Join the conversation! What would it take to restore the future of the internet to one that unites and affirms our well-being? Hear from and chat with panelists from various backgrounds about our shared future digital vision.
Translation help is available for Amharic and Tigrigna speakers.
About the Panelists
Maria Sipin
Maria Sipin (they/she) is a Portland-based community organizer and civic educator with experience as a public sector policy
analyst and planner and several years of nonprofit leadership.
Her background is in community health programs, active transportation infrastructure, participatory budgeting for COVID recovery, and community-led climate action.
Maria is a communications and planning professional with more than 10 years of experience in planning, program implementation, and advocacy for equitable governance, health, energy, transportation, and climate justice.
Alena Dasha Peethala
Alena Dasha Peethala is the co-executive director of the Encode Justice Oregon, the Oregon chapter of a global youth organization dedicated to championing and uplifting the student voice in the space of artificial intelligence policy, education, ethics, and advocacy. Alena leads a team of 15 students from 7 high schools in Beaverton, Portland & Happy Valley, who all work within the chapter's 3 sectors - policy, advocacy, and education.
The chapter has worked on projects detailing the student perspective on generative AI tools in the classroom, has created educational materials for students to get involved in the rise of deepfakes and facial recognition technology impacting students directly, and is now working to bring AI education by youth, for youth across Oregon through educational workshops in the community. Alena is a senior in high school at the International School of Beaverton (ISB), who plans to study data science & public policy in college.
Alicia Patterson
Alicia Patterson is the Horning Assistant Professor of Applied Philosophy at the School of History, Philosophy, and Religion at OSU. Her research focuses on the ethics of emerging technology, with a special interest on privacy and data ethics. Prior to OSU, Patterson was a postdoctoral fellow at Ethics Lab at Georgetown University. At Georgetown, she worked on developing ethics curriculum for computer science classes as part of the Mozilla Responsible Computer Science Challenge. She holds a PhD in philosophy from Cornell University.
Je Amechi (Moderator)
Organizing Director of Unite Oregon