The ACL 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Committee

ACL 2020 is committed to providing an inclusive conference to participants with diverse needs, academic interests, and socio-demographic backgrounds. There are numerous barriers that limit different participants’ ability to attend our conferences. Our whole community benefits when we strive to remove those barriers and everyone feels welcomed at the conference and can fully participate!

At ACL 2020, the D&I team consists of 13 volunteers from diverse backgrounds and life experiences serving on five subcommittees with their own missions. Leading up to the conference, more information from the D&I team will be shared in blog posts which we hope will be useful for both new and returning participants in the ACL community.

Academic Inclusion Chairs

Mission: Ensure the venue is welcoming to researchers from diverse subdisciplines, conducive to building academic networks across disciplines and career stages.

Aakanksha Naik, Carnegie Mellon University
Emily Prud’hommeaux, Boston College
Alla Rozovskaya, Queens College (City University of New York)

Accessibility Chairs

Mission: Ensure the venue is accessible for researchers with any disability, including provision of requested access services.

Sushant Kafle, Google/Rochester Institute of Technology
Masoud Rouhizadeh, Johns Hopkins University
Naomi Saphra, University of Edinburgh

Childcare Chairs

Mission: Ensure adequate childcare provisions to help researchers who are caregivers of children to attend the conference.

Khyathi Chandu, Carnegie Mellon University
Stephen Mayhew, Duolingo

Financial Access Chairs

Mission: Ensure provision of financial access to researchers from underrepresented demographics and geographies to attend the conference.

Allyson Ettinger, University of Chicago
Ryan Georgi, KPMG
Tirthankar Ghosal, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Patna

Socio-cultural Inclusion Chairs

Mission: Ensure a welcoming and inclusive environment for researchers from various socio-cultural subgroups, accommodate for diverse needs for food and drinks at the conference, as well as support initiatives for groups to socialize and network.

Shruti Palaskar, Carnegie Mellon University
Maarten Sap, University of Washington

If you have questions about Diversity and Inclusion efforts at ACL 2020 or suggestions for how to enhance your ACL 2020 experience, please reach out to us directly via email (acl2020-diversity-inclusion-chairs@googlegroups.com). We look forward to welcoming you in Seattle!