AfroTech Conference 2026
Dr. Nicol Turner Lee
Director, Center for Technology Innovation (CTI) and Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, Brookings Institute
Track Equity, Bias and Clinical Trust
Biography
Dr. Nicol Turner Lee is a senior fellow in Governance Studies and Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution. She founded the AI Equity Lab to craft inclusive AI policy. Her research spans equitable tech access and AI bias mitigation. She authored "Digitally Invisible" (2024) and has testified before Congress and global bodies, served on NASEM, CFTC, and FCC advisory panels, and earned honors from ASA, Alliance for Women in Media, and Rainbow PUSH. Named a 2025–2026 Washingtonian Tech Titan and Ebony Power 100 STEM Trailblazer. She holds a B.A. from Colgate and a Ph.D. from Northwestern.
Sessions
Equitable Innovation: Delivering on AI’s Health Equity Potential Presented by Sanofi
Thu, Nov 5, 8:30 AM – 9:00 AM CT
Track Equity, Bias and Clinical Trust
Emerging technology, like artificial intelligence, is reshaping healthcare at record speed with great potential to advance health equity, but for communities that have long faced barriers to quality care, the promise of AI comes with urgent questions: How do we build trust in emerging technology? Who is the technology built for? Whose data trains it? At its core, this discussion will focus on a critical question for patients, practitioners, technologists, and communities: Will AI close, or widen, longstanding health disparities? Leading voices in health equity, technology, and policy will explore how to build trustworthy AI systems, ensure representative data, and hold institutions accountable for equitable innovation. Join us for a candid conversation about power, progress, and the future of healthcare access in the age of artificial intelligence and what it will take to get it right for underserved communities.