2021 Girls in Tech Conference Speakers
Keynote: Lucy Ho
CEO, Hackergal
Lucy Ho is the Founder and Executive Director of Hackergal, a Canadian charitable organization. After many years working in the technology industry and venture capital herself, she decided to begin her own movement inspiring girls to explore opportunities in tech and code through education. This was fuelled by her personal experience of oftentimes being the only woman in the room when it came to the tech industry. She founded Hackergal in 2015 as a way to close Canada’s gender gap in tech and inspire girls to explore STEM opportunities. To date, Hackergal has exposed computer science education to over 20,000 girls across Canada. She is passionate about technology innovation, the development of great start-up companies, and female empowerment.
Q&A: Sonya Carey
Director, The Animation Lounge
Sonya Carey has been working in the animation and visual effects industry for close to 25 years. Sonya began working as an artist in a studio in Los Angeles on the Ren and Stimpy Show. She took the time needed to understand the technology behind animation by becoming a camera and compositing artist. Following the path of animation technology, Sonya was promoted from 2D Compositing Lead to Head of Studio Operations, and is now a Producer. She has been fortunate enough to work on both feature and series with a roster of clients that include Disney, Warner Brothers, and now Netflix. Teaching young people the skills needed to tell their own stories and how to pursue careers in animation is Sonya's latest passion project.
Women in Tech Panelists
Kathryn Hume
Borealis AI
Dr. Kathryn Hume is the interim Head of Borealis AI, the machine learning research lab for the Royal Bank of Canada. Prior to joining Borealis, Dr. Hume held leadership positions at Integrate.ai and Fast Forward Labs, where she helped over 50 Fortune 500 organizations develop and implement AI programs. Dr. Hume is a widely respected author and speaker on AI, with work appearing at TED, HBR and the Globe and Mail. She has taught courses on digital transformation and legal ethics at the business and law schools at Harvard, MIT, the University of Toronto and the University of Calgary. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Stanford University and speaks seven languages.
Melanie Dorval
CIBC
Melanie did her B.Sc at McMaster University focused on neuroscience and mathematics. After getting some hands on experience working with 3D printing technology as a goldsmith, she decided to pursue an MBA at DeGroote School of Business focusing on the management of innovation and new technology. She joined CIBC’s Technology Leadership Advancement Program and now manages thirty associates as the Sr. Manager of Technology Career Programs. Outside of work, she's trying to teach her 3 year old daughter how to play Dungeons and Dragons, but she's still working on counting all the dice.
Pauline Kress
General Motors
Pauline Kress graduated from McGill University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, where she developed a passion for the automotive industry and the future of mobility. Upon graduating, she joined General Motors to complete a 2-year rotation program, gaining experience in Controls Engineering, Test Engineering, Algorithm Design & Development, Manufacturing, and Business Strategy & Portfolio Planning. Pauline is now a Systems Engineer for automated driving capabilities, where she works towards a future of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.
Serena McDonnell
Delphia
Serena is a Senior Data Scientist at Delphia, where she works on developing machine learning models for asset management. Serena holds an MSc in Mathematics from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a BSc in Mathematics and Biology from McGill University. She previously worked at Mercatus Technologies, where she specialized in using machine learning to personalize the online grocery shopping experience, and built the company's first recommender system. Serena is actively involved in the Toronto data science community, and is an organizer of AI Socratic Circles, a machine learning reading group for industry professionals.
Ozge Yeloglu
CIBC
Özge Yeloğlu is the Vice President, Advanced Analytics & AI at CIBC, where she leads the enablement and delivery of analytics solutions and advances the use of AI across the bank. Previously, Ozge led data and artificial intelligence technical team for Microsoft Canada. She has a diverse background, ranging from academia to start ups and she enjoys bringing these different perspectives to her everyday work life. Outside of the office, Ozge puts her skills and knowledge to use as a mentor for start-up founders through Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) in Toronto and Halifax. She’s also a founding member of the Atlantic Women’s Investment Fund focusing on female led start ups across Canada.
Dominique Mielnik
TD Data Science
Dominique is a Senior Analyst at TD, where she solves business problems in the personal banking space through analytics. She has been with TD for two years and has worked on projects ranging from descriptive statistics, data visualizations, to analytical modeling. She completed her Master's in Management Analytics and Bachelor's in Psychology where she was able to learn and grow her technical skills in coding and analytics/data science.
Nidhi Agarwal
Computer Animation Studios of Ontario
Nidhi Agarwal is a previsualization artist and lead layout artist with over 13 years of experience in top tier studios worldwide including Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). She is highly experienced and skilled in all areas of layout, previsualization, camera tracking, object tracking, surface tracking and photo modelling for feature films and high concept television series. Her extensive list of credits include the Guardians of the Galaxy, Expanse, Locke and Key, Maleficent, X-Men:Days of Future, Skyfall, Alice Through the Looking Glass.
Christa Tazzeo Morson
Rocket Science VFX
Christa Tazzeo Morson is an Executive VFX Producer and a twenty year veteran of the film and television industry. Christa works with filmmakers to deliver the best creative driven solutions for the screen. Tazzeo Morson is credited with work on the Academy Award winning feature SPOTLIGHT and the Emmy award winning television series’ GAME OF THRONES and THE HANDMAID’S TALE. Additional notable credits include READY OR NOT, LOCKE AND KEY and THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY, and SUICIDE SQUAD. She holds a publicly appointed seat on the City of Toronto Film Board, the Ontario Creates Industry Advisory Council and is a Women in Film and Television (WIFT) Engagement Committee member.
Susan Shu Chang
Clearbanc
Susan is a Principal Data Scientist at Clearbanc, a fintech company providing growth capital for online businesses. She is a committee member of Aggregate Intellect, a machine learning platform with 13k+ YouTube subscribers. She is also the founder and sole developer of Quill Game Studios. You can find Susan speaking at conferences such as PyCons, TMLS, and events like this one!
Faith Ellen
University of Toronto Computer Science
Professor Faith Ellen was born and grew up in Toronto. She is a professor in the Department of Computer Science. Her research is about the theory of distributed computing. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses and has supervised 12 Ph.D. students and 28 M.Sc. students. Professor Ellen is the author of over 120 papers and one book, Impossibility Results for Distributed Computing.
AMulya Tom
General Motors
Amulya Tom completed her Bachelor of Technology in India. She got her first job as Software Engineer at Bosch India, where she developed a passion for Automotive Engineering. She moved to Canada to pursue her Master of Engineering at the University of Calgary. Subsequently, she joined General Motors of Canada where she currently works as an Algorithm Design Engineer. Here, she is involved in developing algorithms for various features like Trailer Brakes, Ride Mode Switch etc. Amulya is actively involved with various organizations to encourage girls to follow their interest in STEM.
Veronica Wu
Unilever Data Science
Veronica joined Unilever as a data scientist in June, 2019. Her main role involves data science projects and analytical reporting.