Howard J. Ross is the author of Reinventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose, and Performance and Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect is Tearing Us Apart. His work has been published by the Harvard Business Review, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and Forbes. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries. A lifelong social justice advocate and founding partner of the nationally recognized diversity consulting firm Cook Ross, Inc., Howard still speaks broadly with his new company, Udarta Consulting LLC.

         Jake Ross is an AI executive and is currently working on building mission-driven communities within the AI industry, bridging the gap between technical expertise and compassionate communication. Jake was just named COO of a new institute (MAISI) being developed to create AI safety. He is also a specialist in interpersonal psychology with a background in the exploration of belonging and its influence on wellbeing. His consulting firm, Belong Together, consults with organizations, startups, and individuals on creating cultures of belonging. He also curates gatherings that create opportunities for community building and connection, focusing on the impact of belonging in the professional sphere.

1) Why is the study of bias important to us at this time?

2) What is the concept of belonging and why is it important?

3) How do the technologies that we are currently using impact these issues?

1) That the polarities of the current environment we are in require us to shift our approaches and ways of being in order to be successful

2) AI and bias are with us and are not going away…we need to learn to live with them.