SAVE THE DATE
Faculty Seminar Series Panel | Winter 2021
Debating Race Across Disciplines
CCSRE NEWS
CCSRE COMMUNITY PROFILE
"Woman of Color to Watch:" Sheela Subramanian
(CSRE '03) has crafted a professional and personal life
intent on racial justice practice
BY PERLITA R. DICOCHEA (CCSRE STAFF)
As one of our newest members of the CCSRE Advisory Board, Sheela Subramanian’s career and life journey has included positions in the public sector addressing race and political representation and, upon earning her MBA from Harvard, roles addressing internet connectivity in emerging markets in various parts of the world. Her work led to wider recognition in 2014 by Advertising Age as a “Woman to Watch.” Graduating from Stanford in 2003 with majors in CSRE and Political Science, Subramanian’s initial motivation to engage in racial justice as a practice for change has led to her recent career move focusing on leadership and inclusivity in the workplace as Senior Director of the Future Forum by Slack.
Sheela Subramanian (CSRE ’03) at graduation, Stanford University.
Courtesy of Sheela Subramanian
Speaking on the ways her CSRE major has shaped her career journey, Subramanian stated, “There were two aha moments for me. The first was the importance of storytelling as a way to connect with people. This lesson, plus my love for data, influenced my decision to specialize in marketing early in my career. And the second was that [the CSRE major] sparked my curiosity about the topic of access. In particular, I was interested in access to technology and how providing access to technology and the internet could help drive change for rural communities, in emerging markets, and most recently: for women and people of color. So I spent a number of years at Google and my focus later on in my time there was to drive new business in new markets like Brazil, India, South Africa as well as multicultural marketing focused on better understanding what the needs and wants of different groups were. My experience at Google inspired me to go back and get my MBA.”
View of the business district in Johannesburg, capital of South Africa, the first region where Subramanian expanded internet connectivity.
Image credit: ViewApart
Having grown up in what she describes as a traditional, conservative Indian family in San Ramon, which was not a very racially diverse city during her youth, Subramanian stated, “I came to Stanford after struggling with belonging my entire life. I really wanted to understand the construct of race and gender dynamics in modern society, and I found that CSRE provided the best curriculum and the best well-rounded approach to better understanding issues of belonging, equity and identity. A CSRE curriculum, paired with political science frameworks, helped me bridge my interests around how to solve for challenges of inequity and structural bias.” She furthered, “[The CSRE major] instilled not just a sense of curiosity and a critical eye but also a commitment to speak up and do more.” Read the full story here.
Now Available on YouTube
The Color of Money:
Racial Equity & Inclusion in FinTech
Technology has spurred monumental changes in both the financial services industry and civil society. There remain many concerns about how technology can reinforce discrimination and economic exploitation. There is also potential in emerging technologies and innovation that can be harnessed for responsible credit access, for instance, offering tools that were unimaginable only a short time ago.

This panel, which took place on November 12, 2020, discussed the promises and perils of innovation in the context of financial inclusion, fair lending, and the role of new methods, policy, and loan officers in fostering economic and racial equity.

Panelists: Kelly Cochran, Deputy Director, FinRegLab; Fabrice Coles, VP, Bank Policy Institute; and Chi Chi Wu, Staff Attorney, National Consumer Law Center

Moderator: Courtney Robinson, Financial Inclusion Lead, Square

This event was part of the Race, Tech + Civil Society webinar series, which is a partnership between CCSRE and the Digital Civil Society Lab and is supported by Stanford HAI.

Click here or on the image to view the webinar on YouTube.
CCSRE Annual Report
2019/2020
Explore the Latest from CCSRE

The Center's Annual Report provides an overview of key programs, events, and initiatives for the 2019-2020 academic year as well as feature stories and photos. 

Click on the image for the full report.
OTHER NEWS
CCSRE Race and Tech Fellow
Hong Qu: Shining a Headlight on AI Blindspots
Hong Qu launched AI Blindspot to help developers assess how they create or perpetuate inequality. 
BY KATHARINE MILLER

As a CCSRE Race and Tech Fellow, associated with HAI , Qu is developing AI Blindspot into a tool that nontechnical civil society organizations can use as a framework for investigating and auditing AI systems as well as for organizing campaigns challenging corporations and governments to deploy AI systems that are fair, equitable, accountable, and genuinely participatory.

Stanford and neighboring cities
examine police reform alternatives
BY KYLIE GORDON
In the wake of George Floyd’s death under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, and the shooting of Breonna Taylor in her home by Louisville police earlier this year, Bay Area residents called for reinvigorated conversations about police reform in their local communities, and cities responded with resolutions and value statements committing to racial justice and equity.

In response to these calls for change, local jurisdictions collaborated with Stanford to pursue research on policing reform and best practices. Conducted through the Bill Lane Center for the American West, the research is part of a larger effort by Stanford’s new Office of Community Engagement (OCE) to harness the expertise and resources of units across the university and apply them to mutual challenges faced by our region. Read the full story in Stanford News here.
EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
PRISONS, POLICING & RACIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
ELEVEN: The Undergraduate Journal of Sociology

“The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it.” 
 
Karl Marx’s “Eleventh Thesis” 
Theses on Feuerbach

Eleven, an undergraduate journal of sociology at UCB, is now accepting submissions from students around the world and from various disciplines in the social sciences.

To find out more about Eleven or the opportunity to publish work with a scholarly journal as an undergraduate, please visit http://eleven.berkeley.edu.
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We seek news and stories written by and about our CCSRE community-including from faculty, students, staff, and on and off campus partners-as well as race-centered events to feature in our newsletter and blog.

Submit news, stories, & event information to drpearls@stanford.edu.
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