Blog & guest articles
Dear Data Community: Your Data is Not Color Blind
Data is often thought of as an unbiased representation of facts, but the reality is that data and algorithms built atop of it are subject to bias and can amplify underlying disparities in our society. Maria T. Khan and Eva Pereira speak to the data community…
Case Study: Piloting Data Equity at HopSkipDrive
“Data practitioners interested in the intersection of data and social issues will get a lot out of LA Tech4Good’s Equity and Ethics in Data Workshop. I had the opportunity to participate last winter and strongly believed my coworkers needed to learn what I learned: that if we are not thoughtful about how we use data, we could amplify existing issues of inequity, exclusion and discrimination.“
SmartAirLA: Tech addressing asthma in Long Beach “asthma alley”
A new data initiative, Fight Asthma Long Beach - Los Angeles Harbor, from South Bay nonprofit SmartAirLA and a public-private partnership of technology companies and community health organizations, addresses the health consequences of low air quality in the most impacted LA neighborhoods.
Host a Coded Bias watch party
Make plans with friends, families, coworkers and neighbors to host a Coded Bias watch party.
Stop Asian Hate
We grieve the loss of life in Atlanta and encourage our friends and community to speak out and take action.
Coded Bias screening and LA Tech4Good facilitated discussion
If the success of a party can be measured by how late people stay, our February 25 conversation that accompanied our screening of Coded Bias was a hit!
Digital equity: the first digital spool of educational justice
The first and most necessary process spool of Educational Justice is Digital Equity. Mary Lang outlines three nuanced dimensions of connection that make up Digital Equity: technological, human, and learning.
Fostering equity + ethics across data projects
Lessons from our December data workshop series on Equity + Ethics in Data during the first three weeks of December.
UX Successes of Socially Conscious Organizations
We are increasingly understanding the powerful benefits of good user experience (UX). The field of UX focuses on creating meaningful, relevant, and intuitive products and services.
We condemn the storming of the Capitol
LA Tech4Good condemns the January 6 assault on the US Capitol building.
Reject LAPD Facial Recognition
In January, the Los Angeles Police Commission will vote on whether to approve a LAPD policy on face recognition surveillance, and over fifty organizations have signed an open letter to reject this.
SmartAirLA Launches Asthma Alert Text
SmartAirLA, in partnership with Esperanza Community Housing Corporation and St. John's Well Child & Family Center, has launched their Asthma Attack Text for South LA.
In Support of Dr. Timnit Gebru
Dr. Timnit Gebru, a widely respected leader in AI ethics research, was fired from her position as technical co-lead of Google's Ethical Artificial Intelligence Team on December 2. Dr. Gebru helped pioneer research into facial recognition software’s bias against people of color and spearheaded research in assessing AI fairness and risks at Google.
![Reframing Intimate Partner Violence as a Systemic Economic Issue Using Data [Data Con LA]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/630fb0d81c19ab4e85263105/ee415f09-4f50-428f-9960-3133c4163d37/Survivors%2BKnow%2BBest-post.jpeg)
Reframing Intimate Partner Violence as a Systemic Economic Issue Using Data [Data Con LA]
By now, you've probably seen the headlines about rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) rising during COVID-19. Many survivors are trapped at home with harm-doers whose abuses are escalating, without access to crisis interventions like shelters and restraining orders.
OpenMeal: Empowering Local Restaurants While Helping Communities Affected by COVID-19
Guest article by Amy Zhou
How a 22-year-old Asian American created an online app to feed low-income families by buying meals from restaurants threatened by closure
Food Oasis: A New Resource Directory for Pantries and Meals
Guest post by Jenny Mikesell
Lessons on User Research and Data Validation
Food belongs to the public. I am passionate about using technology to help address food insecurity, and I wanted to create a useful tool with good, up-to-date data.
Keep Fighting for My Dreams and Pay It Forward When I Can
Women of MENA in Technology is a global nonprofit organization that aims to advocate equity, inclusion, and diverse representation for women in STEM. The Women of MENA in Technology Conference 2020 was held online this year…
Actionable Data to Protect the People
As our underserved communities in Los Angeles continue to suffer from injustice, data can be a force equalizer to empower residents and community leaders to protect their livelihoods and fight for equality. However, having good intentions to help the community with data is not enough.
Powering Location Data for Good
By analyzing location data, we can unlock valuable information about people and places to observe and predict change over time. This article provides a recap of the information shared during the Data Con LA 2020 session…
Data 4 Good at Data Con LA
We were a community partner the 2020 Data Con LA conference and were instrumental in building out the inaugural Data 4 Good track. A dozen nonprofits presented on their data work and their presence helped to narrow the gap between the tech and social good spaces.