Thanks to everyone who helped make our last community and comedy night such a success! We’ll be back on April 15 for our next community and comedy night.
This time, we’re mixing it up a bit, with talks on the climate crisis, the military-industrial complex, Big Tech monopolies, and tech taxation (or lack thereof).
The speakers at our next event are:
Cody Urban is an anti-war and human rights organizer with CODEPINK‘s Divest from the War Machine campaign. He is currently working with CODEPINK’s Divest from the War Machine campaign at the state and municipal levels. He organizes in a number of spaces, focusing on ending the root causes of US-led war and uniting the US anti-war movement with other social and national liberation movements in the US and around the world.
Garett Reppenhagen is the son of a Vietnam Veteran and grandson of two World War II Veterans. He served in the U.S. Army as a Cavalry/Scout Sniper in the 1st Infantry Division. Garett completed a deployment in Kosovo on a 9-month peace-keeping mission and a combat tour in Baquaba, Iraq. Garett gained an Honorable Discharge in May of 2005 and began working as a veterans advocate and a dedicated activist. He served as the Chairman of the Board of Iraq Veterans Against the War, worked in Washington, DC, as a lobbyist and as Vice President of Public Relations for the Nobel Prize winning Veterans For America, as a Program Director for Veterans Green Jobs and was the Rocky Mountain Director for Vet Voice Foundation. Garett lives in Colorado where he serves as the Executive Director for Veterans For Peace.
Mike Elk A protégé of the late William Greider, Mike Elk is a Yinzer labor reporter who covered the drug war in Brazil, spent years covering union organizing in the South for the Guardian, and was labeled an “abrasive gadlfy” by the New York Times for his role exposing sexual misconduct in his own union the Newspaper Guild. A native of Pittsburgh, he now lives in his hometown, where he runs the crowd-funded publication Payday Report. Elk founded the publication while living in Chattanooga in 2016 and after being fired as a shop steward in the union drive at Politico during the early days of the digital media unionization movement. The son of United Electrical Workers (UE) Director of Organization Gene Elk, he attended Woodland Hills High while it was still under federal desegregation orders in the early 2000s.
Brett Wilkins is an Ethics in Tech board member, a staff writer at Common Dreams, and a member of the writers’ group Collective 20. His work focuses on issues of war and peace and human rights. Brett is also an activist in his hometown of San Francisco.
Host:
Vahid Razavi Ethics in Tech founder. Vahid has founded, advised, and worked in senior management roles in Silicon Valley. He has published two books, The Age of Nepotism and Ethics In Tech and Lack Thereof. As a lifelong activist and humanitarian he has published hundreds of articles and videos on various social issues including tech industry and social injustice. He has previously worked for companies such as Amazon Web Services, Fast Search, Exodus Communications, Qwest Communications, and was the founder of the cloud computing Company BizCloud.
Between our talks, discussion, and comedy sessions, we will be featuring a musical interlude with the righteous stylings of the one and only Mike Rufo, a Bay Area activist, singer/songwriter, and sustainable energy consultant. Mike is a board member of Defending Rights and Dissent, a civil liberties organization and was previously a board member with the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology (CEERT). Mike has directed several national sustainable energy consultancies and is a Lifetime Achievement Award (IEPEC) winner for his work on energy program evaluation and policy. He has a Master’s degree in Technology and Human Affairs and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies. Mike’s passions for civil liberties, social justice, the environment, and music come together in songs like “Spyin’ Eyes” that promote activism and transformation. Mike shares his songs at peace, civil liberties, and other activist events, including, of course, Ethics in Tech.
As usual, we’ll be featuring a lineup of hilarious comedians to lighten the night. Comedy host Debi Durst will kick things off. Forged in the crucible of improvisational theater at a young age, Debi has performed with every improv group known to Humanity in the Bay Area, beginning with The Committee, Spaghetti Jam, Femprov, The Comedy Underground, The National Theater of the Deranged, Papaya Juice, The Dinosaurs of Improv, The Marsh Jam and currently The Bad Aunties.
Comedians:
Steven Kravitz recently celebrated a birthday, making him 2 weeks older than dirt. Steven will be lip-synching his entire set. He is also a fan of Red Rines.
Arthur Gaus is a San Francisco-based attorney and stand-up comedian who is a regular at legendary local comedy clubs Cobb’s and The Punchline, where he has appeared with some of the biggest names in comedy including John Oliver, John Mulaney, and Brian Regan. He is well known for his distinctive delivery and sharp wit. His album Nice Jokes for Smart People is available everywhere.
Get your tickets for our April 15 Community and Comedy night here!
(Photo credit: guapan/Flickr/cc)
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