Judges

Alessandra Affinito is the Youth Services Manager at the Saint Paul Public Library, George Latimer Central Branch. Previously, she spent seven years as a Children's Librarian at the Chatham Square branch of the New York Public Library in Chinatown. She's especially passionate about innovative STEAM projects, language learning, and science fiction graphic novels! When she's not at the library you can probably find her playing an overly complicated board game, or swinging from the ceiling on aerial silks.

Hello! I am a Senior Product Manager at Etsy, working on internationalization and localization. I am a data enthusiast and studied the intersection of privacy and open data at the Oxford Internet Institute. I'm far from a software engineer but enjoy coding for fun and feel lucky to have spent time at The Recurse Center programming retreat in Brooklyn. I grew up in NYC.

Taiyaba Ali is as an Associate of Financial Planning & Analysis supporting the Marketing divisions within Vanguard. She is passionate about technological improvements to create change, and using data to create a story. Throughout the roles she has held, she has been able to use data to drive process improvements, a joy which has inspires her to help others use digital innovation as a tool. She has a degree in Accounting from the University of Richmond.

Hello. I'm a curious creative, mentor, leader, innovator, design thinker and doer — with focus on UX, UI and Design Strategy in product design. The outcome is often telling brand stories through the intersection of design, culture, and technology.

My mission is to empower our society by designing experiences that are equitable and enjoyable. I thrive on cultural diversity as a catalyst for growth and enjoy collaborating with others. The "emerging" and "alternative" spheres of society excite me just as much as the analytical ones. My work spans between UX, growth, product, brand, and research. Ultimately, I would like to drive positive change for under-resourced communities through thoughtful and inclusive projects.

I work at Google Cloud within Google and focus on building out data infrastructure and analyses for product analytics.

I graduated from the University of Florida with a B.S. in Finance and minors in Sustainability and Entrepreneurship. I'm certified as a Data Analyst in Python, have extensive SQL experience and I'm currently studying for my Masters in Analytics at Georgia Tech.

Joshen began his career at the YMCA of Greater New York, delivering leadership, civic engagement, and STEM based programming to Middle School and High School aged youth. He is passionate about providing youth with opportunities to create a brighter future for themselves. Outside of work, you can find Joshen binge-listening to podcasts or chasing after his fluff-ball pet chinchilla!

 

Robert is a Product Manager for RIA in a Box where he leads key new product developments and enhancements for their industry leading financial compliance software. Before that, Robert graduated from Harvard College in 2020 with a degree in Applied Math and Economics with a secondary degree in Computer Science. In his free time, Robert loves to adventure, play sports, and discuss his favorite television shows.

Robert is a strategy and product leader at COMPLY, the industry standard for regulatory software and services for the financial services. Before that, Robert graduated from Harvard College with a degree in Applied Math and Economics with a secondary degree in Computer Science, and he is attending MIT to pursue his MBA starting this Fall. In his free time, Robert loves to adventure, play sports, and discuss his favorite television shows.

Rae Blumenthal started her career at the United Nations in community-based development strategy and now works on Trust & Safety in the tech industry. She leads Meta’s risk mitigation and management strategy as a Program Manager, focusing on support for vulnerable populations, crisis response, and the company strategy for the severe real world harms facing the 3.5 billion users across Facebook and Instagram. Outside of work, she loves hiking, traveling, and exploring the Bay Area.

Corinne is a researcher with a PhD in Educational Communication and Technology from New York University. Corinne's research interests include applying quantitative methods to understand human behavior, impact evaluation, and examining the affordances of immersive technology for education and entertainment.

I have a background in Psychology and transitioned to education once I fell in love with curriculum development. I enjoy supporting students' growth, learning, and opening doors to potential career paths. By connecting mentors with our Design League students, they can see themselves as UX/UI designers, Software developers, etc. to further diversify the STEAM career fields.

I loved technology when I was a little kid! I would go to yard sales and buy remote controls just to open them up and investigate the chip inside. As I went through school, though, my chances to study technology and computer science was limited. I do not remember a single thing that I learned between grades K and 12. This affected me in college.

I chose to study biology and pre-med since I had experience with them, knew that I enjoyed them, and knew that I could do well in them. I was intrigued by CS, but I didn't want to take a class, risking thousands of dollars in tuition on a subject that I didn't know if I would be good at or enjoy. I distinctly remember seeing the CS majors' projects, programming robots to play music and dance around the floor, and wishing that I could do that...yet I never did.

Fast forward a few years, and I am a high school science teacher. A friend tells me about an opportunity to be trained in something called Exploring Computer Science, an introductory high school curriculum for students with little-to-no background in CS. This is perfect! I can provide my students with the opportunities that I wish I had in school. I ended up creating a pathway for students to take ECS, AP CSP, and AP CSA, but I knew that I had done all I could at that school.

I left to become a professional developer. I now spend my time designing and implementing trainings for K-12 teachers who want to start teaching CS, either as a standalone class or integrated into another subject area. And I still occasionally run coding events for kids at my local library.

Jonah Brucker-Cohen, Ph.D. is an artist, writer, and Associate Professor at Lehman College / CUNY. His work has been exhibited at venues such as SFMOMA, Canadian Museum of Contemporary Art, MOMA, ICA London, Whitney Museum of American Art, Palais du Tokyo, Tate Modern, Ars Electronica, Transmediale, and more. His writing has appeared in publications such as WIRED and Make and his Scrapyard Challenge workshops have been held in over 15 countries on 5 continents.

Hi, I''m Raquel - I'm a design researcher in Austin, TX. I’ve had an almost simple life. I was born in Texas and raised in Mexico City, Houston and Austin. As a kid I loved drawing and reading - I even wrote stories on the family typewriter! I found my love for technology after getting our first home computer and eventually got my degree in Digital Design. Thereafter, I taught myself how to code and have been working in UXD since 2012. In my free time I enjoy yoga, film, traveling, and food!

Lauren is a software engineer focused on writing compilers for quantum computers. She graduated with a double major in Physics and Computer Science from UC Berkeley.

Vanessa Carrasco (she/her, they/them) is a Young Adult Library Trainee who loves to find out different ways to use what exists to create more interesting possibilities, from programs about making video games online, to taking recyclables and turning them into planters. Vanessa loves cats, chocolate and knitting and is excited to see what creative ideas come from your Emoti-con projects!

Michael is a Senior Product Manager at Range Financial, which aims to bring wealth management tools to the masses using technology and AI. He has worked in product in many industries including trucking, insurance, and project management. Before doing product, he was a trader on wall street and data scientist. He lives in Williamsburg.

I'm an IT professional specializing in cloud systems administration and cybersecurity. I manage the company's cloud infrastructure and maintain processes and tools to safeguard data, balance user access, and educate on best practices. Additionally, I provide end-user PC support, handle system updates, and procure hardware.

An educator for more than 25 years, I currently lead a team that provides academic and organizational supports to NYC’s alternative schools and programs. Prior to this role, I did similar work in Manhattan, as well as a citywide network of schools. My first love will always be School of the Future where I taught math and science, then served as middle school director.