Virtual Program
A full day of mainstage demonstrations, conversations, and community exchange.
Subject to change.
10:00 am PT
In person + virtual
Welcome and Opening Remarks
The day begins with a welcome from the summit host, setting the stage for a gathering of innovators, practitioners, funders, and community partners shaping the future of public interest technology.
Sylvester Johnson (MC)
CEO, Corporation for Public Interest Technology
Andreen Soley
Director, PIT-UN
10:05 am PT
In person + virtual
PIT Provocation: Ruminations on the Past and Facing Our Shared Future
Scholar and author, Safiya Noble, explores how her poineering book Algorithms of Oppression foreshadowed today’s challenges, and shares solutions for shaping our tech futures together.
Safiya Noble
David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
10:20 am PT
In person + virtual
PIT Futures Demo Showcase
PIT-UN-sponsored hackathon winners and emerging innovators take the stage for showcase-meet-pitch presentations — pitching their prototypes, products, and ideas to a live audience.
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From improving access to essential services to reimagining community infrastructure, the Futures Demo Showcase celebrates bold ideas already moving from concept to practice — and invites an in-person and virtual audience to be part of shaping what comes next.
Afua Bruce (Host)
Principal, ANB Advisory Group; author, The Tech That Comes Next
Nissim Ram
New York University
Edward Sie
Core Futures Lab, Howard University
Aunray Stanford
New York University
11:20 am PT
In person + virtual
Why Evaluating Emerging Technologies Through a PIT Lens Matters
Who determines whether technology truly serves the public? Following the Futures Demo Showcase, PIT pioneers will discuss what it takes to move promising public interest technologies from prototype to practice.
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Beyond technical innovation and market readiness, the discussion will explore how founders, investors, and ecosystem partners can better identify and support products that advance public values, respond to community needs, and generate lasting public benefit.
As technology continues to shape communities and public systems, the ability to evaluate what should be built — and how it should be built — is essential.
Afua Bruce
Principal, ANB Advisory Group; author, The Tech That Comes Next
Andreen Soley
Director, PIT-UN
Latanya Sweeney
Founder, The Techizen Institute
12:00 pm PT
In person + virtual
PIT in Practice Tech Talks
A series of practical talks explores how public interest technology can address challenges in shelter settings, maternal health, and community connectivity.
Sylvester Johnson
CEO, Corporation for Public Interest Technology
In person + virtual
From Connectivity to Care: Reimagining Technology in Shelters
Learn how thoughtful technology design can address everyday challenges in shelter settings — enhancing dignity, access, and well-being while responding to the lived experiences of communities navigating housing insecurity.
Bonnie Ervin
Research Associate, Arizona State University
In person + virtual
Bloomline AI: Building the fourth trimester’s missing safety net — with Black Birthways
Explore an innovative application designed to support mothers through the postpartum journey by addressing critical gaps in maternal health data. By centering the experiences of communities historically underrepresented in AI-driven healthcare, the technology aims to create more inclusive, responsive, and equitable care solutions.
Amy Yeboah Quarkume
Principal Investigator, Bloomline and CORE Futures Lab, Howard University
In person + virtual
Enabling Small-Scale Cooperative Cellular Networks
Access to reliable connectivity shouldn’t depend on where you live. This talk showcases a community-led approach to closing connectivity gaps through cooperative cellular network nodes deployed in tiny home villages, homeless encampments, and domestic violence shelters.
Esther Jang
Director, Local Connectivity Lab
In person + virtual
Human Rights Investigations Lab
The founder and director of the Human Rights Investigations Lab will discuss how students (many from non-technical backgrounds) are using open-source research to investigate and document human rights and environmental abuses across the Americas.
Sylvanna Falcón
Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz
12:40 pm PT
In person + virtual
Reimagining Tech Futures Through Storytelling
Multisector leaders examine how narratives influence investment, product development, policy, and public trust; who gets to define technology futures; and how storytelling can serve as infrastructure for change; and the relationship between narrative, power, and innovation.
Jessica Callahan
Vice President, Hallmark Media
Renard T. Jenkins
President, I2A2 Studios & Labs
Lynn Maxcy
Screenwriter and Co-Founder, Creators Coalition on AI
Charlton McIlwain
Vice Provost, New York University
1:35 pm PT
In person + virtual
Advancing Public Interest Technology Career Pipelines in Today’s Evolving Employment Landscape
PIT Career Ambassadors and a PIT entrepreneur discuss an expanding ecosystem of careers across government, nonprofits, and mission-driven companies, with pathways for technical and non-technical backgrounds.
Alex Iovine
CEO and Founder, VoteMate
Bobbi Makani
Executive Director of the Career Center, San José State University
Brenda Perea
Strategist, PIT-UN
Diane Taylor
Senior Director of Partnerships and Advancement, Carnegie Mellon University Heinz College
2:10 pm PT
virtual ONLY
AI and the Future of Higher Education
This global panel explores how the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is reshaping higher education globally. Panelists explore how higher ed can redesign curricula and teaching practices to prepare students for the technical, ethical, and regulatory challenges of an AI-driven world.
Marina Feferbaum
Professor, FGV Direito São Paulo Law School
José Garcez Ghirardi
Professor, FGV Direito São Paulo Law School Law School
Vera Lúcia Raposo
Professor and Vice-Dean for Research and Internationalisation, NOVA School of Law, Lisbon
3:10 pm PT
Virtual only
Flash Talk: Building Trust in High-Stakes AI Environments
Drawing on an NSF-funded study, this session examines how AI decision-support tools are shaping kidney transplant decisions, exploring historical bias in clinical data, clinician burnout, and why early findings suggest AI may improve judgment by encouraging more deliberate, not faster decision-making.
Casey Canfield
Associate Professor, Missouri University of Science and Technology
3:20 pm PT
Virtual only
Flash Talk: Public interest as technology: Safeguarding online surveys by putting communities in the loop
AI bots pose an existential threat to the quality of data collected from online surveys, the workhorse of social science research and public data collection. This talk presents a case study on how a university-based research team embedded community expertise as a “technology” to reduce the harm of AI bots to data quality and realized other benefits along the way.
Lisa Frazier
Assistant Director for Research, OSU Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy
3:30 pm PT
Virtual only
Closing Remarks: What Does the Future Hold?
The future is already being built—by the people, communities, and technologies shaping what comes next.
Fran Berman
Director, PIT@UMass, UMass Amherst
Andreen Soley
Director, PIT-UN
Speakers
Our speakers—builders, practitioners, community partners, researchers, and investors—are actively shaping public interest technology in real-time.
About PIT-UN
Learn about PIT-UN’s impact.