Anika Dugal

Anika Dugal is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Gender Equitable AI, where she leads efforts to make gender equity non-negotiable in the design, deployment, and governance of artificial intelligence. She is passionate about the intersection of technology policy, gender equity, and human-centered innovation.

 

Anika is currently an Angier B. Duke Scholar at Duke University, pursuing degrees in Computer Science and Public Policy. At Duke, she co-leads the university’s chapter of All Tech is Human, serves on the Student Advisory Board of the Franklin Center for Human Rights, and is actively involved in several organizations focused on policy and advocacy.

 

Her interest in technology policy began after the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT during her junior year of high school, which brought artificial intelligence into mainstream consciousness. Since then, she has focused on advancing the ethics of AI and promoting algorithmic justice. Anika is particularly committed to addressing AI-related harms that disproportionately affect women and girls, including tech-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), explicit deepfakes, and online harassment.

 

Anika has served in numerous advisory roles, including as an Advisor to the U.S. Department of Education’s Digital Wellbeing Challenge, where she supports a national initiative to help school districts implement solutions that promote online safety and ethical technology use. She previously served on Congressman Frank Pallone’s Youth Advisory Committee, representing more than 170,000 New Jersey students, and has held advisory positions with national youth organizations such as High School Democrats of America, Leaders Across the World, and Vote16USA.

 

One of Anika’s most formative experiences was serving as a U.S. Senate Youth Program (USSYP) Delegate, where she traveled to Washington, D.C., and met with national leaders including President Joe Biden, Senator Cory Booker, and Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

 

Anika’s work has been recognized through several honors, including the Coca-Cola Scholarship, Laidlaw Scholarship, and designation as a National Merit Commended Scholar. She has received the George H.W. Bush Points of Light Award, the Frederick Douglass & Susan B. Anthony Award, and a letter of commendation from Governor Phil Murphy. Most recently, she served as a Youth Delegate to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Summit Action Weekend and was featured on a Times Square billboard celebrating young changemakers.