Tuesday Keynote Speaker – Catherine Gill
Executive Director, Centre for Inclusive Computing, Northeastern University
Catherine is the Executive Director for the Center for Inclusive Computing (CIC). Housed at Northeastern University, the CIC was launched in 2019 with seed funding from Pivotal, a Melinda French Gates company.
The CIC’s mission is to promote equitable access to computing pathways. At present the CIC works with 119 of the largest computing departments in the U.S., supporting the implementation of research-backed practices that broaden participation in tech.
Previously, Catherine was associate dean for strategic partnerships at Northeastern’s Khoury College of Computer Science. Before that, she worked for twenty years in the social finance sector, including as the head of investor relations for Root Capital, a social enterprise that provides financing to smallholder, agricultural businesses in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Catherine teaches social impact strategy and nonprofit management at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.
She holds an MBA from the IESE in Barcelona, Spain, and a B.A. in ancient Greek from Wellesley College.
Tuesday 1 September 2026 – RMIT 12.10.004 (Building 12, Level 10, Room 4)
| Time | Session |
| 9:00am – 9:15am | Acknowledgement of Country Welcome from Professor Karin Verspoor |
| 9:15am – 9:45am | Keynote: Catherine Gill (CIC Northeastern) Catherine will share her perspectives on what works for first year computing students from diverse backgrounds, based on CIC Northeastern’s 5+ years of experience working with over 100 partner schools at universities in the USA. |
| 9:45am – 10:45am | Workshop: First year classes for students new to tech courses Nicole Fetchet (RMIT), Dr Rebecca Lyons (Monash), Ms Charanya Ramakrishnan (Macquarie University) and Dr Rebecca Robinson (Monash) |
| 10:45am – 11:15am | Morning tea (in workshop space) |
| 11:15am – 12:15pm | Workshop continued from the previous session: First year classes for students new to tech courses |
| 12:15pm – 1:15pm | Lunch at The Oxford Scholar (included in registration) |
| 1:15pm – 2:45pm | Workshop: Wrap-around support to build confidence and a sense of belonging Dr Fiona Scotney (The Australian National University) |
| 2:45pm – 3:15pm | Afternoon tea (in workshop space) |
| 3:15pm – 4:45pm | Workshop: Using AI to support inclusive approaches Dr Ronny Andrade Parra (RMIT) and Kate Anderson (RMIT) |
| 4:45pm – 5:00pm | Close |
Tuesday evening reception networking event
All attendees are invited to a reception networking event with canapés and drinks at The Oxford Scholar from 5:00pm – 7:00pm on Tuesday 1 September. An opportunity to discuss the day’s sessions, and meet university and industry colleagues who share your commitment to improving diversity, equity and inclusion in the tech workforce.
Wednesday Keynote Speaker – Justin Warren
Justin is the founder and principal consultant at PivotNine, a boutique analyst and consulting firm based in Melbourne, Australia. He covers enterprise infrastructure, cloud, and information security technologies with a particular focus on free and open source software. An IT industry veteran with extensive global experience, Justin has worked with lots of enterprises and startups you’ve definitely heard of, and plenty that you almost certainly haven’t.
Justin holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School, and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his human family, and three chickens.
Wednesday 2 September 2026 – RMIT 12.10.004 (Building 12, Level 10, Room 4)
| Time | Session |
| 9:00am – 9:30am | Morning tea on arrival (in workshop space) |
| 9:30am – 10:00am | Acknowledgement of Country Keynote: Justin Warren |
| 10:00am – 12:00pm | Unconscious bias workshop for industry team leaders and HR managers, and university educators. Guided by skilled educators from The University of Melbourne, this workshop builds skills in leading diverse teams to produce their best work together. Every day, unconscious bias shapes how we teach, who we mentor and how our students collaborate. These hidden patterns influence our perceptions without our awareness and can even contradict our conscious beliefs. In education and software engineering teams, this often leads to overlooked talents and unequal participation. Join our upcoming IDEATE workshop to unpack how these biases show up in the classroom. We will explore research on how unconscious bias impacts student assessment, teamwork, mentoring and more. We will then discuss how to shift from simply being aware of bias to actively managing it. Inclusivity is an intentional practice. In this session, you will learn strategies to cultivate empathy and override biased habits. By making the invisible visible, we will open our eyes to these hidden challenges and give you the agency to actively shape a better learning environment. We will look at how to build inclusive classrooms by setting clear ground rules, checking assumptions and ensuring fair treatment. |
| 12:00pm – 12:30pm | Lunch on closing (in workshop space) |