​Anika Dugal is the Founder and President of Girls for Algorithmic Justice. She is fascinated by all things tech policy, gender equity, and human-centered innovation. Anika is currently an A.B. Scholar at Duke University studying 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 involved with numerous student organizations in policy and advocacy. 

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Anika's interest in tech policy began after OpenAI launched ChatGPT in her junior year of high school, bringing artificial intelligence rapidly into mainstream consciousness. She is interested in the ethics of AI and combatting algorithmic justice. Anika is especially passionate about addressing AI issues that disproportionately impact women and girls, such as tech-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), explicit deepfakes, and online harassment. 

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Anika has held numerous advisory positions, including serving as an advisor to the Department of Education's Digital Wellbeing Challenge. In this position, she steers a national initiative to fund school districts as they implement solutions to promote online safety and ethical tech use. She previously served on Congressman Pallone's Youth Advisory Committee, representing over 170,000 New Jersey students. Anika has also held advisory positions at leading youth organizations including the High School Democrats of America, Leaders Across the World, and Vote16USA.

 

One of Anika's all-time favorite experiences was serving as a U.S. Senate Youth Program (USSYP) Delegate during the spring of her senior year of high school. In the role, she had the incredible honor of travelling to Washington D.C. and learning from inspiring government leaders, including President Biden, Senator Cory Booker, and Secretary Pete Buttigieg. This fired up a deep passion for government and policy-based change that motivates her to this day!

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Anika is incredibly grateful to have received a number of recognitions for her work, including being recognized as a Coca-Cola Scholar, National Merit Commended Scholar, and Laidlaw Scholar. She has received the George H.W. Bush Points of Light Award, Frederick Douglass & Susan B. Anthony Award, and a letter of commendation from Governor Phil Murphy. She also was a youth delegate to the 4th United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Summit Action Weekend. Her coolest two-truths-and-a-lie fact is that she was featured on a Times Square billboard for a week. 

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In her spare time, Anika loves spending time outdoors, doing yoga, watching Doctor Who, and baking treats. She is eager to further her knowledge of tech policy and AI governance, and is always delighted to learn more. 

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Please feel free to reach out to learn more about Anika and GFAJ's work. She welcomes speaking engagements, collaboration requests, and more. Email her any time at anika@gfaj.org.