IRI DEI Community Thought Leader Interview – Janeen Uzzell, National Society of Black Engineers

  Janeen Uzzell is the Chief Operating Officer of NSBE, the National Society of Black Engineers. NSBE is the largest student-run organization in the United States focused on improving the advancement of Black engineers in academia and industry with more than 30,000 members worldwide. Prior to joining NSBE, Uzzell was the Chief Operating Officer for the Wikimedia Foundation, the organization that operates Wikipedia, one of the world's top 5 websites. Under her leadership, she launched the Office of the COO and introduced organizational rigor and process improvement while leading a staff of more than 500 and an operating budget of $140M. During the heightened racial trauma towards Black people being broadcasted throughout the world in 2020, Janeen helped launch the Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund, a $4.5 million fund created to provide grants to external organizations that support knowledge equity by addressing the racial inequities preventing access and participation in free knowledge. Janeen has nearly two decades of experience implementing the design and use of technology to drive impact on global outcomes. During her tenure at GE, she led multiple company-wide initiatives including the company’s emerging market healthcare strategy across Africa where she lived for several years as an Ex-Pat in Accra, Ghana. She was also the head of Women in Technology, where she worked to accelerate the number of women in technical roles across the 300,000-employee workforce. Uzzell has merged her leadership as a global technology executive, and her passion for social justice to forge diversity, equity, and inclusion in technology through product development, leadership advancement, and by shining a light on the inequality in tech spaces as a thought leader and voice of influence. Janeen has a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and a Master of Business Administration in International Business from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She serves on the board of Mercy Ships International, the dFree Global Foundation and holds a seat as an Advisor for NCA&T’s College of Engineering. She is a venture capital investor and Chairwoman of the Greybridge SPAC, focused on fintech and legacy endowments within HBCU’s. Janeen uses her keyboard for good. She is a warrior in her faith and love for God. She comes in peace, but she means business. And that is evident in all the work she prioritizes and commits herself to. In her spare time, Janeen enjoys playing tennis, and spending time with her family and friends. She is based in Washington, D.C.