Since our founding in 2022, we have been fortunate to work with clients who view innovation through the lens of the end-user. One such visionary is Dr. Elissa Redmiles, founder of Human Computing Associates (HCA), who is dedicating her career to making technology more ethical, inclusive, and human-centered.
Through her consulting firm, Elissa and her team of researchers work with clients to help them innovate responsibly and engage their stakeholders using participatory processes to create policies, products, and services we can trust and enjoy using. They work across industries – from tech companies to universities and nonprofits – to advise on fast-moving security issues and technology topics like AI and create experiences tailor-made to engage their client’s key stakeholders, whether they are C-level executives or boots-on-the-ground community members, in establishing their voice on the policy & design of technology products. HCA’s past projects include establishing an AI Safety advisory board & roadmap for a leading thinktank; curating a 2-day AI tour for Care Workers in the Bay Area for a leading union; and a diversity of UX research, thought leadership, and transition to practice projects.
We are a woman-owned business with a dual mission to deliver high quality services and to diversify the research field.
In addition to leading, HCA, Elissa is the Clare Luce Booth Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University and Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. She was previously a Faculty Member at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems and has additionally served as a consultant and researcher at multiple institutions, including Microsoft Research, Meta, the World Bank, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and the Partnership on AI.
Elissa uses computational, economic, and social science methods to improve the security and safety of technology. For example, she recently co-authored a groundbreaking study of AI “nudification” websites that create realistic nude or sexual images of people without their consent, highlighting the harmful, abusive, and profit-based ecosystem that these tools enable.
In September, she was named on of MIT Technology Review’s 35 innovators under 35. Elissa’s “pioneering contributions to the field of sociotechnical security” have also been recognized with the ACM SIGSAC Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award, multiple paper awards as well as with research awards from Facebook and Google. She has been invited to present her work at the White House, National Academies of Science, and the European Commission and has had research featured in popular press publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, Rolling Stone, Wired, and Forbes.
HCA’s work matters more than ever. Its human-centered approach ensures technology serves all of us more effectively with products and services that we as consumers can trust, understand, and enjoy using.
At Nazareth Bonifacino Law, we’re proud to help HCA as Elissa and team navigate the legal and operational aspects that impact a business. In particular, we’ve helped HCA establish a strong foundation through the crafting of a comprehensive client service agreement – an essential tool that supports consistent, sustainable operations. Our goal is always twofold: to build our clients’ confidence and negotiation skills while providing expert, business-savvy advice to help them evaluate both opportunities and risks with clarity.
Working with clients like Elissa reminds us why we find joy in the work we do to help purpose-driven businesses thrive.