Advisory Board

Susan Malaika is Senior Technical Staff in the Open Tech Organization in IBM Research which leads the adoption, creation and contribution to opensource software in IBM, focusing on AI. Susan often collaborates with universities on opensource projects. As well as leading a community of technical volunteers in IBM, she is active in Women in Data Science, and at the LF AI and Data, co-chairing the Responsible Generative AI Workstream.

Francesca Bruna Pipino leads AI Partnerships at Google, founded an EdTech startup, and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School. Backed by 10 years of experience scaling platform partnerships and digital initiatives across Google and Meta, her board advisory focuses on AI and Entrepreneurship. She works closely with the Hub to accelerate student-led innovation, connecting academic talent with industry ecosystems to equip CUNY builders to lead at the frontier of applied artificial intelligence.

Jody Simpson is a Google Software Engineer and ecosystem builder dedicated to creating a more accessible and equitable tech landscape. With over 6+ years of experience at Google, Jody couples deep full-stack and backend engineering expertise with a unique business-minded perspective gained from her previous role as a Google Ads Solutions Engineer. She excels at navigating complex internal systems to build scalable, real-world products but her true impact extends far beyond the code.

Deeply committed to social impact, Jody centers much of her work on community, mentorship and investing. She serves as the Co-Director of Women in Tech Caribbean, where she curates supportive spaces for Caribbean women in the tech industry. Additionally, her passion for mentorship is woven throughout her journey, including her work guiding aspiring technologists through Techports.org, and as a board member for the MindsOf Initiative, a non-profit providing students with crucial mentorship opportunities. To further foster sustainable growth in emerging markets, Jody actively invests in early-stage startups across the Caribbean and African diaspora.

Steve has spent the last 20 years in computing education, working to understand how best to support transdisciplinary and responsible computing for the next generation. He is currently a Senior Program Officer at the Mozilla Foundation, where he leads education initiatives and, with the help of his talented team, supports young people in becoming responsible technologists. Steve also continues to teach, exploring transdisciplinary perspectives that blend the humanities with computing. Most recently, he taught Theory and Programming of Interactive Media at Columbia University and Creative AI Computing in Education at the College of Staten Island. He holds an Ed.D. in Instructional Technology and Media from Teachers College, Columbia University; an M.A. as a technology specialist, along with his teaching credentials from Teachers College, Columbia University; and a B.S. in electrical engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.