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The Innovation Intermission

The Innovation Intermission

with Cheryl Contee, CEO of Fission Strategy and Co-Founder at Attentive.ly

October 29, 2013 at 12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, 2nd Floor

The stereotypes of those who are tech-savvy don’t necessarily match the reality. Whites in America currently lag behind all other ethnicities in their use of advanced internet services, smartphones and social media. Women are more likely than men to use mobile social media. Mothers are one of advertisers' most targeted demographic and 93% of American moms use the internet, compared to 60-70% of the U.S. overall population. But current investments in new technology don’t not match the consumers of these technologies. According to the Kaufmann Foundation, only 4% of venture capital of any kind goes to female tech entrepreneurs. This discussion will explore the trends currently changing the economy and our society.

Does this gap between creators and consumers matter? Are we in an innovation intermission, poised on the threshold of another great wave of technological creativity as access to tools are democratized? Society is being reshaped through increased social connectivity. As each person becomes a technologist, we are actively engaged in creating the future today in which we will live together tomorrow. Come discuss the shape of the future to come and the portending signs that currently surround us.

About Cheryl

Cheryl Contee, Partner at Fission Strategy, specializes in helping non-profit organizations and foundations use social media to create social good. She is also the co-founder of Jack and Jill Politics writing as “Jill Tubman” on one of the top black blogs online. Cheryl was recently named as an Affiliate of Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society.  Cheryl is included in The Root 100 list of established and emerging African-American leaders. Huffington Post listed her as one of the Top 27 Female Founders in Tech to Follow on Twitter in 2011. Fast Company named her one of their 2010 Most Influential Women in Tech. She has over 15 years of award-winning interactive expertise and previously served as Vice President and lead digital strategist for Fleishman-Hillard’s West Coast region in San Francisco.

Cheryl has appeared in and/or on the Washington Post, the New York Times, San Francisco Magazine, the BBC, Current TV and CNN, among many other media appearances. She is also proud to serve on several boards and advisory committees, including Netroots Nation, BlogHer, Focus100/Digital Undivided, and Public Radio International. She received her B.A. from Yale University and has an International Executive M.B.A. from Georgetown University. In her spare time, Ms. Contee enjoys hiking, yoga, movies and tai chi sword.

Links

Download media from this event here.

Past Event
Oct 29, 2013
Time
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM