An AI future that includes all of us
In mainstream AI discourse, builders of technologies are drowning out voices from civil society and impacted communities. Meanwhile, real harms — like job displacement, human rights, democratic risks and environmental damage — are overlooked. AI builders often stay disconnected from the everyday risks of AI, while governments scramble to regulate the surge of new technologies. As investment pours into hypothetical solutions, the concentration of AI resources keeps widening global socio-economic divides. Instead of harnessing our collective talent to imagine better futures, we’re stuck reacting, trying to “fix” instead of building.
Join us on May 22 for an urgent and inspiring conversation about reshaping the AI ecosystem toward shared prosperity. This event will spotlight the work of Women in AI Ethics™, an organization based in California and New York that has played a pivotal role as a catalyst in the movement for a more inclusive and ethical AI future since 2018. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about their new community-powered media network to elevate underrepresented voices across the globe and meet other like-minded people who share a commitment to an AI future that includes all of us.
Hosted by Æthos, this initiative brings together top AI startups, offering them space at CIC and the chance to validate their innovations against ethical, technical, and market benchmarks. Within our spaces, startups gain access to a comprehensive support ecosystem — including researchers from leading institutions like MIT, Harvard, and Fraunhofer, as well as investors and industry experts.
Panelists:
Mia Shah-Dand is a Responsible AI leader, social entrepreneur, and educator. As the CEO of Lighthouse3, a technology advisory firm based in New York and California, Mia has a successful track record of leading multidisciplinary teams and advising large organizations on the responsible adoption of AI and new technologies.
Mia is known for her deep commitment to and advocacy for a more ethical and inclusive tech future. In 2018, she created the "100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™" list and launched Women in AI Ethics™, a crucial platform for promoting diverse ethical voices in the technology sector. In March 2025, Mia launched WAIE+, an AI expert community and media network by and for the 99%. She is part of UNESCO's AI Ethics Experts Without Borders (AIEB) network and Women 4 Ethical AI platform.
Mia served on the AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES) conference program committee for 2024, Advisory Board for Carnegie Council’s Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative, and Selection Committee for Anita Borg Social Impact Abie Award. She is a faculty member for Brooklyn Public Library’s University Open Air and teaches AI literacy classes for underserved communities.
Elena Poughia is the MD of Dataconomy, one of the top 10 AI magazines & educational platforms in the world with 1.5 million readers a month, and the founder of Data Natives, Europe's largest data science & AI community with more than 300000 subscribers. Elena is an advocate of data privacy and AI ethics, has served in expert groups at the EU level, worked for the EIC (European Innovation Council) as a community adviser for their startup and investors marketplace, and has been speaking at conferences regularly on these topics. She mentors startups for Vision Health Pioneers, tech2impact, African Tech Vision, Applied Data Incubator, WeWork Labs, and others.
She speaks at key tech conferences such as Web Summit, 4YFN, Tech BBQ, SXSW, MWC, has keynoted corporate events for IBM, SAP, and Google & lectured on the topic of AI for Business Consultants at universities such as CBS, Hyper Island, Esade, to name a few. She was profiled as a change-maker Woman of the Year in 2020 by CNN and profiled by Handlessblatt in 2018 as an emerging entrepreneur.
Camila Lombana Díaz is a Colombian-born AI ethics expert and researcher at SAP, where she has played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s approach to responsible AI. She co-authored the SAP AI Ethics Handbook, the SAP Global AI Ethics Policy, and helped designed the framework that mature the company’s global AI ethics process. Her work focuses on aligning AI development with human rights to ensure AI systems uphold societal values.
Recognized among the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™, Camila brings a human-centric perspective to AI innovation, fostering ethical integration across engineering and design. She has authored a chapter on AI ethics in Springer’s Human-Centered AI and co-authored the whitepaper Promoting and Advancing Human Rights in Global AI Ecosystems, presented at the UN Human Rights Council. Her research has also been supported and co-created with various Indigenous communities in Colombia, especially with the Muykas and Kichwas, where she explores a pluriversal understanding and representation of AI. Her insights and work move beyond a corporate understanding of operationalizing AI, emphasizing the need to reflect on its broader impacts—including environmental concerns and emerging rights such as the right to disconnect—through the lens of pluriversal AI.
Moderation:
Our Moderation will be done by Lina Keßler, Co-founder and Managing Director of This is Legal Design, a Berlin-based innovation consultancy specialized in helping legal teams and organizations transform complex legal challenges into accessible solutions. With a unique blend of legal expertise, design-driven approaches and strategic innovation, she leads multidisciplinary projects spanning legal operations strategy, product and service design, and tailored training programs in legal tech, AI and human-centered design.
Since March 2025, Lina serves on the Management Board of the Liquid Legal Institute e.V. (LLI), an international think tank dedicated to sustaining the rule of law through digital transformation and collaborative innovation. She is also a member of the advisory board of recode.law and of the editorial advisory board of LTZ – Zeitschrift für Digitale Rechtsanwendung (Journal for Digital Legal Practice). A recognized thought leader, she regularly publishes insights on legal innovation and speaks at conferences across Europe. In 2020, she was honored with the European Women of Legal Tech Award in Professional Services, and she continues to shape the future of law by putting people at the center of every transformation.