Breaking Barriers in AI for Women – EcoTech Insights

Today we have a very special guest joining us on Ecotech Insights. Melissa Steyers, who is the head of Global Growth and expansion for MIA ai. Melissa, it is so great to have you on with us.

Oh my gosh, thank you so much. It's, it's a wonderful to be here and I'm, I'm just so excited and honored to, to be joining you today. Thanks, will.

I'd love to hear more about your background personally, how you got involved in AI and about MIA as well. I'd love to share about mia my career. It's been a journey of blending innovation and education and empowerment.

The majority of my career has always been into international world, and that is why I adore my role at MIA as head of global growth, um, and expansion and MIA ai. So MIA stands for, um, mission Impact Academy. We're a B Corp, we're a corporation, and we are a global AI academy that equips forward thinking companies and non-technical talent with AI education.

We have a really big mission, which I love sharing it, is to empower one of billion women with AI skills by 2030. Now we train both men and women. We love all, um, and we are considered one of the leading voices for upskilling women in AI and driving inclusive, innovative global, global trading around the world.

That's incredible. So where do we stand now? What is the representation for women in ai?

I I in the US I guessing globally? Oh my goodness. So this is, this is a significant challenge globally, women make up about 22% of AI professions according to uno.

And this underscores this really urgent need for action to ensure that inclusive innovation and inclusivity is there for, as we are designing these technologies that are shaping our future, the, the disparity is even more pronounced when we consider that by 2030, the World Economic Forum predicts that there, that 85% of the jobs are gonna be here. They haven't been created yet. Of those jobs, 80% are going to be women's roles.

So it is critical to skill and re-skill women in AI and emerging tech with just everything that's happening. We are going to be an AI driven world, and I'd love to share a few more statistics. So at Meia ai, we have over 1500 learners.

Right now, we have a community of 10,000 members, and we are in 65 countries because we are really working hard towards our mission that women are not just participants, but are actually leaders in the AI transformation. A statistic that, or, or a fact that I like to talk about that we share a lot by Andrew ing is that, you know, just the same way that electricity has a revolutionized industries over a century ago, that that's what AI is poised to do in every single sector. So we really care and need to care about inclusive innovation because the power of ai, it's here and we need to harness it.

So what are the barriers for women? Why are more women not embracing ai? I know women, I love ai, but there must be some, uh, challenges and barriers and what are they and what are you doing to kind of break through them?

The barriers are, are some of the barriers that women have faced for decades and century. They're multifaceted. They're, they range from, of course, the lack of mentorship and representation, and then there's of course the systemic biases that hiring and the promotion process is.

There's, there's just a range. And, and we really need to be intentional in addressing the, and creating strategy, creating scholarships for AI learning that's tailored to women. That is why me, IM is here.

It's to help women, specifically men too, but women specifically not get left behind. Um, because we have, just in general, we have stayed away from stem, we have stayed away from technology. It's just that that's always been the case.

Representation matters now more than ever. It matters for those building the technology, and it matters for those using the technology. So the stats are still not awesome.

You mentioned you're in different countries, I imagine women in, in different countries face different barriers and challenges in ai. I, I've been following your travels, you literally go all over the world. Can you share some of those experiences and what it's like globally?

Because I think in the US we, we don't realize what, what women internationally are facing. Oh my gosh, I love this question. So, one part of my background is I am a trained CER certified protocol officer.

So I have studied and worked in international protocol and international etiquette for years, which is one of my passions. So I, I love this question because cultural norms really significantly impact how women engage with ai. And I, I had the honor, Mia had the honor of being a part of the NDPs only Global, global Leadership Academy for women over in Doha recently.

And it was amazing. I think there was over 22 countries represented these women from parliament and human right, and then we got to talk about the skills of the future with them. But you know, in some regions there's, there's limited access to education and there's societal expectations that discourage women from pursuing careers in Texas or pursuing technology.

Um, additionally there's the, there's the cultural norms that come with even the family that, that family lifestyle. I like to share that I was raised in the United States of America in a, in a love lovely family, but I was told by a relative that, Melissa, you did not get the math dean, so just stay away from all that kind of stuff. And so that was plugged into my head early on.

So it it interesting that, that culturally a across the globe, uh, a young girl could be told the same thing by her family that I was told in Florida. Now conversely, there are incredible countries that are investing in STEM and tech programs for women like Rwanda, where literally 50% of STEM students are women. And this is creating a way of change.

And honestly, the most important thing here is gonna be global collaboration. By sharing resources and success story, we can inspire more women to see AI as a pathway to empowerment. So Melissa, this all sounds amazing.

Can you share a success story of a woman that you've worked with? Oh my gosh, this is my favorite thing to talk about our, our success stories. So I have the liberty to share, um, and the, the approval to share about Mari Carr, one of our amazing participants.

She's a mother of eight based in California in the United States, and she joined one of our programs with clear intention. She needed a new job because she wanted to move her family and her parents into a new home. And so she is a mother of eight, a working mother of eight in our program, and she attended office hours and she really put in the work and just AI was brand new to her as over the course of the time with us.

She started interviewing for a brand new role and brand new company. And she credits getting that job, the brand new job to working with Mia because they saw her work in ai. The fact that she was a lifelong learner at such a positive, they scooped her right up.

And it just makes us so proud for multiple reasons. One, because we know that so many, so few women and so few people still have tapping into ai, and that's what employees wanna see. They wanna see that on your resume.

They wanna see that on your LinkedIn. So we're so proud of her for, for that. But the other thing we're really proud of is, well, she shared with me after the fact that, you know, a lot of programs out there, she said, but I would've never felt comfortable asking the questions that I asked anywhere else on any other platform.

And, and that really means a lot to us because at Mia we are a safe space and a safe place. There's, there's no question too big or too small for that can be asked. And so that's, that's really about, once again, that inclusivity and, um, making sure that we meet people where they're at.

And so I love, I love sharing her story. I have a lot of stories like those when it comes to sustainability. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

Well, funnily enough, I'm sitting next to you. Uh, we won, uh, the an impact award, a social impact award for sustainable it, uh, dot org. So we care very much about sustainability.

And I was able to be at climate week, this, this in 2024 up in New York. And so sustainability, it, it is, it is not everyone's mind. I think, uh, and a lot of the forward banking leaders, and I think in 2025, executive leadership is really gonna increase, or I hope they increase, leveraging AI technology to tackle environmental challenges.

And this can include AI working on carbon tracking, optimizing energy efficiency, and even fostering circular economy models that minimize waste and maximize reuse because AI can serve. And, and it really is a vital tool in achieving sustainability goal and meeting those regulatory standards if we predict to use. So I'm helpful about AI in, in that area.

Do you have any advice for leaders in, in the tech world or just in the corporate world that are kind of thinking, okay, 2025 new regulations are coming into play, I really need to focus on sustainability? Yeah, there is the environmental piece, but there is also the gender equality piece. And, and AI can activate equalizer AI powered platforms that can deliver personalized learning experiences.

M it is one of them to underserved areas, equipping them with, with really critical skills. And then of course, the AI is, is there that can optimize resource allocation, they can reduce weight and, and even predict climate impact, which I think the prediction models with AI are just absolutely fascinating. And, and when we intertwine these two priorities, sustainability and gender equity, we can create innovation that benefits not women, but entire communities, not just our planet, but literally all these various facets.

And so I think when we are putting on our, our, our, our hats and we're really looking at it from a macro perspective of where all the areas we can, we can overlay this in. Um, there is an opportunity for profound change. We're coming to the end of this year and into 2025.

Where do you see this movement going for women for AI and sustainability? I am positive and I am optimistic that, that there is so much work to be done for good. I know that there are, there are bad actors.

I know that there are a lot of challenges, um, that I am optimistic that AI can be a tool and a helper for good in all of these areas. com movement and that Facebook and Instagram and my f there were not conversations. We, we had to go backwards to regulate right now as AI is being created, so are regulation, so are rules, so are conversation.

And I think that the more diverse boy food that we have on a global scale be better. AI can be for humanity. And so I think that if we're having conversations with Nigeria and, and with Elman about what they're doing about wa uh, about water retention and how they're working with, with carbon footprints and if we were having conversations with the farmer in Nebraska and how AI can help reduce what he's doing or can help also impact what he's doing because there's a farming shortage, which is a whole other, whole other blah blah wax.

Um, I think that there is a real potential for AI to impact good in all of those areas. Yes, it is something we need to regulate. We need to monitor, we need to, to be to be aware of all, all the tricky things about it.

But overall, I, I am hopeful that AI is not, it's not gonna replace your job. I think it's going to be a tool to help you with your job. It's gonna be a tool to help you succeed better.

And hopefully my dream and and what we talk about at MIA is that it it's gonna allow, it's gonna take some of these mundane tasks off your plate to allow you to innovate, to allow you to strategize, to allow you to really, really envision things that we, that normally we can't do when we don't have the, the, the freedom to think. I'm hopeful that our world is gonna be more sustainable. And I, I hope we're, we're loving and compassionate through these tools and through these kind of conversation.

What would you advise for women that are thinking about using ai but not quite sure? Oh my goodness. I would say, first of all, go for it.

Do not be afraid. AI is, is a tool, is a friend. It's not with Gary Monster in the closet.

Start anywhere, start now. The two takeaways I would say is one, the AI train has left, has left it, it's on the tracks and it's not coming back. So it's time to jump on it because the train isn't moving.

AI is here to stay second read. You are not too late to be on the forefront of ai. No one is an AI guru expert.

There's educators, but there is so much to learn and there's so much opportunity with ai. So it is okay that you don't know anything. It is okay that you don't know what AI stands for.

That is start now. Stay curious, don't be afraid, and then just keep a, keep a continuous learning mindset and the sky is the limit. So I would say go for it and if Mia can serve it anyway, let us support you on this.

We want to empower 1 million women with AI skills by 2030 and we cannot do it alone. We need partners. We need to lock hands with a lot of other organization and companies around the world and we will do it.

I believe you, you such great enthusiasm. It's so great to have you on. Melissa Steyers, head of Global Growth and expansion for MIA ai.

Um, check her out on LinkedIn and of course check out Mia. I think they're gonna be doing some really exciting things next year. Thank you, Melissa, thank you so much.

I appreciate being here.