SCIENTIST.

ADVISOR. INVESTOR.

Laura is the founder and Managing Partner of Accel Impact Organizations, including Accel AI Institute, LatinX in AI (LXAI), and Irrefragable Solutions. Her academic background is in Biology, Physical Science, and Human Development. She relocated to the San Francisco Bay area to work at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute before jump-starting her career in software engineering at Intuit revamping their Quickbooks online platform. She was a director with Women Who Code, advisor for Udacity’s AI and Data nano degree, and an affiliate with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law.

She chairs and serves on Program Committees for research workshops at AI and ML conferences including NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, and ACM FAccT. Recent research areas include reducing bias data representations in machine learning models, the effects of artificial intelligence development for developing countries, and paralleling biological and synthetic neural networks seen in mycology, entomology, and computational science.

She has led sessions on Artificial Intelligence, social impact and ethical AI development for Creative Mornings, Katapult Future Fest, Silicon Valley Future Forum, Tech Inclusion Conference, Thrival Summit, Global Hive Summit, and keynoted the “Future of Work” for the Data and Society Conference at UC Berkeley. Laura has given guest lectures and technical workshops at Google, Santa Clara University Law, Stanford University Computational Social Science, and GTC Deep Learning School. Recently she spoke at TEDx Santa Barbara and has been featured in WITtalks and CIIS podcasts, Xconomy, Verizon News, and Forbes Leadership.

Scientist and engineer turned serial entrepreneur and startup advisor. I appreciate the experimental process of startups, software engineering, data exploration, and optimizing neural networks. Recent work includes using AI to improve Valuations for Startups from emerging markets.

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Laura is an amazing speaker. Her presentation on AI and ethics truly made me think about how biases can affect the way AI is being developed. She was extremely professional and thought-provoking.

-Conner Clyde, Director, Sales Analytics, Comcast Corp, Inc.

Laura is an incredibly sharp speaker and thought leader in the AI realm. Laura’s workshops on Demystifying Artificial Intelligence were not only well structured but were very insightful. She knows how to break down complex concepts. What I particularly enjoyed, was the research she conducted behind every event and the detail she gave on making sure every participant walked away with a solid understanding of the topic discussed. Would highly recommend Laura as a speaker.
— Lauren Pfeifer, Venture Partner, MGV
I saw Laura, time and time again, step up as a leader on the teams she joined, push the technical boundaries of those she worked with, and dive into difficult and complex engineering challenges with vigor and curiosity. On top of this, I was impressed with Laura’s ability to connect and empathize with her colleagues and clients. She not only cared about the integrity of her work but also the growth and value those who worked with her on it gained from the experience. I would love to work with Laura and recommend her full-heartedly to others who are seeking out a passionate, smart, and caring engineer.
— Sydney Rossman-Reich, Director, Digital Experience at DigitalOcean
I have known Laura for over a year now. I view her as a teammate, friend, colleague, leader, and most importantly, family. From the moment I met her, I knew she was special. Her unique skill set of passion, courage, empathy, and leadership qualities make her a fantastic collaborator.

Simply put, Laura is a natural leader who makes those better around her.
— John Holman, Software Engineer, DoorDash

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