Google.org Leaders to Watch 2022
From expanding equity in education to addressing environmental issues, this year’s Leaders to Watch are building a better future for everyone.
Dr. Allison Scott is fighting for racial equity in the tech sector.
Raised by a family of educators, Dr. Scott has dedicated her career to identifying the root causes of inequality and creating solutions to expand opportunity in STEM education and the technology workforce. As the CEO of the Kapor Foundation, Dr. Scott is working to ensure that technology’s promise and potential is harnessed to address long standing inequities and create a more diverse, equitable, and just future. This includes expanding equity in K-12 computer science education, increasing pathways to tech careers, and advocating for policies and practices that promote equity and inclusion. We sat down with Dr. Scott to learn more about her journey so far.
Q&A with Dr. Scott (she/her)
What’s the most rewarding part of your work?
Inspiring others to change their practices, policies, strategies, or beliefs to better address racial inequality in the technology sector, and witnessing the success stories that remind us that change is possible. I am inspired daily by the young people who are passionate about social justice and computing, the educators who work tirelessly to make computing rigorous and relevant, and the leaders pushing for policy change. We know significant challenges lie ahead (including systemic racism, COVID-19, polarization, and the climate crisis), but I am proud of the collective work we are doing to engineer a more equitable future.
What brought you joy this past year?
Despite the challenges over the past year, I remain grateful for the simple things — most notably the health of my family, friends, and colleagues. I know that many are dealing with loss, grief, and economic uncertainty, and I continue to be inspired to help others. I have also been inspired and uplifted by the many successes of Black female leaders and the recognition of the centrality of Black women to this nation’s fight for justice and equality.
“Given the ubiquity of technology, coupled with the lack of racial diversity in the sector and the disproportionate negative impact that tech innovation has had on communities of color, I believe this work is core to the fight for racial justice.”
Dr. Allison Scott
What’s next on the horizon for you and your team?
Given the pressing issues facing our society, we believe we have a short window of time to address historical inequality while creating the technology ecosystem of the future. We are excited to continue our work in key areas. We are re-imagining computer science education, by expanding opportunities for all students and inspiring the next generation of technologists to explore social, political, and ethical implications of computing. We are also doubling-down on our efforts to expand pathways into tech careers and ensure workplaces are diverse and inclusive. And we will continue to advocate for policy change to address racial equity gaps in education, counter the harms of technology, and invest in a diverse set of future tech entrepreneurs and leaders.
About the Kapor Foundation
The Kapor Foundation is working to create a more equitable technology ecosystem that addresses longstanding racial inequality, creates economic opportunity, and reflects the power and perspectives of communities of color. The Foundation is part of the Kapor Center — a family of organizations that aim to expand diversity and inclusion in the technology ecosystem through increasing access to STEM education programs, conducting research, investing in community organizations, and increasing deployment of capital to social impact entrepreneurs of color.
Explore More Leaders to Watch
Ananya Tiwari
Executive Director, SwaTaleem
Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D.
Executive Director, The Hidden Genius Project
Clara Rowe
CEO, Restor
Engineer Bainomugisha
Associate Professor & Project Lead, AirQo
Mariana Costa
Co-founder & CEO, Laboratoria
Dr. Moritz Kraemer
Co-founder, Global.health
Ananya Tiwari is helping girls in rural India gain access to educational opportunities.
Born and raised in India, Ananya saw the link between a lack of access to education to early marriage for young girls, and she decided to become a teacher. Then, Ananya and a small team of other teachers opened a school in a rural village with aspirations to increase opportunities for girls. With eight years of experience in designing and implementing ways to give girls education and life skills, she co-founded and now runs the SwaTaleem Foundation in India. SwaTaleem works together with adolescents, teachers, parents, and government officials to enhance the educational outcomes of girls from Dalit, tribal, and other minority communities that are prone to early marriage. SwaTaleem has already helped nearly a thousand girls change their future. We sat down with Ananya to learn more about her journey so far.
Q&A with Ananya (she/her)
Who or what inspired you to make a positive impact?
It has always been the women around me. From my mother, who is my first inspiration, to the aunty who, despite having no education, showed the courage to walk out of her marriage with domestic violence to open a noodle stall in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. I also believe it is the responsibility of those with a good education and opportunities to share it with their community by giving back.
Why is the work that you do at your organization important?
When you put together multiple generational layers of marginalization like gender, caste, religion, socio-economic status, urban-rural divide, and lack of education, you reach the community SwaTaleem works with. The adolescent girls representing all the above identities still struggle to exercise agency and seek an education — and that is the core area we target through a systems-based approach with the government, schools, and parents. People should know and care, because when girls rise, we all rise.
“Everyone can make an impact, from all walks of life.”
Ananya Tiwari
What’s the most rewarding part of the work you’re doing?
When you see change happening in the everyday lives of girls — where through problem solving, they are able to gain simple wins in life; these instances for them, and for us, are the building blocks of long term change.
What brought you joy during this past year?
The way the SwaTaleem team struggled, persevered and excelled both personally and organizationally has been an enormous source of joy. We have seen some of our hardest times during COVID-19, but we came out of it better than we went in.
About SwaTaleem Foundation
SwaTaleem (meaning “self” and “owning your education” in Sanskrit and Arabic, respectively) provides education to historically underrepresented 10-16 year old girls in India using technology. They bring together parents, teachers, and the government to create an ecosystem to support girls’ education. Using audio files that can be played through speaker phones without needing access to the internet, girls receive training in math, science and financial awareness, including topics such as opening a bank account.
Explore More Leaders to Watch
Dr. Allison Scott
CEO, Kapor Foundation
Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D.
Executive Director, The Hidden Genius Project
Clara Rowe
CEO, Restor
Engineer Bainomugisha
Associate Professor & Project Lead, AirQo
Mariana Costa
Co-founder & CEO, Laboratoria
Dr. Moritz Kraemer
Co-founder, Global.health
Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D., is uplifting Black male youth to reach their highest potential.
An Oakland native and Princeton graduate, Brandon is working to promote racial equity as the founding Executive Director of The Hidden Genius Project. Brandon has dedicated most of his life to creating pathways for those who are undeniably deserving, but otherwise may not have access to opportunities. The Hidden Genius Project trains and mentors Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities. Brandon’s efforts have helped hundreds of students throughout the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and beyond. We sat down with Brandon to learn more about his journey so far.
Q&A with Brandon (he/him)
What is the mission of The Hidden Genius Project?
The Hidden Genius Project trains and mentors Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities. Over the years, I experienced firsthand the impact of injustice and lack of access, but I have also been incredibly fortunate to overcome many of those barriers and experience many forms of opportunity and abundance. Now, we are working tirelessly every day to open these types of doors for our young people to reach their highest potential. Many people associate our organization with technology education and career pathways to Silicon Valley, but we are committed to caring for our young people holistically and empowering them to reach whatever goals they might have.
What’s the most rewarding part of the work you’re doing? What’s the most challenging?
When we see our young people continually rise to the challenge of teaching, mentoring, empowering, and inspiring others — especially other young people. Our alumni of our intensive component supports the majority of our programming — outside of our 15-month Intensive Immersion Program. As Black male youth, they lift up young people from across backgrounds and geographies, thereby putting their massive potential and capabilities on full display.
“I am fortunate to be able to wake up every day and do work that matters for me, my family, and my community. I am incredibly proud to be part of a larger ecosystem doing this work that lifts me up and propels me forward.”
Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D.
What’s next for you and your team?
For The Hidden Genius Project, we will celebrate our 10 year anniversary, open our new headquarters this year, launch a new site in Detroit, welcome a number of new team members, and continue to navigate the uncertainty of our global pandemic. We hope to reach and create positive outcomes for many more young people in many more places.
For the ecosystem at large, our ability to advance this work hinges on three major themes: our belief in the capabilities of our communities, our capacity to innovate, and our willingness to collaborate. Our young people possess limitless potential and continually inspire us with their brilliance. What they need is greater access to networks and opportunities. Those networks and opportunities will continue to manifest for our young people through the intentional sharing and coordination of resources among the adults (e.g. community organizations, schools, higher education, industry, government, etc.) and then the young people will do the rest. In fact, each day I observe more and more of our Hidden Geniuses carving out their own paths forward without us; I encourage us to take our opportunity to fall on the right side of history.
What brought you joy during this past year?
One of the things that truly brings me joy is my toddler son's laughter. It gets me every time.
About The Hidden Genius Project
The Hidden Genius Project was founded in 2012 by five Black male entrepreneurs/technologists who were unnerved by the stark contrast between the high unemployment of Black male youth and the plethora of career opportunities within the local technology sector. To address this challenge, the founders established a program to connect young Black males with the skills, mentors, and experiences that they need to become high-performers in a global economy.
Explore More Leaders to Watch
Dr. Allison Scott
CEO, Kapor Foundation
Ananya Tiwari
Executive Director, SwaTaleem
Clara Rowe
CEO, Restor
Engineer Bainomugisha
Associate Professor & Project Lead, AirQo
Mariana Costa
Co-founder & CEO, Laboratoria
Dr. Moritz Kraemer
Co-founder, Global.health
Clara Rowe is leading an open data platform that supports and connects ecological restoration projects globally.
While growing up in Costa Rica, Clara’s family taught her to make positive changes for the people and environment around her, and she knew that she wanted to make an impact at the intersection of sustainable development and conservation. Clara has more than a decade of experience in natural resource management, international development, and sustainable agriculture. This expertise in bridging the gap between global sustainability solutions and on-the-ground challenges has prepared her for the work she’s doing today as the CEO of Restor, a science-based open data platform that supports and connects restoration projects of all sizes around the world. We sat down with Clara to learn more about her journey so far.
Q&A with Clara (she/her)
Tell us more about Restor’s vision.
In the face of a rapidly warming planet, protecting and restoring the world’s ecosystems is critical for safeguarding the biodiversity we all depend on and for helping us adapt to a changing climate. As we at Restor help share the importance of what nature restoration can do, here are three key numbers that help to tell the story. Restoration can prevent 60% of expected species extinctions. It can sequester more than 299 gigatonnes of existing carbon dioxide from the air — which represents 30% of the total CO2 increase in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution. And restoration can improve food security for 1.3 billion people. We’re working tirelessly to unlock the potential that nature restoration can have on our planet.
What’s the most difficult part of the work you’re doing?
There are so many challenges as we work through growing a startup, from making sure we’re balancing user needs and technical requirements, to taking time to shape our strategy and ensuring that’s aligned with our mission. These are common challenges for a young organization that’s growing fast.
“Restoration is about restoring all ecosystems — not just planting trees and forests. And anyone can get involved!”
Clara Rowe
What brought you relief this past year?
Being outside — I always look for mountains, rivers, and forests as places of solace. I started this practice a number of years ago where in the early morning I write a haiku. It gives me a moment of reflection — a daily practice of relief.
About Restor
Restor is accelerating the global restoration movement by connecting people to scientific data, supply chains, and funding to increase the impact, scale, and sustainability of restoration efforts. Founded by ETH Zurich’s Crowther Lab and developed in collaboration with Google, Restor is an Earthshot Prize 2021 Finalist and is an official partner of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Ecosystem restoration and conservation are essential for protecting Earth’s biodiversity and achieving climate goals with the potential to reduce 30% of accumulated global carbon emissions.
Explore More Leaders to Watch
Dr. Allison Scott
CEO, Kapor Foundation
Ananya Tiwari
Executive Director, SwaTaleem
Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D.
Executive Director, The Hidden Genius Project
Engineer Bainomugisha
Associate Professor & Project Lead, AirQo
Mariana Costa
Co-founder & CEO, Laboratoria
Dr. Moritz Kraemer
Co-founder, Global.health
Engineer Bainomugisha envisions a world with clean air for all African cities.
Growing up in rural Uganda, Engineer first encountered the pollution affecting his country’s capital when traveling 300 kilometers from his family home to study computer science at Makerere University in Kampala. Today he’s the head of the Department of Computer Science at his alma mater, leading their pioneering AirQo project. AirQo uses low-cost sensors attached to motorcycle taxis and AI models to monitor and forecast air quality. Together with his team, Engineer is working to expand this project from Kampala to 10 cities in five countries across the continent, beginning with Nairobi in Kenya and Accra in Ghana. We sat down with Engineer to learn more about his journey so far.
Q&A with Engineer (he/him)
Tell us more about AirQo’s vision.
We have an ambitious vision of leveraging technology to achieve clean air in all African cities. Air pollution is a major environmental public health risk leading to millions of lost lives and productivity every year especially in Africa. At AirQo, we want to empower citizens and governments with evidence to take informed actions that improve air quality in African cities.
What’s the most challenging part of your work?
Awareness of the effect of air pollution is still low, yet poor air quality has long term effects on our health. Individuals and organizations may feel powerless because of the magnitude of the air pollution challenge. Reduction requires sustainable long term strategies and clean air actions.
“Nine out of 10 people breathe unclean air worldwide — and this is mostly happening in low-income countries. This is where we come in to make a difference.”
Engineer Bainomugisha
What’s next for you and your team?
We’ll be expanding our work to more cities and increasing access to air quality information to more people. Timely access to air quality data for individuals and organizations means increased awareness of air pollution issues and initiation of evidence-informed actions to reduce it.
About AirQo
Founded in 2015 at Makerere University, the AirQo team develops and installs air sensors on the tops of buildings and backs of motorbikes to close the gaps in air quality data in Uganda and across Sub-Saharan Africa. Using cloud-based AI software, they analyze air particle data in real-time to predict local pollution. These forecasts offer Kampala’s communities a way to reduce their risk of exposure and are being used by government agencies to improve air quality on the ground.
Explore More Leaders to Watch
Dr. Allison Scott
CEO, Kapor Foundation
Ananya Tiwari
Executive Director, SwaTaleem
Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D.
Executive Director, The Hidden Genius Project
Clara Rowe
CEO, Restor
Mariana Costa
Co-founder & CEO, Laboratoria
Dr. Moritz Kraemer
Co-founder, Global.health
Mariana Costa is changing the face of tech in Latin America.
While starting a web development company, Mariana and her co-founders noticed that a large number of web developers were actually self-taught, and there were very few women working in the industry. Back in her native Peru after many years in the US, she was inspired by this reality to start Laboratoria, an organization which aims to provide web development training to women and help them launch careers in tech. With centers in Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, and Mexico, Laboratoria is expanding opportunities for women in Latin America’s growing digital economy, transforming lives and the industry itself. Since 2015, more than 2,000 women have graduated from the program, and over 80% have been placed in full-time positions — more than doubling their incomes. We sat down with Mariana to learn more about her journey.
Q&A with Mariana (she/her)
What’s your vision for Laboratoria?
Laboratoria is a bet on Latin American women, on accessible quality education, and on building a more competitive, inclusive and diverse digital economy for Latin America. Our work is part of ensuring women — particularly those who’ve had less economic opportunity — can build incredible careers in tech and shape our region’s future.
What’s the most rewarding part of the work you’re doing?
Seeing our students and alumni achieve their potential, believe in themselves, and shine. They grow to become lifelong learners, build the confidence to pursue incredible careers, and continue supporting each other along the journey. Today they are an inspiration to thousands more.
“We aim to shape a more diverse, inclusive, and competitive digital economy that opens opportunities for every woman to develop her potential and in this way, transform Latin America’s future.”
Mariana Costa
What has brought you joy lately?
It brings me joy that at such complex times for the world and my country, I get to work every day with and for people that inspire me and in an organization that contributes to building a better future.
What’s next for you and your team?
We want to significantly grow our impact. There are millions of women in Latin America in need of better professional opportunities, and tech can be the space for them. How can we be part of making this possible? That is our challenge going forward.
About Laboratoria
Laboratoria helps ensure that women — particularly those who’ve had less economic opportunity — can build extraordinary careers in tech and shape Latin America’s future. Through a six-month, full-time bootcamp, students develop key technical and life skills to work as front-end developers and UX designers. Students pay nothing during the program. After getting a job through Laboratoria’s talent match service, they pay back a subsidized amount in monthly installments so that other women can have the same opportunity. Today they have a thriving alumnae community of women in tech, supporting each other as they grow to become the future leaders of the industry.
Explore More Leaders to Watch
Dr. Allison Scott
CEO, Kapor Foundation
Ananya Tiwari
Executive Director, SwaTaleem
Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D.
Executive Director, The Hidden Genius Project
Clara Rowe
CEO, Restor
Engineer Bainomugisha
Associate Professor & Project Lead, AirQo
Dr. Moritz Kraemer
Co-founder, Global.health
Dr. Moritz Kraemer is building a future in which we can better predict the spread of infectious diseases.
After an up-close experience with a near-pandemic event, Moritz realized he wanted to dedicate his life to the study of infectious diseases. He stepped up to respond to COVID-19 and together with research collaborators from Oxford, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard, and many others, launched the Global.health platform in February 2021, changing the way researchers predict and study outbreaks. The platform pulls together more than 60 million anonymized COVID-19 cases from over 100 countries. This is helping governments and the public health community make more accurate predictions during the pandemic and understand the impact of policies retrospectively. We sat down with Moritz to learn more about his journey so far.
Q&A with Moritz (he/him)
What motivated you to make a positive impact?
In 2011, I spent a year at the University of Hong Kong as an exchange student. During my time there, I lived across the street from the building where one of the first SARS super-spreading events took place in 2003. Learning about the specific circumstances of disease transmission in a global city inspired me to study the international spread of infectious diseases and how to stop them. Ever since, I've worked on building technology to better track infectious diseases at a global scale.
Why is the work that you do at your organization important? What do you want people to know about your cause?
Infectious diseases pose an existential risk to humanity. Our job is to understand what drives disease transmission and what strategies we can use to contain them. The work me and my team do at Global.health contributes directly to the public understanding on these issues and policy decisions that have far reaching implications across the world.
“The greatest source of inspiration for me this year was to witness the dedication and selflessness of not only my team, but of society at large. I hope this shift in perspective will accelerate progress and tackle current and future global challenges.”
Dr. Moritz Kraemer
What’s the most rewarding part of the work you’re doing?
Seeing our work having direct impact is incredibly rewarding for us as a team. It's rare to do science in-real time, let alone having our work inform policy at such a large scale and watching the outcomes of it day after day.
What’s next for you and your team?
Our team is growing and, with that, our ability to contribute to the pandemic response and future pandemic preparedness. We're planning to develop algorithms to more accurately estimate the risks from SARS-CoV-2 variants. By doing so, we hope that each and every one of us can be empowered to make better decisions to protect themselves and others.
About Global.health
Global.health is a collaborative effort by technologists and researchers from leading international institutions to build a trusted, detailed, and accurate resource of real-time infectious disease data. The first-of-its-kind platform brings together outbreak data from diverse communities and makes it available to all, regardless of geographic location or organizational affiliation.
Explore More Leaders to Watch
Dr. Allison Scott
CEO, Kapor Foundation
Ananya Tiwari
Executive Director, SwaTaleem
Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D.
Executive Director, The Hidden Genius Project
Clara Rowe
CEO, Restor
Engineer Bainomugisha
Associate Professor & Project Lead, AirQo
Mariana Costa
Co-founder & CEO, Laboratoria
CEO, Kapor Foundation
Dr. Allison Scott (she/her)
Fighting for racial equity in the tech sector
Executive Director, SwaTaleem
Ananya Tiwari (she/her)
Helping girls in rural India gain access to educational opportunities
Executive Director, The Hidden Genius Project
Brandon Nicholson, Ph.D. (he/him)
Uplifting Black male youth to reach their highest potential
CEO, Restor
Clara Rowe (she/her)
Leading an open data platform that supports and connects ecological restoration projects globally
Associate Professor & Project Lead, AirQo
Engineer Bainomugisha (he/him)
Envisioning a world with clean air for all African cities
Co-founder & CEO, Laboratoria
Mariana Costa (she/her)
Changing the face of tech in Latin America
Co-founder, Global.health
Dr. Moritz Kraemer (he/him)
Building a future in which we can better predict the spread of infectious diseases
About Google.org’s Leaders to Watch
We’re committed to supporting the people behind the organizations that are addressing today’s most pressing social challenges. This year’s Leaders to Watch are rising changemakers from our recent grantees who are striving to make their communities, and beyond, a better place. Many are solving problems with innovative tech, while others are making the technology industry more accessible and inclusive.
Google.org is proud to support these leaders with financial support and mentorship, along with access to the best of our tools and resources.