International Women’s Day Symposium at the Library of Congress, March 8

According to recent reports from Credit Suisse and Deloitte, only 16% of management positions in the information technology industry worldwide are held by women; similarly, in investment and finance, women are in 19% of C-suite roles in financial services institutions globally.

This International Women’s Day, the Library of Congress Science, Technology and Business Division is co-sponsoring a symposium on women’s leadership roles in tech and investment with Parliament51, a social impact venture that works to promote equal opportunities for women in the workforce.

Join us in-person at the Library of Congress on the morning of Wednesday, March 8 for a conversation around the current state of investments in technology, increasing the percentage of women in leadership positions, and how to incorporate diverse thinking when solving for today’s problems through technology.

The keynote, Dr. Vivienne Ming, entrepreneur, neuroscientist, and artificial intelligence expert, will speak about inclusion and the future of work. A discussion will follow, focusing on women’s leadership roles in technology and investment with a panel featuring: Zaneilia Harris, Certified Financial Planner and president of Harris & Harris Wealth Management Group; Baat Enosh, the leader of Nia Growth, a financial planning company for the self-employed; Merav Bahat, the founder of Dazz, a cloud remediation security startup; and Assaf Rappaport, the founder of Wiz, a cloud security startup. The panel session will be moderated by Felicity Hassan, board member of the Women Business Collaborative and creator of an inclusivity-focused search firm, TheFind. Original artwork by artist Talia Zoref will be on display during the event. Read their full bios below.

Event Schedule

Keynote speaker: Dr. Vivienne Ming

Dr. Vivienne Ming is a neuroscientist, entrepreneur, inventor and artificial intelligence expert. Over her career she’s founded six startups, been chief scientist at two others, and launched a “mad science incubator,” Socos Labs, where she explores seemingly intractable problems—from a lone child’s disability to global economic inclusion—for free. As the co-founder and Chief Scientist of Dionysus Health, she applies machine learning to lessen the corrosive health effects of chronic stress in communities. She also develops tools for learning at home and in school and with traumatic brain injury (TBI), models of bias in hiring and promotion, and neurotechnologies to treat dementia, an outgrowth of her research at UC Berkeley’s Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience.

In her free time, Vivienne designs AI systems to treat her son’s diabetes, predict manic episodes in bipolar sufferers, and reunite orphan refugees with extended family members. For relaxation, she writes science fiction and spends time with her wife and children.

Dr. Ming was named as one of the BBC 100 Women in 2017, and as one of the Financial Times‘ ”LGBT Leaders and Allies Today.”

Panel Moderator: Felicity Hassan, TheFind

Felicity Hassan started her career in London and has lived and worked in New York since 2008. Her personal and family experience has built a deep appreciation for the importance of representative leadership and a commitment to finding great talent between the lines. After building her search roots on the agency side, Felicity spent some time in-house with Bloomberg and then Audible, helping them build a global inclusive recruiting platform. In her most recent role, Felicity served as president for a diversity centric search firm launching their US business, a catalyst in the dream to create her own firm, TheFind.

In addition to her corporate role, Felicity is a published author, serves on the Board of Women Business Collaborative, and is a member of Luminary NYC. She lives with her husband and two children in Westchester, NY. She loves running, Peloton and watching her kid’s sports leagues; and can be found most mornings getting up to speed with the latest Ossining news at First Village Coffee.

Panelist: Zaneilia Harris, Harris & Harris Wealth Management Group

Zaneilia Harris, Certified Financial Planner, is the president of Harris & Harris Wealth Management Group. She is author of Finance ‘n Stilettos: Money Matters for the Well Heeled Woman. Her blog of the same title was listed by Investment News as one of the best blogs for women and investing. Zaneilia’s purpose is to educate women about economic and financial empowerment. Previously, she held positions at Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones Investments, PricewaterhouseCoopers and NASDAQ. She was named one of Investopedia’s Top 100 Influential Financial Advisors of 2017 and honored as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by the Daily Record.

Panelist: Baat Enosh, Nia Growth

Baat Enosh leads Nia Growth, a startup in the finance world focused on helping freelancers save for retirement by using behavioral science. Before Nia, Baat served as Director of Transformation, working with Ernst & Young’s Chief Technology Officer. She also spent years in Israel, where she established and grew the fintech giant Intuit with a local research & development center, leading with multiple roles – from Security, to Strategy & Innovation, to Site Leader and Head of Data Science. Earlier positions include time in Silicon Valley focusing on futuristic products at Intuit’s Innovation group, implementing Intuit’s Customer Driven Innovation practices. Prior to Intuit, Baat was busy as Vice President of Operations at Founder Labs – an “accelerator focusing on mobile products,” as COO of Women 2.0, and as the manager of the Entrepreneurial Alliance at NCWIT.

Outside work, Baat is raising 3 kids, enjoys lots of skiing, competitive skydiving, indoor-wind-tunnel, and yoga. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Panelist: Merav Bahat, Dazz

Merav Bahat is a prominent figures in the Israeli cybersecurity industry. Until recently, she served as the Deputy Head of Microsoft Israel’s Research & Development center as well as the General Manager of Microsoft’s Cloud Security Business – an organization that is responsible for over $2.5 billion dollars. Two years ago, Merav decided to go on an independent entrepreneurial journey and founded Dazz, a startup that approaches cybersecurity from a unique angle and takes aim at the long-ignored, painful remediation process of security vulnerabilities. Dazz emerged from stealth mode and announced that it raised $60M in funding, only 10 months after its establishment, with one of the largest Series A rounds to date. Its investors include Insight Partners, Greylock, Index Ventures, and Cyberstarts.

Panelist: Assaf Rappaport, Wiz

Assaf Rappaport is a two time CEO co-founder whose first company, Adallom, was sold to Microsoft. His second company, Wiz, is currently one of the fastest growing software companies, increasing its annual recurring revenue from $1 million to $100 million in 18 months. Wiz secures and protects 20% of the Fortune 500, and is valued at more than $6 billion, but is barely two years old. Assaf is an LGBTQ founder who has created an inclusive culture at his company. He advocates for the gay community in Israel in multiple ways, including providing a personal grant for surrogacy. He was a distinguished captain in the Israeli Defense Force, where he met his companies’ co-founders with whom he has worked for 20 years.

Co-sponsor: Parliament51

Danielle Ofek is a serial tech and social entrepreneur with more than 18 years of experience in business strategy and business development, and expertise in partnerships in various industries. She is considered one of the most influential women in the Israeli tech industry and one of 100 Role Models executives by Yahoo Finance for 2019-2020. She is passionate about innovation, technology, and communications.

Danielle is the co-founder & leader (CEO) of Parliament51 (‘P51’), a social impact venture aiming to achieve gender equality and equal opportunities for women in the workplace in leadership positions. P51 works with companies to narrow leadership gender gaps through their Statement of Principles Women in the Workplace Standard, and is currently working with more than 100 companies in Israel and abroad, covering around 700K employees. P51 works with American companies such as Salesforce, Intuit, Intel, and Google.

Currently, Danielle is First Vice President and heads the Tech Division at BHI (Bank Hapoalim International).

Liri Halperin Segal is the co-founder of Parliament51. She is a serial entrepreneur and insurtech leader. Currently, she is CEO and co-founder of LeO, a fast-growing insurtech startup.

Individuals requiring accommodations for any of these events are requested to submit a request at least five business days in advance by contacting (202) 707-6362 or [email protected].

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This posted was updated on February 21 to include information on Parliament51 co-founders and event co-sponsors. The link to register was updated to link directly to the registration form. On February 27 the schedule of events was added. On March 6 a description to Dazz was changed from an innovative cybersecurity startup to a “cloud remediation security startup.”