GenAI x Gender Tech Hackathon

Emma Pickering

Head of Tech & Economic Abuse at Refuge

Expertise Areas: Safety, Security, Privacy Features, Tech and Gender Intersection, AI Risks

Emma Pickering is the Head of Tech & Economic Abuse at Refuge, where she plays a pivotal role in preventing technology-facilitated domestic abuse. With a background in working with young people and services, she has developed expertise in tech and economic abuse, providing direct support to women and children facing these challenges. Emma also manages external partnerships and stakeholders, collaborates closely with Refuge's policy and fundraising teams, and contributes to legislative improvements for survivors of technology-facilitated abuse.

Hanae Bezad

Impact Entrepreneur & Author

Expertise Areas: Ideation, AI for reproductive health

Hanae Bezad is an impact entrepreneur, international project manager, board advisor, curator, and the author of Being Other, a personal reflection on culture, gender, and identity. Her expertise spans government and international development institutions, civil society, and business. At the heart of her work lies a keen interest in the convergence of technology, sustainability, inclusion, entrepreneurship, and international development, and supporting the rise of a creative feminine leadership. Born and raised in Morocco, Hanae has worked and traveled across Europe, Africa, and the Americas and Asia, developing and nurturing impact tech enabled creative ventures with different communities and organizations. She is currently focused on nurturing the burgeoning leadership movement among Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC), supporting emerging entrepreneurs and philanthropists, and fostering cultural innovators who are driving global impact.

Jyothsna Belliappa, PhD

Faculty Member, Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education

Expertise Areas: Gender, work, personal life, gender in IT industry, in teaching and higher education, intersection of gender with age, disabiliy, and minority position

Jyothsna brings a wealth of experience as an educator, researcher, and writer. With a PhD in Women's Studies from the University of York, UK, she has taught at prestigious institutions including The University of York and Azim Premji University. Her research interests span teachers and teaching, the IT industry, identity and self, and the interplay between work and personal life. Her book "Gender, Class and Reflexive Modernity in India" which discusses how middle class women create a sense of self by drawing on multiple discourses prevalent within contemporary India was published by Palgrave Macmillan, UK. A strong supporter of participatory methods of teaching, Jyothsna facilitates professional development workshops and mentors research scholars and teachers across primary and secondary education. She teaches at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru.

Sameera Gutta

Creative Product Leader

Expertise Areas: Product Development, Product Strategy, Leadership

Sameera is an ardent problem-solver whose primary goal is to improve human lives while creating business value. She has over 15 years of experience in all areas of Tech, including Online Video, Music, Advertising, SaaS, and Hardware. She excels in fast-paced entrepreneurial environments, building complex and scalable products, and leading global teams. Her work experience spans for working for both Hardware (Intel) and consumer facing software companies (Twitter, Box, Google YouTube) launching variety of products which have had significant impact on people’s lives. Her latest gig was launching YouTube Shorts creator monetization globally for all YouTube creators and working on a GenAI product flow to create short videos from text while embedding music in them.

Ifrah Butt

Director of Programme, Bridge Institute

Expertise Areas: Anti-human trafficking, gender equity, and systemic changes, leadership development and design thinking

Ifrah Butt is a dedicated leader and advocate for social change, currently serving as the Director of Programmes at Bridge Institute. With a strong focus on anti-human trafficking, gender equity, and systemic changes, she spearheads initiatives that unite senior leaders from government, business, and non-profit sectors to foster collaborative solutions for pressing global issues. Ifrah's journey has been deeply intertwined with her commitment to social causes. Before her role at Bridge Institute, she worked extensively in advocating for women and child rights within various organizations across India. This hands-on experience has fueled her passion for driving positive change on a broader scale. Ifrah is also known for her expertise in leadership development and design thinking, emphasizing the importance of innovative approaches to problem-solving. Her work not only aims to empower individuals but also seeks to create sustainable pathways towards peace and prosperity for communities.

Navneet Kaur

Founder and CEO of FemTech India

Expertise Areas: Gender Equity, Social Impact, Inclusive Technology, Women's Health

Navneet Kaur is the Founder and CEO of FemTech India, a platform driving innovation in women's health tech. She has successfully built and scaled her first consumer brand across six states and now leads FemTech India, offering specialized consulting, mentorship, and networking for FemTech founders. Navneet's impact extends globally, representing India in international forums and collaborating with government bodies to advance women's health initiatives. Her work has been recognized by multiple prestigious organizations.

Christopher Coley, PhD

Assistant Professor, Amrita University

Expertise Areas: Anti-poverty interventions, Women Empowerment, Participatory Design, Sustainable Development

Christopher Coley leads the Social Data Science and Policy program at Amrita School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Faridabad Campus. As a researcher at Amrita University's Center for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, he explores the question: "What happens to men after women are empowered?"

Punit Rathore

Founder, Engineer, Investor

Expertise Areas: Product Engineering & Strategy

With 15 years of experience in Silicon Valley's tech industry, Punit Rathore has established himself as a veteran in the field. He played a pivotal role in Reddit's Growth team during the platform's rapid expansion phase. Throughout his career, Punit has been an early team member at various startups, gaining valuable insights into emerging technologies and business models. As a founder of his latest venture, he aims to empower professionals by enhancing their skills, facilitating their journey towards finding their dream job. Punit believes that the ultimate human aspiration should be freedom from psychological suffering, a philosophy that guides much of his personal time and efforts. In his moments of relaxation, Punit can be found immersed in the experience of a full-length music album, savoring a well made latte, and appreciating high-quality audio equipment.

Vijay Krishna Menon, PhD

AI/ML Architect at Air India

Expertise Areas: Generative AI, Big Data, Text Mining, NLP, Financial Analytics

Dr. Vijay Krishna Menon is a versatile data scientist with over 18 years of experience in academia and industry. He specializes in big data analytics, AI applications, and natural language processing. Dr. Menon's expertise spans financial forecasting, smart grid analysis, and computational epidemiology. He excels in transforming complex mathematical models into efficient computational implementations and has consulted for various companies in NLP and data analytics. With 45+ research papers and 1835+ citations, Dr. Menon brings a wealth of knowledge in real-time analytics and streaming data processing to projects at the intersection of AI, big data, and domain-specific challenges.

Loganathan Ramasamy, PhD

AI/ML Tech Lead at MSD, Prague

Expertise Areas: Natural Language Processing, Generative AI, Retrieval Augmented Generation, Low Resource Languages

Loganathan's overall expertise lie in natural language processing (NLP) and related subtasks in NLP. Major part of his research work thus far focused on working with low-resource languages and corpus linguistics. He has experience working in most of the standard NLP tasks. During his PhD at Charles University (Prague), he worked on one of the most pertinent problem facing corpus-based or data-oriented dependency parsing, i.e., how to parse a low-resource natural language that either has no annotated dependency treebank or has little other resources such as part-of-speech (POS) taggers. When it comes to NLP concerning low-resource languages, he is inclined to apply semi-supervised and cross-lingual approaches.

Nitesh Anand

Senior Fellow-Policy Impact & Outreach at Centre for Civil Society

Expertise Areas:

Nitesh Anand is a Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung Scholar, an India Fellow and Master's in Politics and Technology from Technical University Munich, Germany. An Engineer by qualification, notably, Nitesh was awarded the Liberal Ambassador certification validating his expertise in political facilitation, designing and delivering multi-stakeholder dialogue-based engagement. Nitesh also serves as an honorary Policy Advisor to the Department of Policy, Ministry of Education, Youth & Sports (MoEYS), Cambodia. Additionally, he has contributed to meaningful policy development, social accountability evaluations and innovations in countries like India, Cambodia, Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Germany. At CCS, Nitesh leads the Policy Impact & Outreach team, responsible for the organization's policy products and strategies for impact in the areas of K-12 education, micro and nano livelihoods and governance reforms. Nitesh is passionate about innovations, human-centered design and legal design approaches for creating participatory platforms for policy design, dialogue and discourse. He envisions contributing to a liberal global world order of choice, freedom and opportunity for every individual.

Vagmi Sharma

Associate: Research and Policy Impact & Outreach

Expertise Areas:

Passionate about policy impact and research, Vagmi is an interdisciplinary socio-legal researcher committed to the values of collaboration, self-reflectivity, and joy. With an intent to embody the ethic of praxis, she has been actively involved in both academic and policy research. Inspired by Dean Spade's scholarship on Mutual Aid, her evidence-driven policy research aims to formulate non-carceral, community-centric, self-sustainable governance models that reflect a bottom-up approach to social justice and prioritize excluded rights holders. At CCS, Vagmi works with one of its many integral projects, the Jeevika mobile app. Crafted to offer pro-bono legal aid to the Indian street vending community, the objectives of community mobilization, legal awareness and aid remain the cornerstones of this path-breaking innovation. An app designed to democratize institutional accountability and economic freedom, Jeevika ensures a dignified life for those most marginalized.

Biraj Sarangi

Project Director at PCI (Project Concern International) - India

Expertise Areas:

Biraj Laxmi Sarangi is a passionate public health nutrition professional with over three decades of experience. Her extensive background in Gender, Health, Nutrition, and Sanitation has significantly shaped various large-scale programs and initiatives. As Project Director at PCI's Odisha office, she plays a crucial leadership role, managing projects and offering expert technical assistance to the government. Her work with both national and international agencies eg. UNICEF, CARE, DANIDA, CENDERET has provided her with a comprehensive perspective on addressing public health challenges and devising effective solutions.

Brijesh K G Rao

Associate Director at PCI (Project Concern International) - India

Expertise Areas:

Brijesh is the Associate Director of PCI India's Behavioural Outcomes and Decision Heuristics (BODH) vertical. He has extensive experience in various aspects of Behavioural Science, Human-Centered Design, and Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) techniques. Brijesh's role primarily involves supporting the BODH vertical in developing highly effective behavioural interventions by understanding the drivers of human behaviour. Over the past 21 years, he has demonstrated exemplary managerial skills working with organisations such as PATH, Social Mobilization Network (A UNICEF Initiative), and Sahabhagi Shikshan Kendra in Lucknow. Brijesh is an expert in Behavioural Research, designing SBCC strategies and campaigns, developing large-scale capacity-building systems, and conducting program quality assessments, concurrent monitoring, and learning of program interventions. He holds a post-graduate degree in Social Work from Lucknow University.

Smitha Haridasan, PhD

AI Researcher, Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, US

Expertise Areas: AI for Social Good, Gender Equality, Women's Empowerment, Machine Learning, Healthcare AI, Mentorship, Violence Against Women, Economic Independence, Child Welfare, Mental Health.

Dr. Smitha Haridasan is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with a PhD in Computer Science from Wichita State University, specializing in AI for social impact. With a robust background in mentoring and interdisciplinary research, she is committed to leveraging AI to promote women's empowerment and gender equality while addressing pressing issues faced by marginalized communities. Her advocacy focuses on combating gender-based violence, supporting women's healthcare, fostering economic independence, and enhancing child welfare and mental health. Dr. Haridasan is dedicated to empowering individuals through education and innovative AI solutions that drive social change.

Maya Menon

Founder, Mental Health Advocate

Expertise Areas: Entrepreneurship, Software Engineering, Assisting in road maps for hackathons beginners, Mental health awareness.

A post graduate in IT from Monash University, Australia with experience as an IT professional both in India and abroad, she switched careers from industry to academia, teaching engineering graduates variety of subjects like Cloud computing, Wireless networks, Agile and DevOps. Currently a sociopreneur, she along with her sister, Sreela Menon, founded a social NGO Mind Empowered creating mental health awareness amongst the youth and empowering women. Maya is the mastermind behind visualization, strategy, and fundraising.

Fang Yuan

Former Director of investments at Baidu Ventures (AI/Robotics)

Expertise Areas: Product Market Fit

Fang (Nirbhaya) Yuan has two decades of experience across management consulting, startup operations and venture capital. She was last a General Partner at AIX Ventures, working with some of the top minds in the AI space, focusing on preseed and seed AI & Robotics investments. Prior to AIX Ventures, Fang worked at Baidu Ventures for four years, also focusing on deeptech investments. Earlier in her career, she worked at two unicorn startups (Stripe & Zendesk) and was a global consultant (Brazil, Mexico, India, Nigeria, etc.) with Oliver Wyman Financial Services Consulting.

Bogdan V. Haiducu

Expertise Areas: Product market fit, Technical sales.

Bogdan is passionate about guiding, consulting, advising, mentoring, and coaching individuals across a diverse range of fields, including communication, sales, technology, negotiation, career development, life transitions, financial independence, and mindfulness. He believes in the power of self-awareness and enjoys bringing a touch of humble humor to his work. With over eight years of experience in the technology sector, Bogdan has held customer-facing roles at leading Bay Area startups such as Stripe, Cobalt Robotics, and National Instruments. He has a proven track record of helping clients integrate and leverage complex technical products, fostering a deep understanding and seamless adoption.

Miriam Silverman, PsyD

Clinical Psychologist and Mentor

Expertise Areas: Conflict Resolution, Mental Health, Early Childhood Development, Parenting

Miriam Silverman is a licensed clinical psychologist. For more than two decades at a community mental health program, she worked with infants, parents, families, and teachers to support those most vulnerable in our society. Dr. Silverman has extensive experience in training and supervision in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, both locally and nationally. As a consultant, she provided mental health consultation to a wide variety of groups including public health nurses, certified nurse midwives, collaborative courts, childcare centers, and residential substance abuse centers.

Ties Gaurang Fakkel, PhD

Postdoc, Erasmus SYNC Lab, Netherlands

Expertise Areas: Presentation/Pitch, Collaboration and Teamwork, Feasibility, Validity, Scientific relevance, Societal relevance

During his PhD and post-doctoral research in the Netherlands, Gaurang specialized in social inequality issues among youth, such as wealth inequality, educational inequality, intergenerational social reproduction and social mobility, and climate crisis inequality. Gaurang also founded Addendum, a science-communication initiative to "make science more tangible" for a broader audience. His dream is to improve science by establishing more representative samples, both through more diverse inclusion at the start of new research projects as well as through long-term retention in existing research projects.

Aswathi Padmavilochanan

Team Lead & Researcher, Data Solutions, CWEGE, AMMACHI Labs

Expertise Areas: Data Science, Digitalization, NLP, Data Modeling, and Database Design

A Data Scientist and researcher specializing in applied Data Science and Machine Learning with a focus on social impact. Leads initiatives in creating software and data-driven solutions for social intervention programs. Research interests include advancing NLP techniques for identifying and modeling vulnerabilities.

Claire Moleon

Lawyer, UNESCO Chair for Gender Equality, Amrita University

Expertise Areas: Gender Equality, Women's Empowerment, Legal Expertise

Claire manages international collaborations, UNESCO Chair for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment. She is an advocate for women's rights, women's empowerment and gender equality, with a record and demonstrated ability to handle sensitive social and legal issues, including from an international perspective. Legal expertise with over 8 years of law practice, including in advising and representing international and local organizations and individuals in matters related to criminal and civil law, business and contracts, international regulations, gender related issues, ethics and compliance, policy making and international arbitration.

Sooraj Babu

AI/ML Scientist at Dr. Moopen's iNEST, CEO of NeuBiom labs

Expertise Areas: AI, Healthcare, AI for Healthcare

Sooraj is an AI/ML Scientist at Dr. Moopen's iNEST and the CEO of NeuBiom labs exploring the intersection of agriculture and AI.

Balu Menon

Team Lead, Rural Technologies, AMMACHI Labs

Expertise Areas: AI, Data Science, AI for Human animal coexistence

Balu manages the rural technologies team at Ammachi Labs. The team's focus is on creating low-cost, durable, and easily maintainable solutions. Currently, the team is working on AI-powered early detection systems to tackle the human-elephant conflict, as well as a sapling monitoring system to address real-world challenges. Balu has over 12 years of experience in software development and teaches courses related to machine learning.

Radhika Shetty

Product Development Specialist, AMMACHI Labs

Expertise Areas: Impact Evaluation, Skill Development, Community Engagement, Educational Technology

Radhika Shetty is a multifaceted professional with experience in product development, impact evaluation, and educational technology. She currently serves as a Product Development Specialist at WeProjectStore.com, showcasing products made by women artisans trained by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. Her previous work at AMMACHI Labs involved evaluating government skill training programs and developing innovative educational workshops. Radhika has presented her work at international conferences and has a passion for integrating technology with traditional practices like yoga to create unique learning experiences.

Pranav Prabha

Product Development Specialist, AMMACHI Labs

Expertise Areas: Conversational AI, Robotics, AI, and STEM education

Pranav Prabha is a seasoned professional with a strong background in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and STEM education. Currently serving as a Research Project Manager at AMMACHI Labs, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Pranav has led groundbreaking projects that integrate cutting-edge technology with educational initiatives aimed at fostering digital literacy and 21st-century skills among school children. With a master's degree in robotics and automation and a bachelor's in mechanical engineering, Pranav began his career working on AI-driven systems, focusing on image classification and conversational AI. He was instrumental in developing the Haksh-E robot, a social robot designed to interact with schoolchildren and encourage positive behavior change. Over time, his expertise expanded into mentoring and leadership roles, where he now empowers young innovators to apply their knowledge to solve real-world challenges. As a mentor for various programs, including the Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) Mentor of Change and IEEE STEM Champion, Pranav has guided students and educators across India, helping them navigate the evolving technology landscape. With six international conference papers and one journal publication, Pranav continues to push the boundaries of technology in education. He's passionate about guiding the next generation of problem-solvers and innovators to think critically and build solutions that have a meaningful impact.

Unnikrishnan Radhakrishnan, PhD

Postdoc, Aarhus University, Denmark

Expertise Areas: AR/VR, Game Development, Prompt Engineering, Visual LLMs

Unnikrishnan specialises in developing virtual and augmented reality learning environments, multiuser serious games, and data-driven applications for academia, industry, NGOs, and governments. He has a PhD in Virtual Reality from Aarhus University, Denmark, where he also designed and taught the Python for Machine Learning course in 2022. Additionally, he has experience in emotion recognition using biosensors, haptic feedback in virtual environments, teaching computational thinking, and social robotics.