April 9, 2024
On April 9, GWIA hosted a Women in Tech Panel featuring Karla Bousquet, Krystal Jackson, Emily Horne, and Aliya Bhatia. The panelists offered GWIA members a breadth and depth of experience in a discussion and Q&A regarding their vast careers.
From left to right: Antonia Baskakov (GWIA), Krystal Jackson, Aliya Bhatia, and Karla Bousquet.
GWIA members engaged in the discussion surrounding experiences of women in the tech industry.
Posing questions for our panelists.
Karla Bousquet: Having served in numerous executive positions at IBM, Karla Bousquet has spent over 25 years designing flagship platforms and driving external events and media for IBM, building relationships with C-Suite executives and launching comprehensive technical events around the world. Among her many roles, she she was a leader on IBM’s Corporate Communications team, the Vice-President of Client Executive Marketing, has led Diversity & Inclusion for IBM EMEA and started her career with IBM in Paris. A pioneer at the intersection of technology and global affairs, she is currently working as a consultant and serving on the advisory board for SHAMBAUGH Leadership, an organization focusing on Women’s Leadership.
Krystal Jackson: Currently serving as a research fellow at the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity and as a Cybersecurity Specialist and AI Capabilities Analyst for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, Krystal Jackson has done extensive work on applications of cybersecurity and information security practices for AI. She has previously served as a Visiting Junior AI Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology, a Racial Equity in Tech Policy Accelerator for the Federation of American Scientists, and Tech Policy Primer Scholar for the Aspen Tech Policy Hub, in addition to numerous other tech-related positions.
Emily Horne: has been at the forefront of building and executing U.S. government and technology communications strategies for over 15 years. She served as the first Special Assistant to the President, Spokesperson and Senior Director for Press at the National Security Council (NSC) in the Biden Administration. Emily Horne joined the NSC having led communications for the successful confirmation for Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in the Biden-Harris transition team. Previous roles include Vice President of Communications at the Brookings Institution, lead of Global Policy Communications for Twitter, and various positions in her decade-long career at the State Department, including communications director for the Obama Administration’s counter-ISIS efforts. Additionally, She has been a professor of media and foreign policy at American University and Boston University.
Aliya Bhatia: is a policy analyst at CDT’s Free Expression Project. She works to protect and promote internet users’ free expression rights in the United States and around the world. Her areas of focus include automated content moderation, kids safety, and speech by individuals who speak languages other than English. Previously, Aliya worked at Ranking Digital Rights, the Association for a Better New York, where she worked to increase access to the first digital decennial census in 2020, The Brookings Institution, and the Toronto Youth Cabinet. Aliya holds a masters degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a B.A. in International Relations and Art History from the University of Toronto. She is originally from India.
