Allison Scott, PhD (She/Her)

Dr. Allison Scott is the CEO of the Kapor Foundation, which focuses at the intersection of racial justice and technology and works to remove barriers in access and opportunity, such that the promise and potential of technology can be harnessed to create a more equitable future. Under her leadership, the Kapor Foundation publishes research on disparities in the technology pipeline, deploys strategic grants to nonprofit organizations and initiatives, supports policy advocacy, and invests in tech entrepreneurs and venture funds aiming to utilize technology to close equity gaps across sectors. 

Dr. Scott brings a research lens to advancing equity in technology, and In her previous role as the Chief Research Officer, Dr. Scott authored foundational research on inequity in CS education, disparities in the tech sector, the landscape of women of color in computing, and effective interventions for increasing participation of marginalized groups in computing disciplines. She has been a Principal Investigator on multiple national grants to expand access to computer science education, implement frameworks for culturally responsive-sustaining computing, and build a field of scholarship on women of color in computing..  Dr. Scott has also been a member of advisory boards and committees, including the FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment, the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Mathematics Committee for Transforming Trajectories for Women of Color in Tech, the SNAP Catalyze Tech Working Group and on the Boards of the Federation of American Scientists, CSforAll, SMASH and MissionBit.

Previous positions included: Chief Research Officer at the Kapor Center; Program Leader for the National Institutes of Health’s Enhancing the Diversity of the Biomedical Workforce Initiative; Director of Research and Evaluation for the Level Playing Field Institute, and Data Analyst for the Education Trust-West. Dr. Scott holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Hampton University.