Chinasa T. Okolo

Dr. Chinasa T. Okolo is a fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation within the Governance Studies program. Her research focuses on AI governance in emerging markets, AI literacy upskilling, human-centered approaches to AI explainability, the future of data work, and leveraging AI to advance global health. 

During her PhD, Dr. Okolo’s dissertation research incorporated ethnographic methods to understand how frontline healthcare workers in rural India perceive and value AI. Her work also examined how explainability can be best leveraged in AI-enabled technologies deployed throughout the Global South, with a focus on healthcare.  

Outside of her dissertation focus, Dr. Okolo also conducted research examining the effective adoption and successful implementation of AI in Africa, COVID-19 misinformation spread on social networks within African communities, and the impact of generative AI within Africa. Her work has been supported by funding from The National GEM Consortium, Oracle Corporation, the North American Network Operators’ Group (NANOG), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and Google and covered in venues like VICE, Bloomberg, Newsweek, and VentureBeat, amongst others.  

Dr. Okolo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Pomona College, a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Cornell University, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cornell University. She also serves as a Consulting Expert with the African Union, contributing to the development of the AU-AI Continental Strategy on Africa, and as an Ethics Advisor to the Equiano Institute, a research lab focused on steering safe and trustworthy AI in Africa. Additionally, Dr. Okolo participates in the IEEE Standards Association working group on algorithmic bias and is a member of the ACM US Technology Policy Committee.