The Women of Humane Intelligence: Stories Behind the Work

Co-authors: Mala Kumar, Theodora Skeadas, Julie Hollek, Annie Brown

Celebrating Women’s History Month

At Humane Intelligence, we spend a lot of time talking about systems, models, evaluations, and governance. But behind all of that work are people. People with different stories, interests, and experiences that shape how we think about technology and the world around us.

This Women’s History Month, we wanted to share a more candid side of the women behind our work. We asked a few simple questions to highlight the perspectives, passions, and unexpected details that make our team who we are.

From favorite places around the world to unlikely leadership inspirations, here’s a glimpse into the people helping build more trustworthy, human-centered AI.

Mala Kumar, Interim Executive Director

What’s your favorite place in the world and why?

I can’t narrow this down to only one place. New York City has been and forever will be my favorite place in the world to live. I’ve called this city home for nearly 17 years. My favorite places to visit or live short-term include Dakar, Cape Town, Tokyo, and Paris. Much of France and London will always feel like second and third homes. Burundi has some of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen. I’m very lucky my life has been global, and I will never look back and regret having seen so much of the world.

What’s a book (or podcast) you recommend to everyone?

Shameless plug: I’m a two-time novelist and would be remiss not to recommend my own books. The Paths of Marriage (2014) and What It Meant to Survive (2024) explore important societal issues, including LGBTQI+ rights, women’s empowerment, gun violence, and immigrant stories. I’ve toured for both books and always enjoy connecting with readers and communities through conversations about the themes they explore. If you’d ever like to host a discussion or event, I’m always happy to connect.

Theodora Skeadas, Head of Red Teaming

What’s a talent you have that most people at work don’t know about?

Nelson Mandela once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” That quote resonates deeply with me. I studied six non-English languages in college and beyond: Spanish, Modern Greek, Modern Standard Arabic, French, Moroccan Darija, and Turkish. I love the study of languages, and connecting with people in their own language has been one of the most meaningful and impactful experiences in my life.

What’s something you could give a 10-minute TED Talk on with no prep?

I would happily give a talk about how the fantasy fiction ecosystem has evolved over the last 30 years—especially the explosive growth of the “romantasy” sub-genre in the past five years. Romantasy often centers stories of women in magical contexts, featuring characters like fae, dragons, witches, vampires, and werewolves. Some commentators link its rise to shifting dating norms and the rollback of women’s rights in parts of the U.S. Whether or not that’s the full explanation, it’s a fascinating cultural trend with plenty to unpack.

Julie Hollek, Head of Engineering

If you weren’t working in AI, what would you be doing?

This answer has changed over the years, but it always involves nerding out over the science of making things. Recently, I’ve gotten into relief printmaking. I love how you can carve a single block and create multiple prints from it, while each print still retains its own character and identity. If I weren’t working in AI, I’d love to explore how to turn that creative process from a passion project into something more central to my career.

What’s a skill you learned outside of work that helps you professionally?

Before I had a career in tech, I was an astronomer. I learned many relevant skills like coding, technical writing, and collaborating with brilliant people who often had very different approaches from my own. The biggest lesson was learning how to take a project from vision to completion. As a scientist, you are the product manager, data scientist, engineer, communicator, and marketer for your research. Taking an idea from “Why does this stellar spectrum look strange?” to a published paper and conference talks taught me how to see the full arc of a project.

Annie Brown, Bias Bounty Lead

Who influenced your leadership style?

One of the earliest influences on my leadership style was—no joke—Kermit the Frog. I actually wrote my college essay about how much I admired his leadership style, and I’m pretty sure it helped me get into The College of William & Mary. To this day I sometimes think “WWKD?” in tough leadership moments.

Kermit isn’t the loudest Muppet in the room, but he somehow keeps a wildly diverse group of personalities working toward a shared goal. He never tries to make them something they’re not. Instead, he creates space for each character to contribute what makes them unique and helps them see how those differences strengthen the group. In complex fields like AI, that kind of leadership—bringing together different perspectives toward a shared purpose—is essential.

What sparked your interest in AI or tech?

My interest in AI grew out of earlier research I did on corporate media. In college, I studied women’s magazines and how the images and narratives they promoted shaped body image, identity, and mental health.

As social media grew, I started noticing similar dynamics emerging—but now they were shaped by algorithms rather than editors. Some of the earliest large-scale uses of AI were in content moderation and recommendation systems, and it quickly became clear that these systems were not neutral. They often reflected and amplified broader social dynamics related to gender, race, sexuality, and economic status.

I wanted to understand why these systems behaved the way they did and how we might design them to better reflect the complexity of real human experiences.

Maria di Fonzo, Communications Lead

What’s one risk you’re glad you took?

One of the biggest risks I took was moving to the United States. Growing up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I always imagined that if I moved abroad it would be to Europe. I had traveled extensively before, and those experiences are what first sparked my desire to live in another country. Life, however, had other plans. What began as an unexpected detour turned into a defining chapter of my life. Living in the U.S. pushed me to adapt to new professional environments and cultural dynamics while still navigating the familiar feeling of being a global citizen.

Having lived in both the North and the South, I’ve become fascinated by the subtle but meaningful ways culture shapes how people interact, collaborate, and make decisions. That perspective has influenced not only how I navigate life, but also how I approach my work. Taking that leap reinforced something I’ve always believed: stepping outside your comfort zone is often where the most meaningful growth happens.

What’s a turning point that shaped your career?

What shaped my career most was realizing that the part of communications I enjoyed most was the strategy behind it. Early on, while working across brand campaigns and organizational initiatives, I noticed that I was always gravitating toward the “why” and “how” behind the message. I was less interested in simply executing communications and more drawn to understanding audiences, context, and the behaviors we were trying to influence.

Over time, that realization became a clear turning point. I intentionally pivoted to focus more deeply on strategy and pursued formal training to strengthen that skill set. Communications remains a core part of my work, but strategy became the lens through which I approach it, thinking first about people, motivations, and outcomes before deciding how the audience journey should unfold.

Human-Centered AI Starts With Human Perspectives

Women’s History Month is a moment to recognize the contributions of women across every field, but it’s also an opportunity to pause and reflect on the individuals behind the work.

At Humane Intelligence, our mission is to help build more trustworthy, human-centered AI systems. That work requires diverse perspectives, curiosity, creativity, and a willingness to question how technology shapes people’s lives.

The stories shared here are small glimpses into the experiences, passions, and paths that brought our team to this work, and they’re a reminder that building better technology ultimately starts with understanding people.