Diversity and Inclusion Lunch

Tuesday, May 10th
Lunch break: 12:50 – 14:30
In the Convention Center, Grand Ballroom 220B/C

The CHI 2016 conference will host its first Diversity and Inclusion Lunch. Building upon the tradition of ‘CHI Women’s Breakfast’ at previous conferences, this lunch is both an expansion of scope and deepening of engagement with multiple aspects of diversity and inclusion. These issues include but are not limited to race, ethnicity and culture; age and professional experience; gender identity and sexual orientation; (dis)ability and impairments; religious beliefs; work-life-balance and needs of parents.

This lunch is intended as a social-peer platform to celebrate diversity, discuss challenges, and collaborate on strategies to bolster diversity and inclusion in the CHI community. During the lunch, a list of select speakers will share their personal views and life experiences on specific issues. These talks will highlight everyday challenges and strategies and serve as prompts for table discussions among lunch attendees. Attendees will then be invited to discuss related issues in lunch table groups.

What is the lunch about?

• Discussion in small table groups on topics concerning diversity issues (we will announce the “lunch bunchs” soon)
• “Speaker-sparks” will be shared by CHI leaders. Each will share a quick story and then ask a question for table groups to discuss.
• Participants can range from students just starting in the field, professionals just beginning their journey in academia or industry, to seasoned leaders willing to share their expertise.

Who are the speakers and what are the topics?

• Nova Ahmed (North South University, Bangladesh): “Connecting Humans and Systems in Bangladesh”
• Kathy Baxter (Salesforce): “When your accent holds you back”
• Elizabeth Churchill (Google): “Magical Thinking”
• Omid Farivar (Facebook): ” ‘Random’ Security Check, Sir”
• Nitesh Goyal (Cornell University): “Out in STEM. Where we are at?”
• Eric Horvitz (Microsoft): “Inside Out”
• Bonnie John (Bloomberg): “Aging: The group we’ll all grow into”
• Jennifer Rode (Rainbow Lab): “Investigating Abelism: Implicit Bias, Intersectionality, International Law.”
• Maria Stone (Yahoo): “Aging and Diversity in Silicon Valley”

Important Details

• Lunch Buffet with several options (including vegetarians)
• $15 for students / $30 for others
• Only 500 seats are available for this special lunch program so register soon!

We cordially invite all conference attendees to participate in the Diversity and inclusion Lunch at CHI 2016. You can confirm your participation when you register for the conference or go back to an existing registration.

During the registration process we will ask you about food restrictions and we will work hard to take them all into account.