About Women AI Labs

We build the AI we all deserve.

A nonprofit coalition of builders, researchers, educators, and advocates. We identify bias, build solutions, and train the leaders who will shape what comes next.

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2026
Founded
Chicago
Home Base
July 18 – 1 9
First Event
Our Story

Born in Chicago. Built to last.

WomenAILabs was co-founded in Chicago in 2026 by Dawn C. Simmons and Md Iqbal Mahmud — two practitioners who built careers inside enterprise AI and digital systems, and watched those systems consistently underserve the people they were built for.

Dawn brings 25+ years leading AI-enabled digital transformation across healthcare, government, and Fortune 500 clients — delivering the same ITSM, ServiceNow, and AI workflow systems where bias quietly shapes who gets served. Iqbal brings deep technical expertise in building and scaling the platforms that power those systems. Together, they decided to build the organization they wished had existed.

WomenAILabs is at its founding stage. Our first event — WomenAILabs VibeCode — takes place July 18, 2026, in-person in Chicago and online. Everything starts here.

Born in Chicago. Built to last.
What We Stand For

Our Values

Five principles that guide every audit, every lab, every hire.

01

Radical Transparency

Our audits are open. Our data is open. Our methodology is open.

02

Community First

We build with impacted communities, not for them.

03

Accountability

We name biased systems. We work with their makers to fix them.

04

Intersectional by Design

Race, gender, class, ability — we audit for all of it.

05

Open Source by Default

Every prototype we ship is public, forkable, and documented.

How We Got Here

Our Timeline

2026
Co-Founded

WomenAILabs established in Chicago by Dawn C. Simmons.

July 18
AI Equity Hackathon 2026

First event — WomenAILabs AI Equity Hackathon 2026 - in-person Chicago and online.

Your city next
Growing

The movement is expanding. Host a lab. Sponsor an event. Join us.

Our Team

The people building this.

Dawn C. Simmons
Dawn C. Simmons
Co-Founder & CEO
Leadership
Sreenivasan Narayanan
Sreenivasan Narayanan
Founding Chief AI & Data Officer
Leadership
Md Iqbal Mahmud
Md Iqbal Mahmud
Co-Founder
Leadership
Christian Oh
Christian Oh
Global AI Positivist - Board Advisory Director
Leadership