor with over two decades of experience working with major global brands to deliver transformational data-driven solutions. Tim is considered a ‘safe pair of hands’ by all his clients, applying his business acumen to understand how best to extract value from data and use this to drive effective decision-making. With strong integrity, he believes in the ethical use of data and supports organisations that believe in environmental protection and sustainability.
Causes Tim cares about: Tim works with a number of start-up companies ensuring they are managing data ethically and effectively, helping with IOT devices and big data collection, charity organisations on both data and AI applications, and a key project working to ensure agricultural data is managed effectively for small farmers and governments alike. Tim likes to share his knowledge and regularly takes part in educational talks and presentations on new Technology.
Personal interests: Tim likes to keep fit and is usually found out running between 10k and a full marathon, or looking for somewhere new to get out on his stand up paddle board. When the weather is not so amenable, or it’s just dark, he will be found tinkering on his 1971 VW Beetle, installing some new ‘Smart’ device in the house or taking photos of distant Galaxies with his fiance.
Favourite quote or motto: “a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you are attempting can’t be done”, T. Pratchett
Ananya Roy
Professional interests: Ananya is the Emerging Technologies Programme Manager at MKAI, an AI Architect at Deloitte and an AI Ethics and Governance Practitioner certified from Nanyang Technology University, Singapore. In her current role at Deloitte, Ananya leads a team of data scientists to design and develop AI solutions for various industries, including healthcare, finance, and retail, that are aligned with ethical and moral values. She has worked with several Fortune 500 companies, helping them implement cutting-edge AI technologies to solve complex business problems and optimise operations. She is also actively involved in the AI research community, regularly publishing papers and contributing to open-source projects that focus on promoting responsible technology.
Causes Ananya cares about: Ananya strongly believes that technology can be used as a tool for social change and works towards empowering marginalised communities through technology. She supports organisations that work towards animal welfare and protection. She advocates for equal opportunities for everyone to pursue a career in STEM and supports initiatives that aim to raise awareness about climate change and promote sustainable living. She believes mental health awareness and access to quality education will be instrumental in bringing about positive social change and works towards building technology that is inclusive, accessible, and equitable for all.
Personal interests: Ananya enjoys playing the piano and reading in her spare time. She is passionate about travelling, trying out new cuisines, exploring local landmarks, and experiencing new traditions. She loves to immerse herself in new experiences, meet new people, and learn about different cultures.
Favourite quote or motto: “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.” – Ikigai
Aleksandra Hadzic
Professional interests: Alex is the Director of Insights at MKAI and is dedicated to contributing to our projects and strategic initiatives, which address the biggest challenges facing the responsible deployment of AI worldwide. Together with the MKAI leadership team, she helps to deliver the comprehensive growth strategy which enables our community to have a broader reach and greater impact.
Causes Aleksandra cares about: Alex is passionate about leveraging her expertise and creativity to bring positive change to the AI industry, using technology to benefit humanity and society as a whole. She is a firm believer in the potential of AI to transform our world and is committed to ensuring that it is developed and used ethically, with an emphasis on enhancing human capabilities and addressing social and environmental issues.
Personal interests: Alex’s personal interests span a wide range of topics, from the mysteries of the cosmos and ancient cultures to the power of plants and numerology. She enjoys studying astrology, astronomy, and astrophysics in her free time, as well as discovering the cultural heritage of different civilizations. She also enjoys cuddling with her feline friends. Alex has an infectious giggle and lights up every room she enters. She works closely with Gerry (who secretly calls her “SuperSanja”).
Favourite quote or motto: One is “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” It serves as a reminder to prioritise kindness, empathy, and compassion in everything she does, both personally and professionally.
Hazel Reambillo
Professional Interests: Hazel Reambillo enjoys creating and implementing brand strategies that not only communicate a brand’s unique value proposition and identity to its target audience but also represent the diverse voices and perspectives of its customers. Hazel takes pride in crafting messaging and visuals that resonate with a diverse audience, promoting inclusivity and equity in the brand’s image. She leverages her writing skills to develop content that embraces different cultural backgrounds and perspectives, making sure that the brand’s story is inclusive and representative of its audience.
Causes Hazel cares about: Hazel is a passionate advocate for gender equality, including women’s and children’s rights. She believes in empowering women through technical skills that can help them achieve financial independence and self-sufficiency. She regularly speaks at public forums on these topics, raising awareness and advocating for positive change.As a Soror of the Tau Gamma Sigma, Hazel is committed to giving back to her community. She volunteers her time and resources to support disaster relief and response efforts, medical and dental missions, and outreach programs for abandoned and neglected children.
Personal interests: Hazel finds joy and fulfilment in a variety of personal interests and hobbies. She takes great pride in her small balcony garden, where she tends to her collection of Philodendrons and Monsteras. Hazel also shares her life with two beloved dogs, an American Bulldog named Blossom and a Pekingese named Milton, who bring her unconditional love and joy. As a devoted mother to her six-year-old daughter, Veronica, Hazel cherishes the time they spend together and strives to be a positive role model and source of support in her life.
Favourite quote or motto: “I am a Woman. Phenomenally. Phenomenal Woman, that’s me.” ― Maya Angelou
Rina Villegas
Professional interests: Rina is a Graphic Designer and Social Media Marketer who is dedicated to improving her clients’ branding digitally. Rina enjoys staying up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies in her field so she can provide high-quality work that helps them stand out in a competitive market. Furthermore, Rina prioritises working with companies that share her values of inclusivity, diversity, and openness. Her commitment to promoting positive values and making a difference in the world through her work sets her apart as a professional in her field.
Causes Rina cares about: Rina is a strong advocate for women’s empowerment and accessible education. She believes in breaking down barriers and promoting equality for all. Rina is particularly passionate about body positivity and empowering women to love their bodies and to accept it for how it looks and what it does to help us survive daily. She supports Lahat Ng Bata Youth Organization to help provide accessible education to children in remote areas of the Philippines.
Personal interests: Growing up in the Culinary Capital of the Philippines, Rina is an avid foodie who loves trying out different dishes from different cuisines. She is always on the lookout for new restaurants and dishes to try. She’s a cat lover so she spends most of her time with her cats and she is always excited to meet new feline friends. Rina also loves going to the beach as she finds the sound of the waves to be incredibly calming and relaxing. Rina loves spending time by the sea, whether it’s for a relaxing day of sunbathing or a more active outing like snorkelling or swimming.
Favourite quote or motto: “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
