Joy Buolamwini
Born 1990 · Age 35
Canadian‑American computer scientist, artist, and digital activist. Founder of the Algorithmic Justice League; known for Gender Shades research exposing racial and gender bias in commercial facial analysis systems.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Joy Adowaa Buolamwini born to Ghanaian parents; father completing PhD in pharmaceutical sciences at University of Alberta.
Family moved to the United States (Mississippi)
Moved to the U.S. at age 4 when her father accepted a post at the University of Mississippi; spent childhood in Ghana before move.
Self-taught web programming
Inspired by MIT robot Kismet; taught herself XHTML, JavaScript, and PHP at age nine.
Attended Cordova High School
Attended Cordova High School in Cordova, Tennessee; student-athlete (basketball) and competitive pole vaulter.
Started undergraduate studies at Georgia Tech
Began Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology; conducted research in health informatics.
High school graduation (approx.)
Approximate high-school graduation year based on birth year and subsequent college timeline.
Youngest finalist, Georgia Tech InVenture Prize
Named youngest finalist in the Georgia Tech InVenture Prize competition.
Worked with Carter Center trachoma program (Ethiopia)
Developed an Android-based assessment system for use in Ethiopia with the trachoma program.
Graduated Georgia Tech as Stamps President's Scholar (BS)
Completed B.S. in Computer Science; Stamps President's Scholar.
Founded Code4Rights advocacy organization
Started Code4Rights to use technology and creative media to spread awareness of human rights.
U.S. Fulbright fellow to Zambia
As a Fulbright fellow, worked with local computer scientists in Zambia to help youth become technology creators.
Chief Technology Officer, Techturized Inc.
Served as CTO for Techturized, a hair-care technology company.
Rhodes Scholar / MSc at Jesus College, Oxford
Studied learning and technology at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar; completed MSc (thesis dated 2014).
Created 'AI, Ain't I a Woman?' spoken-word visual audit
Produced visual spoken-word audit showing AI failures on the faces of iconic Black women (Oprah, Michelle Obama, Serena Williams); exhibited widely.
Created the 'Aspire Mirror' art project
Developed an interactive device that uses facial analysis to reflect who inspires the user; formative project that revealed detection failures.
Debuted 'The Coded Gaze' mini-documentary
The short documentary premiered at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, exploring bias in AI and her experience with facial recognition technology.
Founded the Algorithmic Justice League (AJL)
Launched AJL to combine art, advocacy, and research to challenge bias in decision-making software.
Spoke at White House 'Computer Science for All' summit
Appeared at the White House summit focused on expanding access to computer science education.
Conducted Gender Shades evaluations (research milestone)
Showed ~1,000 faces to commercial facial recognition systems, finding systematic failures for darker-skinned women.
Won grand prize in 'Search for Hidden Figures' contest
Awarded the grand prize (professional category) tied to the film 'Hidden Figures' contest promoting women in STEM.
MIT media thesis: 'Gender Shades' (MS thesis)
Completed MIT master's research (Media Arts & Sciences) on intersectional evaluation of face datasets and gender classifiers.
Delivered TED Talk 'How I'm fighting bias in algorithms'
Presented TED talk describing algorithmic bias; talk has amassed over a million views.
Exhibitions feature AJL projects (Big Bang Data, Nine Moments)
AJL work and spoken-word visual audits exhibited at MIT Museum (Big Bang Data) and Harvard Hutchins Center (Nine Moments for Now).
Published 'Gender Shades' conference paper (FAT*)
Published 'Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification' revealing extreme error-rate disparities by gender and skin type.
Reported error-rate disparities in facial recognition
Research showed error rates up to 34.7% for darker-skinned women vs 0.8% for lighter-skinned men (figures from her analyses).
IBM and Microsoft respond to Gender Shades findings
Commercial vendors (notably IBM and Microsoft) took corrective actions to improve their facial analysis algorithms following the paper.
Launched the Safe Face Pledge (with Georgetown Law Center)
Co‑launched the Safe Face Pledge urging companies to commit to ethical limits on facial analysis technologies (including banning lethal uses).
Named to BBC's 100 Women list
Recognized by BBC as one of 100 inspiring and influential women worldwide.
Introduced the Pilot Parliaments Benchmark
Developed a diverse dataset benchmark (Pilot Parliaments Benchmark) to address lack of representation in AI training/testing sets.
Named to multiple 'influencer' and '30/35 under 35' lists
Recognized by outlets including Fast Company, Forbes (30 Under 30 and Top 50 Women in Tech), Bloomberg50 and MIT Tech Review '35 Under 35'.
Published 'Actionable Auditing' paper
Co‑authored 'Actionable Auditing: Investigating the Impact of Publicly Naming Biased Performance Results of Commercial AI Products' (2019).
Featured speaker: World Economic Forum & United Nations
Invited to speak on algorithmic bias and AI harms at global forums including WEF and the UN (dates across 2018–2019).
Testified before U.S. House Committee on Oversight & Reform
Provided congressional testimony on risks of facial recognition technology and need for accountability.
Exhibitions: Barbican, Ars Electronica, APEXART (2018–2019)
AJL projects included in international exhibitions: Barbican Centre (AI: More than Human, 2019), Ars Electronica (Understanding AI, 2019), APEXART (The Criminal Type, 2019).
Received Carol Jenkins Award (Women's Media Center)
Honored with the Carol Jenkins Award for media and advocacy work (award date cited in bios for 2019).
Named on Fortune's 'World's 50 Greatest Leaders' list
Fortune listed Buolamwini among the world's 50 greatest leaders, calling her 'the conscience of the A.I. revolution.'
Included on Time 100 Next list
Named on Time magazine's inaugural '100 Next' list recognizing emerging leaders.
Named a Carnegie Corporation 'Great Immigrant' honoree
Recognized by Carnegie Corporation of New York for contributions as an immigrant to the U.S.
Featured in Levi's International Women's Day campaign
Appeared in a women's empowerment campaign by Levi's for International Women's Day.
Published 'Voicing Erasure' project (AJL)
Launched 'Voicing Erasure' — spoken pieces and research on bias in voice recognition systems with Allison Koenecke and others.
Launched AJL's CRASH (Community Reporting of Algorithmic System Harms)
AJL launched CRASH to build tools for public reporting and accountability around algorithmic harms.
Documentary 'Coded Bias' released on streaming platforms (Netflix April 5, 2021)
Feature documentary profiling Buolamwini’s research and activism made widely available on Netflix.
Awarded PhD in Media Arts & Sciences, MIT Media Lab
Completed doctoral thesis 'Facing the Coded Gaze with Evocative Audits and Algorithmic Audits' under advisor Ethan Zuckerman.
Named ASQ Hutchens Medalist
Received the American Society for Quality (ASQ) Hutchens Medal in recognition of work on algorithmic equity.
Named among Time 100 Most Influential in AI (Time100 AI)
Included in Time magazine's '100 Most Influential People in AI' list for 2023.
Published book 'Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines'
Released her first book chronicling her research and advocacy on biases in AI and policy recommendations.
Advised U.S. administration ahead of Executive Order on AI (EO Oct 30, 2023)
Served as an advisor to President Biden ahead of the Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of AI.
Received NAACP Archwell Foundation Digital Civil Rights Activist Award
Awarded the NAACP Archwell Foundation Digital Civil Rights Activist Award and a $100,000 grant to support new work.
Awarded Honorary Doctor of Science, Dartmouth College
Received an honorary Doctor of Science degree and served as keynote speaker at Dartmouth's 2024 Social Justice Awards.
Awarded Octavia Butler Award in Computer Science (CSAARL)
Received the Center for the Study of African American Religious Life (CSAARL) Octavia Butler Award in Computer Science.
Continued leadership of Algorithmic Justice League
AJL remains active in advocacy, audits, exhibitions and advising policymakers; team includes Chief of Staff and AI Harms Analyst.
Key Achievement Ages
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