Fostering equity + ethics across data projects
Background borrowed from Data Feminism, Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein, The MIT Press, 2020
Lessons from our data workshop series
By Rachel Whaley
LA Tech4Good hosted a brand-new workshop series on Equity + Ethics in Data during the first three weeks of December. It was designed to bring together dedicated data professionals fighting inequities that the events of 2020, especially the global pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests, brought into the spotlight. As Data Feminism reminds us, “Equity is both a process and an outcome.” Every participant contributed to our iterative peer-learning model, providing feedback, sharing their experiences, and collaboratively applying learnings to their own projects. I learned so much from creating and facilitating this series – here are the highlights:
Action and connection matter for equity in all data projects
Issues of equity and ethics impact every kind of data project. Our diverse group of participants hailed from the entertainment, education, design, consulting, startup, nonprofit, and public sectors. The group also represented a diversity of identities and backgrounds, bringing an assortment of viewpoints to a conversation where all voices are critically important. While they each brought their own project involving a unique set of stakeholders, a common set of themes and questions arose in our discussions: How are fairness and equity defined? Who defines them? How can ethical considerations be operationalized in teams and organizations? What is the impact of algorithms and how can accountability be built in?
Actions speak louder than words. There are many excellent articles, books, and videos available for folks interested in learning about data equity and data ethics. It’s easy to read and watch content passively; it’s much harder to sit down and apply the ideas and frameworks toward increasing equity and promoting ethics on a specific data project. Participants consistently told us that our practical approach to grappling directly with these concepts and frameworks via hands-on exercises was highly valuable and enabled them to bring specific action plans to their projects and colleagues.
Real connections matter. During a year in which interactions between individuals have been narrowed by public health precautions, we chose to facilitate this workshop as a collective experience, limited to about a dozen participants to enable networking and real connections. Our participants engaged deeply with one another through small group discussions and exercises, sharing insights and learning from each other’s contexts about everything from defining fairness within a project to operationalizing ethical practices within a data team.
Success in increasing knowledge and forming a network
Our goal for this workshop is to foster a more equitable tech and data ecosystem in Los Angeles, by enabling data professionals to apply learnings to their specific projects. We measured success of the workshop through participant engagement, increased knowledge, and applicability to their everyday work. Here’s what we saw:
Big impact on both ethics and equity knowledge: Before the workshop, we asked participants to self-assess their confidence in knowledge of data equity and data ethics on a scale of 1 to 5. When we asked the same questions after the workshop, we saw a 70% increase in confidence of knowledge in data ethics and a 66% increase in confidence of knowledge in data equity.
Highly engaged group: At the end of a year spent largely on Zoom, I was refreshed by the deep engagement of this cohort, who were all on video, off mute, connecting with one another as a full group, in breakout rooms, and on Slack. Our guest speakers brought a wealth of experience navigating issues of data equity and data ethics to share with the cohort. Marie Smith, CIO of Data360, and Sreyoshi Bhaduri, Global Head of People Analytics at McGraw Hill, both rounded out our conversations by contributing their expertise on data in tech and HR, respectively.
In their own words: We are thrilled that 89% of participants are extremely likely to recommend this workshop to a friend or colleague. Here’s how participants describe their experience:
“LA Tech4Good’s Equity + Ethics in Data workshop did an exceptional job of diving deeper into current key issues regarding bias in data collecting and AI. I came out of it with a new lens and an extensive amount of resources to aid in creating actionable change.” –Odessa
“We spent the last three weeks diving into various ways we bring bias to data and computing and how we can counteract it. Incredibly informative. Anyone working in tech should go through it.” –Lex Roman, Growth Designer
“LA Tech4Good's Equity + Ethics in Data workshop series provided a solid foundation of theory balanced with practice, relevant readings, activities and materials for data scientists committed to equity and ethical exploration and application of data.” –Mary Lang, Los Angeles County Office of Education
Bring this work to your work
If you’re ready to learn actionable tools to fight for equity and ethics in your work, apply to join the next cohort, which will be held on 2/16, 2/23, and 3/2 from 5:30-7pm. Click here for details and the application. Apply here by February 5 to be considered; spaces are limited.
Want a sneak preview of our content? Check out the syllabus from our previous cohort, which includes a link to a growing library of resources for learning more about equity + ethics in data. And be sure to sign up for the LA Tech4Good newsletter – in the coming weeks, participants from the December cohort will be writing about how they’re applying learnings from the workshop to their projects!
Not based in Los Angeles? Interested in bringing this workshop to your team or organization? Email rachel@latech4good.org for more information about custom workshops.
Open to sponsoring a seat or the workshop? Email karen@latech4good.org to discuss!
