Builders Eat The Elephant, One Bite At A Time.

THIS ISSUE AT A GLANCE

• Black HERstory: Dr. Timnit Gebru → The woman who proved "responsible AI" can't be corporate-owned

• Getting Started with AI Engineering → Missed Sunday's session with Microsoft's AI engineer? Watch the recording.

• Get Building for #75HER in 10 Minutes → Our quickstart Loom walking you from zero to submitted project

• Office Hours Every Week Until Submissions Close → Drop in with Adriann & Darlyze today at 1:30 PM EST — then Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday through March 7th

• Resource Drop 📚 → Google's free Gen AI certification for women, AI for Good Impact Awards, SWE scholarships, and more

Black HERstory: Dr. Timnit Gebru

Dr. Timnit Gebru: The Researcher Who Proved "Neutral" AI Was Anything But — Then Built the Institution to Fix It

When commercial facial recognition systems misidentify darker-skinned women at error rates of 34.7% while lighter-skinned men sail through at 99.2% accuracy, "neutral" isn't the word. Dr. Timnit Gebru co-authored the research that put those numbers in front of every major AI company in the world — and the fallout reshaped the entire industry.

The 2018 Gender Shades study, co-authored with Joy Buolamwini, didn't just document bias — it created the framework for algorithmic auditing that companies and regulators still use today. IBM responded within 24 hours of receiving the results. Microsoft launched an internal evaluation after the data showed 93.6% of the faces their system misgendered were darker-skinned subjects. IBM later shut down its general-purpose facial recognition program entirely, citing this research as a direct catalyst.

Born in Addis Ababa to Eritrean parents, Dr. Gebru fled Ethiopia at 15 during the Eritrean-Ethiopian War. Initially denied a US visa, she received political asylum — then earned three degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford, including a PhD from the Stanford AI Laboratory. At the 2016 NeurIPS conference, she looked around one of AI's most prestigious rooms and saw almost no one who looked like her. Her response: she co-founded Black in AI, now a global community increasing the presence and health of Black people in AI research.

Her track record spans institutions, but always circles back to accountability:

• Microsoft Research FATE Group — Studied algorithmic bias and ethical implications of data-driven systems

• Google Ethical AI Team, Co-Lead — Led research on bias in large language models until December 2020, when Google terminated her after she co-authored a paper warning about embedded biases in the same technology now powering ChatGPT and Gemini. 2,700+ Google employees and 4,300+ academics signed letters condemning her firing. Nine members of Congress demanded clarification

• Co-author of the "Stochastic Parrots" paper — now one of the most-cited papers in AI ethics

• Board member of AddisCoder — free CS education for Ethiopian high school students

• Fortune's 50 Greatest Leaders. Nature's 10 (2021). TIME 100 (2022). NISO Miles Conrad Award (2025)

But here's where Dr. Gebru's work shifts from audit to architecture. In December 2021 — exactly one year after leaving Google — she launched the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR), backed by the Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Kapor Center, and Open Society Foundation. DAIR produces the work Big Tech won't fund: satellite analysis of apartheid's structural legacy in South African townships, sovereign language technologies for East African communities, and research documenting how global platforms harm neglected countries.

At CreateHER Fest, we recognize that Black HERstory Month isn't about celebrating individuals in isolation — it's about spotlighting the leaders actively constructing the pathways our community walks through. Dr. Gebru didn't just audit the algorithm or survive being pushed out of one of the most powerful companies on Earth. She built an independent research institution, funded it without corporate strings, and rooted it in the communities AI keeps failing. That's not disruption. That's infrastructure.

Getting Started with AI Engineering w/ Yunny Chung, Microsoft

Missed Sunday's After Hours session? Yunny Chung, Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft, joined our community for an in-depth conversation on AI engineering, building with conversational AI, and navigating a tech career as a woman engineer.

"Nobody has AI figured out. Even Microsoft engineers are still learning as build."

That was the reality Yunny (Sung Yun) Chung, Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft, brought to our #75HER Office Hours this weekend.

Here's what our builders walked away with:

→ You do not need hours of study time. One intentional step per day compounds into real progress

→ Stop grinding against your natural energy. Build your learning rhythm around it

→ Fundamentals are your foundation. AI amplifies clear thinking, not replaces it

→ Define your problem before you pick your tool

One of our builders shared:

"I felt seen. Yunny was so real and human — it made me feel less alone in my AI learning journey.”

Yunny leads the streaming bot messages initiative for Microsoft Teams — her work was showcased at the 2024 Microsoft Ignite Keynote — and she walked our community through practical approaches to getting started with AI development. Watch the full recording on our Youtube!

#75HER Builders: Get Building in 10 Minutes 🛠️

Not sure where to start with your hackathon project? We made a quickstart walkthrough that takes you from "I have an idea" to "I'm actually building" in under 10 minutes.

Whether you're a first-timer or just need a push to get moving, this Loom covers the essentials — setup, tools, and how to structure your submission so it's ready for Demo Day.

#75HER Weekly Office Hours: Join Now!

Adriann and Darlyze are hosting live office hours to support #75HER builders through the final stretch. Bring your bugs, your questions, your "is this even a good idea?" moments; that's literally what these sessions are for.

Remaining sessions:

• 📅 Today — Tuesday, Feb 24 | 1:30 PM EST

• 📅 Sunday, March 1 | 1PM EST

• 📅 Tuesday, March 3 | 1PM EST

• 📅 Thursday, March 5 | 1PM EST

Submissions close March 7th. Demo Day is March 8th (International Women's Day).

COMMUNITY SURVEY

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THIS WEEK’S RESOURCES

• Google Launchpad for Women: Free Gen AI Certification

  • A two-day virtual training on Generative AI — no tech experience required. You'll learn about LLMs, Google Gemini for Workspace, and strategic AI adoption, then receive a free voucher for the "Generative AI Leader" certification (normally $99). Open to women globally. Apply by March 10, 2026. Learn More →

• AI for Good Impact Awards (United Nations / ITU)

  • Have an AI project that addresses a real-world challenge? The AI for Good Impact Awards recognize solutions across three categories: AI for People, AI for Planet, and AI for Prosperity. Winners are honored at the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva and receive global visibility with UN leaders and investors. Open to organizations, academia, & individuals. Deadline: March 15, 2026. Apply Now →

• SWE Scholarships for First-Year Engineering Students

  • The Society of Women Engineers offers 330+ scholarships annually — totaling over $1.6 million — for women in engineering, computing, and technology. With one application, you're automatically considered for every scholarship you qualify for. Currently open for incoming first-year students (2026–2027 academic year). Deadline: March 31, 2026. Apply Today →

• University of Maryland: Free AI & Career Empowerment Certificate

  • A self-paced, fully free online certificate from the Robert H. Smith School of Business covering AI literacy, building AI systems, AI in business functions, and career strategy for AI-related roles. Designed for early to mid-career professionals looking to pivot or upskill. No deadline — enroll anytime. Enroll Free →

• All Things AI 2026 Conference Scholarships

  • Are you historically underrepresented in tech, a current student, unemployed/underemployed, or a veteran? All Things AI 2026 (Durham, NC) offers Ada Lovelace Underrepresented Scholarships, Student Scholarships, Unemployed/Underemployed Scholarships, and Veterans Scholarships—join thousands of technologists for world-class AI-focused content. Scholarships are limited and first-come, first-served.
    Apply Today →

Until next time,

Discover \ Design \ Deliver